We recorded our industrial album back in the 80's with one of those and two ensoniq mirages. It pairs well with the Alesis midi verb for low fi Industrial meets 4AD label bands. I have always wanted to have another one. I like old gear.
@@VultureCulture It's a mixture of synthy and pure noise. Lots of screaming. There is a video on youtube, but I can't put a link in comments. Look for Naram Sin Natural Selection. That one has a TR909 on it though. I made the video with whatever gear I could cobble together and super 8 movies.
Damn, I missed this! I bought the HR-16 (16-B & MMT-8) when they came out and used them on some vinyl I dropped back in the 90's. I still have them and will eventually set em up for a live sesh... I actually still have the original alesis midi cables connected, they're still going.🦾
I had this machine in the early 90's and loved it. Made mostly Hiphop and RnB music with it. My only issues was the soft buttons that got stuck and layout of the machine.
Finally picked one up this week, to complement my MMT-8. It came with a chipset with Roland sounds, in addition to the original ones. Need some work though, to work optimally.
RIP Kieth Barr, the founder of Alesis which unfortunately lost control of the company through bankruptcy and died in 2010. Alesis still runs today but works on drums, drum machines, keyboard controllers, recording accessories and mixers. Quadrasynth is a sample playback based synth available in mid 90's versions - QS 6/7/8 and the S Series. While the QS6 is usable it is better getting the 7 or 8 as they are nearly identical. 8 being the largest with weighted keys. 2000 the Andromeda was released but the following year Alesis ran into financial difficulties. The company was then acquired by Jack O'Donnell. Jack O'Donnell all so runs Numark, Akai Professional, Alto Professional,and ION) 2003 Alesis released Ion with virtual analogue synthesis and was a highly-regarded VA synth. After the release of this synth a certain devision within Alesis was shutdown which was a major part of Alesis synth production. In 2005 Alesis releases its last synthesizer called Fusion multi-algorithm synth (modern workstation) The 8HD is fully weighted keys and weighed 25.6kg was no different to the other versions of the keyboard except for the keyboard size & key weight.
I miss my HR-16. Biggest regret of my musical existence is my short sightedness of selling it when I obtained my 1st multi-timbral synth...paired with an MMT-8 sequencer...I still have the MMT-8, and still love it.
It´s a pity that I missed the livestream. The HR-16 is a nice beast I´ve chosen recently. It´s right next to me. ☺ Unfortunately, I hadn´t have the needed time to explore it yet. This shall change soon, thanks for the refreshing appetizer.
The real problem with the HR-16 is you can’t arm it in RECORD mode while slaving it to MIDI CLOCK START. i.e. the moment you press REC and PLAY, it will run on it’s own and you can’t record in real time along your external sequences. If you had the :B also, you might want the v2.0 firmware eeprom. Once installed, you can ARM REC the :B and start it from the :A, but still not from MIDI CLOCK START. I believe this is the only drummachine that does not allow ARM REC in slave mode.
There is a good chance my initials are inside that HR 16. I worked at the assembly factory in Burbank CA in 88-89 with a few of the members of KORN as testers. That hired us musicians to be quality testers for these and all the other stuff like quadraverbs, the micro compressors etc. at the time we hated these drum machines because they sounded so fake. Later I got into electronic music and realized they were killer. But I never owned one. When you are playing the drums samples , I’m transported back to those low pay days with headphones on as a slave for the insane owners of the plant that were always wacked out on blow and they would freak out randomly.
1:19:17 Polyphony with the XT isn't really much of an issue with some tweaks. I've been shipping modkits that offload a lot of the work to a daughterboard-mounted FPGA for a bit now (ditto with a number of other DSP-based synths from that era) that raise the number to something higher you'll ever realistically use. Unlike the official DSP expansion, you'll need to break out a soldering iron, but the official one only worked with the newer runs, whereas these work on all XT/XTks.
@@VultureCulture My fulltime job is as an EE and I've spent the last few decades specializing in RE work. I've carried that knowledge/lover over into synths!
@2dcat that is freaking fantastic. I've always thought if I had any idea how to open one of these bad boys up and repair / mod them I'd be unstoppable 😂
@@VultureCulture That's the real fun. Most of my days now are recreating/porting vintage, analog stuff over to FPGA and then once working well, doing stupid stuff like swapping in a SEM for CEM to answer the eternal questions of "would this sound better?" 😅
Yeah man, VAs are basically knobby digital polys that can cop a decent analog sound or take it cartoonish(extreme) like old samplers do. Ion with FM and Comb is just sick. Blush Response and Jexus probably have the best demos. Much more than just trance or "Take It Like A Man" vibe.
Qual asked about loading samples, EPROM is the only way to swap sounds. Bank switching those can be done with some work on the hardware. No Gotek, that would require a floppy interface which these never had, the only I/O is MIDI and saving and loading patterns (but not samples) over audio FSK to tape etc. Re Godflesh's machine getting fried on tour, all these great Alesis wedges are infamous for locking up hard or generally being intolerant of iffy mains power. Filtered power is a must for them to be reliable.
I am a goth who had to look up Angelspit. The reason I didn't recognize them is because they aren't from the 80s or 90s. I have a tendency to not listen to newer music. There is some 2000s stuff I listen to. But mot much. 2010s on up its practically nothing that isn't music I made.
I didn't mean to gatekeep you 😂 I should have said if you were goth in the 2000's at the clubs or whatever. 100% was as big of a hit as This Shit Will Fuck You Up or Bind, Torture, Kill.
"Booming kicks" on an HR-16? HA!! It has 10 different kicks and none of them have any low end whatsoever. The trick to give them any beef whatsoever was to layer multiple kicks. The HR-16B has fewer kicks but they all have reverb on them which makes them sound kinda tough I guess. The HR-16 has a few notable strengths: rim-snare sound and ok snares.
@@VultureCulturethank you, you may have seen my FB post for his bday yesty, btw I'm Novala Ergo, Nate Lowe, DRUGStm is a mixed media artist' up here in Asheville who makes video glitch machines and performs as Ninelyoko, I've talked to him a few times about our live rig setups and he can bend anything
@@VultureCulturecrap I thought I sent that already, but thank you and they're a multi media artist up here in AVL who performs as Ninelyoko and makes glitch video machines by bending PlayStations,,DRUGStm as his insty and company name, I've talked to him about performance setups, and he can bend anything
This is a bizarre take. The HR-16 has no punch, it's not tough. It's just a bunch of rom samples and a lifeless amp circuit with poor frequency response. It may have been the first 16-bit drum machine with a "library" of samples, but it was surpassed almost immediately by essentially identical technology with more bells and whistles, like the far superior R8 and the more extensive DR-550. There's really no reason to buy an HR-16. It's junk.
We recorded our industrial album back in the 80's with one of those and two ensoniq mirages.
It pairs well with the Alesis midi verb for low fi Industrial meets 4AD label bands.
I have always wanted to have another one.
I like old gear.
Would love to check out your 80's industrial album!
@@VultureCulture It's a mixture of synthy and pure noise. Lots of screaming.
There is a video on youtube, but I can't put a link in comments.
Look for Naram Sin Natural Selection. That one has a TR909 on it though.
I made the video with whatever gear I could cobble together and super 8 movies.
Damn, I missed this! I bought the HR-16 (16-B & MMT-8) when they came out and used them on some vinyl I dropped back in the 90's. I still have them and will eventually set em up for a live sesh... I actually still have the original alesis midi cables connected, they're still going.🦾
That's so awesome that the original cables are still working!
Had a HR16 and an MMT8 20 years ago and it was a dream couple when they met my other synths.
I need to get my hardware sequencer on!
I had this machine in the early 90's and loved it. Made mostly Hiphop and RnB music with it. My only issues was the soft buttons that got stuck and layout of the machine.
Would love to hear some of that music if it's up anywhere!
With a lot of old rom machines, a good trick is to add a beefy sine/triangle tone, sidechain gate it,and tune it to add some lowend to the kicks.
That's a great tip! I use a js plugin in Reaper called Tone Gate for that exact use
Something about the digital to audio converters in the 80’s sound way better then today’s.
Something so gritty and characterful!
always wanted hr16. i had the mmt8 which i loved. alesis were doing great things back then.
Really putting out quality gear at affordable prices!
Finally picked one up this week, to complement my MMT-8. It came with a chipset with Roland sounds, in addition to the original ones. Need some work though, to work optimally.
That's pretty awesome! Any other treasures from back then?
@@VultureCulture oh, I have so much vintage stuff! Come visit ;)
Still got one in the cupboard from the 80's, total workhorse!
Can't wait to swap the Eproms and try out some different sounds!
RIP Kieth Barr, the founder of Alesis which unfortunately lost control of the company through bankruptcy and died in 2010. Alesis still runs today but works on drums, drum machines, keyboard controllers, recording accessories and mixers.
Quadrasynth is a sample playback based synth available in mid 90's versions - QS 6/7/8 and the S Series. While the QS6 is usable it is better getting the 7 or 8 as they are nearly identical. 8 being the largest with weighted keys.
2000 the Andromeda was released but the following year Alesis ran into financial difficulties. The company was then acquired by Jack O'Donnell. Jack O'Donnell all so runs Numark, Akai Professional, Alto Professional,and ION)
2003 Alesis released Ion with virtual analogue synthesis and was a highly-regarded VA synth. After the release of this synth a certain devision within Alesis was shutdown which was a major part of Alesis synth production.
In 2005 Alesis releases its last synthesizer called Fusion multi-algorithm synth (modern workstation) The 8HD is fully weighted keys and weighed 25.6kg was no different to the other versions of the keyboard except for the keyboard size & key weight.
Thank you so much for this in depth info! Seems like the QS7 might be perfect for me, as I don't love weighted keys
I recommend the QS6 one of my favorites. I also have a Micron which is like the Swiss army knife of synthesizers.
I miss my HR-16. Biggest regret of my musical existence is my short sightedness of selling it when I obtained my 1st multi-timbral synth...paired with an MMT-8 sequencer...I still have the MMT-8, and still love it.
You can always buy one! They're not going for super expensive right now
It´s a pity that I missed the livestream. The HR-16 is a nice beast I´ve chosen recently. It´s right next to me. ☺
Unfortunately, I hadn´t have the needed time to explore it yet.
This shall change soon, thanks for the refreshing appetizer.
I'm glad you found the stream enjoyable!
The real problem with the HR-16 is you can’t arm it in RECORD mode while slaving it to MIDI CLOCK START. i.e. the moment you press REC and PLAY, it will run on it’s own and you can’t record in real time along your external sequences. If you had the :B also, you might want the v2.0 firmware eeprom. Once installed, you can ARM REC the :B and start it from the :A, but still not from MIDI CLOCK START. I believe this is the only drummachine that does not allow ARM REC in slave mode.
There is a good chance my initials are inside that HR 16. I worked at the assembly factory in Burbank CA in 88-89 with a few of the members of KORN as testers. That hired us musicians to be quality testers for these and all the other stuff like quadraverbs, the micro compressors etc. at the time we hated these drum machines because they sounded so fake. Later I got into electronic music and realized they were killer. But I never owned one. When you are playing the drums samples , I’m transported back to those low pay days with headphones on as a slave for the insane owners of the plant that were always wacked out on blow and they would freak out randomly.
That is such a fabulous story lol
@@VultureCulture and true haha.
Don’t sleep on the RY-20!
1:19:17 Polyphony with the XT isn't really much of an issue with some tweaks. I've been shipping modkits that offload a lot of the work to a daughterboard-mounted FPGA for a bit now (ditto with a number of other DSP-based synths from that era) that raise the number to something higher you'll ever realistically use. Unlike the official DSP expansion, you'll need to break out a soldering iron, but the official one only worked with the newer runs, whereas these work on all XT/XTks.
That's freaking awesome! How'd you get into modding them?
@@VultureCulture My fulltime job is as an EE and I've spent the last few decades specializing in RE work. I've carried that knowledge/lover over into synths!
@2dcat that is freaking fantastic. I've always thought if I had any idea how to open one of these bad boys up and repair / mod them I'd be unstoppable 😂
@@VultureCulture That's the real fun. Most of my days now are recreating/porting vintage, analog stuff over to FPGA and then once working well, doing stupid stuff like swapping in a SEM for CEM to answer the eternal questions of "would this sound better?" 😅
Yeah man, VAs are basically knobby digital polys that can cop a decent analog sound or take it cartoonish(extreme) like old samplers do. Ion with FM and Comb is just sick.
Blush Response and Jexus probably have the best demos. Much more than just trance or "Take It Like A Man" vibe.
Nord Rack 2 demo by Nacho Marty Meyer and Lead 2 demo by rimela if you want to know that sound or compare to Discovery Pro
The great Metal Spike used this in the 80's
That's awesome! I didn't know that!
The old Ween drum machine ❤
Qual asked about loading samples, EPROM is the only way to swap sounds. Bank switching those can be done with some work on the hardware. No Gotek, that would require a floppy interface which these never had, the only I/O is MIDI and saving and loading patterns (but not samples) over audio FSK to tape etc.
Re Godflesh's machine getting fried on tour, all these great Alesis wedges are infamous for locking up hard or generally being intolerant of iffy mains power. Filtered power is a must for them to be reliable.
That's good to know!
Most aggressive drum machine ever made is probably the Jomox 909 clone, the 909 itself, and maybe in a weird way, the E-mu Drumulator.
I had this in the 90's. It was a fantastic machine.... stolen!😢
I still have an SR.16 but never loved it as much.
Ugh that's terrible to hear!
Many early perc samples were heavily processed.
Part of the magic ✨
I am a goth who had to look up Angelspit. The reason I didn't recognize them is because they aren't from the 80s or 90s. I have a tendency to not listen to newer music. There is some 2000s stuff I listen to. But mot much. 2010s on up its practically nothing that isn't music I made.
I didn't mean to gatekeep you 😂 I should have said if you were goth in the 2000's at the clubs or whatever. 100% was as big of a hit as This Shit Will Fuck You Up or Bind, Torture, Kill.
"Booming kicks" on an HR-16? HA!! It has 10 different kicks and none of them have any low end whatsoever. The trick to give them any beef whatsoever was to layer multiple kicks. The HR-16B has fewer kicks but they all have reverb on them which makes them sound kinda tough I guess. The HR-16 has a few notable strengths: rim-snare sound and ok snares.
oh yes, i'm gonna get one and have DRUGStm bend it, my dead guitarist had one and a gf and i did an album in a day with it, so inspirational
Sorry about your guitarist!
What's DRUGStm?
@@VultureCulturethank you, you may have seen my FB post for his bday yesty, btw I'm Novala Ergo, Nate Lowe, DRUGStm is a mixed media artist' up here in Asheville who makes video glitch machines and performs as Ninelyoko, I've talked to him a few times about our live rig setups and he can bend anything
@@VultureCulturecrap I thought I sent that already, but thank you and they're a multi media artist up here in AVL who performs as Ninelyoko and makes glitch video machines by bending PlayStations,,DRUGStm as his insty and company name, I've talked to him about performance setups, and he can bend anything
@@VultureCulture I've tried to respond twice but it's not showing up, testing testing
@@VultureCulturethey make video glitch machines from PlayStations
Too bad they're prone to breaking down nowadays and are a bear to fix :(
My friend Dub Station Zero who sold me this one repairs them all the time. His Reverb shop is in the description
I still have mine. I still hate it.
What drum machine in the same league would you prefer?
This is a bizarre take. The HR-16 has no punch, it's not tough. It's just a bunch of rom samples and a lifeless amp circuit with poor frequency response. It may have been the first 16-bit drum machine with a "library" of samples, but it was surpassed almost immediately by essentially identical technology with more bells and whistles, like the far superior R8 and the more extensive DR-550. There's really no reason to buy an HR-16. It's junk.
With a lot of old rom machines, a good trick is to add a beefy sine/triangle tone, sidechain gate it,and tune it to add some lowend to the kicks.