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i would expect it to need a little roughing-up. when old drum machines are clean, they're often painfully clean.

Ok, in absence of my band after I moved to the countryside I started playing more with my electronic friends:



I might need a table, though, even though the kids enjoy the playing area on the floor a lot. And maybe another drum machine...

Nice!

maybe a bi-level or tri-level rack wide enough for you to spread stuff out in a similar fashion while getting everything in front of you?

Nah, it needs to be living room compatible. Maybe a nice coffee table.

Pepe wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2025 2:56 am Okay, I didn't know that. On another website I read that Kraftwerk used this drum machine in the early days (must be on their nowadays "inofficial" second or third album then, before "Autobahn").

I finished cleaning the Mini Pops 3 yesterday and now the crackling noise has vanished. Sounds best through my tube amp so far. The pure signal through a mixer is not too good-sounding.

I love the sounds of those old machines. I've got an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-2L. I'd like to use it more but it shifts in tempo ever so slightly which makes it only usable when sampled which of course takes a lot of fun out of it. Does the Mini Pops run stable?

Pepe wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2025 8:52 am Not exactly a synthesizer, but sort of. Last Saturday I won an ebay auction of a KEIO (pre-KORG) Mini Pops 3 drum machine. It was declared as defective, plus the name plate was missing and the seller had no idea what it was, so I managed to purchase it for under 55 EUR including shipping. The unit just arrived. And to my huge joy it works!

I don't know what the seller tried to do with it. He said that the lamp didn't light up when testing it. Maybe he powered it once with the volume/power switch turned to the "off" position?

Anyway, it sounds absolutely fabulous! I really enjoy combining those push-buttons. There are so many possible rhythm varieties, much more than expected! The Mini Pops 3 will stay here - it is definitely a keeper!

The knobs and buttons are crackling and everything is dirty, but I will clean that all as good as possible in the next days.


keio_mini_pops_3.jpg

Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen that model under the Keio badge. In the States, they're always labeled as the Univox SR-55 (I've had that one and the Jarre model---the Univox SR-95). Speaking of Kraftwerk, have you ever come across the Elka Drummer One? That is the one I see most often mentioned with Kraftwerk and other German artists like Harmonia. On eBay, they're always $1,400+ these days. I wonder if a couple are still in German attics and pawn shops collecting dust.

Zork wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 10:52 am I love the sounds of those old machines. I've got an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-2L. I'd like to use it more but it shifts in tempo ever so slightly which makes it only usable when sampled which of course takes a lot of fun out of it. Does the Mini Pops run stable?

Yes, the Mini Pops is very stable. Maybe your tempo potentiometer is dirty and needs some cleaning?

echorec wrote: ↑Sun Oct 05, 2025 3:38 pm Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen that model under the Keio badge. In the States, they're always labeled as the Univox SR-55 (I've had that one and the Jarre model---the Univox SR-95). Speaking of Kraftwerk, have you ever come across the Elka Drummer One? That is the one I see most often mentioned with Kraftwerk and other German artists like Harmonia. On eBay, they're always $1,400+ these days. I wonder if a couple are still in German attics and pawn shops collecting dust.

Maybe my model has not been a Keio-branded unit. They were also sold with the Aria Diamond label for example. But it looks like a genuine Keio unit. But I don't really care about that. It sounds cool, that's what counts. Yes, in America they were sold under the Univox flag, like pretty much every Keio/KORG unit until the 800DV (my favourite synth!).

I haven't come across any other analogue drum machines apart from a CR-78 in Sam Battle's (Look Mum No Computer) museum in Ramsgate and I haven't heard about the Elka unit.

Picked up one of these recently:
Keystep 37 for scale.

I really like analog mono synths, and I’ve been using Moogs forever, so I wanted to try something different. It’s a cool little box! Not quite a replacement for something like a Minitaur, but has its own thing going on. The filter is different from other monos I’ve used, and the overdrive is very nice. Just enough routing options to get interesting sounds, and an all around useful voice for most styles of music.

I also picked up a Koma Chromaplane, which has actually been very rewarding to learn. It’s very limited in some respects, and I was quick to supplement it with external fx, but then I sort of embraced its limitations, and have been having a great time with it. I just love being able to control the envelope with my hands.

Finally, I got the Arturia V Collection last year when it went on sale, and had not really dug into it. Recently I have been using the minifreak vst and seriously enjoying it. It sounds really great to my ears and is sort of a one stop shop for many bread and butter sounds. It has me interested in the hardware a bit, but for now I’m very happy with the keystep plugged into my laptop.

In order to develop a cool setup for some live techno stuff I'm experimenting with I figured I'd need some dedicated lead synth. After trying out this and that, here's what I settled on:



Holy Grail and Tape Echo would normally sit in the aux channels of the mixing desk. Also, it would be cool to put my EHX Pitchfork in the chain but I don't have it at home at the moment. Anyway, I just love the sound of that old Portasound. As you can see, it already went through a lot with me. When I found it on a flea market about 20 years ago, it looked almost brand new. Here's a nice demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YvzWSX-brM

Florian Schneider's keys--

https://www.juliensauctions.com/en/auct ... collection