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There's a common sentiment among some musicians that drum machines have no soul. Don't tell that to Joe Mansfield. The drum machine collector and author of the new book Beat Box bought his first drum machine at age 15. It was a mint condition Roland TR-808 he picked up for approximately $200 with money he borrowed from his mom. He hasn't looked back since.
While listening to hip hop and rap in the early '80s, Mansfield noticed that the same percussion sounds were being used on multiple songs. Obsessed with music, he began checking the liner notes of albums for information on the gear used by artists like Run DMC, Afrika Bambaataa, and Soulsonic Force to see what they were using to create all those hypnotic beats.
If the liner notes proved to be dead ends, he'd talk to the sales associates at the Boston-area music stores that were near the record shops he frequented. An avid record collector, Mansfield spent a lot of time in those record stores building out his collection and quizzing employees about which album and song used what drum machine.
After purchasing the TR-808, Mansfield started recreating the beats from his favorite songs and using them in DJ sets. He was hooked. Soon he wanted to expanded his collection. Unfortunately, the Roland TR-909 and Oberheim DMX he wanted were too expensive. Instead, he started buying older and cheaper pre-programmed drum machines. "They were throw-aways and people didn't care about them," he says. "I thought they were cool."
Mansfield's drum machine and record collection grew in step. In the early 1990s he'd take road trips from Boston to Kansas City to search out more treasure. Music stores, thrift stores, swap meets -- any place that might yield the beat-producing machines, Mansfield visited. The results of those expeditions detail the history of the drum machine and are collected in his new book. From the Wurlitzer Side Man that provided samba, waltz, tango, and cha cha beats, to the world famous Roland TR-808 that was embraced by hip-hop artists, Mansfield's love of drum machines comes from the most soulful thing in the world: music.
When asked about motivating others to start collections of their own, Mansfield told WIRED, "Hopefully this doesn't inspire [them] to collect drum machines, because that means less for me." Spoken like a true collector.
Beat Box is available for pre-order now for $50.
Photos: Gary Land
Above:
After purchasing the TR-808, Mansfield started recreating the beats from his favorite songs and using them in DJ sets. He was hooked. Soon he wanted to expanded his collection. Unfortunately, the Roland TR-909 and Oberheim DMX he wanted were too expensive. Instead, he started buying older and cheaper pre-programmed drum machines. "They were throw-aways and people didn't care about them," he says. "I thought they were cool."
Mansfield's drum machine and record collection grew in step. In the early 1990s he'd take road trips from Boston to Kansas City to search out more treasure. Music stores, thrift stores, swap meets -- any place that might yield the beat-producing machines, Mansfield visited. The results of those expeditions detail the history of the drum machine and are collected in his new book. From the Wurlitzer Side Man that provided samba, waltz, tango, and cha cha beats, to the world famous Roland TR-808 that was embraced by hip-hop artists, Mansfield's love of drum machines comes from the most soulful thing in the world: music.
When asked about motivating others to start collections of their own, Mansfield told WIRED, "Hopefully this doesn't inspire [them] to collect drum machines, because that means less for me." Spoken like a true collector.
Beat Box is available for pre-order now for $50.
Photos: Gary Land
Above:
