Roger Linn is a
musical instrumentA musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making the sounds of music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of human culture...
designer, mainly of
electronicElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
drum machines, and has recently branched out into
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
effects pedals. His products have become underground hits, being used on many famous recordings. He is also an accomplished
guitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, classical guitars and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :...
and
producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
.
Roger Linn first made his name by designing the world's first programmable, sampled-sound
drum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. Drum machines are very useful instruments for a wide variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
in 1979, the
LM-1 Drum ComputerThe LM-1 Drum Computer, manufactured by Linn Electronics Inc., was the first drum machine to use digital samples of acoustic drums. Conceived and designed by Roger Linn, it was also one of the first programmable drum machines...
, manufactured by his own company, Linn Electronics, located in
TarzanaTarzana is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States.-Location:Tarzana, a district of Los Angeles, is surrounded by Reseda to the north, Woodland Hills to the west, Encino to the east, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the south...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
.
Roger Linn is a
musical instrumentA musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making the sounds of music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of human culture...
designer, mainly of
electronicElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
drum machines, and has recently branched out into
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
effects pedals. His products have become underground hits, being used on many famous recordings. He is also an accomplished
guitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, classical guitars and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :...
and
producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
.
The LM-1
Roger Linn first made his name by designing the world's first programmable, sampled-sound
drum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. Drum machines are very useful instruments for a wide variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
in 1979, the
LM-1 Drum ComputerThe LM-1 Drum Computer, manufactured by Linn Electronics Inc., was the first drum machine to use digital samples of acoustic drums. Conceived and designed by Roger Linn, it was also one of the first programmable drum machines...
, manufactured by his own company, Linn Electronics, located in
TarzanaTarzana is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States.-Location:Tarzana, a district of Los Angeles, is surrounded by Reseda to the north, Woodland Hills to the west, Encino to the east, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the south...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. The LM-1 was the first drum machine to use actual
samplesIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
, recorded from session drummer James Gadson. The LM-1's subsequent successors, the
LinnDrumThe LinnDrum is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics. It was released in 1982 as a successor to the Linn LM-1. The LinnDrum has 15 drum sounds sampled from real drums, a sequencer for programming rhythm patterns and five trigger inputs....
and Linn 9000, became synonymous with 1980s
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, early
danceDance is a sport and art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and
hip hop musicHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
. Examples of the LM-1 in use can be found on many of
PrincePrince Rogers Nelson is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He performs under the mononym Prince but has also been known by various other names, most notably the unpronounceable symbol which he used as his stage name between 1993 and 2000...
's songs, such as “Ballad of Dorothy Parker” and "
When Doves Cry"When Doves Cry" is a song by the American musician Prince, and the lead single from his 1984 album Purple Rain. It was a worldwide hit, and his first American number one single, topping charts for five weeks...
." The production team of Stock Aitken & Waterman even give the drum machine a tongue-in-cheek credit on some of their hits; in the list of musicians is often found "Drums - A Linn"
Linn Electronics went out of business in 1986, at which point Linn was recruited by
AkaiAkai is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Saburo Akai as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929. It is now headquartered in Singapore as a subsidiary of Grande Holdings, a Chinese Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns the formerly Japanese brands Nakamichi and Sansui...
to work on the MPC60 and the MPC3000
MIDI Production CenterAkai MPCs are a popular and well respected series of electronic musical instruments originally designed by Roger Linn and produced by the Japanese company Akai from 1988 onwards...
. Most Linn products began to utilise the relatively new technology of MIDI, allowing the drum machines to be beat-synched and communicate with other electronic musical instruments, such as keyboards, and even some early computers.
Roger Linn Design
As of 2002, Roger Linn has founded a new company, Roger Linn Design. RLD's only series of products so far are the AdrenaLinn series of guitar effects pedals, now updated to a third version. The AdrenaLinn is a
digitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
multi-effects unit with a drum machine and amp modeller all in one, co-designed by Roger Linn and
Dave SmithDave Smith is known as the pioneer of the first polyphonic and microprocessor-controlled synthesizer, the industry-changing Prophet 5, and later the driving force behind the generation of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface specification, which has since become standard to all modern...
(credited with helping to conceive MIDI). Most notably, unlike other guitar pedals, it allows the effects section to be synched up to a particular beat, either the AdrenaLinn's own drumbeat, or an external beat via MIDI. The drum section can also be affected by the filter section, allowing dance-style beats. Other unusual aspects of the pedal are its guitar
arpeggiatorAn arpeggiator is a feature available on some hardware synthesisers and virtual instruments. It allows the player to automatically step through a sequence of notes based on the player's input, most often from a keyboard MIDI controller, thus creating an arpeggio...
and guitar synth sounds. The AdrenaLinn technology was also the basis of Roger Linn's partnership with M-Audio to create their Black Box guitar recording device.
The AdrenaLinn & II can be heard on the following records, among others:
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983. For most of the band's existence, the members have been vocalist Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary, and drummer Chad Smith...
- By The Way - Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
- 2002 (produced by Rick RubinFrederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and, as of mid-2009, the co-head of Columbia Records....
)
- John Mayer - Heavier Things - 2003
- Morcheeba
Morcheeba are a British band that mixes influences from trip hop, rock, rhythm and blues and pop. Their most popular albums include debut Who Can You Trust? and Big Calm. They are primarily known for the single "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day." The group released their sixth studio album Dive Deep...
- Parts Of The Process - Reprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
- 2003
- Green Day
Green Day is an American rock trio formed in 1987. The band has consisted of Billie Joe Armstrong , Mike Dirnt , and Tré Cool for the majority of its existence....
- American Idiot
- Marillion
Marillion are a British rock group. Formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979, their recorded studio output comprises fifteen albums and is generally regarded as comprising two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first...
- Marbles - 2004
LinnDrum II
Linn and Smith have announced an updated version of the LinnDrum. The original development name was BoomChik, but changed to LinnDrum II in December 2007 The LinnDrum II will be available in two versions: a model which features only a drum machine, and a second model called the LinnDrum II Analog, which features four analog synthesizer voices in addition to the drum machine. The synthesizer section uses the same voice generation technology used in Smith's own EvolverThe Evolver is an analog-digital hybrid synthesizer designed by Dave Smith and manufactured by Dave Smith Instruments. It was first released as a desktop version in 2002, then later a 37-key keyboard bearing the same synth engine as the Evolver desktop was also released...
series as well as the newly-introduced Prophet-08. The digital-only instrument will be released through Roger Linn Design, while the Analog will be released through Dave Smith Instruments.
Music career
Roger Linn has had a level of songwriting success, penning hits for Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream, and as a solo performer, being the only person ever to be inducted three times...
("Promises", 1979) and Mary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
("Quittin' Time", 1991), and having toured as a guitarist with the pianist/songwriter Leon RussellClaude Russell Bridges known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and guitarist....
in the 1970s at age 21.
External links