Videographer Jack Pearson shared this mini-documentary, Roger Linn: The King of Drum Machines.
This is the story of Roger Linn, a guitarist and songwriter from Los Angeles who created the modern drum machine and changed the sound of modern music.
Video Summary:
“I first learned about Roger a few years ago while making a film called “The History of Sampling in Music”.
While I didn’t know anything about Roger at the time, I was astounded to learn that he had created both the LinnDrum and the MPC, which shaped the punchy robotic drums of 80s pop music and the grungy experimental grooves of 90s hip-hop respectively. I did a quick bit of research about him for my video, but didn’t really dig much deeper than that…
However, a few months ago I decided to rewatch my old project, which reignited my interest in Roger’s story and gave me the idea for this video.
Like my previous project, I’d initially planned to write a script and do a voice-over, but after discovering the assortment of recorded interviews that Roger has already appeared in, I realized that I could just chop them up and have Roger tell his own story. I thought “hey that sounds pretty cool, how hard could it be?”
Well, let’s just say I’m probably never going to do something like this again. I did enjoy making this and I am proud of it, but if I had just done a voice-over not only would it have been easier to make, but I also could’ve included a lot information without it feeling incredibly clunky. The initial cut was about 26 minutes, but I cut out loads of stuff for the sake of pacing and trying to stick to narrative beats.
Roger is a fascinating guy with a lot of great anecdotes though, so if you enjoyed this video then I highly recommend you seek out some of the podcasts/interviews he’s done over the years.”
Note: The nickname “The King of Drum Machines” comes from Dave Smith, and a panel discussion at Sweetwater’s Gearfest 2015.
I heard him on a panel with Dave Smith, Tom Oberheim, and Keith McMillen at the Don Buchla Memorial show. It was cool to hear them reminisce about Don.
Love you Mr Linn! 🙂
Roger Linn and Tom Oberheim always come across as friendly, humble guys, in spite of the way their instruments completely changed music.
I met Roger at NAMM a few years back and he comes across as a friendly guy that’s really passionate about making cool instruments. He showed me the LinnStrument and I felt like he could have talked about it all day.
I didn’t get a LInnStrument (it seems like a better fit for guitarists and string players than keyboard players), but that conversation opened my eyes to expressive MIDI instruments and I ended up getting a Osmose, which is probably the best expressive keyboard instrument to date.
Roger Linn and Geert Bevin (his firmware developer) are the reason that MPE exists, too.
“I thought ‘hey that sounds pretty cool, how hard could it be?’ Well, let’s just say I’m probably never going to do something like this again.”
Ah, yes, I’m well-acquainted with this pattern.