Oberheim Drummer

The Drummer is very easy to program and get a great sound out of
in a few minutes, provided you have the manual.
Without the manual it can be quite cryptic. With the manual,
you can learn the user interface in an hour or so and
it becomes second nature to program it.

Patches are the static patterns in the Drummer and a Preset is
the combination of a Patch, plus the various parameters that compose
a Preset. There are 16 Presets available with the basic SRAM
and 100 with the 32kb SRAM.

The Drummer is 12 note Polyphonic. It makes no
noise of its own. It is a MIDI processor.
It can be expanded via a 62256 SRAM if you can find one.
Mine has been expanded to the 32Kb maximum.
The MIDI implementation is quite simple. It can respond to
note on/off, Patch change, System Realtime (clock) and note velocity
pressure. It uses these to great effect and can do some
very dynamic rhythm patterns with just these parameters.

The Drummer makes no sound of its own. It can work
with any Drum tone generator, synth or sampler.
It has a very tight MIDI timing. It does respond to the user
via the "Interact" modes that will allow it to play a fill
or a breakdown depending on how you set the mode. It can
also use Velocity to add parts to the rhythm patterns
you define in a Preset. All in all it is a very expressive
instrument for such a simple device.

I don't know if the Drummer is reliable. I stupidly used a wrong sized
plug on it and somehow burnt out the Voltage regulator. I thought
so highly of the Drummer that I got it fixed which cost me nearly
as much as I paid for it. I don't care. It was worth it.
I also note that although I have the latest OS 3.8 on mine, it crashes if it gets MIDI data that is out of band, that it cannot process.
I did some tests and discovered it was crashing if I sent it streams
of pitch bend, mod wheel and CC's. I have since stuck a filter rule
on my MIDI interface (MTP-II) to screen out all events except note on/off, patch change, Realtime and Mono pressure. it is now rock solid. I think it could be safely gigged like this and relied on not
to crash. It is made of commodity components but I believe it is fragile, so you might want to pack it well in a special case. When
I win the lottery, I am going to buy in a technician to reverse engineer the Drummer and pack it into a rack frame. Fragile, but
with careful treatment it will work OK. Mine will not leave the studio now. I am going to buy a second one just in case.

I do not believe you can get support now. Maybe one day if there
is more interest in the instrument. For now, here's the manual:

http://www.zeta.org.au/~grove/midi/drummer.pdf

This should help anyone who is struggling without it.

I love my Drummer. It is terrific for a rhythm dummy like me.
You can program it to get a pretty good dynamic rhythm track them overlay it with your own parts as well. I want a second one.
I already have a Cyclone too, but am also seeking a Strummer.
I wish it was in a 1U rack format. I wish it had a slightly
more stable OS. It definitely helps me make music. Before,
my drum parts sounded robotic and boring. Now they sound professional. I am using it to drive my R8m, which is a good combination. I dislike the fact it's in a plastic box that I keep
thinking will break on me, but I am careful with it. Get the SRAM update for it as well, so you can be a power user! I had no trouble with the SySex dumps but as mentioned, I now filter all unneeded MIDI
events and it is very stable this way.

The Oberheim Drummer has no model number on the unit. It is simply called the Oberheim Drummer. If you are a really good drummer and like to build all your own drum patterns from scratch, this is NOT the machine for you. If you play keyboard or guitar and do vocals, it is undoubtedly the best drum machine I have ever used; and I have used them all. The "Drummer" has no sounds and that's probably why Oberheim does not sell many of them, but all you have to do is connect the midi out from the "Drummer" to the midi in of any sound module with drum sounds, like a drum machine, or General Midi sound module and it works like a charm. It has 100 Presets (not to be confused with patterns), and it also has 100 built in patterns. Of course, all 100 patterns can be easily edited to get just the sound you want. You have complete Tempo control over each preset, which means you can easily program 100 songs into memory using factory patterns you edit and the darn machine remembers everything, even the tempo for each of the 100 presets. This means you can go into a club live and go from one song to the next to the next without having to do anything. I am a solo performer and play guitar and bass pedals with a drum machine backup. I always hated to be in the audience watching a performer who spent half the evening getting ready for his/her next song. With the "Drummer", you can go from song to song in 1 or 2 seconds. It's great. Also great for recording. The variations you can get on the factory settings are amazing. I liked mine so much, I just ordered another one as a back up in case this one ever breaks. I did it because I am afraid Oberheim will discontinue it and I won't be able to get a replacement. If you have been as frustrated as I have been trying to get your drums to "come alive", you better go out and buy a "drummer" right now. You will have to special order one because nobody stocks them. Because nobody stocks them, I fear Oberheim will discontinue the "drummer". You know, simply supply and demand. Oberhiem is owned by Gibson. They are in Tennesee and the number is 800-444-2766. Ask for Mike at Extention 382. Tell him the guy in Massachusetts told you to call. I've been driving him nuts calling him trying to find out where I can buy another "drummer". Every time I call, Mike gives me the name of a store or mail order place that he says has them, but when I call, they don't. I special ordered mine at Guitar Center, but any Oberheim Dealer should be able to get one from Oberheim. There's even more good news: The price: I think suggested retail is $259.00, but I got my first one as Musicians Friend for $159 and I am getting my second one from Guitar Center for the same price, $159.00. I am going to rate the "Drummer" a 10 on "ease of use", but only if you read the book that comes with it. It's only 40 pages and if you don't read it, it will take a lot longer to get up and running. My first "Drummer" sat in a box for one year because I couldn't figure it out and I refused to read the darn book. When I finally got sick of my Alesis SR-16, I took the challange and read the book and fiddled with the "Drummer" as I read. It took me one entire Saturday, but now I am amazed. I am really cooking and I really sound much, much better than before. It's like I have a real live drummer behind me.

100 presets. 100 factory patterns, all editable. Different tempo can be saved for each preset, no other drum machine can do this. 100 Rhythym variations for each pattern. Complete control over Time Signature for each pattern. Midi In, Midi Out, 4 foot switch jacks for Start/Stop, Break/Interrupt, Add Percussion and Fills. Does Fills on the fly, live.

The Oberheim Drummer has no sounds.

I cannot comment on the "Drummer" as to long term dependability, but there is really nothing to go wrong with it. It has no moving parts. I have noticed that if it gets a jolt of static electricity while I am setting up a preset, it will sometimes "lock up", but all you have to do is turn it off and on again and your back in business. It does not lose information when this occurs and it has NEVER happened while performing, only while setting up the presets. Yes I would use it live without a backup.

Call Mike at Oberheim. Very friendly, nice guy. I found Mike to be very helpful. The unit comes with 8k memory chip which can be upgraded to 32k. I just ordered and received the upgrade chip from Unicorn Electronics, Tel: 800-824-3432, the part number is 62256LP-10. The chip cost under three bucks. I don't know why they didn't just put the additional memory into the machine at the factory. Three more dollars wouldn't scare off a potential buyer.

See comments under Ease of Use.