Sequential Circuits TOM

Excellent drumcomputer with very straight forward programming. Controllable through midi. Manual is pretty extensive but clear and helpfull.

Polyphony: four, which does't sound like much, but it works out fine most of the time. Sounds can be tuned over an unbelievable range which turns kicks, snares, toms and claps into true monster sounds: from cricket noise to atomic explosion basically - lots of fun. With 32 steps of velocity, it can be played and tuned (even panned) through midi, but this can also complicate matters, since the TOM can assign the tuning command you give to the kick to the snare by mistake - its quite hard to figure this out sometimes. I've also had it that the TOM doubles the samples when you give a tuning command, so I prefer to use the (excellent) onboard sequencer. Through midi,. the soudns are hardwired to the lower octave of the keyboard in standard GM / Roland style.

One feature it really misses is separate outs for the sounds: the only reason why I would give it a 7 instead of 9.

It also takes external cards with percussion and other sounds - I haven't tried these and they are hard to come by.

Excellent sounds, although far from realistic by 21st century standards. Although the sounds are 12bit, the Tom is still very much of the Linn generation drumcomputers (next to Oberheim DX/DMX, SCI Drumtraks and Drumulator)and it shows: banging & dirty kicks, snares and toms that would work well in electro, punkfunk and techno, and possibly in pop and rock tracks too. The kick is very rich and deep, would not shame a house or trance track either. Claps are 100% early Prince or New Order...

Never had any problems...

Wine County offers full service for Sequential gear. They are definitely not cheap: asked a ridiculous price for a dedicated power supply, which could be picked up at the local Radio Shack for 15 Euro & a bit of special care for the unconventional plug. However, they are there, they are friendly: what can you ask for for a 20 year old machine?

An underrated machine which hasn't been overused and is still much cheaper then the other Linn generation units. Very challenging and inspiring and very instantaneously gratifying...
If it was lost, I would really miss it and definitely replace it. I've been playing forever and have a stack of analog, hybrid and digital synths. I also have a Rolands tr707, R8, 606, an Akai XR10, Pearl DRX, Simmons SDS200 and analog beatboxes such as Korg KPR77 and Boss Dr110: all of these machines are fine. I do find myself using the Tom and 707 kicks most of all, since they are such monsters....
i wish it would have separate outs and that the midi tuning was a bit less complicated but if you are only using one or two sounds from the unit, you won't run into problems.

This was my first drum machine and even a novice could figure it out in 5 minutes. The front panel is laid out so well, it is genius - you don't have to go through any bs like with newer cell-phone sized drum machines. Every option can be selected with the press of a button. The drum sounds are pretty unique. Main attraction is the BIG kick drum. The snare is super abrasive and punchy, it doesn't have that electronic sound of earlier 80's stuff, its ok. Hihats are pretty good. Despite being named the TOM the toms on this are, like with other drum machines of this era, a laughable disgrace. Handclaps are good. Recording patterns on this is a breeze as is tweaking individual instrument tunings and volume. My only complaint is that the MIDI was a little difficult to figure out. Basically you always want it in Mode 4, otherwise the TOM will interpret other midi messages as tuning commands and screw all the drum sounds up.

Don't underestimate A) the value of tunable drums and B) the option to use cartridges. The tuning option greatly expands the utility of otherwise cheesy sounds. But the cartridges are the big news here. It actually takes these little atari cartridges - i think this is totally unique to this machine! I have 4 of them, some are worthless, but the Basic Percussion provides cool analog-esque shakers, rimshots, sidesticks, etc. IMO the TOM would be almost worthless without a few cartridges. Atomic Percussion is total 80's power drums - like Bizarre Love Triangle - but the snare is usable and the Tom's, tuned way up, become very cool electronic sounding hihats. I have heard that the Contemporary Percussion cartridge is best of all, although I have yet to order it from Wine Country. As far as I know recording features on this are pretty basic. A main problem with this machine is its tendency to erase its memory - don't unplug it while recording and be careful when the memory is almost 100% full - so I just record patterns individually and then sequence songs from my Kawai Q80. That way if everything is erased I don't lose entire songs. A cool feature on this is "stack" mode, which creates an awesome flanger effect. This takes a little bit to figure out but I find myself using it often. TOM responds to tuning and panning via MIDI - when programmed w/ a keyboard - although I have yet to try this. Oh I almost forgot practically the best feature - REVERSE DRUMS! you may already know this but TOM can reverse any of its sounds. this is especially tight for cymbals. I also like to double up the kick drum with a quieter reversed kick which gives it a lot of depth. Oh, no separate outs for the indivudal sounds, which is kind of a bummer.

Well what do you expect for 1985....it is great at what it does: lo-fi as hell big drums. The kick and snare on this will punch holes in your wall when sent through a few fat JBLs. Don't expect this to sound like a Roland x0x box. Although it is 12-bit - pretty lo fi - it is digital which is obvious when its compared to older machines. Effects help this out a lot. A suble phase and some reverb will make it suitable for some types of electronic music. But i'd say its a more ROCK oriented machine. I have compared this to an E-mu Drumulator and a Sequential Drumtraks. Out of those 3 I'd say the Drumtraks is the coolest while the others are tied. The E-mu has a much more Hip Hop / R & B sound while the TOM is just a deranged beast. But if that's what you're into....the features mentioned before make this one a keeper.

I play live with this often - but don't drop it cos it'll fall apart. Also don't depend on its onboard sequencer due to the memory problems I mentioned. One advantage of the Kawai Q80 I use with this is that it can take Sysex dumps of the full memory in case you're having serious problems.

I've heard Wine Country aren't exactly the best to deal with.

Some day I'll probably replace this monster but for now it suits me alright. You can find these for cheap - like $150 or less. The price I listed was with 4 cartridges. Given the sounds on them that may have been a little much to pay. But whatever. This thing has attitude...it is just loud and mean. It stands out from the pack no doubt. Plus I just love having an ugly ass atari-lookin drum machine with TOM written on it in football-team letters. And the cartridges...man this is a great conversation piece. You should see the looks on peoples faces when I whip out the atari cartridge and put it in my drum machine, then start playing bizzare love triangle. It rules. For a similar price to what I paid you could get a Drumtraks - they're awesome, a Drumulator - also excellent, an HR-16 - which I haven't actually played on personally, a 707 or even a 606. But none has the sheer variety of weird noises you can get out of the TOM. I would suggest playing on one of these before you buy it off ebay because if techno is more your style of things, this probably isn't what you're looking for.

everything is laid out on the front panel
and all tasks are a button or two away
very easy to use

features rock
de-tune drums
stack drum sounds to build "chords", reverse sounds, easy expansion
etc..etc...
lo-fi sounds but they are still very cool and useful

like i said
lo-fi but hell, its an old machine
and as much as people dig the roland X0X boxes, tose dont sound like real drums either
my only compaint is the manual i got from Wine Country was supposed to tell me how to make my own sound cartridges but the manual was lacking some very important information
so as it stands i still cant make my own carts,
which sucks because id like to make an 808 or 909 cart for TOM

like i said its an old machine
and i dont know what number owner i am but so far she never let me down
i wish i had a back up though just because id hate to ever be without TOM

Wine country is good, but my only complaint with them is
i ordered my parts monday
they said they would ship tuesday and they'd email me the tracking number
thursday i still had no tracking number
so i called
they said the parts would ship the following monday
which they didnt
eventually the next wednesday they went out
but the people i talked to were very friendly and helpful
and when the parts arrived i was not disappointed
i just wish they were more accurate with the shipping info
but they do have just about anything

overall i love this machine
i think it is definately an under rated machine
but probably because most people dont want to go any further than the X0X boxes to make their music, which is a shame
i wish it had the ability to adjust the decay of the drum sounds
but aside from that TOM is great and everyone should have one

plug in and play! don't really need a manual everything i screened on the front panel

this guy takes little carts that look totally atari 2600 also you can overlap drum sounds in a sequence with different tunings AND you can reverse the sounds!

way bad ass check out TOM1 tuned all the way down. don't blow your speakers! It's not an 808 but with my moogerfooger on the kick who cares. Nobody i know has ever seen one so the sounds are not stale like some of the roland stuff ie. every where also the handclap tuned down is sick!

I never had trouble with sequential (prophet5/600/2 sixtraks/drumtracks)

2 words WineCountry

this thing is a secret weapon. after this 808/909 craze is over which I suspect never will the TOM will get the respct it deserves. on a side note remember Prince's when doves cry? the hand clap is this sucker!!