Linn LM-1

Linn LM-1 Drum Computer
Linn LM-1 Drum Computer Rev. 3
Manufacturer	Linn Electronics
Dates	1980–1983
Price	US $4,995 - $5,500 - $3,995
Technical specifications
Polyphony	polyphonic: Rev. 1: 10 voices, Rev. 2 & 3: 9 voices
Timbrality	multitimbral 12 voices
Synthesis type	8 bit Digital Samples / 28 kHz
Storage memory	100 memory patches
Effects	Individual level, pan, tuning for all sounds
Input/output
Keyboard	12 hard plastic "pads"
External control	pre-MIDI, external clock oscillator input, tape sync in/out

The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer, manufactured by Linn Electronics Inc., was the first drum machine to use digital samples of acoustic drums and was conceived and designed by Roger Linn. It was also one of the first programmable drum machines.

It was introduced in early 1980 at a list price of US$4,995 and climbed to $5,500 when additional features were incorporated. The price then fell to $4,995 as cost-cutting measures were introduced, and later reduced to $3,995 before it was discontinued after the release of its successor, the LinnDrum. Somewhere between 500 and 725 units were built.

It is prized by amateur and professional musicians alike for its rarity, as well as its characteristic sounds, which can be heard on the recordings of such famous artists as Prince, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, the Human League, Peter Gabriel, Kraftwerk and many others during the 1980s.

Roger Linn was a professional guitarist in California in 1978 when he began to develop the LM-1 as an accompaniment tool for his home studio. He had experimented with many of the preset rhythm boxes which were popular at the time, but was dissatisfied and "wanted a drum machine that did more than play preset samba patterns and didn't sound like crickets". Having learned how to program in BASIC and assembly language, Linn set to work on a computer program which could play user-programmed rhythm patterns, as well as chain them together to form a song.

According to Linn, the first to suggest the idea of digital samples was Steve Porcaro of Toto. The drum sound samples were created by Linn and Art Wood, a Los Angeles session drummer, who also played drums with Cher, Bette Midler, Tina Turner, Gary Wright, Peter Frampton, James Brown and others, as well as on numerous movies and television shows.