Roland CR-78

The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine launched in 1978.

Although primitive by today's standards, the CR-78 represented an important advance in drum machine technology at the time, in particular by allowing users to program and store their own drum patterns. The wood effect cabinet and preset rhythms of the CR-78 such as Waltz, Bossa Nova and Rhumba suggest that it was seen by its designers as primarily an accompaniment for an electric organ, but the CR-78 became one of the favorite instruments of pop and electronic musicians in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Famous songs that make prominent use of the Roland CR-78 include "Vienna" by Ultravox, "Heart of Glass" by Blondie, Duchess by Genesis, and "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.

The CR-78 uses analog drum voices, which sound very little like real percussion instruments. The unit also incorporates an NEC microprocessor to provide digital control of its functions.

Previous Roland drum machines had offered only a selection of preset rhythms. The CR-78's key new feature at the time of its introduction was that in addition to offering 34 preset rhythms, it provided four programmable memory locations for storing patterns created by the user. These can be created by using step programming with the WS-1 box, which was available as an optional extra. The four user patterns are stored in RAM memory; when the CR78 is switched off, the contents of the RAM are maintained by a NiCd rechargeable battery.

The CR-78's front panel allows the user to customize the preset rhythms by altering the volume balance between bass and treble sounds, canceling some sounds altogether, and adding "metallic beat" (three filtered square waves that create a distinctive chime timbre). Many of the preset rhythms have a memorable character, and the ability to manipulate them further made the CR-78 a versatile instrument.

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