E-mu Drumulator
E-mu Drumulator is a sample-based drum machine by E-mu Systems. Introduced in 1983 at a price of US$995, the Drumulator was the first programmable drum machine with built-in samples for under $1,000, resulting in sales of over 10,000 units over two years. The Drumulator was the predecessor of the E-mu SP-12.
Also recorded as Drumulator
E-mu Drumulator
Andreas Gortan · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Field
- drum machine
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The Drumulator utilizes 8-bit samples for 12 sounds, including SSM analog filters. It was widely used in early 1980s in synth-pop and Italo disco productions. In 1984, Digidrums released special EPROMs for the Drumulator, which included the Rock Drums set used on Tears for Fears' hit "Shout" and on "Beastie Groove" for Beastie Boys by Rick Rubin.
• Year — Artist — Album — Songs • 1983 — Cocteau Twins — Head over Heels — "My Love Paramour" • Cocteau Twins — Sunburst and Snowblind • Depeche Mode — Construction Time Again — "Everything Counts", "Love, in Itself" • Keith LeBlanc — "Malcolm X: No Sell Out" • Valerie Dore — "The Night", "Get Closer" • 1984 — Camel — Stationary Traveller — "Vopo's" • Fun Fun — "Color My Love" • Howard Jones — Human's Lib • Kenny Loggins — Footloose — "Footloose" • Rockwell — Somebody's Watching Me — "Somebody's Watching Me" • Carol Jiani — "Touch and Go Lover" • 1984 — Cocteau Twins — Treasure • 1985 — Bad Boys Blue — "Hot Girls, Bad Boys" • Game Theory — Real Nighttime — "She'll Be a Verb" • Lou Reed — OST White Nights — "My Love is Chemical" • Tears for Fears — Songs from the Big Chair — "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" • Front 242 — No Comment • 1986 — Nu Shooz — "I Can't Wait" • Big Black — Atomizer • Ilaiyaraaja — Punnagai Mannan • 1987 — Big Black — Songs About Fucking • Depeche Mode — Music for the Masses — "Never Let Me Down Again" • 1991 — Teenage Fanclub — Bandwagonesque — "Is This Music?" • 2001 — Liars — They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top — "Mr Your On Fire Mr", "Tumbling Walls Buried Me in the Debris", "We Live NE of Compton" • Ultravox
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article E-mu Drumulator, revision 1369577107 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Vail, Mark. Vintage Synthesizers. Miller Freeman Book. 24. 1993. 0-87930-275-5.
- 2.Keeble, Rob. 30 Years Of Emu. Sound On Sound. SOS Publications Group.
- 3.Guthrie, Robin. Equipment Notes. Robin Guthrie.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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