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Average Price: $345
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$150
$601+
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Description
The E-mu Drumulator is a vintage classic in the world of drum machines, beloved by DJs and producers for its distinctive 1980s sound. Originally released in 1983, this digital drum machine brings a nostalgic yet timeless touch to modern music production. It's famed for its 12-bit sampling technology, offering a warm and gritty audio quality that stands out in any mix. The Drumulator is equipped with a set of pre-programmed drum sounds that include kicks, snares, and toms, making it a versatile tool for creating everything from hip-hop beats to electronic rhythms.
The Drumulator's user-friendly interface allows for easy sequencing, making it accessible for beginners while still offering enough depth for more experienced users to explore. Its real-time control features allow you to tweak and customize your beats, providing endless creative possibilities. The unit also supports MIDI integration, making it compatible with other modern equipment and software, ensuring it fits seamlessly into your studio setup.
Whether you're a collector of vintage gear or a modern musician looking to add some classic flair to your tracks, the E-mu Drumulator delivers a unique sound that captures the essence of an era while remaining relevant today.
Key Features:
- Vintage 12-bit sampling for authentic 1980s sound
- Pre-programmed drum sounds including kicks, snares, and toms
- User-friendly interface for easy sequencing
- Real-time control features for on-the-fly customization
- MIDI compatibility for seamless integration with modern gear
Product specs
| Brand | E-MU Systems |
| Model | Drumulator 8-Voice Drum Sampler |
| Finish | Blue |
| Year | 1983 |
| Categories | Drum Machines, Samplers |
| Analog / Digital | Digital |
| Polyphony | 8 Voices |
FAQs
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What type of sounds can the E-mu Drumulator produce?
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The E-mu Drumulator is known for its classic 1980s drum sounds, featuring a range of digital samples including kicks, snares, toms, hi-hats, and cymbals, making it suitable for retro and electronic music styles.
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Is the E-mu Drumulator suitable for live performances?
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Yes, the E-mu Drumulator is designed for live use, featuring a user-friendly interface and robust construction, making it a reliable choice for performing musicians.
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How many voices can the E-mu Drumulator play simultaneously?
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The E-mu Drumulator offers 8-voice polyphony, allowing you to layer multiple drum sounds simultaneously for complex rhythms and beats.
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Can the E-mu Drumulator be integrated with modern DAWs?
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While the E-mu Drumulator is a vintage piece of gear, it can be integrated into modern setups through MIDI connections, allowing synchronization with DAWs and other MIDI-compatible equipment.
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Does the E-mu Drumulator allow for custom sample loading?
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The E-mu Drumulator does not allow for custom sample loading, as it uses pre-set digital samples typical of early drum machines from the 1980s.
Videos
AnalogAudio1
E-MU DRUMULATOR Vintage Drum Machine 1983 | HD DEMO | SAMPLE PACK
Reviews
PROS
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Intuitive and fun to use
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Durable build quality
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Iconic 80s sound from 8-bit eproms
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Affordable compared to similar vintage drum machines
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Swappable sound options for customization
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Versatile across genres like synth-pop and italo-disco
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Not steep learning curve for beginners
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Unique sound that's hard to replicate with samples
CONS
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Limited programming capabilities
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Individual outputs are RCA, which may be inconvenient for some setups
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about E-mu Drumulator.
Setup and maintenance
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The Drumulator's PSU shows no apparent issues, with precise rail readings: +5v at 5.63V, -15v at -15.28V, and +15v at 15.01V indicating stable power distribution.
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A failed tin can regulator may overvolt and erase the program ROM chip, specifically at 12k, highlighting the importance of checking this component.
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The Z80 CPU receives proper voltage signals: +5V on VCC, +4.5V on RESET, and +5V on INT, yet the machine remains unresponsive, indicating a possible deeper fault in the system.
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Features and functionality
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The Drumulator emits a burst of drum sounds upon startup, affected by the volume knob, but fails to display lights or segment displays, suggesting a deeper internal issue.
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Mods and upgrades
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Adding a small SMPS to replace the original 5v regulator is recommended to prevent potential overvoltage issues that can erase the program ROM.
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Critic Reviews
4.5 out of 5
Based on 1 Review and 2 Ratings
41007
I grew up with this bad boy
my dad and uncle were always fucking with this guy in the 80s. They used it heavily in their proto chill-out record, "Stress Break" around '85 when I was in grade school. I was excited to discover recently my uncle had it in his basement. So I traded him some guitar stuff for it and have it in my arsenal now.... this is pure Depeche mode and just a great, singular sound in rhythm machines that always loses something when individual hits are sampled.
Artist usage
Add artist
In this article it states Depeche Mode used an Emu Drumulator on People are People - "According to Gareth Jones, the chief aim when recording and layering all the parts for 'People Are People' was to maximise the excitement. And to that end, whereas drum machines such as the Emu Drumulator and Roland TR808 had loomed large during sessions for the Construction Time Again album, sampling took precedence when creating drum sounds for the stand-alone single."
At the back of the album cover of the Rendez-vous album by Jean-Michel Jarre is a list of used instruments. In short:
Seiko DS 250, Synthex, Moog, Roland JX 8P, ARP 2600, Fairlight, Emulator II, Eminent, AKS, Lynn 9000, Memory Moog, Drumulator, Laser Harp, RMI, Seiko DS 320, OBX, DX 100, Matrisequencer, TR 808, Prophet, Casio CZ 5000, Baby Korg personal keyboard.
In the equipment notes on his official website, Robin Guthrie lists the E-mu Drumulator in the third paragraph, second line, indicating his use of this drum machine.
At the very start of the video you can hear Steve test the Drumulator pressing the button for the Bass Drum. Also at this point and year Atomizer was released.
Also Noted Atomizer and all post-Atomizer releases by the band do not feature the TR-606, instead opting for the E-mu Drumulator as mentioned on the Big Black Wikipedia page.
He's seen using throughout the NxWorries music video for "Link Up". While there isn't a great shot in the video of the front of the Drumulator, Peanutbutter Wolf has a picture of the Drumulator in a "behind the scenes" style post on his instagram page that clearly shows the unit.
"We've got a Movement drum machine, too but I won't go into that, I don't want to say nasty things about it. It's very, very hard to use, I think — you have to punch things in about five times before anything gets picked up, whereas a Linn is once. It's not even a punk drum machine, like the Drumulator. That's great. I don't think the basic sounds are much good, but there's the Rock Kit for it which is really mad — it's on 'Mothers Talk', very sort of vicious — and we've used it on the demo of 'Shout', too.
"But I think the Drumulator's badly thought out. It keeps going wrong, blowing out chips. Bad design, yes — we haven't had trouble with the Emulator in that way at all."
"Technique was an interesting album because we’d moved on to Voyetras (fetches one), a rack-mounted synth. Midi came out so you could plug a keyboard into it.
Earlier, when we did with [producer] Stephen Hague to do True Faith he had a Drumulator Mk.1 which was a drum version of the Emulator, so it had compression on it. On the record it’s a drum machine and live I play a sample. It turned into the E-mu SP 12, which was the sampling drum machine that launched hip-hop. By the time we got to Technique we were still using those synths but we’d moved on to Akai samplers, loads of them.
So we had a Mac running Upbeat software, a simple drum machine and all these Akais. A lot of the things on Technique that sound natural are not. For Dream Attack, we were too lazy to play an acoustic guitar, so we sampled every note in the riff and programmed them individually. It was bonkers, one sampler per string!
Oh and before you could quantise things we’d sample every drum and reprogram the whole backing track out of these parts. I basically turned myself into a drum machine. When we did Technique it felt new and pioneering, but then everybody started doing it."
Album Usage
The E-mu Drumulator has been featured on the following albums:
Shout
Tears for Fears (2025)
Songs For A Nervous Planet
Tears for Fears (2024)
True Faith
Peter Hook & Stephen Morris & Stephen Hague (2021)
No Comment (Remastered)
Front 242 (2016)
Pateando Piedras
Los Prisioneros (2016)
Rendez-Vous
Jean Michel Jarre (2015)
Technique
New Order (1989)
Atomizer (Remastered)
Big Black (1985)
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use E-mu Drumulator, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
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