Kawai R-100

4.0 (5)

2 Critic Reviews

1 Review

This product is Vintage or Discontinued

Find out who is using Kawai R-100

3 wishlisted

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Page last updated Sep 16, 2025

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Description

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12BIT Digital drum machine from 1987 features 24 samples with separated outs and some interesting sync options. DRUM MACHINE Main panel features a basic 16 x 2 lines display, 8 velocity sensitive pads, 30 buttons and 2 knobs for volume and tempo rate. Back panel terminals connectors: - main audio out - Midi interface - headphones - metronome out - trigger out +5V - hihat pedal control - click out at 24 PPQ - tape I/O - 8 analog outs - Sync I/O at 24 PPQ. VOICE drum machine based on M50734 SP manages 8 digital voices polyphony.

STRUCTURE: each voice can play a SAMPLE with minor parameters edit (at 15 quantised levels): 1- volume 2- stereo panning 3- pitch tuning.

Videos

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Elekktrikk Home Video Entertainment

Kawai R100 EBM Industrial Sounds and Programming

Elekktrikk Home Video Entertainment

KAWAI R-100 Drum Machine With R-ROM & Roland Boutique SH-01a Demo

Carl Nilsson

Kawai R100 Drummachine

Patrik Gudmundsäter

Tour of the Kawai R-100

gwEm’s gwEmbassy

Reviews

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Critic Reviews

Kawai R100 Drum Machine (SOS Jun 87)

muzines.co.uk

Kawai's R-100 drum machine impresses with its ease of use and creative potential, offering a wealth of features at a reasonable price. Its sound quality, with 24 well-sampled drums, is generally good, though some samples exhibit unexpected noise. The machine excels in programmability, allowing intricate patterns and dynamic play with touch-sensitive pads and extensive tuning options. Despite minor drawbacks such as a somewhat noisy sample and a display that isn't intuitive for all users, the R-100 provides powerful editing and syncing capabilities, making it ideal for both studio professionals and creative musicians looking to break away from ordinary drum tracks.

positive

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Kawai R100 (MT May 87)

muzines.co.uk

The Kawai R-100 drum machine sits as an ambitious debut from Kawai in the digital beatbox realm. It offers a robust feature set including 24 sounds, eight velocity-sensitive pads, and comprehensive MIDI capabilities, appealing particularly to those keen on tweaking and programming their rhythms. However, its sound library's expandability is underwhelming, requiring ROM swaps for new sounds, which can't be used concurrently with the existing set. While it stands as a sophisticated and flexible machine with a strong sonic character, the memory limitations and cumbersome tempo change features may deter some users. Overall, the R-100 is a versatile tool with some notable shortcomings.

neutral

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4.0 out of 5

Based on 1 Review and 5 Ratings

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blackfan

149

about 6 years ago

Secret weapon

A nice little addition for when you want a change from your usual drum sounds. If you know the Zanzibar NJ House Sound, you’ll start hearing this in a lot of those tracks when you get to know it.

Artist usage

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Jan Hammer

Keyboardist

The Mahavishnu Orchestra

Verified via Muzines

"I have my own Fairlight drum samples, custom Linn chips, as well as a new Kawai R100 drum machine with really nice sounds."

Larry Heard

Keyboardist, Composer

Verified via Muzines

As cited in the gear list of this May '92 feature in Music Tech magazine

Meat Beat Manifesto

Music Producer

The Orb vs. Meat Beat Manifesto

Verified via MusicRadar

"This one is based around the Kawai R-100 drum machine, triggering the gate. It’s basically all Kawai, and me doing stuff through the noise gate, and the odd sample here and there, with my vocals and some sax."

Paul Birken

Music Producer

Verified via Vine

In this post to Vine, Paul Birken can be seen using the Kawai R-100 commenting, "I guess starting with 250 BPM and doubling it again from each sync box crushes an R-100 after 4 boosts."

Orgue Electronique

Music Producer, DJ

Verified via Sternstudio

Orgue Electronique uses the Kawai R-100 drum machine, as detailed on Sternstudio's website.

Cinthie

Music Producer, DJ

Verified via MusicTech

In an interview with MusicTech, house producer Cinthie is shown with the Kawai R-100 drum machine, highlighting her use of vintage gear in her production setup.