On Thu, 27 Apr 2000, The Deliverator wrote: > hello all, > > Please excuse my ignorance, but what is rz-1? Sounds like a > synth to me but I can't seem to find any info on it. Any help/clarification > appreciated! > Here is a picture of an RZ-1.
http://www.drummachine.org/dmmpict/rz1_f.jpg An RZ-1 is a Casio Drum Machine. The sounds in it aren't editible, but it wins points for having individual outputs, and a rudimentary sampler. Legend has it that the first version of "work this motherf*cker" was made by sampling "work" "this" "mother" and "f*cker" into the RZ-1. Like most of the gear used in early techno and house music, it's main virtue for the producers was that there were tons of them in the pawn shops for cheap. The mystique around things like the RZ-1, Yamaha DX-100, and the Roland TR808/909 etc, is strictly an accident of history -- producers used them because 'serious' musicians didn't like them, and sold them off cheap. Which is an interesting point about dance music -- a lot of what you hear on dance music records came about from the producers listening to and modulating what the machine produced. This reverses the usual role of the producer imposing his pre-composed musical ideas on the means of production.
