Saturday, November 22, 2008

.44 Yamaha RX17 Digital Rhythm Programmer



Continuing with sharing drum sounds from the Yamaha drum machines I picked up on eBay, here are some drum hits from the RX17.

Both more modern and more latin, the RX17 seems to come from an entirely different generation of drum machines from the RX11 or RX15, being about half the size and sporting rubberized pads and buttons that give it a much more modern feel. It appears to be related to the RX21, but I haven't had a chance to use a RX21 yet.

Like the RX15, the RX17 has two audio outputs (left and right mono and headphones) and has Midi Out and Midi In. It contains 26 drum hits spread across 13 pads (2 sounds per pad). Like the RX11 and RX15, the RX17 also had limitations regarding which sounds could and could not be reproduced simultaneously. So, for an accurate RX17 kit, avoid using the Conga Muted and Conga Open sounds on the same beat. The same limitation is present for the Cuica High and Cuica Low hits, the Snare Drum and Rim Shot, and the Hi-hat sounds.

The following samples were taken from a RX17, serial number N201530.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for providing these samples and the hints and tips on how to set up the combinator and find the sounds. I had earlier today just unearthed my RX17 with a view to sampling the sounds myself and using them in Reason.

I was delighted to see you had saved me the trouble!

I like the Combinator too. I have always thought the original RX17 sounds were too dry and needed pepping up a bit with some reverb and or digital delay.

I loaded an open high hat and the Toms 2 & 3 samples into the vacant slots 8 - 10.

I am still learning how Reason and Combinators work though I am thinking that in order to be able to faithfully regenerate all the RX17's original 50 factory preset patterns in Reason an additional Redrum would need to be added with all the Latin and Caribbean sounds.

I will have a bash and find out!

Nice one - thanks again!

Patch-A-Day Robbneu said...

Thanks for visiting the site, Neil, and for sharing your thoughts about the RX17. It's a really great little machine, but underappreciated, so its always great to meet a fellow fan. :)

Webmaster said...

Hey Robbneu!

After two years, it's finally here!

The first couple of combinators for my all original RX-17 Drum Machine emulation for Reason 6.0 are now available as a FREE download from:

http://www.howtoprogramdrums.com/freebies/free-downloads/

Thanks for the inspiration!

All the best



Neil Paddock : )