The Reverse Drum Machine

Many of us have worked with drum machines, but Moritz Simon Geist’s latest effort brings new meaning to the term. Instead of sampling a live drum kit and sequencing patterns inside the computer, Geist had the brilliant (or, ridiculous?) idea of reversing the flow of information: starting digital and ending up analog. He accomplished this by setting up mechanical levers that strike each drum via midi messages output from his computer sequencer. It seems more of an art installation than a practical music-making setup. The effect is close to that of sampled live drums played via a sequencer (the traditional method of drum sequencing) but with a slightly more organic sound owing to slight variations in room reverb and mechanical randomness.

“Or we could just sample the drum hits and sequence it on my iPhone…Just a thought”