I've been quite lucky in salvaging a couple of things that were getting thrown out at work. Deemed surplus to requirements - one of them was an original SP1200 sampling drum machine. Killer 12-bit angry sampling, drum noises go in weedy and come out like a lump hammer. It's not hard to see why it's popular.
Then, in the course of an office clearout, I discovered that I'd also come in to possession of the full service manual for said SP1200...
Which was even more interesting. Component lists, circuit diagrams, engineering troubleshooting - everything that went into making this machine the legend that it is.
But then at the end, it got even more interesting - the credits page, not present in the end-user manual (not the end-user manual I have anyway).
I pondered over that list of people responsible for this most legendary of machines. Then I realised that I had buried in the house at home (another thing I got in trouble for bringing home!) - an unused overlay for the SP1200.
Never before stuck on a machine. Virginal. Still with the sticky back ready to go.
So this has me thinking. What if I could rustle up everyone on the list of original SP1200 credits? I know where to find four of them right now, another guy I'm sure I can track down through the first four - and I think I've located another four, which would leave only four heads to find.
What if I could get the overlay to them all individually?
What if they all signed it, and got it back to me, and I pulled off the overlay on my SP1200, and stuck the signed overlay on it?
Would I then have an SP1200, signed by the entire original team that put the machine together?
Is it just me, or would that be not only unique, but a physical piece of music and sampling history?
3 comments:
Do it, do it
Loved the writing here Dave.
VERY DOPE INDEED.
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