The Yamaha DD10 Drum Machine

Released in 1988, the Yamaha DD10 was aimed at the home market for those who fancied banging out a few beats in a self-contained. self-amplified ‘laptop’ unit.

Features:

  • 8-bit low-bandwidth sounds, with some sounds reused at different pitches
  • No interpolation or anti-aliasing, the transposed samples are very crunchy.
  • Velocity sensitive pads, albeit only at two levels – half volume and maximum volume.
  • The sounds can be played with velocity using the unit’s limited MIDI spec, though.
  • 26 drum, percussion and sound effects samples

via PianoVintage, hollowsun

4 thoughts on “The Yamaha DD10 Drum Machine

  1. Thanks for the detail information on the Yamaha DD 10 Drum Machine, please where can i purchase one. i am interested in the product.

  2. The Yamaha DD-10 is a great ‘vintage’ instrument. The form factor is unique among drum machines with a very intuitive and playable interface. Programming is fun and easy and the sounds are far from boring. In fact, with a little processing it’s quite a cool machine. The stereo speakers are loud and crisp making it an excellent machine for noodling around on the couch or jamming with friends. The MIDI implementation is basic but more than adequate for syncing your patterns to a sequencer. I like to use mine as a MIDI drum module.

    Perhaps the best part of the DD-10 is that nowadays (2015) it can be found for $20 on local classified sites or at yard sales. That’s a great price for a programmable, stereo drum machine with MIDI and velocity sensitive pads that can be played in real-time or synced to other gear.

    Find one and make music with it!

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