Keio Gijutsu Mini Pops Analog Drum Machine

Keio Mini Pops Analog Drum Machine
Keio Mini Pops Analog Drum Machine

The instrument

The drum machine was the first model in Keio's Mini Pops series. The company already had an electro-mechanical drum machine on the market with the Donna Matic DA-20 (1063). However, the instrument is a heavy piece of furniture. It is possible that Keio was reacting to its competitor Ace Tone, which presented the small FR-1 Rhythm Ace at NAMM 1964. This was built using the new transistor technology. The rather simply equipped Mini Pops, which probably appeared as early as 1965, was given a similar technical design. Its advantage was that it could be easily attached to an organ, which made it easier to operate. This was followed in 1966 by the Mini Pops 5 and 7 desktop models and the Donca Matic Rockmate from Keio.

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Details

The Mini Pops in transistor technology has three separate PCBs for the power supply, the pattern generator and the voice circuits.
It has 16 patterns: Waltz, Samba, Cha-Cha, Mambo, Rumba, Beguine, Habanera, Tango, Blues, Rock-Beat, Bossanova, Rock-a-Ballard, Swing, Six Eight, Fox Trot & March-Polka. To combine up to 3 patterns at the one time. Tempo, cymbal and volume are adjustable.