We’ve been eagerly awaiting the LinnDrum II since it was called the BoomChik. We called the non-functional prototype one of the best products of this January’s NAMM – reasoning being that, based on what we heard from showgoers, a silent LinnDrum still beat more evolutionary blandness from the rest of the industry. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say some of us were getting a wee bit impatient waiting for some kind of news. Now that news appears to be here — a rough estimate on availability and pre-order details. (Updated: Specs had been posted previously, as Cory observes in comments, but let’s savor them one more time.)

Availability: Late 2008 (“our best estimate,” so that’s not set in stone)

Cost: US$1400 for the all-digital LinnDrum II, or $1800 for the LinnDrum II Analog with the addition of four analog voices as seen in the Prophet ‘08 and Evolver, plus 32 dedicated encoders

Pre-order list: No commitment, no money down; just email support@rogerlinndesign.com and you’re in. Will there be a baby shower at some point?

Dave and Roger have also posted updated specs on the two units. Highlights include:

Amazing how time crawls when you’re eagerly awaiting something. Such is the case with the BoomChik: it seems like ages ago that drum machine legend Roger Linn and synth legend Dave Smith “pre-announced” this synth/drum machine. It was actually just this time last year. Unfortunately, you’re going to be waiting a little longer: feedback from musicians and the release of Linn’s AndrenaLinn III and Smith’s Prophet ‘08 (easily two of the biggest products of last year) has delayed the BoomChik.

Now the good news: in addition to a new name, the new design looks far more mature. And it’s going to be eminently affordable: street around US$1000 for a basic model, and $1500 for a fancier model with four analog voices as shared with the Prophet ‘08 and Evolver.

Full specs are available on the site and a bunch o’ other sites, so here’s the Cliff’s Notes version. (Kirn’s Notes?)

• Real-time, no-stop, no-drop OS for live performance
• Pressure-sensitive, backlit (with animation) pads
• Modulate, filter, and resonate everything, digital or analog voices
• Step record like an MPC and like an 808
• Compact Flash storage, USB for MIDI, audio, and sample transfer with a computer (plus real MIDI jacks, don’t worry)
• Ridiculous number of performance controls, simplified menus, plus foot/expression pedals. (Having seen how much menu jockeying the current Akai and Roland models have, this sounds great. When I want to use a computer, I’ll use a computer with a 23″ display, not a 1″ display.)
• Stereo inputs let you sample, process audio, or trigger sounds
• “Analog” version adds analog voices, 27 encoders for voicing, and four direct outputs — one for each voice.

I say, get a day job now so you can quit it when this comes out.

Now a bit more bad news: I hear a prototype may not actually make it to NAMM, which dashes my hopes of getting to show you an actual unit when we’re in Anaheim next week. But we will be talking to Dave and Roger, and hope to have more details soon. And if you focus really hard, maybe one will magically make it there. (Say it with me … ommmmmmm … booooooommmmmm … chikkkkkkk)

Easily my YouTube pick of the day, individually-tuned voices on this classic LinnDrum LM-2 drum machine make wonderful beats. Thanks to Matt Bean (of Men’s Health magazine, no less) for bringing this vid to my attention. Skip to the part where it starts making sound, and you’ll get it right away.

YouTuber rolandsh1000, who has some other related videos up, explains his creation:

I modified my LinnDrum so all voices could be individually tuned, which was an acknowledged limitation of this Linn model. It’s a similar mod that some have done to their TR-707. I think it really expands the sound of the LinnDrum.

If you want to do this to your LinnDrum, go to the Yahoo LinnDrum group and go to the files section. The whole writeup is there for downloading:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Linndrum/files/

While on the subject of Roger Linn, Roger also lets us know he’s put up a new page with reflections on instrument design and a round-up of alternative electronic interfaces and instruments:

New High-Tech Musical Instruments [Roger Linn Design]

Roger should know; aside from being a successful musician and producer, he’s one of the best-known designers of modern electronic instruments. His LM-1 Drum Computer is accepted as the first modern drum machine. (Technically, it was the first-ever programmable, sampled drum machine, but that makes it the first sampled drum machine as we now know it.) At Akai, he pioneered the legendary MPC series. The AdrenaLinn, as covered today, is a collaboration with synth builder Dave Smith. Smith, maker of many beloved synthesizers and the “father of MIDI,” will in turn work with Linn on the upcoming BoomChik.

So, that covers what springs from Roger’s brain — what ideas from other instrument designers excite him?

People have been coming up with new ways to improve musical instruments for just about forever, but what interests me personally are the new ideas that break entirely with mechanical interfaces in favor of high-tech sensor interfaces, and particularly ones that can produce–or at least attempt to attain–finely nuanced musical subtlety.

And these aren’t just solutions in search of a problem: he notes that, wonderful as they are, guitars, keyboards, string instruments, wind instruments, and conventional computers all have limitations. Interesting solutions: the ReacTable interactive table, the Tenori-On and Monome grid-style controllers, expressive controllers like the Max Mathews Radio Baton and Don Buchla Lightning II, alternative keyboard interfaces, the Lemur touchscreen, and others.

Thanks for the link and the kind words, Roger. It’s great to see these exchanges of ideas, once the province of a couple of academic journals and the occasional print review, happening in real-time online between the designers themselves!

Even as software continues to flourish, there’s still a great argument for a hardware box that does what you need — especially when that box has extensive feature sets, MIDI support, comes from Roger Linn, and costs US$375. Roger himself writes to let us know about the release of the AdrenaLinn III:

AndrenaLinn III Product Page

Like the models that came before it, the AdrenaLinn III is a guitar amp modeler with modulation and effects. The effects section is what really sets it apart: delays, filter sequences, and modulation are all synced to either the built-in drum machine or external MIDI. MIDI sync, of course, means you could easily integrate this with a software setup with tools like Ableton Live, Reason, or Cakewalk Project5. But it’s also little wonder that Linn, creator of various breakthrough drum machines, would turn a guitar effects unit into a drum machine.

The AdrenaLinn III incorporates myriad improvements over its predecessors, generally making this a more well-rounded unit, with enough effects that it could be an all-in-one solution:

• New effects: Reverb, compression, tuner, enhanced modulation
• New amp models, for a total of 40, Linn Design also says the improved models have better presence/tube saturation/tonal accuracy
• Better MIDI control, now letting you get to nearly all settings from MIDI foot switches and expression pedals, with assignable foot switch functions
• More presets, more drum beats

I look forward to hearing one in person. And this sounds too nice, anyway, to let the guitarists have all the fun — this sounds promising on many other instruments, too. Roger tells us his wife uses her AdrenaLinn with a cello.

Since this really is software running in a box, if you have an existing AdrenaLinn, you can upgrade to the latest model for US$99, which sounds well worth it. We’ve predicted before that more affordable, capable hardware would continue to advance external gear at the same time as computer software develops, and this is another example of how the two can nicely coexist in your setup.

Other gear watching…

I’m more in the AdrenaLinn vein than Line 6 Pods, but if the latter interest you, Music thing gets the scoop on leaked specs on a new model.

Meanwhile, what many are really eager to see from Roger Linn is the collaboration with Dave Smith, the BoomChik. We expect that’s a ways off yet. Okay by me: more time to save the pennies.