Das Wurlitzer Side Man war ab 1959 die erste kommerziell vertriebene Drum Machine der Welt und erzeugte die Klänge damals noch elektromechanisch. Look mum no computer hat sich so eine Kiste besorgt und mal genauer angesehen.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company released an early commercially produced drum machine called the Sideman in 1959. It was an “electro-mechanical” drum machine that offered a choice of 12 electronically generated predefined rhythm patterns with variable tempos. The sound source was a series of vacuum tubes which created 10 preset electronic drum sounds. The drum sounds were ‘sequenced’ by a rotating disc with metal contacts across its face, spaced in a certain pattern to generate parts of a particular rhythm. Combinations of these different sets of rhythms and drum sounds created popular rhythmic patterns of the day, e.g. waltzes, fox trots etc.
Off topic – der Firmenname Wurlitzer ist an sich schon unsterblich. Wie auch einige andere, etwa Telefunken, Electrola. Oder im Automobilbereich Duesenberg.