The Mini Pops were a number of early analog

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

s from the Japanese musical equipment company

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...

during the late 1960s and the 1970s. The machines were based around a number of preset rhythm patterns, such as

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

rhumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and ballroom dance, dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cub ...

, bossa nova,

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

, slow rock, swing, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

1 and 2.

Models

Minipops 3

Released 1967, and features four drum sounds.

Minipops 5

Released in 1966.

Minipops 7

The Mini-Pops 7 released in 1966, featured 15 drums sounds and 20 patterns. It was the most used of all. French musician

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...

used it throughout his breakthrough album, '' Oxygene''. Some rhythms were achieved by overlaying two of the presets in a manner not intended by the machine's original design.

Équinoxe ''Équinoxe'' (, ) is the fourth studio album by French electronic music, electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in December 1978 on the Disques Dreyfus, Dreyfus record label, licensed to Polydor Records for its worldwide d ...

Part V, VI and VII featured the ''Rock 1'' pattern.

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

used it on his album ''

Syro ''Syro'' () is the sixth studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Aphex Twin, Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 19September 2014 through Warp Records. It was James's first album under th ...

'', and in homage named a single " minipops 67 20.2. Echo and the Bunnymen also used the Mini-Pops 7 drum machine at the beginning of their career. A variant of this instrument was sold in the US under the Univox brand, as the ''Univox SR-95''. This featured slightly different "Beguine" and "Slow Rock" rhythms, and was missing the

rimshot A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an Accent (music), accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the Drum hardware#Rim, rim and Drumhead, head of the drum with a drum stick. The sound and var ...

of the Mini-Pops 7.

Minipops 20 S

Released 1967. The S denoted stereo

Minipops 35

Released 1976. Features 6 drum sounds and 9 patterns.

Minipops 120

Released 1976. Features 6 drum sounds and 16 patterns. This was also sold in the United States under the Univox brand.

Minipops Junior

Released 1972. Features 10 preset rhythms. also has a footswitch to stop and start the rhythms. A Minipops Junior was used by Echo and the Bunnymen on their debut single, " The Pictures on My Wall."

Gallery

File:Korg Mini-Pops 5.jpg, Korg Mini-Pops 5 File:Korg Mini-Pops 7.jpg, Korg Mini-Pops 7 File:Korg Mini-Pops SR-120 Desktop.jpg, Korg Mini-Pops SR-120 Desktop File:Korg Mini-Pops SR-120 Portable.jpg, Korg Mini-Pops SR-120 Portable

References

{{korg Drum machines Korg synthesizers Musical instruments invented in the 1960s Musical instruments invented in the 1970s Analog drum machines