Linn LM-1

Roger Linn's drum computer swapped the bleeps of earlier rhythm boxes for sampled drum sounds, and cost $5,000 when it came out. That made it a studio tool for the well-funded, and it shaped the sound of early-1980s pop and funk. Prince is the reason to know it. On "When Doves Cry" he dropped an LM-1 beat into the opening and let it run for the whole song, tuning a cross-stick snare down by about an octave and running the drums through his guitar pedals for that odd, knocking sound. It shows the LM-1 at its best: a machine that rewards abuse as much as accuracy.