I'm a drum machine junkie, I'll be the first one to admit [last count was around 35 or so, which is ultimately more sad than anything else]. And while rearranging at Bubbleworld Studios recently, I ran across this curiosity: a LEL drum machine, which I bought off of a NJ/NY-area Russian musician. He was also selling some very righteous and very oddball homeland electric guitars of which I had to pass. Eh, truly 'more stuff doesn't equal more time', as the saying goes.
The LEL is a purely digital beast, and with most gear that ends up in my hands, is full of head-scratching quirks. Four of the pads don't seem to work, though admittedly one is probably an 'accent'. And beyond that, the contacts could probably use a good cleaning, 'cause they don't always trigger (see demo at bottom of page as an example). There are a few presets onboard - possibly user programmed - that have a bunch of sounds playing simulateous, of which the tempo slows down greatly because the microprocessor can't think that fast. Also, in the demo, you'll hear a continual, digital wavering noise, also courtesy from the LEL. Delightful. Oh, and no volume control to speak of, though I'm sure that's my Cyrillic-ignorance at fault.
Notice that the LEL logo up top looks very 'Alesis'. The dust is all-American, which I didn't notice until the pics were on my laptop. Then look past my slovenliness and you'll see some pattern names in Cyrillic: tango (I think), samba (I think), rock (I think), rodeo (I hope), pachinko (I really hope), etc. For whatever reason, they're all odd-numbered, but there are even numbered presets within the machine.
A surprise bonus was getting the original box & manual with the deal, which somehow manages to eminate a very late 40's American aesthetic, but in fact, handwriting on the manual's last page admits to this box leaving the factory in April 1990 (!). I do wish I could speak/read Russian, not because of any gifted class nerdy-neediness, but so I could give this thing a full twirl. Some drum machines are easy as pie to program (Korg's Electribe series), and some are ungodly nightmarish (Korg's circa 1981 metallic KPR-77, for instance). I'm still unsure whether this Lel is programmable rhythm-wise - the red buttons hint at 'possibly'.
Listen watch the Lel in action! (30 sec, 500K MPEG)
For all its quirks, I'm still charmed by the LEL, and still want more Russian goodness for the studio. Email the band if you're wantin' to sell, Mel, 'cause if I gather enough crap, just like bowerbirds do, people will think I'M COOL (?)