Joe Mansfield Beat Box - A Drum Machine Obsession

Author Joe Mansfield selected 75 drum machines from his collection of 150 and had them impeccably
photographed. He then documented their related collateral, including original packaging
and advertising and wrote piquant essays about the machines’ history, original release, and subsequent
usage (often totally “off-label”). Starting with Wurlitzer’s Side Man, originally released in
1959, Mansfield proceeds to document some of the most prominent and well known drum machines
like the Roland TR-808 alongside lesser known and yet-to-be discovered gems such as the
Band Master Powerhouse, ending the lesson with the Sequential Circuits’ Studio 440 unit, released
in 1987. The incredible design of the machines themselves is thoughtfully augmented by a great
layout and interviews with early adopters of the technology – Schooly D, Davy DMX, and Marshall
Jefferson. For a final punch, the epilogue features a section called “Beat Boxes and their hits.”

212 Pages
Hardcover
305 mm x 255 mm
450 Illustrations