Linn LM-1

The LM-1 was the first drum machine that used samples of acoustic drums. It was manufactured by Linn Electronics Inc. at the beginning of the 80s.
The LM-1 was conceived by Roger Linn, a guitarist that was not satisfied with the sound of the rhythm machines of the time. Linn knew how to program using BASIC and assembly language, and that came pretty handy for the machine's developement.



The LM-1 features a 13-channel mixer, and 12 8-bit samples of real drum sounds: kick, snare, hi-hat, cabassa, tambourine, 2 toms, 2 congas, cowbell, clave, and handclap. On the other hand, it lacked of cymbal sounds, because of the high costs of long sounds at the time.



The successor of the LM-1 was the LinnDrum LM-2.
The first customers to buy the LM-1 were Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder and Fleetwood Mac.



Notable songs that featured the Linn LM-1:

'Dirty Laundry' by Don Henley
'Thriller' by Michael Jackson
'Maneater' by Hall & Oates
'I want to break free' by Queen
'1999' by Prince
'Oh Sheila' by Ready for the World
'Don't you want me' by Human League
'Part time lover' by Stevie Wonder

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linn_LM-1
http://www.synthmuseum.com/linn/linlm101.html
http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/bragging/museum.shtml


Photo Credits:

http://mixonline.com/mag/Roger-Linn-1980.web.jpg
http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/linn_lm1/lm1.jpg
http://www.synthmuseum.com/linn/linlm1ad.jpg


Videos:
'Maneater' by Hall & Oates
'I want to break free' by Queen
'Thriller' by Michael Jackson

Atari VCS postage stamp

Several years ago I discovered US Postal Service released a postage stamp featuring a couple of kids playing Defender on a Atari VCS.
Since I've always been a postage stamp collector (lately on a minor scale, but always interested on stamps), and since I'm an Atari fan too, this was a perfect collector's item.
A couple of weeks ago, while doing a little research on Defender's creator, Eugene Jarvis, I discovered that the VCS stamp was part of a series named "Celebrate the Century".
With that information on hand, I bought on eBay the 1980's part of the "Celebrate the Century" series, and here's a picture of the stamp for you:



Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrate_the_Century
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Celebrate_Century_1980_2000.jpg

Animation Cel

A "cel" is a transparent celluloid sheet where drawings are painted usually by hand. Several "cels" comprise an animated sequence, that is later photographed, developed, edited, added sound, and finally shown on TV or at cinemas as an animated serie or movie.
I found by accident that real production "cels" are sold on eBay. Here are some examples: one is from Gatchaman and the other one is from the Robotech animated series:



Both are for sale right now at eBay, "cels" go from US$20/US$30 to over US$500 (The Robotech one is for sale right now at US$250).
There's no doubt "animation cels" are real collector items, I wish I have one of those some time in the near future.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cel
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220413388128
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380123095374