ROGER LINN TALKS LEON RUSSELL BEING THE GENESIS OF THE INVENTION OF THE LINN DRUM MACHINE

When Leon Russell owned the Church Studio and operated Shelter Records out of Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1972 to 1976; so many interesting people came around including Roger Linn, the inventor of the Linn Drum Machine. Roger climbed to stardom and earned a Grammy Award when artists like Prince explored musical uncharted territory using the Linn Drum Machine. Roger is also the co-writer of the song, "Promises" made famous by Eric Clapton. Roger gives a lot of credit to Leon Russell for his invention and for his success.

Location: Los Altos, CA
Artists: Roger Linn
Producer and Interviewer: Teresa Knox
Edited By: Grassfire Creative
Stinger Music: Written and Recorded by Cade Roberts

Artists and Places Mentioned in this Interview:
Leon Russell
The Church Studio
The Tulsa Sound
Jamie Oldaker
Jim Keltner

Roger Linn Bio
Roger Linn is a designer of electronic music products, best known for his invention of the LM-1 Drum Computer, the first programmable, sampled-sound drum machine in 1979. Manufactured by his company Linn Electronics, the LM-1 and its successors the LinnDrum and Linn9000 provided the drums for countless hit records during the 1980s by artists including Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Devo and Bruce Hornsby, and are considered a major influence on the music of the era.

In 1988, he designed the innovative MPC60 MIDI Production Center for the Japanese Akai Company, with his signature appearing on the product’s front panel. Combining a sampling drum machine with a real-time MIDI sequencer, this product gradually became the industry standard in the production of hip-hop, dance and related music styles throughout the 1990s, and has been credited as a significant influence in the evolution of hip hop music. This was followed in 1994 with the enhanced MPC3000 and others. In addition to these designs for Akai, he also helped design products for a variety of companies during the 1990s, including the Japanese Roland company.

In 2002, he returned to manufacturing his own products—as well as his love of the guitar—with the release of a groundbreaking guitar effects product called AdrenaLinn. Used on hit recordings by artists such as John Mayer, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers, AdrenaLinn transforms a guitarist’s tone by using variety of innovative rhythmic filtering methods, all in sync to an internal drumbeat. This was followed in 2003 by the enhanced AdrenaLinn II, the M-Audio Black Box (containing many AdrenaLinn features) in 2005, and the AdrenaLinn III in 2007. In 2011 he released the Tempest Analog Drum Machine, designed in collaboration with Dave Smith Instruments. In 2014 he released the LinnStrument, an expressive MIDI performance controller.

Apart from his music product career, Roger is a guitarist and songwriter, having co-written hits for Eric Clapton ("Promises", 1979) and Mary Chapin Carpenter ("Quittin' Time", 1989), and having served as touring guitarist and recording engineer with pianist/songwriter Leon Russell in 1976 at age 21. Here are some video, audio and text interviews he has done over the years. In February 2011, the Recording Academy presented him with the Technical Grammy Merit Award.
Learn more at: https://www.rogerlinndesign.com/
‍Subscribe to the official The Church Studio YouTube channel:
   / thechurchstudio  

Follow The Church Studio:
Facebook:   / thechurchstudio  
Instagram:   / thechurchstudio  
Twitter:   / thechurchstudio  
Website: https://thechurchstudio.com/
Podcast: http://fromthechamber.buzzsprout.com/

#thechurchstudio #tulsasound #churchthatleonbuilt #leonrussell #shelterrecords #recordingstudio #analog #linndrum #linndrummachine #rogerlinn #prince #jamieoldaker #jimkeltner #churchstudiolegends