'From impossible to merely difficult': AI meets a vintage 1980s musical gadget
GeekWire
GeekWire
4.4 • 116 Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
What happens when you mix modern AI with a piece of vintage technology and the musical stylings of a very amateur guitarist? You might be surprised.
That's the subject of this week's episode. GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop's fun holiday project, revisiting a favorite gadget from his youth, illustrated some bigger themes about the AI that has emerged in the past two years, and the role it can play in life and work.
Read more here: 'From impossible to merely difficult': AI meets a vintage 1980s musical gadget
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This Geekwire podcast is brought to you by BECU. |
| 0:04.2 | Stay tuned to the break as Brian Westbrook interviews BECU's Stacey Black about minimizing the impact of uncertain times on your financial health. |
| 0:13.4 | For more money hacks, check out geekwire.com slash BECU. |
| 0:19.5 | Hi, everybody. it's Todd Bishop. |
| 0:21.6 | Happy New Year. |
| 0:22.9 | I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite gadgets from my youth. |
| 0:31.0 | This is Dr. Rhythm. |
| 0:33.2 | It's technically known as the Boss DR 110. |
| 0:37.3 | It was introduced by Roland Corporation back in 1983. |
| 0:41.8 | It cost about $250 at the time, which is about $750 to $800 today if you take into account inflation. |
| 0:49.4 | As you can hear, it's a drum synthesizer. |
| 0:51.2 | It's a handheld device about the size and shape of about a medium-sized |
| 0:57.2 | video cassette from back in the day. It's in a gray case with knobs on the upper right for |
| 1:03.9 | adjusting the tempo and the balance, the accent, and the volume. There are two rows of blue buttons, |
| 1:11.6 | physical buttons on the bottom. |
| 1:13.6 | And you can choose and play pre-programmed beats. |
| 1:16.6 | It also allows you to create your own rhythms |
| 1:19.6 | with a row of instrument buttons. |
| 1:22.6 | There's a bass drum and a snare, |
| 1:25.6 | a hi-hat, symbol, and of course, this being the 1980s, a clapping sound. |
| 1:33.3 | There's a small screen in the upper left, about two and a half inches by one and a half inches, |
| 1:39.3 | and it has a grid where you can place dots to program beats. |
... |
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