Bruce Forat

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Forat Music and Electronics
TypeCorporation
Industry electronic musical instrument design, manufacturing, service, upgrades and customization
FoundedFebruary 1986
Headquarters11739 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, California, USA
Key people
Bruce Forat
Products drum machines, digital samplers, MIDI controllers, custom modifications, digital sound samples
Subsidiaries Forat Productions
Website http://www.forat.com

Bruce Forat is an electronics engineer, computer programmer, music producer, [1] [2] songwriter and co-founder and president of Forat Music and Electronics Corporation, founded in 1986.

Contents

He is known for providing samples, service and upgrades for all Linn Electronics products after Linn went out of business in 1986. [3]

He also designed and manufactured the Forat F16 rack mount digital sampler and the Forat F9000: a debugged and improved version of the ill-fated Linn 9000 drum machine. [3]

Forat Music and Electronics

Bruce Forat Bruce Forat.jpg
Bruce Forat
Forat Electronics Storefront Ventura Blvd Studio City CA.jpg
Forat Music and Electronics - Studio City, California, USA
Forat F9000 white view front left 72dpi.jpg
Forat F9000 integrated digital drum machine and MIDI keyboard recorder
Forat F16 16 bit digital sampler view front left 300dpi.jpg
Forat F16 - 16 bit Digital Sampler / Drum Brain

Forat Music and Electronics (also known as Forat Electronics or Forat Music) is a California-based corporation specializing in electronic musical instrument design, manufacturing, service, upgrades and customization, in particular, drum machines and digital samplers.

History

In 1982, Bruce Forat joined Linn Electronics as an electronics technician. When Linn went out of business in February 1986, brothers Bruce and Ben formed Forat Electronics Corporation in Studio City, California and purchased all of Linn's remaining assets. [4] They hired some former Linn employees including Steve Alcorn, former Vice President of Engineering and Chief Operating Officer.

Forat revamped the original Linn Electronics line, including the LM-1, LinnDrum, and LinnSequencer. They completely reinvented the ill-fated Linn 9000 drum machine [3] and dubbed it the Forat F9000: the first fully functional integrated sampling / sequencing / MIDI work station. [3] They produce software and hardware upgrades and modifications for the Linn 9000, Forat F9000, and the LinnSequencer and modifications, sounds and a MIDI Retrofit Kit for the LinnDrum.

In 1987, Forat introduced the F16: the first 16 bit digital sampler tailored for drummers [3] featuring MIDI capabilities, dynamic response to incoming trigger signals and, with a trigger response time of 0.1 milliseconds, the fastest audio-triggering digital sampler ever sold. [5] [6] [7]

Over the years, Forat has expanded into other aspects of electronic music technology.

Today, they service, upgrade and customize most types of drum machines and many brands of vintage analog synthesizers. They're an authorized service center for Akai, Yamaha & Roland. [8] They provide repairs and upgrades for the Akai line of hard disk recorders, samplers and the entire Akai MPC series of drum machines. They service Yamaha musical products including their line of digital consoles, drum machines and keyboards, the entire Roland line of products including MV series workstations and MC Groove samplers.

They've produced thousands of custom digital sample sounds for use with the Linn 9000, Forat F9000, LinnDrum, Forat F16, Ensoniq ASR-10, Akai MPC series and the Roland MV-8000 & MV-8800.

They've done custom paint jobs on keyboards and most of the Akai MPC and Roland drum machines and music workstations. [9]

In 2012, Bruce Forat worked as a drum machine design consultant for Akai.

At the time of writing (2015), Forat Electronics continues to provide products and services to music artists, producers and engineers around the world.

Notable customers

According to Forat, there are over 8,000 Forat Electronics F9000s and F16s in use today around the world. Artists, producers and engineers who use Forat products, sounds, services, upgrades and modifications include:

Grammy Award-winning mix engineer, Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado says "the Forat F16 is my little secret weapon." [19]

When Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails) was asked: "Is there a piece of equipment you can't do without?" he replied: "I've got a Forat F16 that I use to trigger kicks and snares". [18]

Related Research Articles

Drum machine Electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. Most modern drum machines allow users to program their own rhythms and beats. Drum machines may create sounds using analog synthesis or play prerecorded samples. Some drum machines have buttons or pads that allow the performer to play drum sounds "live", either on top of a programmed drum beat or as a standalone performance. Drum machines have a range of capabilities, which go from playing a short beat pattern in a loop, to being able to program or record complex song arrangements with changes of meter and style.

Music technology (electronic and digital)

Digital music technology encompasses digital instruments, computers, electronic effects units, software, or digital audio equipment by a performer, composer, sound engineer, DJ, or record producer to produce, perform or record music. The term refers to electronic devices, instruments, computer hardware, and software used in performance, playback, recording, composition, mixing, analysis, and editing of music.

Groovebox Musical instrument designed for live, loop-based music

A groovebox is a self-contained electronic or digital musical instrument for the production of live, loop-based electronic music with a high degree of user control facilitating improvisation. The term "Groovebox" was originally used by Roland Corporation to refer to its MC-303, released in 1996. The term has since entered general use, and dates back to the Movement Computer Systems Drum Computer in 1981.

Akai was a Japanese consumer electronics brand. The company, Akai Electric Company Ltd, was founded in 1946 in Tokyo, Japan, and defunct in 2002. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong took over Akai's Brand, now it is distributing various electronics products such as LED TV, washing machines, air conditioners and smart phones, collaborated with other electronics companies. On the other hand, inMusic Brands in United States also took over Akai's Brand. It began Akai Professional brand, and is distributing high-end audio electronics products.

A music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of:

Sampler (musical instrument)

It is a drum pad/ recorder for hip-hop and other genre of music. A sampler is an electronic or digital musical instrument which uses sound recordings of real instrument sounds, excerpts from recorded songs or found sounds. The samples are loaded or recorded by the user or by a manufacturer. These sounds are then played back by means of the sampler program itself, a MIDI keyboard, sequencer or another triggering device to perform or compose music. Because these samples are usually stored in digital memory, the information can be quickly accessed. A single sample may often be pitch-shifted to different pitches to produce musical scales and chords.

Akai MPC Music workstation

The Akai MPC is a series of music workstations produced by Akai from 1988 onwards. The MPC combines sampling and sequencing functions.

Roger Linn

Roger Linn is an American designer of electronic musical instruments and equipment. He is the designer of the LM-1, the first drum machine to use samples, and the MPC sampler, which had a major influence on the development of hip hop. Roger Linn is also a member of the Dead Presidents Society, a group of innovators in the field of electronic music.

Hip hop production

Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "scratching" using record players and the creation of a rhythmic backing track, using a drum machine or sequencer, it is most commonly used to refer to recording the instrumental, non-lyrical and non-vocal aspects of hip hop.

E-mu SP-1200 Sampler

E-mu SP-1200 is a sampler that was released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems.

LinnDrum

The LinnDrum is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold.

Electronic drum module

An electronic drum module is an electronic or digital music device in an electronic drum kit that serves as the central processing unit and sound module. The drum module creates or produces the drum kit sounds or other sounds selected by the drummer. By itself, a drum module cannot play or sound drum beats. It only produces drum sounds when a performer strikes electronic drum pads or acoustic drum kit instruments that have electronic "triggers" attached to them. When the electronic drum pads or trigger-equipped instruments are struck, this sends a signal to the drum module, which produces the corresponding electronic drum sound. Even when drum pads and/or triggers are connected to a drum module, the drum module by itself does not make any audible sound. Like other electronic instruments such as the synthesizer, the drum module only outputs an electronic signal. The performer can hear this signal by connecting headphones to the drum module or by plugging the drum module into an amplifier and loudspeaker or PA system for audible practice or live performances. The drum module's output signal can also be patched into an audio console for concerts or sound recording. The nomenclature varies. For example, electronic drum modules are called "percussion sound modules" in the case of Roland Corporation, or sometimes simply modules. A common colloquial term for this device is drum brain..

The Akai S1000 is a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz professional stereo digital sampler, released by Akai in 1988. The S1000 was among the first professional-quality 16-bit stereo samplers. Its abilities to splice, crossfade, trim, and loop sound in 16-bit CD quality made it popular among producers in the late 80s through to the mid 90s. The S1000 used 24-bit internal processing, had digital filters and an effects send and return, and came with 2MB of RAM.

Sampling (music) Reuse of sound recording in another recording

In music, sampling is the reuse of a portion of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sounds, or entire bars of music, and may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed down, repitched, looped, or otherwise manipulated. They are usually integrated using hardware (samplers) or software such as digital audio workstations.

Linn 9000

The Linn 9000 is an electronic musical instrument manufactured by Linn Electronics as the successor to the LinnDrum. It was introduced in 1984 at a list price of $5,000, and about 1100 units were produced.

The LinnSequencer is a rack-mount 32-track hardware MIDI sequencer manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1985 at a list price of US $1,250. An optional Remote Control was available. Like the LinnDrum Midistudio, the LinnSequencer used the same flawed operating system used in the ill-fated Linn 9000, released in 1984. As a result, both machines earned a reputation for being notoriously unreliable. In addition, the optional LinnSequencer SMPTE feature could not be deployed due to flawed circuit design. The last LinnSequencer operating system released by Linn Electronics was version 5.17.

Forat F16

The Forat F16 is the first 16 bit digital sampler optimized for use as a "drum brain" or electronic drum module. It dynamically responds to trigger inputs from MIDI and/or audio signals. With a response time of 0.1 milliseconds, the F16 is the fastest audio triggering digital sampler ever sold. It was manufactured by Forat Music and Electronics, introduced in 1987 at a list price of $5200 and was discontinued in 1994. An optional Remote Control and SCSI capability was available for $1385.

Forat F9000

The Forat F9000 is a software- and hardware-upgraded version of the ill-fated Linn 9000, an integrated digital sampling drum machine and hardware MIDI sequencer manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1984 at a list price of $5,000.

LinnDrum Midistudio

The LinnDrum Midistudio was going to be an electronic musical instrument produced by Linn Electronics as the successor to the ill-fated Linn 9000, which was an integrated digital sampling drum machine and MIDI sequencer. The Midistudio is essentially a rack-mount version of the Linn 9000 with some improvements. It was revealed at the 1986 Winter NAMM Show in January for a list price of $5,990. However, it never went into production because Linn Electronics went out of business in February 1986.

References

  1. ↑ "We are a fully-equipped audio production facility..." Forat Productions.
  2. ↑ "Our audio studio facilities are complete with the latest digital and vintage analogue gear". Forat Studios.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Forat Electronics - History".
  4. ↑ "Then in 1986 Forat Electronics Corporation was born after purchasing Linn's remaining assets..." Forat Electronics - History.
  5. 1 2 "Then I went through the "Forat F16" world, which was really quite innovative for its time. It was an old mono triggering sampler, which would trigger faster than anything". John "JR" Robinson (Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Rufus).
  6. ↑ "There are very few things that trigger in microseconds yet; I think Forat [F-16 Sampler] does". Jane Child.
  7. ↑ "There have also been electronic drum "brains" which could accept audio from miced conventional drums as a trigger signal. Getting this to work reliably, without missed beats and false or double triggering, can be pretty difficult- back in the late '90s when I was doing a lot of recording the only one I encountered that worked well enough to replace conventionally recorded drums was the Forat F16,..." Electric Drum Kits [Archive] - Cosmoquest Forum. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Forat Electronics Service".
  9. ↑ "Forat Electronics - Service - Customization".
  10. ↑ Atom (1 May 2012). "Follow Atom™ aka Señor Coconut aka Uwe Schmidt's choice picks of the web". Atom™ Portal - The Wire. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Forat F9000 drum machine/sequencer/sampler... There is nothing that works or sounds like this machine. Extremely intuitive, very fat and punchy sounding, and a feel like no other. This is the machine used by Babyface, LA Reid, Jam and Lewis, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Ballard, Will Smith, and many others. The F9000 can do things no MPC can". FS: Forat F9000 Drum Sampler - Google Groups. 12 August 1999. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Console Confessions - The Great Music Producers in Their Own Words. Published by Backbeat Books - 2005 - "When we were recording Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" at Studio 4 in Philly, Babyface turned to me and said, "What we have here is a very good song."... We only had six hours to record all the vocals on "End of the Road," which is not a lot of time. Each guy sang on his own track and then the group sang together live while an MPC-60 drum machine and a Forat F-16 sampler kept the backbeat."
  13. ↑ Ballard, Glen (1 March 2003). "There's a guy here in LA, called Bruce Forat,... He's been continuing to write software for the 9000 for 15 years, just to keep it working. He's probably had his hands on every Linn 9000 that is still operating, and people send them to him from all over the world. I think I've got 10 of them now, because they're a little fussy and I don't want to make music without them. I do most of my programming on the Linn rather than the Akai, although I use a lot of the sounds in the Akai. For things that are really groove-oriented, I prefer the Linn 9000. I can use it in my sleep, and it's a big tactile thing for me. I just like playing those pads; that's how I play drums. The extra display is a Bruce Forat addition, so you don't go blind looking at the original display — it's saved my eyesight!". Sound On Sound. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Madonna. "Roland Users Group - Archive - Madonna - Marcus Brown's New Roland Rig". Roland - Community. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  15. 1 2 Shipley, Mike (1 June 1999). "Q. Do you trigger with that antique Forat I see there? A. No, that's just got a lot of my sounds stored in it". Mike Shipley: HAVING TOO MUCH FUN TO STOP - Mixonline. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  16. ↑ DJ Quick (15 October 2013). "DJ Quik Offers Top Dollar Cash Reward For Stolen MPC". All Hip Hop. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  17. ↑ Hancock, Herbie (July 2002). "Herbie Hancock Creating Future2Future & Touring In Surround". Sound on Sound. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  18. 1 2 Moulder, Alan (28 October 2003). "He had a Forat F16 which he used to trigger samples to sit under the real drums". Alan Moulder info??. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  19. 1 2 Pensado, Dave (September 2001). "And the Forat F16 is my little secret weapon". Mixonline - by Maureen Droney. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  20. ↑ RZA (2 May 2008). "Guitar Center Sessions: RZA" . Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  21. ↑ "A. Linn. Real Name: Linn 9000. Profile: Many Stock, Aitken & Waterman Hit Factory productions credited the famous Stock and Aitken with keyboards, programming, guitars and suchlike. Curiously they almost always credited the same unknown drummer - the mysterious "A. Linn"". A. Linn Discography at Discogs. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  22. ↑ Wu-Tang. "Guitar Center Drops Limited Edition, Wu-Tang Inspired Drum Machine". Just V-D-B - Blog Archive. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
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