Technics are late entrants in the pro-instrument sweepstakes, but their very wonderful Digital 10 piano clearly came from a good stable, capitalising as it did on the digital know-how acquired from their multi-keyboard range.

This has now been followed out of the paddock by the SYDP 50 digital drum machine, again derived from multikeyboard expertise, (notably, the rhythm unit on top-of-the-range SXG7) but displaying its parentage in some rather more obvious ways — in offering not only a Programmable section, but also 23 Preset drum patterns, for instance. Something of an unfashionable move these days, but is it a sensible one? We'll see...

The concept may be unfashionable, but the machine certainly isn't. Its wedge shape, black finish and day-glo labelling bear more than a passing resemblance to Yamaha's RX machines, though the sturdy metal case and heavy-duty plastic top (contributing to its hefty weight of 10lbs) comes as a refreshing change: this is a machine you can gig with. Overall dimensions resemble a thick TR808 (47.2 x 11.6 x 29cm), though, so it isn't something you could stack just anywhere which may be why Technics offer an optional stand.

Control layout is split roughly into four broad areas — just below the Technics logo running along the back of the machine are two rows of 10 dark-blue tablet buttons representing the 15 user-programmable voices plus accents.

Below them are the red Record and orange Sequencer buttons, together with associated function control, whilst the bottom third of the machine is occupied by the 12 Preset selectors, and their associated function controls. Power on/off sits at bottom left, and a double-size start/stop button occupies the middle of the bottom row. To its right are sliders for volume and Tempo controls, and above them, a large LED 'Musical Display' window and cartridge slot (a lá TR707) complete the picture.

The rear panel has connections for (reading l to r): MIDI Thru, Out and In Dins, Foot controller, Din in, Start/Stop Jack in, a Low/High output selector switch, L and R line out jacks, stereo jack out for phones, voltage selector window and sockets for an optional music stand.

User-programmable voices are available 'live' on Power up, so I began with them. Each tablet button is identified both by name, on its surface, and by an icon beside it on the panel. (As is usually the case, many of the buttons perform other functions — these were also clearly labelled, and easy to locate when needed).

Four Toms are on offer, ranging from '1' a resonant, conga-ish 8" (-ish) to '4', a bowel trembling 18". 4 was excellent, 2 and 3 good, leaving only 1 as something of a disappointment — personal taste, of course, but it seemed a little too tuned. Only two toms can sound at a time, but since that's any two, it shouldn't be a problem. Hi hat; good and clicky closed, sharp and cutting open. No complaints. Oh, and by the way — Accent seems to be a separate sample, instead of just the usual volume-jump. Nice. Ride is... okay.

But nothing special. It could be lost in a busy pattern. I found myself keeping it accented all the time. Crash very good, long, and no discernable looping. The most natural decay I've heard yet. Bass; could be punchier. It sounds more analogue than digital. Snare; real, down to the wire-rattle, dry, cutting, Rock not Hip-Hop. Ditto Rim. Claps; could have done with a tighter spread; Congas — Hi and Lo weren't as hard as I would've liked — not a patch on Korg's DDM220 sound — maybe it was my machine, but there was a frightening amount of hiss on Lo as well...; Tambourine — a good enough space filler. Sensible use of accent will give you an acceptable 'chink-Baff'.

In addition to this 'live playing' there are three basic ways to operate the machine — pattern play (preset), Composer (programmed) and Sequencer (the arrangement of the first two in any combination up to 98 steps) I won't bore you with the details of each method — suffice to say, everything was straightforward and logical, helped out both by a very clear manual, and by Green and Red 'telltale' LEDs on most of the buttons, which light up to confirm a selection, a programme option and so on. In brief, then, here's an overview of each method:

Pattern Play: Simplest way into the machine — Select your rhythm (23 in all ranging from the standard — Waltz, Disco — to the unusual — Guaracha, Baion), hit Start/Stop, and you're away. The 11 'lower case' rhythms shown on the panel are accessed by pressing the relevant pair of adjacent buttons above it — a convention used throughout the machine to select third options.

Current Tempo is read out on the Musical Display Window — the legibility of the numerals somewhat offset though by the angle of the Window.

Crude Tempo alteration is achieved using the Tempo slider, whilst pressing Fine gives instead a 10% variation from the last Tempo set. Two Tempos can be stored in the Tempo Set buttons and called manually or from within a sequence.

All of the presets are, despite their names, 'modern' in feel, and very usable. I quickly discovered that they also make use of voices you can't access yourself — shakers, guava's and even an esoteric item which made a sort of honking noise.

If you get fed up with one pattern, you can switch to another glitchlessly, the current one playing to its conclusion before changing; add in additional percussion using the Arrange Percussion (I is the simplest, II adds in appropriate bass voices — say, a Conga; and III adds treble — shakers, etc.) select an immediate fill (Fill-In and Solo I&II) or a solo (I&II) which continues until you hit both buttons again); or begin a piece with a lead-in, again using the Fill-In and Solo buttons.

All of these features can also be called from within a sequence, so you've already got a lot of flexibility. The fill-ins and solos are random, by the way, so no fear of repeating yourself. 'Mellow' effectively mutes the more dynamic elements of a pattern, leading to a 'Home Organ'sort of output. External control of the Arrange Percussion and Solo/Fill options is possible via an external foot controller.

Composer gives you four memory locations with maximum capacity of two 32nd note bars each in which to store your own patterns — not a very great deal.

Begin by initialising the system (Enter Record Mode, Clear the appropriate memory location, set Bar length and resolution... the machine defaults to 16th notes, but 32nds can be chosen instead.) Frankly, I found this element of the machine's programmability unnecessarily lengthy, though not complex. The four standard time signatures selectable from the Tom buttons (4/4, 3/4 etc) may be combined, using 2nd Bar, halved, have triplets inserted (Painful — Ed) and so on, allowing unusual time signatures to be achieved — but there must be easier ways of doing it than this. (ie, Korg's KPR77.)

However, this long-windedness is compensated for by the inclusion of a novel 'jigsaw' pattern entry system — each of the programmable voices has four associated preset patterns, accessed from the Tom buttons, which can be used to quickly construct a step-time bar. Step, Bass (Tom) 1 would get you a simple 4/4 bass beat, over which you could add other 'jigsaw' patterns for snare, hi hat etc (all listed in the manual); your own completely original patterns; (Select Voice, then where in the bar you want it to go; ie, if you wanted Snare on beat two of a 4/4 pattern, you'd select it, then press the button marked '2', the Hi Hat accent button.); or even revert to realtime programming by pushing Start/Stop, and playing the voices over the programmed backing in time with an audible metronome. Simple.

I really liked this feature and of course, timings are auto-corrected to the nearest beat, so a bit of hesitation won't hurt. As with most other machines, single errors can be eliminated by a momentary touch on the Clear button, or whole voice tracks removed from a pattern if required.

Sequencer allows you to store any combination of Preset, Arranged and Programmed patterns into one song of up to 98 steps, simply by pressing a lot of buttons. The procedure is to all intents and purposes identical to that employed on Korg, Roland and every other kind of machine, so I won't go into in detail. The Musical Display Window keeps you up to date, the usual range of edit/repeat functions are available, and for the purpose of the sequence, your own compositions are regarded as simply more presets. They can have their percussion arranged, solo and change tempo with the rest of them. No problem.

The pathetic on board storage capacity of one song is helped out a little by the inclusion of a plug-in cartridge option. These are available in two or four song formats, but the ridiculous price of £39.99 and £89.99 respectively makes one cry out for a tape dump. Why isn't there one?

MIDI is a fairly standard implementation of Omni, with one interesting performance-orientated feature. Link the '50 to a MIDI synth, put it in Solo mode, and as long as you play, not very much will happen. Stop, or sustain some notes, though, and the pattern will 'Solo' until you start playing again — handy for the 'switch on and play' market.

Summing up then — the SYDP 50 fills a need in offering a flexible, performance orientated machine capable of putting 'pro' sounds in the hands of people who would never think of tackling the mysteries of a fully programmable alternative; but — it's high price, limited storage capacity and expensive cartridges must ensure it a rough ride in the market place at a time when every other manufacturer is cutting profit margins.

TECHNICS SY DP50 — RRP: £679