Roland Cr-5000 Compurhythm Drum Machine

The Roland CR 5000 came out in 1980/1981
It's very similar to the CR 8000. - the case is virtually identical. (The 8000 has twice the number of presets).

There are 9 sounds in the 5000 (BD, SD, Cy, HH, Toms, Rim shot, Congas, Claves, Cowbell)
and 24 presets.

 The presets are arranged into 3 banks of 8. They include the Samba, rhumba, mambo, merengue, waltz, foxtrot, Bossa Nova, as well as Rock 1, 2, 3,etc, and one disco pattern

The bass drum is a lot like a 606 - short and boxy.

The 5 volume pots on the top are identical to those used on the Roland 808. and as in the 808 they also control individual voice levels.

There ia a Accent knob for volume variation within patterns

I really dig the control of the cymbals and hi-hats.
The five buttons under the "arranger" section  make it easy to select various combinations (4ths and 8ths cymbal, 4ths and 8ths hi-hat, open hi-hat).
The 6th button in the arranger group turns on & off the conga.

These can be used in any combination with any of the 24 presets. 

I really like the Shuffle mode too --It randomizes the patterns.
We also have a 'Register' button to switch quickly between the Arranger & Preset settings.

The Crash button enables/disables the end-of-bar Crash cymbal sound

Intro/Auto fill-in knobs give 8 settings.
There are 8 fill patterns that can be triggered every 2,4,8,12 or 16 bars
There is a manual fill button or you can use the knob to automatically place the fills on the end of the 4, 8, 12th etc measure

It has a trigger out (8", 16", accent) for different speed arpeggios on Roland synths that accept EXT clock in.
But but sadly no trigger in .

There are 4 remote control inputs via a DP-2 footswitch.
The controls are start/stop, restart, intro/fill in & register.

Sadily there is just one audio output & no din sync.

The DP-2 foot switch

Links:
1. Estecho - adding individual outs
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For more info on the history of Roland Drum Machines click here