Forat F-9000 Linn 9000 Drum Machine Sequencer W/ SMPTE MIDI & Latest Software

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"If you are a music professional then you most likely know about this Drum Machine and Sequencer.

You are bidding on a Linn 9000 customized by Forat Electronics. I had this Linn 9000 machine customized by Forat a few or so more years back and had it fattened up with upgrades. It has been detailed or custom painted as the picture shows. It has been in a clean studio, top notch, and as you can see well taken care of, and gently used. This machine has several features, including:

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Forat 9000 / Linn 9000 Vintage Drum Machine Synth OS 7.09 SN 451081

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Linn 9000 brought to Forat 9000 specs by Forat himself! Not only has it been brought up to the most recent iOS 7.09, it has been Routinely serviced by Forat over the years. It just got back from servicing by the man himself. Comes with both 9000 and Forat 9000 manuals. The last Forat 9000 sold for $3,500. This is below market price!"

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Limited Edition Akai MPC 4000 via Guitar Center

"GUITAR CENTER INTRODUCES HI-TECH CUSTOM SHOP FEATURING UNIQUE ELECTRONIC MUSIC ITEMS ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR TODAY’S ARTISTS
Limited Edition Akai MPC 4000—Exclusively Designed By Master Customizer Bruce Forat—Is Premiere Offering

Westlake Village, CA: Guitar Center, the nation's leading musical instrument retailer, announced today the introduction of its exclusive Hi-Tech Custom Shop. A new model for the retail chain, the Hi-Tech Custom Shop gives musicians unique access to rare and specialized items designed to break the homogeny of mass-market gear. The planned inventory for the Shop includes limited custom editions, exclusive product and artist-endorsed items. These will be conceived and designed by industry experts to celebrate the legacy of genre-defying pieces as well as appeal to musicians with a desire to own a piece of history.
These exclusive collaborations will be on display at select locations but can be special ordered at any Guitar Center nationwide.

To launch the Hi-Tech Custom Shop, Guitar Center purchased the last eleven Akai MPC 4000s ever made and partnered with Bruce Forat, who has been at the forefront of music electronics for the last 25 years. Forat, who has personally customized drum machines and keyboards for top musicians including Prince, Dr. Dre, Jermaine Dupree and Madonna, customized the eleven to create one-of-a-kind MPC 4000s, of which only six remain for sale exclusively through the Guitar Center Hi-Tech Custom Shop. The Akai MPC series, used by influential musicians and producers such as Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pete Rock, has been instrumental in the development of hip-hop music and is widely regarded as the industry’s gold standard. Additional information can be found at www.guitarcenter.com/forat.

“For the launch of Guitar Center’s Hi-Tech Custom Shop, we wanted to offer something incredibly special,” said Tony Baraz, assistant buyer for Guitar Center. “The Akai MPC is iconic in and of itself, but when customized by a monster talent like Bruce Forat it is a work of art.”

“To make each of the remaining Akai MPC 4000s truly unique we headed to the Caribbean for inspiration,” says Forat. “There’s something about the atmosphere and cool breeze that gets the creative juices going—I count these Hi-Tech Custom Shop MPCs among my best work.”

About Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 214 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated."

BTW, the first person to comment with the correct number of remaining MPC 4000s, and WITH a registered account gets a $100 GC gift certificate courtesy of GC. : ) Sorry anons, but there is no way to confirm who you are for this one.

More images here.

Forat 9000

Published on Dec 10, 2012 by jbfairlight

"Quelques exemples de sons de la Forat 9000. Merci a Eric (Synthwalker) pour les séquences ;)

Ont été utilisés :
- Une Forat 9000
- 2 Distressor EL8-X (1 sur le kik en mode opto 10:1, l'autre sur snare / sidestick / clap en mode nuke + british mode)
- 1 Ensoniq DP4+ avec 2 in 4 out (double reverb ultra courte sur kik et reverb+chorus large sur mix)
- 6 pistes / 2 inserts / 2 départs / 4 retours d'une Mackie 32/8"

Googlish:
"Some examples of sounds Forat 9000. Thanks Eric (Synthwalker) for sequences;)

Were used:
- A Forat 9000
- 2 Distressor EL8-X (1 on kik 10:1 opto mode, on the other snare / sidestick / clap + british nuke mode mode)
- Ensoniq DP4 + 1 with 2 in 4 out (double kik on ultra short reverb and chorus reverb + wide mix)
- 6 tracks / 2 inserts / 2 departures / 4 returns a Mackie 32/8 "

Original Bruce Forat Modded Classic Grey E-mu Sp 1200

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"With BRUCE FORAT MODIFICATIONS and UPGRADES:

-New Disk Drive installed and provided by FORAT

-FORAT Backlight

- FORAT Sample input modification to allow monitoring of the input signal during sample mode.

2. SP 1200 Sound Library: 70 or 80 Disks with sounds (Mid 90's hip-hop drum sample, bass, synth, breaks) that can be used for sounds or the disks can be erased and used for your own sounds)

The SP1200 has the sticker peeling off the front but it does not effect the performance of the machine and most all the fuctions can still be read. This is a common issue for the orginal grey model."

Whilte Forat Angelmuse Roland V-Synth

images via this auction
"This brilliant, unique, all-white keyboard was very recently purchased from a selling agent for Marcus Brown, one of Madonna's keyboardists. The tax man already taketh away, unfortunately, so I must immediately pass this bit of musical history along to you! Check out all the images and see this amazing beast in all its splendor. It was used on tour (read this article about it!), so there are one or two very small dings, which aren't noticeable until you peer at it point-blank. It is 100% operational, and comes with power cord and a printout of the 200-page manual. If you'd like to take a gander at it ahead of time, the PDF file is located on the Roland website, right here (warning: 3MB PDF file link; access may require a free registry at Rolandus.com).

It is maxed out in RAM and comes with a 128 MB Kingston flash memory card to store your sounds separate from the internal memory. It is also signed by Marcus, underneath the unit, clearly visible in one of the images. Its FORAT customization is worth-class; FORAT has designed custom MPC & synth systems for a renowned group of A-list artists."

Yes this is the White Forat previously posted here and here.

Custom Space Painted KORG Z1 by Forat - "The M. MIDI 2001"

via this auction

SN 001363

"Preowned KORG Z-1 MOSS Synth featuring polyphonic analog sounds in custom airbrushed galaxy painting."

Note the auction doesn't mention Forat, but you can see the sticker on the back of the synth. Forat is known for customizing synths, including the Akai MPC and Linn series before that. See the Forat label at the bottom of this post for more.

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FORAT 9000

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Details (note the serial number):
"DRUM MACHINE IT’S ONE OF IT’S KIND AND IT’S SERIAL NUMBER IS “EL DEBARGE” MACHINE IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION, HAS BEEN HARDLY USED. COME WITH SOFTWARE MANUAL REVISION 7.09. THERE ARE ONLY A COUPLE OF RUBBER SLIDER CAPS MISSING BUT THAT’S IT.

(Since 1986, Forat Electronics has been providing service, parts, and modifications to all Linn Electronics products. This included the famed Linn 9000 Drum Machine and MIDI Sequencer. Since that time, Forat has re-invented the 9000 to become one of the most desired drum machine/MIDI sequencers. The F-9000, as it is now called, is sold as a new complete unit, or you can buy software/firmware upgrades to convert your existing Linn 9000.

Some new stuff; all old software bugs are fixed, you have four times the original sequencer memory, full SMPTE read/write sync facilities as well as MIDI Clock and Song Pointer Position. You may sample into any of the 18 pads and sample time has been increased for a total of 33 seconds. Speaking of memory, the F-9000 retains all sounds and sequences even when the power is shut off. A new, larger LCD display replaces the tiny Linn display and the F-9000 is divided into two parts: drums and sequencer. Much of Forat's work has been updating and adding new features to the machine with a host of software revisions. The current revision is 7.09 and represents about four years work. Some features of the sequencer include: copy individual tracks to other tracks, shift individual tracks, re-quantize any track after recording as well as track merge. The sequencer will now record all 32 MIDI controllers i.e. MIDI Volume, 156 steps of drum tuning can be recorded dynamically during the sequence or drum tunings can be spread across all 18 pads with each pad user tunable. The sounds that you load or sample can be truncated, faded, or reversed. For example, if you sample a drum loop , you can reverse just a small portion of the loop to change it up.

Other new features are: System Exclusive recording for keyboard sounds, drum solo and mute, faster erasing and faster auditioning of sounds. New is the microscope editing with EVENT and GLOBAL Modes. The Event window shows track number your step or location within a certain bar number, MIDI note value, note velocity and note duration. You can change any of these values either by way of up/down buttons, or by simply playing the desired note on a master MIDI keyboard. You can also spot erase any note. In microscope mode, you can step from note to note but you do not have to step through every step (dead space) or the sequence to get to the next note . . . sequencer automatically "jumps" to the next played note. This process can be done on one or all tracks simultaneously. In GLOBAL Mode, you can transpose, erase or scale velocities and duration of notes. You can also specify a range of notes on which these GLOBAL edits occur.

In the DRUM SECTION, there is also GLOBAL and EVENT editing. You can specify a range of drum tuning, velocity, and hi-hat decays to be modified. You may reassign MIDI drum notes, create a MIDI drum mix, and send MIDI automation data. The F-9000 is capable of either manual or programmable record punch in/out. Finally under the Environment File, you can save all user set variables such as: SONG LIST, SMPTE START, and frame rates, pad dynamics, tempo, drum mix and tunings, as well as dozens of other settings.)"

Sequential Circuit Prophet 5 Rev 3 Just Serviced by Bruce (FORAT ELECTRONICS) SN 1709

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Sequential Circuit Prophet 5 Rev 3 Just Serviced 4 months ago by Bruce Forat (FORAT ELECTRONICS) but it never has chance to gig. All the following repaired performed for the prophet 5 serial# 1709 was written on paper by Mr. Bruce Forat himself on pictures.

The synthesizer has a beautiful cosmetic condition of its age and 100% working great. There are no breaks/racks or any major to be effected of its performing ability. The synthesizer will comes owners and technical manuals (schematics) and heavy duty Anvil case. The Prophet 5 is a real workhorse and will last you more than a lifetime. Of course, we will package this synthesizer as well as for good measure."

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LINN9000 - COMPLETELY SERVICED/UPDATED BY BRUCE FORAT

via this auction

"This Linn9000 is completely serviced/restored/updated by Bruce Forat at Forat Music Electronics in the US.

The work Bruce Forat has done on this Linn9000 consisted of :

- replacing/adjusting all drum pads
- cleaning the in/outputs
- cleaning/replacing of the faders
- installing a new Nicad backup battery
- enlarge the sequencer capacity to 43,000 notes
- installing a new 240 V. power unit
- installing SMPTE reader and generator card (required for midi sync/clock in)
- Besides the 40 K.ram memory that was already available in this Linn9000, Bruce added a 68K static RAM memory expansion. I also transferred an other 128 K.ram card into the Linn9000 so now the total is 236 K. ram memory in total.
- installing the latest 7.09. software. Some of the many features are as follow:

On screen editing features such as Event and Global edit (note, velocity, duration, tuning, hi hat decay and erase), two types of punch (manual or programmable), recording all controllers such as MIDI volume etc., event chase, MIDI drum note assignment, copy individual tracks or drums, merge and replace, Time shift of notes and drum events, re-timing correction of individual drums or tracks after recording, 156 steps of drum tuning recordable during the sequence, MIDI System Exclusive recording for keyboard sounds, sample editing (truncate, reverse and fade), drum solo and mute, better and faster erase and many more.

Besides all these incredible features, the Linn9000 has an installed sampleboard (A/D converter) to load and record samples into the Linn9000. In this way you can load the recorded samples you want to use for your music project. Also 2 extra trigger input cards are installed!! So there are 12 trigger inputs you can use

The Linn9000 also comes with the latest 7.09 software manual to guide you through all the amazing features!"

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Forat Linn 9000

images via this auction. via Must!
"It is a fully loaded Forat9000, and, as you may know, it is really hard to find a Forat with all the sampling upgrades. I sent the machine to Bruce Forat's place for him to go through. You will be buying a totally updated, upgraded, refurbished, very clean, fully functional, Forat Linn 9000.
You can see many of the upgrades from the shot of the rear exterior.

There is a mystery upgrade all the way to left - the unmarked 1/4" input. I called Bruce to see what it is, and he says it is an unmarked SMPTE upgrade."

Bruce Forat Interview?

I might be able to conduct a Bruce Forat interview. If you have any questions you always wanted to ask him, feel free to leave them in the comments. If you don't know who Bruce Forat is, check out these previous posts.

The following are some starter questions I am thinking of asking. I am always fascinated by the history of things in the synth world along with giving people somewhat of an open format to share things they want to share.

1. Can you give us some history about how Forat came to be?
2. What was your main motivation behind what you did with Linn? (if this is answered with 1, then chuck it of course.)
3. How closely have you been watching the synth market and what are you thoughts?
4. Can you tell us a bit about your customizations of the mpc4000?

Linn 9000 Vintage Drum Machine SN 350898 Sequencing Minitaur

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated. Linn 9000 Linndrum Drum Machine and MIDI Sequencer w Minitaur

Published on Dec 10, 2012 by ar2jr - Minitaur comes in after 3:47.

"Showing off the legendary Linn 9000 currently for sale and showing the not much discussed sequencer side of it which is incredible. Listen to that lively timing! This was what eventually led to the MPC. This has the 6.62 Forat OS which gives you an additional 60K for sampling from the floppy."
This one in via Matia.

via this auction

"This one is packed with lot's of amazing features. It has the FORAT 6.62 OS which allows this machine to load samples into memory and FIXES ALL THE BUGS normally associated with the Linn 9000. It's been furnished with brand new batteries and all of the pads work completely. They are quick to trigger and feel incredible. This is what an MPC should feel like. This unit has the trigger inputs and also the SMPTE card but it does NOT have the sampling A/D card HOWEVER you can load samples via floppy or burn EEPROMS. Contact bruce Forat and he can make you a custom Linn LM 1 set.

The kick drum is also not the standard Linn 9000 kick but is instead Kick 7 which is the superior kick that was put in after the machine had been on the market and people complained about the lackluster factory kick.

Also, because this is the Forat OS, the sequencer is GREATLY expanded and is basically what the MPC sequencer should have been with better timing and FEEL than anything else out there. The sequencer includes comprehensive sequencing over 16 channels, step edit mode or live record, and a comprehensive song mode. MIDI SEQUENCES CAN BE DIFFERENT LENGTHS THAN DRUM SEQUENCES! What this means is that you could come up with a drum groove and play a melodic arrangement that is of a different bar count than your drums!"

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YAMAHA DX7 SYNTH WITH FORAT MAM 2000 MODULAR SYSTEM MEMORY

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"YAMAHA DX7 CLASSIC SYNTHESIZER/KEYBOARD AND ULTRA-RARE, EXTREMELY PRACTICAL FORAT MSM 2000 (MODULAR SYSTEM MEMORY, $350 VALUE WITH INCLUDED ADAPTOR)

You already may know what a legendary keyboard DX7 is, with its own individual sound (with some harmonics in it that are not reproduced by a modern computer workstations imitations). Also included is a fantastic Modular System Memory by Forat. In our opinion, this is best standalone sound memory cartridge ever created. Unlike some expansion boards by other companies, the Forat combines a standard DX7 card behavior and convenience with its innovative on-board computer approach and there are no additional electrical changes required for DX7 or its firmware to use it. It permanently stores 64 standard DX7 sound banks (64*32=2048 sounds total!) and allows you to freely switch/rotate between them with additional ease-thanks to a big internal display. Best of all, it comes already preloaded with a wide variety of sounds for you to get started instantly. If you will ever want to load your own DX7 banks, simply select bank number to erase/format, then press write button (its lamp will light up) and perform a standard DX bank store-to-card operation. The lamp will go dim and your soundbank will be found under the same number (with this mega-card you can freely disconnect it as you would any standard Yamaha card and for example, connect it to another DX7 if desired)."

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Linn LinnDrum LM-2 recently serviced by Bruce Forat

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

Note the seller is offering 10% off to MATRIXSYNTH readers. You can make an offer at the listing and let him know if you saw it here.

"This LinnDrumm has the Forat MIDI kit, ZIF Sockets for easy changing of EPROM's, BASS 2 EPROM and full set of extra slider caps.
Bruce Forat installed the MIDI Kit, replaced capacitors, repaired all mixer faders! If you know anything about the LinnDrum it is that the mixer has a tendency to breakdown over time. This one works and feels great!

The FACTORY patterns and song are also loaded into memory and I will provide an audio file so you can reload it. It also is running OS 3.1 and Bruce kindly showed me how to access a "secret" second bank of pattern memory and I will provide instructions on how to do that.

Owner Manual, Service Manual, MIDI Manual and Factory memory will be provided via email, USB thumb drive or SD card. Which ever you prefer.

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

Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular. The LinnDrum was used on many recordings throughout the 1980s, including international hits such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax", a-Ha's "Take On Me", Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F", Tears for Fears' "Shout", Deniece Williams's "Let's Hear it for the Boy", and Madonna's "Lucky Star".

The LinnDrum has fifteen 8-bit 28 kHz ~ 35 kHz digitally sampled drum sounds: bass drum, snare, side-stick snare, hi-hat, crash cymbal, ride cymbal, three tom-toms, cabasa, tambourine, high and low congas, cowbell, and hand-claps. It includes a sequencer for programming rhythm patterns, a built-in mixer and individual output jacks for each sound.

Service by Forat was completed on February 5, 2020."

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Roland SH-201 from Madonna Tour with Custom FORAT Mod

via this auction. Looks like it ended with a BIN of $800.

"Roland SH-201 which was used by Madonna's longtime keyboardist Marcus Brown on Madonna's recent "Confessions" Tour. It was personally customized by FORAT himself as part of Marcus' unique white Roland setup for the tour. This whole rig has a stunning customized white & black paint design. To see an article about this setup, and more pictures, go to this Roland Web site page. The FORAT modifications for the SH-201 cost $1,000. This is your chance to own a piece of Rock & Roll history and is a one-of-a-kind keyboard, like no other available on the planet. I also have the FORAT-customized white Roland V-Synth from Marcus' tour setup, shown on the Roland Web site" I didn't see the V-Synth listed as of this post.

via Gord.

Forat

No new news here, I just realized that although I've put posts up featuring Forat gear, I've never put one up on the site itself. For those of you not familiar with Forat, from the history page on the site: "Since 1982, Bruce and Ben Forat have provided the entertainment community with first-class music electronics. Since 1986 they have provided service, parts, and modifications to all Linn Electronics products. They revamped the original line including the LinnDrum, LM-1, and LinnSequencer and introduced the world to the F-9000." Title link takes you there.

Custom Silver Metallic Emu SP1200 Vintage Drum Machine w/ Forat Upgrade

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

via the seller: "For sale here is an Emu Sp1200 with an amazing custom paint job by Bruce Forat. I've owned quite a few custom Forats and I will say this one is my favorite, incredibly amazing job the silver sparkle and lettering and graphics, even down to the custom silver knobs and sliders, it's really an amazing dope look. So classic.

It also has servicing / upgrades making this machine a breeze to use. It's fully functional and in amazing shape. All the buttons and pads trigger perfectly, pots are scratch free and the outputs are clean without hiss.

Cosmetically its near minty shape, the paint job is near perfect, looks really fantastic. The screen is so incredibly bright that it's hard to even show it properly in the pictures, but it looks awesome in person. Check out the pictures below for more details.

It has the following service/upgrades done in the past year by Bruce Forat:
- pads refurbished
- sliders refurbished
- all inputs outputs cleaned
- disk drive checked
- custom silver gloss paint job with silver knobs and sliders
- upgraded ultra bright custom blue backlight (super easy to read from multiple angles sitting in front or above, unlike the original screens)

Comes with a sound library of disks with rare samples including ($200 value)
- Roland TR909, TR808, TR606 sampled direct from the original machines (w/ OS 1.2 included on all disks)
- 16 original sound library disks including 5 from original Emu Sound collection
- 10 new old stock blank disks ready for formatting"

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Custom Black & Orange E-Mu Sp1200

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Bruce forat modified sp1200 in near new shape. It is a reissue. Has 8 outs boost mod by forat, new LCD, new faders, all new buttons pads and tacts,hd floppy mod. And brilliant Bruce forat custom paint job. With manual and small disk library and power cable."

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Roland V-Synth from Madonna Tour with Custom FORAT Mod

via this auction

Here's the white V-Synth mentioned in this post.

"Roland V-Synth which was used by Madonna's longtime keyboardist Marcus Brown on Madonna's recent "Confessions" Tour. It was personally customized by FORAT himself as part of Marcus' unique white Roland setup for the tour. This whole rig has a stunning customized white & black paint design. To see an article about this setup, and more pictures, go to this Roland Web site page. The FORAT modifications for the V-Synth cost $1,000."

Note this was picked up by Dave of umop/Parallax.