The RMK-100 appears in Amdek’s circa-1982 Japanese kit catalogue. In March 1983 Electronics & Music Maker offered the kit in Britain for £74: four electronic voices and sixteen programmable patterns for a builder to assemble, then play.
The evidence, in view
The RMK-100 among the Amdek kits.
The RMK-100 appears at the lower right of the left-hand page, alongside Amdek’s other kits. Its product panel shows the black enclosure, rhythm controls and step display, while the full spread sets the instrument in a wider catalogue of build-it-yourself equipment. Amdek printed an 18,500-yen price beside the RMK-100.
Build the instrument, then write a rhythm
The RMK-100 kit includes a case, components, wire, solder and instructions. Its logic and sound-source boards arrive pre-assembled; the builder fits the remaining hardware and controls into the enclosure. Once assembled, it retains a personal pattern library when switched off.
Sixteen patterns, four voices
Two banks hold sixteen programmable rhythms, each sixteen steps long. Select a voice, then press the orange button for a beat and the white button for a rest. Bass drum, snare, open hi-hat and closed hi-hat can be written separately, with accent and automatic hi-hat functions. The second bank can supply fills; chaining lets patterns follow one another without a fresh button press.
A socket for the builder
A rear user socket leaves room for modifications. The construction feature describes footswitch start/stop, external clock and clock output wiring, plus separate changes for step length and external voice triggers. These are builder extensions, not connections fitted to every kit.
Alongside the other Amdek kits
The Japanese catalogue places the RMK-100 among Amdek’s 100-series kits. Its illustration shows the bank selector, mode controls and horizontal step display: the finished playing surface reached after the assembly work. The catalogue’s circa-1982 date is approximate, rather than a settled launch date.
Sources
The visual archive