Wersi Wersimatic WM 24

The rhythm unit as an instrument in its own right

Wersi’s Wersimatic WM 24 is a freestanding, wood-veneered accompaniment unit with 24 patterns and 15 instruments. It is not simply an organ annex: the catalogue presents it as a separate rhythm machine, with the WM 24b keyboard accompaniment and WM 40 sound retrofit offered as distinct additions. That modularity gave a buyer room to begin with a rhythm section and build outward.

A remarkably busy panel

Automatic changes, organ control, snare rolls and drum solos sit beside rhythm selection, tempo and volume. Instrument-cancel switches let the player remove parts from a preset arrangement, while beat indicators keep the movement visible. The WM 24’s interest is not stored user patterns but a broad set of ready-made rhythms that can be thinned, coloured and turned in the moment.

A kit or a finished machine

The 1981/82 catalogue distinguishes kit and assembled prices, and a 1982 British buyers’ guide listed the WM24 at £327 as a kit or £587 assembled, VAT included. The large difference is an unusually clear reminder of the era’s DIY market: Wersi was selling both an instrument and the labour of making it ready to play.

An unusual rhythm heard again

A 2021 review of Richard von der Schulenburg’s “Wersimatic Space Bar” connects its character to the WM24’s unusual patterns. It is a small later afterlife for an instrument whose real attraction remains on the panel: a dense, tactile vocabulary of accompaniment that could be changed while a player was still in the room.

In the market

• 1981/82: DEM 1093 — German catalogue price, p. 74. WM 24 kit, order 310321; printed base subject to cover’s 5% increase from 1 November 1981 Source ↗
• 1981/82: DEM 1957 — German catalogue price, p. 74. WM 24 assembled, order 319321; cover leaves assembled prices unchanged Source ↗
• 1982-07: GBP 327 — UK buyers-guide price. WM24 kit; WM24b not stated included Source ↗
• 1982-07: GBP 587 — UK buyers-guide price. WM24 assembled; WM24b not stated included Source ↗

On record

• Richard von der Schulenburg / RVDS — Wersimatic Space Bar — Moods and Dances 2021. Review connects the named track to the WM24 and reports artist appreciation of its rhythms. Source ↗
• Scot Solida — Wersimatic sample session. Scot Solida published a first-hand Wersimatic Drum Box sampling account, preserving the machine’s sounds for other musicians to use. Source ↗
• Shird Leopart — Void’s Owner. Shird Leopart credits a Wersi Wersimatic WM-24 among the instruments performed on Void’s Owner. Source ↗