Wurlitzer’s Swingin’ Rhythm 5020 emerged at the end of the 1960s as both a preset rhythm attachment and a performance partner. Its compact cabinet and manual percussion controls gave a keyboard player an automatic beat that could still be worked by hand.
The machine in the record
Glenn Derringer / “The Girl from Ipanema”.
Glenn Derringer’s demonstration recording turns the Wurlitzer Swingin’ Rhythm into the accompaniment it was built to be: a domestic rhythm machine carrying a standard through a private performance.
Read Drum Machines: A Recorded History, Part 1: Analog Drum Machines ↗More records in the archive
The machine keeps turning up.
Splice Originals / Rare Rhythm Boxes sample library
Splice Originals recorded the Wurlitzer Swinging Rhythm for a contemporary sample library.
Read Splice Originals / Wurlitzer Swinging Rhythm ↗
Simon Pott / isvisible isinvisible / Isvisible Isinvisible
Simon Pott lists a Wurlitzer Swingin’ Rhythm among the sound sources for Isvisible Isinvisible.
Read isvisible isinvisible — Isvisible Isinvisible ↗A rhythm attachment with a player’s part
The 5020 sat between automatic accompaniment and live performance. The institutional collection record and period-document archive identify a compact Wurlitzer rhythm instrument whose controls allowed a musician to add manual percussion around the preset pulse.
A tangible Wurlitzer paper trail
The Tropical Fish archive preserves five Model 5020 drawings dated August 1968, a Wurlitzer and Glenn Derringer demonstration record, and a 1969 service notice. These records show Wurlitzer presenting rhythm as an instrument in its own right, with an active service life as well as a promotional one.
The 5020 in later instrument culture
Collector history and a firsthand sampling account retain the Swingin’ Rhythm as a distinct source of early electronic percussion. Its continuing appeal lies in the same mixture that made it unusual at launch: fixed patterns, a compact cabinet and a player’s ability to bring hands-on accents into the beat.
On record
- Glenn Derringer — The Girl from Ipanema — Wurlitzer Swingin’ Rhythm demonstration LP. Curator identifies a Swingin’ Rhythm attachment and reports settings given for this performance. Source ↗
- Splice Originals — Rare Rhythm Boxes sample library. Splice Originals recorded the Wurlitzer Swinging Rhythm for a contemporary sample library. Source ↗
Sources
The visual archive
Further visual evidence.
Sources for images shown earlier (1)
Additional visual sources (4)
Original publications and related image sources.
- MESS Swingin’ Rhythm 5020 photograph ↗
Undated · MESS · Wurlitzer-Swinging-Rhythm-1.png linked from catalogue - Wurlitzer 5020 Swingin’ Rhythm schematic listing ↗
Original date and · Wurlitzer · WURLITZER heading, 5020 line - Wurlitzer 5020 (Swingin’ Rhythm) drum machine ↗
Five Model 5020 drawings dated 1 August 1968 · Wurlitzer · Part nos. 132482, 132486, 132591, 132590 and 132575; Swingin’ Rhythm Note No. 1 - Glenn Derringer — Wurlitzer Swingin’ Rhythm ↗
1968 according to Holmes · Wurlitzer / Glenn Derringer · Playlist item 3