Roger Linn is the latest in a seemingly long line of respected professionals who have called out Behringer on its questionable business practices, yet has done so in a rather classy and non-aggressive way.
Roger is renowned for his significant contributions to electronic musical instruments, including the LM-1 Drum Computer in the 1980s. Fair game for being copied — I mean emulated — by Behringer you’d conclude.
The LM DRUM was recently launched, and Behringer had sent Roger an early prototype of the instrument in the late summer of 2024. Unsurprisingly, though, they had not sought any permissions for reusing the visual design or drum sounds.
Although the Behringer instrument uses a new operating system and user interface, based on their previous drum machines, a look inside (by Linn himself) shows that “it even copies much of my LinnDrum sound generation circuit, even my bad ideas like the inability to tune any drums except the snare, toms and congas.”
Linn is quite reserved on his overall opinion of the device. Understandably he’s more interested in the legality and ethicality of Behringer releasing such a product.
You can read Roger’s full statement on his website. What do you think?
