StarskyCarr Digs Into the Minipops Junior: The Quirkiest Band Member of the 70s

If you thought drum machines needed to stay on time, the Korg Minipops Junior is here to shatter your misconceptions. With a sound palette that includes five delightfully oddball pops and fizzes, it feels more like an instrument with character than a polished player. StarskyCarr opens up his exploration of this vintage rhythm box by highlighting its infamous inability to keep time. Despite this—or perhaps, because of it—the Minipops Junior is described as being brimming with vibe and character, a package that is irresistibly fabulous. It’s a deep dive into a piece of history, capturing all its quirks in high-resolution MIDI for his Patreon followers. Starsky, with his meticulous nature, spent hours sampling to grasp every nuance of this peculiar device.

Imagine starting a band without a drummer—quite the punk move, right? Well, Echo & the Bunnymen did just that with the Minipops Junior. StarskyCarr delves into the band’s formation story, where the Minipops became an honorary member during their early days due to their lack of human percussion. This little rhythm box reportedly held the quirky honour of being credited in a band. The lore goes beyond mere credit, as even Ian McCulloch from the band acknowledged its place. Starsky shares a personal anecdote of chatting with McCulloch, affirming that the drum machine was indeed called “Echo,” which lent its name, or at least some of its spirit, to the band. Such stories add layers to what the machine represents, not just sonically but culturally, enriching its legacy in the post-punk movement. The mystery and lo-fi charm of this contraption reflect the experimental spirit of the late ’70s, demonstrating that precision is sometimes overrated.

Ah, timing—a concept you’d think was fundamental to any music machine. The Minipops Junior, however, dances to its own beat, presenting rhythms that defy the ticking of any clock. Starsky spends considerable time illustrating just how loose and free its timing can be. Loading samples into Logic Pro, he reveals how this machine plays with the concept of ‘on-beat.’ It’s hilariously inconsistent, almost as if it’s perpetually recovering from a hangover. As Starsky shows us, no matter how much you push the tempo, each hit lands whimsically off the mark, creating a groove only it can claim. He highlights the beauty in the chaos—an embodiment of the ‘less is more’ philosophy often lost in the search for digital perfection. Every hit, every rhythm sags and stretches unpredictably, contributing to an organic ‘swing’ that software quantisation simply can’t reproduce. For those who love gear that sounds slightly ‘off’ just for the sake of character, this drum machine is a godsend.

StarskyCarr doesn’t just stop at showcasing the lo-fi beauty of the Minipops Junior; he dives deeper by sampling its imperfections. It’s as if he’s bottling lightning—capturing the machine’s spirit by meticulously recording the minor variations in each sound. He shares his geeky, enthusiastic approach to sampling: taking multiple recordings to encapsulate its organic imperfections in digital form. As he samples different kicks and snare hits, he finds slight discrepancies, like subtle whispers, in each sound. It’s a testament to how older machines weren’t engineered for perfection, and that’s exactly where their charm lies. Starsky puts these samples to the test, demonstrating how even the minute inconsistencies add up to form something uniquely authentic, reminding us that sometimes the magic lies in the details we can’t entirely control.