The Tanzmaus and Tanzbär Lite are the latest compact analogue drum machines to reach our shores from German brand MFB. Broadly speaking, they’re a new generation of instrument replacing MFB’s discontinued 503 and 522 machines respectively. In a very loose sense, the pair are inspired by Roland’s classic TR-808 and TR-909 grooveboxes, but these are far from copycat machines – the similarity only stretches as far as the range of sounds on offer, rather than the machines’ sound and functionality.

Visually, both drum machines look completely different from the instruments that preceded them. The 503 was a black plastic box with a sizeable central screen, while the 522 was a red and black plastic device laden with several rows of knobs. Both the Tanzmaus and Tanzbär Lite come in a near identical off-white metal chassis, each equipped with a rectangular bank of 21 rotaries surrounded by click buttons and a row of smaller channel gain knobs along the top. There are no screens on either, just an assortment of parameter labels (in brown on the Maus, orange on the Lite) and a list of hidden parameters in small print down the bottom. Stylistically, both look really smart, and the metal chassis feels reassuringly rugged. Having said that though, in my tests I noticed a bit of unwanted noise when turning a couple of sound parameter knobs, which makes me slightly less confident about how the build will hold up in the long term.

Curious machine