Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm

The Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm was a preset-based drum machine owned by Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel.

Phil Collins' Roland CR-78
Phil Collins had a Roland CR-78 drum machine at his Old Croft home studio for the writing and recording of material that would form the basis of Face Value. He remembers he was originally offered the drum machine by Roland when Genesis was on tour in Japan in 1978, but declined. When discovering that he had more time on his hands once he arrived back, he rang them up asked for one as a tool to help flesh out the music inside him and realise his ideas.

The CR-78 is notably the drum machine on "In The Air Tonight". On that song he used the Disco 2 rhythm preset, with the tempo slowed down and some some additional bass drum programmed by Phil into the machine for the looped beat. The drum machine and keyboard parts on that song were retained from the demo on the final record as it was rather difficult to recapture the mood and feel of the demo in the first place.

Even though Collins stopped writing or recording with the CR-78 by the time of No Jacket Required (as he began to favour the newer, programmable drum machines like the LinnDrum and Oberheim DMX), he continued to use it live on "In The Air Tonight" and "This Must Be Love".

With Genesis, the CR-78 was used for the drum machine pattern on "Duchess" from Duke (both on the album and the tour).

Mike Rutherford's CR-78
Along with Phil and Tony, Mike received the Roland CR-78 fresh off the production line while the band were on tour in Japan in 1978. His CR-78 notably appears on Mike + The Mechanics hit "Silent Running".

Peter Gabriel's CR-78
A CR-78 is seen at Peter Gabriel's home in footage from the PG4 sessions. The CR-78 was used to provide the main rhythm on "Games Without Frontiers", alongside a pAiA Programmable Drum Set.