the "wendel" machine (other sources say "wendal") is a DRUM MACHINE, constructed by roger nichols, and i'm quite sure that this was the first device using *sampled* sounds of *real* drums. the rhythm patterns are programmable. if you listen to the mentioned steely dan album (gaucho), there is no chance to realize that it's no human drummer drumming. (the follow-up "wendel II" can be heard on donald fagen's album "the nightfly".) later on, iirc around 1982, the Linn drum machine was the first drum computer at reasonable price using samples of real drums. <<<
A drum machine doesn't necessarily use the samples of real drums. Other drum machines have created analog and/or digital sounds, such as the Roland TR-808 and TR-707. The Roland TR-909 was the first to use a combination of created and sampled digital and analog sounds (the crash sound was sampled). Peace.