| TR-808 | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) TR-808 front panel | |
| Manufacturer | Roland |
| Dates | 1980–1983 |
| Price | US$1,195 £765 ¥150,000 JPY |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | 12 |
| Timbrality | 12 |
| Synthesis type | Analogsubtractive |
| Storage memory | 32 patterns, 768 measures |
| Effects | Individual level, tuning,attack, decay, and tone controls for some sounds |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | 16 pattern keys |
| External control | DIN sync in/out |
TheRoland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the808, is adrum machine manufactured byRoland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users toprogram rhythms instead of using preset patterns. Unlike its nearest competitor at the time, the more expensiveLinn LM-1, the 808 generates sounds usinganalog synthesis rather than by playingsamples.
The 808 was a commercial failure, aselectronic music had yet to become mainstream and many producers wanted more realistic drum sounds. After building approximately 12,000 units, Roland discontinued the 808 after itssemiconductors became impossible to restock. It was succeeded by theTR-909 in 1983.
Over the course of the 1980s, the 808 attracted acult following among underground musicians for its affordability on the used market, ease of use and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, boomingbass drum. It became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic,dance andhip-hop genres, popularized by early hits such as "Planet Rock" byAfrika Bambaataa and theSoulsonic Force and "Sexual Healing" byMarvin Gaye.
The 808 was eventually used on morehit records than any other drum machine. Its popularity in hip-hop has made it one of the most influential inventions in popular music, comparable to theFender Stratocaster's impact onrock. Its sounds are included with music software and modern drum machines and it has inspired unlicensed recreations.
In the 1960s,drum machines were most often used to accompanyhome organs. They did not allow users toprogram rhythms,[1] but instead offered preset patterns such asbossa nova.[2][3] In 1969, theHammond Organ Company hired the American musician and engineerDon Lewis to demonstrate its products, including an electronic organ with a built-in drum machine designed by the Japanese companyAce Tone.[1] Lewis was known for performances using electronic instruments he had modified, decades before the popularization of instrument hacking viacircuit bending. He made extensive modifications to the Ace Tone drum machine, creating his own rhythms and wiring it through his organ'sexpression pedal toaccent the percussion.[1]
Lewis was approached byIkutaro Kakehashi, the president and founder of Ace Tone, who wanted to know how he had achieved the sounds using the Ace Tone machine.[1] In 1972, Kakehashi formed theRoland Corporation and hired Lewis to help design drum machines.[1] By the late 1970s,microprocessors were appearing in instruments such as theRoland MC-8 Microcomposer,[4] and Kakehashi realized they could be used to program drum machines.[5] In 1978, Roland released theCompuRhythm CR-78,[4] the first drum machine with which users could write, save and replay their own patterns.[5]
The TR-808 is a piece of art. It's engineering art, it's so beautifully made. If you have an idea of what is going on in the inside, if you look at the circuit diagram, and you see how the unknown Roland engineer was making the best out of super limited technology, it's unbelievable. You look at the circuit diagram like you look at an orchestral score, you think, how on earth did they come up with this idea? It's brilliant, it's a masterpiece.
With its next machine, the TR-808, Roland aimed to develop a drum machine for the professional market, expecting that it would mainly be used to createdemos.[7] The team was led by the chief engineerTadao Kikumoto.[8][1] Makoto Muroi was a chief engineer, Hiro Nakamura was responsible for designing the analog voice circuits that generate the sounds, and Hisanori Matsuoka was responsible for developing the software and engineering hardware.[5][8]
Kakehashi and Lewis asked the team to ask produce an inexpensive machine that would play realistic drum sounds.[8] Due to the cost ofmemory chips, instead of usingpulse-code modulation to playsamples of percussion, Kikumoto instead proposed a "drum synthesizer" which would generate sounds usinganalog synthesis.[8] They aimed to allow users to programsequences and edit parameters such as tuning,decay and level.[9] Kakehashi deliberately purchased faultytransistors to create the 808's distinctive sizzling sound.[10]
The 808 imitates acoustic percussion: thebass drum,snare,toms,conga,rimshot,claves,handclap,maraca,cowbell,cymbal andhi-hat (open and closed).[11] Rather than playing samples, it generates sounds usinganalog synthesis; the TR in TR-808 stands for "transistor rhythm".[12] The sounds do not resemble real percussion,[2][7] and have been described as "clicky",[7] "robotic",[10] "spacey",[3] "toy-like" and "futuristic".[2]Fact described them as a combination of synthesizer tones andwhite noise that resemble "bursts coming from theBBC Radiophonic Workshop" more than a real drum kit.[11] InMusic Technology, Tim Goodyer described the cowbell as "clumsy, clonky and hopelessly underpitched".[13]
The 808 is noted for its powerful bass drum sound, built from asine oscillator,low-pass filter andvoltage-controlled amplifier.[14] The bass drumdecay control allows users to lengthen the sound, creating uniquely low frequencies thatflatten slightly over time, possibly not by design.[14]The New Yorker described the bass drum as the 808's defining feature.[10]
The 808 was the first drum machine with which users could program a percussion track from beginning to end, complete withbreaks androlls.[15] Users can program up to 32 patterns using thestep sequencer,[5] chain up to 768measures[16] and placeaccents on individual beats.[5] Users can also set thetempo[5] andtime signature, including unusual signatures such as5
4 and7
8.[17] The 808 includes volume knobs for each voice, numerous audio outputs and aDIN sync port (a precursor toMIDI) to synchronize with other devices.[5] Its three trigger outputs can synchronize withsynthesizers and other equipment.[18]
The 808 launched in 1980 with alist price ofUS$1,195 (equivalent to $4,560 in 2024).[11] Roland marketed it as an affordable alternative to theLinn LM-1, manufactured byLinn Electronics, which used samples of real drum kits.[11] The 808 sounded simplistic and synthetic by comparison;electronic music had yet to become mainstream and many musicians and producers wanted realistic-sounding drum machines.[7][11] According to many reports, one review dismissed the 808 as sounding like "marching anteaters", though this likely referred to machines that predated it.[17]Contemporary Keyboard wrote a positive review, predicting that it would become "the standard for rhythm machines of the future".[15]
Despite some early adopters,[11] the 808 was a commercial failure[16] and fewer than 12,000 units were sold.[19] Roland ended production in 1983[2] aftersemiconductor improvements made it impossible to restock the faulty transistors essential to its design.[10]
Before its release, Roland rented an 808 to the Japanese groupYellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), who used it at a 1980 performance of "1000 Knives" at theBudokan.[8][20] In the same year, the YMO memberRyuichi Sakamoto used the 808 on his solo albumB-2 Unit.[21][20] Later in 1980, the 808 was used in an Indiandisco album,Babla's Disco Sensation, byBabla.[22]
In 1981, the 808 was featured on the YMO albumBGM and the single "Nobody Told Me" bythe Monitors.[12][23] In 1982, the AmericanR&B artistMarvin Gaye released the first US hit single to feature the 808, "Sexual Healing".[3] Gaye was drawn to the 808 because he could use it to create music in isolation, without other musicians or producers.[10]
Though the 808 was unsuccessful, it was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine[24] and became one of the most influential inventions in popular music.[7][25] By the time Roland discontinued it in 1983, it had become common on the used market, often selling for less than $100 (equivalent to $316 in 2024).[11] Its ease of use,[7] affordability and idiosyncratic sound earned it acult following among underground musicians and producers,[11] and it became a cornerstone of the developingelectronic andhip-hop genres.[3]
808 samples are common in music software, and it has inspired numerous unlicensed clones.[2][26]Flavorwire wrote that the 808 is now so ubiquitous that "its beats are almost a language of their own", with sounds recognizable even to listeners who do not know what drum machines are, and so "you also notice when somebody messes with them or uses them in unusual contexts".[27] In 2019,DJMag wrote that it was likely the most used drum machine of the preceding 40 years.[9]
The 808 has been described as hip-hop's equivalent to theFender Stratocaster guitar, which dramatically influenced the development ofrock music.[28][29][30] It was used by pioneering hip-hop acts includingRun-DMC,LL Cool J andPublic Enemy.[10] The 808 bass drum, in particular, became so essential that Hank Shocklee of theBomb Squad production group declared that "it's not hip-hop without that sound".[10]The New Yorker wrote that the "trembling feeling of [the 808 bass drum], booming down boulevards in Oakland, the Bronx and Detroit, are part of America's cultural DNA".[10] Even after the 808 fell out of use byEast Coast hip-hop producers in the 1990s, it remained a staple ofSouthern hip-hop.[11]
The rapperKanye West used the 808 on every track on his 2008 solo album808s & Heartbreak,[31] whichSlate described as "an explicit love letter to the device".[7]The New Yorker wrote in 2015 that the 808 was the bedrock of the modern "urban-youth-culture soundtrack", particularly intrap music, and had influenced a new blend of dance andretro hip-hop that "embraces and fetishizes ... street music from the past".[10]
Artists pushed the limits of the 808's limited pattern storage; according toSlate, "Those eight-bar units became veritable playgrounds for invention and creativity."[7] Artists manipulated the bass drum to produce new sounds,[7] such as on the 1984 single "Set it Off", in which the producerStrafe used it to imitate the sound of an undergroundnuclear test.[10] The producerRick Rubin popularized the technique of lengthening the bass drum decay and tuning it to different pitches to createbasslines.[25] TheBeastie Boys used a reversed recording of an 808 on their 1986 track "Paul Revere".[32]
In 1980,Ryuichi Sakamoto's electronic track "Riot in Lagos" from the albumB-2 Unit introduced the 808 to clubs. According toMary Anne Hobbs ofBBC Radio 6 Music, it demonstrated a new type of "body music" that "foretold the future" of music.[33] In 1982,Afrika Bambaataa and theSoulsonic Force released their single "Planet Rock", which used the 808 to create "strange, futuristic" percussion that was popular in clubs.[34] The track influenced the development of electronic and hip-hop music[27] and subgenres includingMiami bass andDetroit techno, and popularized the 808 as a "fundamental element of futuristic sound".[3] According toSlate, "Planet Rock" "didn't so much put the 808 on the map so much as reorient an entire world ofpost-disco dance music around it".[7]
The British electronic group808 State took its name from the 808 and used it extensively.[11] 808 State'sGraham Massey said: "The Roland gear began to be a kind ofEsperanto in music. The whole world began to be less separated through this technology, and there was a classiness to it—you could transcend your provincial music with this equipment."[2] With the rise ofrave culture, a precursor toacid house, the 808 became a staple sound on British radio.[3] In the early 90s, the Japanese composerYuzo Koshiro incorporated samples of the 808 in his soundtracks for theStreets of Rage games.[35]
The 808 was used extensively in pop.The New Yorker wrote that it triggered "the big bang of pop's great age of disruption, from 1983 to 1986", and that its "defiantly inorganic timbres ... sketched out the domain of a new world of music".[10] According toSlate, it was instrumental in pop music's shift from conventional structure and harmonic progression to "thinking in terms ofsequences, discrete passages of sound and time to be repeated and revisedad infinitum".[7]
The Argentine artistCharly García used the 808 for all percussion on his second album,Clics modernos (1983).[36] In the 1984Talking Heads concert filmStop Making Sense, the singerDavid Byrne performs "Psycho Killer" accompanied by an 808,[37] stumbling against its "gunshot"-like sounds.[38] The drummer and songwriterPhil Collins found the 808 useful forlooping rhythms for long periods, as human drummers would be tempted to add variations andfills.[25]Whitney Houston's 1987 single "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" makes extensive use of the 808.[39]
Other artists who have used the 808 includeDamon Albarn,Diplo,Fatboy Slim,David Guetta andNew Order.[3][40] It has been referenced in lyrics by artists including the Beastie Boys, Beck,Outkast,Kelis,TI,Lil Wayne,Britney Spears,Beyoncé,R Kelly andRobbie Williams.[3][11] Its bass drum has been used as a metaphor for a heartbeat in songs by artists includingMadonna,Rihanna andKesha.[11]
The 808 was followed in 1983 by theTR-909, the first Roland drum machine to use samples. Like the 808, the 909 influenced popular music, including such genres astechno,house andacid.[16]
808 samples were included inReBirth RB-338, an earlysoftware synthesiser developed byPropellerhead Software.[41] According to Andy Jones ofMusicTech, ReBirth was "especially incredible" as the first software emulation of 808 sounds.[41] It was retired in 2017 as Roland said it infringed on its intellectual property.[41] Roland has included 808 samples in several drum machines, including itsGrooveboxes in the 1990s.[16] Its TR-8[34] and TR-8S drum machines, released in the 2010s, recreate the sounds electronically rather than through sample playback.[42]
In 2017, Roland released the TR-08, a miniaturized 808 featuring anLED display, MIDI andUSB connections, expanded sequencer control and a built-in speaker.[43] Roland released the first official software emulations of the 808 and 909 in 2018.[44] In 2019,Behringer released a recreation of the 808, the Behringer RD-8 Rhythm Designer. Unlike Roland's TR-08 and TR-8S, which use samples and virtual synthesis to recreate the 808 sounds, the RD-8 uses analog circuitry.[45]
| Synthesizers |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic drums | ||
| Keytars | ||
| Grooveboxes | ||
| Samplers | ||
| Workstations | ||
| Sequencers | ||
| MIDI interfaces | ||
| Modules | ||
| Software | ||
| Amplifiers | ||
| Effects units | ||
| Organs | ||
| Boss effects | ||
| Founder | ||
| Other | ||