Music world honors Roland drum computer on TR-808 day
Every day can be linked to something and so August 8th is 808-day, in honor of the Roland TR-808, one of the first programmable analog drum machines. The distinctive sounds can be heard in a large number of songs and the machine had a great influence on many styles of music.
The TR-808 Rhythm Composer was released in 1980 by the Japanese Roland and became particularly popular due to the relatively low price of just over a thousand euros. The sounds were initially less appreciated, as musicians at the time preferred to use sounds that more closely resembled a drum set. The TR-808 does not use samples but builds up the drum sounds analogously with a combination of filters and oscillators for sine waves and white noise.
That lack of realistic-sounding drum kit sounds was exploited by hip-hop producers in the early 1980s, aided by the fact that drum sounds were individually customizable. The producers thus emphasized the low bass drum in particular. Well-known examples of this are Africa Bambaataa’s Planet Rock from the east coast and Egypt Egypt by Egyptian Lover from the west coast of the US. The drum computer was increasingly used not only in hip-hop, but also in r&b, such as with Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing, after which the sound of the 808 also penetrated pop music and other styles such as techno, acid, drum & bass. and dubstep.
One of the drawbacks of the drum machine was the lack of midi support: synchronization with other early Roland devices such as the TB-303 was standard via the din-sync interface and those who wanted to integrate the TR-808 into their music studio had to do it themselves. tweaking to midify the 808.
Today, the asking price for a used TR-808 is a multiple of the original new price. Roland stopped production of the device in 1983 after only 12,000 made.
In honor of 808 Day, a fan shot a video that could have been a promotional video for the TR-808. If you want to know more about the drum machine, you will soon be able to watch the documentary ‘808’, in which the inventor Ikutaro Kakehashi will speak, together with artists such as Pharrell Williams, The Beastie Boys, David Guetta, Phil Collins, Diplo, New Order, and Fatboy Slim. Anyone interested in the technical properties and programmability can browse through the manual.