Roland TR-808

• 1. Origins And Development History

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  In 1978, Roland released the CompuRhythm CR-78, the first drum machine with which users could write, save and replay their own patterns. This milestone set the stage for a new project led by chief engineer Tadao Kikumoto. The team included Makoto Muroi as chief engineer, Hiro Nakamura designing analog voice circuits, and Hisanori Matsuoka developing software and hardware. Ikutaro Kakehashi, president of Roland, asked the group to create an inexpensive machine that would play realistic drum sounds. Memory chips were too expensive at the time to use pulse-code modulation for playing samples of percussion. Kikumoto proposed a "drum synthesizer" instead, generating sounds using analog synthesis. Kakehashi deliberately purchased faulty transistors to create the 808's distinctive sizzling sound. The goal was to allow users to program sequences and edit parameters such as tuning, decay and level.

• 2. Analog Synthesis Architecture

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  The TR in TR-808 stands for "transistor rhythm." Unlike its nearest competitor, the Linn LM-1, the 808 generates sounds using analog synthesis rather than by playing samples. It imitates acoustic percussion including bass drum, snare, toms, conga, rimshot, claves, handclap, maraca, cowbell, cymbal and hi-hat. The sounds do not resemble real percussion and have been described as "clicky," "robotic," "spacey," "toy-like" and "futuristic." Fact magazine described them as a combination of synthesizer tones and white noise resembling bursts from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Tim Goodyer of Music Technology called the cowbell "clumsy, clonky and hopelessly underpitched." The 808 is noted for its powerful bass drum sound built from a sine oscillator, low-pass filter and voltage-controlled amplifier. The bass drum decay control allows users to lengthen the sound creating uniquely low frequencies that flatten slightly over time possibly not by design. The New Yorker described the bass drum as the 808's defining feature.

• 3. Commercial Failure And Discontinuation

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  The 808 launched in 1980 with a list price of $895. Roland marketed it as an affordable alternative to the Linn LM-1 manufactured by Linn Electronics which used samples of real drum kits. Electronic music had yet to become mainstream and many musicians wanted realistic-sounding drum machines. One review dismissed the 808 as sounding like "marching anteaters" though this likely referred to machines predating it. Contemporary Keyboard wrote a positive review predicting it would become "the standard for rhythm machines of the future." Despite some early adopters fewer than 12,000 units were sold. Roland ended production in 1983 after semiconductor improvements made it impossible to restock the faulty transistors essential to its design. It was succeeded by the TR-909 in 1983. By the time Roland discontinued it in 1983, it had become common on the used market often selling for less than $100.

• 4. Underground Cult Following

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  Before its release Roland rented an 808 to the Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra who used it at a 1980 performance of "1000 Knives" at the Budokan. In the same year YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto used the 808 on his solo album B-2 Unit. Later in 1980 the 808 was used in an Indian disco album Babla's Disco Sensation by Babla. In 1981 the 808 was featured on the YMO album BGM and the single "Nobody Told Me" by the Monitors. In 1982 American R&B artist Marvin Gaye released the first US hit single to feature the 808 titled "Sexual Healing." Gaye was drawn to the 808 because he could use it to create music in isolation without other musicians or producers. Its ease of use affordability and idiosyncratic sound earned it a cult following among underground musicians and producers. It became a cornerstone of the developing electronic and hip-hop genres.

• 5. Hip-Hop And Electronic Music Impact

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  The 808 has been described as hip-hop's equivalent to the Fender Stratocaster guitar which dramatically influenced rock music development. Pioneering hip-hop acts including Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Public Enemy used the machine. Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad production group declared that "it's not hip-hop without that sound." The New Yorker wrote that the trembling feeling of the bass drum booming down boulevards in Oakland, the Bronx and Detroit are part of America's cultural DNA. Even after falling out of use by East Coast hip-hop producers in the 1990s it remained a staple of Southern hip-hop. In 1982 Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force released their single "Planet Rock" using the 808 to create strange futuristic percussion popular in clubs. The track influenced the development of electronic and hip-hop music subgenres including Miami bass and Detroit techno. According to Slate Planet Rock didn't so much put the 808 on the map so much as reorient an entire world of post-disco dance music around it.

• 6. Legacy And Modern Emulations

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  In 2017 Roland released the TR-08 a miniaturized 808 featuring an LED display MIDI and USB connections expanded sequencer control and a built-in speaker. Roland released the first official software emulations of the 808 and 909 in 2018. In 2019 Behringer released a recreation of the 808 called the Behringer RD-8 Rhythm Designer. Unlike Roland's TR-08 and TR-8S which use samples and virtual synthesis to recreate sounds the RD-8 uses analog circuitry. 808 samples were included in ReBirth RB-338 an early software synthesizer developed by Propellerhead Software. Andy Jones of MusicTech described ReBirth as especially incredible as the first software emulation of 808 sounds. It was retired in 2017 as Roland said it infringed on its intellectual property. 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. DJMag wrote in 2019 that it was likely the most used drum machine of the preceding 40 years.