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Roland TR-808 Overview
An overview of the Roland TR-808, the analog drum machine whose booming kick and distinctive voices reshaped hip-hop, electronic, and pop music.
Roland TR-808 Overview
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer is an analog drum machine released by Roland in 1980. Unlike sample-based machines, the TR-808 generates its sounds with analog circuitry, giving it a distinctive voice: a deep, booming bass drum, a snappy snare, ticking hi-hats, and the instantly recognizable cowbell and rimshot. It was in production only briefly, into the early 1980s, with a relatively small number of units made.
Commercially modest at first, the 808 went on to become one of the most influential instruments in modern music. Its sounds, especially the long, tuned kick drum, became foundational to hip-hop, electro, dance, and pop, and "808" is now common shorthand for that bass sound itself. Programming is done with the machine's signature row of step buttons, which made beat-making fast and tactile and helped shape the sound of countless records.
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Roland TR-808
Drum machine · Japan
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer is a programmable analog drum machine that Roland produced from 1980 to 1983. Its sounds are generated by analog circuitry rather than samples, giving it a distinctive booming kick, snappy snare, and sizzling cymbals and hi-hats. Commercially unsuccessful at launch, it became one of the most influential instruments in popular music, defining the low end of hip-hop, electro, and dance records and remaining a sought-after sound decades later.