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Celebrate #808Day With These 808-Inspired Tracks

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As far as music technology goes, Roland’s 808 Drum Machine has been one of the most influential of our time, making it hard to believe that the now coveted drum machine was actually discontinued in 1983.

Since then the 808 has reemerged within the musical community and has made a drastic impact within all areas of music. This iconic drum machine has been used far and wide throughout the music industry, from hip-hop to house, and has undoubtedly changed the game.

To commemorate the 808 and all its bass-y and percussive goodness, we’ve selected a few fantastic tracks that utilized the legendary drum machine. Enjoy our selections, and make sure to let us know what some of your favorite 808 tracks are too.  Read more

808 Day: Roland Announces “Ultra-Compact” Version of the TR-808

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Happy 808 Day!

And it is certainly fitting that Roland has added two key items to its Boutique range today, with additions of both the TR-08 and SH-01A.

The Japanese manufacturer’s intention is to provide a more versatile version of the TR-808 for users looking for a drum machine that is more compact while maintaining the same sound characteristics that have made it such an iconic piece of hardware for the last three decades. On their site they state that the product “retains the sound, character, and user interface of the original TR-808.”

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Play This Impressively Accurate In-Browser TR-808 Drum Machine

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Although this is certainly not the first in-browser drum machine to have been created, the latest iO-808 is arguably the most impressively accurate we’ve seen.

Software engineer Vincent Reimer created this sequencer to look as identical as the original Roland TR-808 hardware as possible, with tone knobs, instrument select and pads all included to precise detail. As you may have guessed, Reimer released his latest creation on August 8th, as a celebration of 808 Day.

Give it a try as there’s no doubt that the iO-808 offers a realistic and fairly authentic experience albeit from the comfort of your laptop or desktop computer. As an amateur/bedroom music producer, Reimer does recognize that some fine-tuning of the software is still needed, “A side effect of this is while I got the sounds fairly close to the original hardware,” describes Reimer to GitHub, “There’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

You can jam out to an in-browner TB-303 for some Acid House fun here.