THE ROLAND TR-808 (1980)
“I used a defective transistor,” Roland head honcho Ikutaro Kakehashi claimed in the 2015 documentary 808 by Alexander Dunn. “This defective transistor made noises. This was the source of the sizzling sound.” Released in 1980, the TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, was fully programmable and featured unique—and now iconic—synthesized sine-wave bass, fat claps, scratchy snares and hi-hats, and signature conga blips that led to a true revolution in music. The 808 is inseparable with the history of hip-hop: producer Arthur Baker used it for the seminal 1982 single “Planet Rock”; Rick Rubin and Jazzy Jay leaned on it heavily; Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad leader Hank Shocklee swore by it; Ad-Rock created an ode to the 808’s sizzle with “Hello Brooklyn” from Paul’s Boutique . The Rhythm Composer is also universally associated with a post- disco brand of R&B advanced by forward-thinking producers such as Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Teddy Riley, who programmed complex rhythms for the S.O.S. Band and Keith Sweat, respectively. This new wave of electronic R&B was ushered in by Marvin Gaye in his post-Motown, one-man-band era when he blanketed radio with the intricate 808 patterns of 1982’s “Sexual Healing.” Today, the 808 is the most-copied sound bank in modern music, propelling pop, Vocaloid, trap—you name it.
FEATURED IN:
1981 – YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA “1000 KNIVES” (ALFA) 1982 – MARVIN GAYE “SEXUAL HEALING” (CBS) 1982 – AFRIKA BAMBAATAA & THE SOUL SONIC FORCE “PLANET ROCK” (TOMMY BOY) 1983 – ISLEY BROTHERS “BETWEEN THE SHEETSW” (T-NECK) 1983 – THE S.O.S. BAND “JUST BE GOOD TO ME” (TABU) 1983 – CYBOTRON “CLEAR” (FANTASY) 1983 – NEWCLEUS “JAM ON REVENGE” (MAYHEW) 1984 – T LA ROCK & JAZZY JAY “IT’S YOURS” (DEF JAM) 1984 – LL COOL J “I NEED A BEAT” (DEF JAM) 1985 – LL COOL J “ROCK THE BELLS” (DEF JAM) 1986 – THE SHOWBOYS “DRAG RAP” (PROFILE) 1986 – RUN-DMC “PETER PIPER” (PROFILE) 1986 – BEASTIE BOYS “PAUL REVERE” (DEF JAM) 1987 – DYNAMIX II “JUST GIVE THE DJ A BREAK” (BASS STATION) 1988 – KEITH SWEAT “MAKE IT LAST FOREVER” (ELEKTRA)
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“If you think about the first wave of hip-hop, with real 808s that came out of the box, it was pretty clear to me right away, that low end,” says Power. “And also Tip standing over my shoulder saying, ‘More, more, more!’” – Bob Power (Issue 42, 2010, by Brad Farberman)
[“I Ain’t No Joke”] was the first single we did for the album itself [ Paid in Full ], and the first video we ever did, too. That sample was just another James Brown record that I used to rhyme off. At first we was going to sample more of it, but then we decided to have Eric just scratch [the horn riff] in. I used that song a long time before I met Eric, so that’s another Rakim banger right there. With the drum programming on the album, our engineer, Patrick Adams, did a lot of that. I just spoke with him the other day, actually—he’s a real talented cat. I’d basically just take my breakbeats and ideas in, and he’d sample it up and put the 808 on it. Patrick was the guy who first turned me on to the 808. We’d dress up the beats. I titled the song that way because that’s how I wanted people to perceive me on the mic. Back then, I tried to think of slogans that somebody would want to put on the side of their car, or say all day. So that was like the ultimate. – Rakim (from Brian Coleman’s Rakim Told Me: Hip-Hop Wax Facts, Straight from the Original Artists , as excerpted in Issue 13, 2005)
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The whole [idea for Random Access Memories ] started with the drums. Saying we want to get out of this [pounds hand in palm, four-to-the-floor style] TR-909, TR-808 [sound], which is mostly what we’ve been using, or the LinnDrum, which are those iconic drum machines. We have done almost all of our records with those three… drum machines. – Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter
The 808 has its share of lore, including the story of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” whose intro snares have the telltale tone of the 808, yet have been identified as anything from a LinnDrum to a garbage can lid to drummer Jeff Porcaro digitized. Engineer Matt Forger confirmed through Wax Poetics writer Travis Atria that it was indeed the Roland TR-808.
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