The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a drum machine introduced by the Roland Corporation in 1983. It succeeded the Roland TR-808, and was the first Roland drum machine to use samples and MIDI. Though it was initially a commercial failure, the 909 became influential in the development of electronic dance music such as techno, house music and acid house.
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The Roland TR-909 drum machine.
Design[]
The 909 was designed by Tadao Kikumoto, who also designed the Roland TB-303 synthesizer and was chief engineer on the development of its TR-808 predecessor. Makoto Muroi was also a chief engineer on the project, the analog and digital (pulse-code modulation) voice circuits were developed by Yoshiro Oue, and the software was developed by Atsushi Hoshiai.
Sounds and features[]
Whereas its predecessor, the TR-808, is known for its "boomy" bass, the 909 sounds aggressive and "punchy". It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples, for its crash, ride and hi-hat sounds; other sounds are generated with analog synthesis. As the clap and snare are generated via the same noise source, they produce a "phasing" effect when played together.
The 909 was also the first Roland drum machine to use MIDI, allowing it to synchronize with other devices, or for sounds to be triggered by an external MIDI controller for wider dynamic range. Older Roland machines can be synchronized via its DIN sync port (a precursor to MIDI).
The 909 features a sequencer that can chain up to 96 patterns into songs of up to 896 measures, and shuffle and flam can be added. It features an improved way to accent notes or beats, which adds punchiness to it.
Roland adjusted the 909 over time. Some user's have taken to using DIY techniques to modify the 909 to act like how it did previously.
Early uses[]
The first known commercial uses of the 909 were Japanese records. In 1983, it was first used in city pop albums, Naomi Akimoto's album 4 Seasons produced by Masaki Iwamoto and Hiromi Nakamura's 'Swonderful produced by Akira Higashimoto. In 1984, it was used in Super Xevious, Making of Non-Standard Music and S-F-X by electronic music pioneer Haruomi Hosono (former member of Yellow Magic Orchestra),[1][2] Sailing Blaster by city pop artist Hiroshi Sato,[3][4] Naomi Akimoto's Poison 21 produced by Hiroshi Sato, and Apogee & Perigee's Chōjikū Korodastan Ryokōki and Miharu Koshi's Parallelisme produced by Haruomi Hosono.
The first non-Japanese record using the 909 was Remission by Canadian industrial band Skinny Puppy in December 1984. The first American record featuring the 909 was Mantronix: The Album by Mantronix in 1985, and the first European record featuring the 909 was No Jacket Required by Phil Collins the same year.
After the 909's production run ended in 1985, the 909 was eventually popularized by house and techno records from Chicago and Detroit between 1986 and 1988.
List of early songs featuring the TR-909[]
This list only includes songs that used the TR-909 during its production run from 1983 to 1985, listed in chronological order.
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ "Haruomi Hosono With Friends Of Earth - S-F-X". Discogs. 1984. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ↑ "Haruomi Hosono, S-F-X". Analog Records. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ↑ "Hiroshi Satoh - Sailing Blaster". Discogs. 1984. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ↑ "佐藤博「SAILING BLASTER」について". 安川大介ブログ「佐藤博論」ソロアルバム編 (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 February 2025.