Roland TR-08
Lesson 3: Shaping the sounds
Goal: know what every sound knob does by ear, so you can dial in a kit before you write anything.
Every instrument has its own knobs, so there’s nothing to select before you turn one: the knob always changes that sound. That’s one of the nicest things about the 808 layout.
Hearing one instrument
The TR-08 has no drum pads, so you hear sounds through the sequencer. Three ways to focus on one instrument:
- Solo it. With a pattern playing, hold BANK, press TRIGGER OUT, and keep holding both. Press TAP so the display shows SOLO, then press the step button for the instrument (step 2 is BD through to step 12 for CH, in the same order as the select switch). Let go to keep listening. Do the same without pressing TAP to mute instruments instead.
- Give it its own test pattern. In a spare pattern, write the instrument on steps 1, 5, 9 and 13 (Lesson 4 shows how). Now it plays four times a bar while you turn its knobs.
- See what it plays. Turn the mode switch to PATTERN WRITE 1st PART and point the select switch at the instrument. The lit step buttons show exactly which steps it plays. Turn the select switch and the lights change to the next instrument’s row. You can do this while the pattern plays; it won’t stop.
What each knob does
| Instrument | Knob | What it changes | Try this |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accent | ACCENT (LEVEL) | How much louder accented steps are | Halfway to start; up for a punchy, pumping feel |
| Bass drum | TONE | Head tension: low is round and soft, high adds attack | Up for a kick that cuts through on small speakers |
| Bass drum | DECAY | Length of the boom | Full for the long 808 boom; down for a tight thud |
| Snare | TONE | Head tension and pitch | Higher for a bright, tight snare |
| Snare | SNAPPY | Volume of the snare wires (the noisy rattle) | Full left for a tonal body only; up for a crisp snap |
| Toms or congas | TUNING | Pitch of each drum | Tune them a musical interval apart |
| Cymbal | TONE | Character: dark or bright | Darker sits better behind other sounds |
| Cymbal | DECAY | Length of the cymbal | Short for a ride-like tick, long for a crash |
| Open hat | DECAY | Length of the open hat | Medium for the classic offbeat house hat |
| Every instrument | LEVEL | Volume of that instrument | Balance the kit |
The rim shot, clap, cowbell and closed hat have a LEVEL knob only. The menu adds more control (below).
Two 808 quirks to know:
- The closed hat cuts off the open hat. On the original they share a circuit, and the TR-08 copies that. If an open hat sounds chopped, look for a closed hat on the next step or two.
- Knob positions are not saved. Roland’s manual says it plainly: the positions of the knobs and switches are not memorised. A pattern stores only which steps play. Photograph the panel or jot down knob positions for any kit you want to recreate. The same goes for the tom/conga, rim/claves and clap/maracas switches.
Extra sound settings in the menu
Press MENU/SUB STEP, turn FINE (VALUE) to the item, press TAP to edit it, and press MENU/SUB STEP to leave (Lesson 2). These go beyond what an original 808 can do. Where the setting is per instrument, press steps 2 to 12 to choose which one.
| Display | Setting | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| CONP | Compression, 0 to 100 | Squashes the kick and snare so they hit harder and sound fuller |
| GAIn | Gain, 0 to 200 | Boosts or cuts an instrument beyond its LEVEL knob, useful when one sound is still too quiet at full |
| tUnE | Tune, -128 to 127 | Pitch for BD, RS, CP, CB, OH and CH (the ones with no TUNING knob) |
| dECy | Decay, -128 to 127 | Length for SD, LT, MT, HT, RS, CP, CB and CH |
| PAn | Pan, L64 to r63 | Position of each instrument in the stereo picture |
| bd | Kick type | nrN (normal) or L.dCy (long decay): the very long boom heard in hip hop and trap |
| H. Ln | Hi-hat link | On: the open hat’s tune and level settings drive the closed hat too |
Exercise 3
With a pattern playing, build three kits by ear: a deep, long hip hop kit (kick DECAY full, bd set to L.dCy, snare SNAPPY low), a tight punchy house kit (short kick, bright snare, short open hat), and a Latin kit (switch to congas, claves and maracas). Note the knob and switch positions for your favourite, because none of them are saved.