Roland TR-08

Lesson 7: Variations, fills, shuffle and performance tricks

Goal: make a one-bar loop stay interesting for minutes at a time. These features are what made the 808 a performance instrument and not just a metronome.

A, B and AB

The BASIC-VARIATION switch is the simplest performance control on the machine. Flick between A and B while it plays to switch between the main beat and its variation. AB alternates them every bar, turning one pattern into a two-bar phrase.

Try it: put a plain beat in A and the same beat with an extra kick and an open hat in B (copy A to B first, Lesson 6). Play A for eight bars, then AB.

Fill-ins

Steps 13 to 16 in MANUAL PLAY are the four INTRO/FILL IN patterns. Write them the same way as any pattern (select one, then PATTERN WRITE). A good fill is the main beat with the last four steps replaced by toms or a snare roll.

By hand:

1. Set the MEASURES selector to MANUAL.
2. Press START/STOP, choose a fill with steps 13 to 16, and set I/F-VARIATION to A or B.
3. Press TAP where you want the fill. If you press it during the first beat of a bar, the fill starts at the second beat; any later and it starts at the next bar.

Automatically: set MEASURES to 2, 4, 8, 12 or 16, and the TR-08 plays the selected fill every that many bars. TAP still drops in an extra fill whenever you like. Set it back to MANUAL to stop.

Intros

1. Choose a pattern with steps 13 to 16 and set I/F-VARIATION.
2. Press TAP. The intro’s light blinks. (Press TAP again to cancel.)
3. Press START/STOP. The intro plays for one bar, then the main beat starts.

A crash on step 1 of the first main bar after an intro is the classic 808 entrance.

Shuffle

Shuffle delays every second sixteenth note, so a straight beat starts to swing or bounce. Hold BANK and turn FINE. The display shows the amount.

Try it on a beat with hats on every step: none for techno, a little for house, a lot for hip hop and UK garage.

Sub steps: notes in between

While writing, hold MENU/SUB STEP and press a step. The note lands half a step later than normal. Roland’s manual calls these “backbeats”. Use them for:

• Flams: a snare on step 5 plus a sub step on step 4, so two hits smear together.
• Hat rolls: sub steps on a few closed hat steps turn a sixteenth-note pattern into quick 32nd-note rolls, the sound of trap hi-hats.
• Lazy kicks: a kick on a sub step instead of the grid pushes against the beat.

Roland’s product information describes 16 sub steps per step for detailed rolls; the owner’s manual only documents the half-step version above.

Pre-scale: triplets and 32nds

The PRE-SCALE switch changes what one step is worth. After changing it, press CLEAR in PATTERN WRITE to apply it to the pattern (Roland’s steps start from a freshly cleared pattern; do the same).

Position 1 with 12 steps is the shuffle feel of blues, swing and a lot of 50s rock’n’roll, written exactly rather than nudged with shuffle.

Longer patterns: 1st and 2nd part

A pattern can run to 32 steps by adding a 2nd part after the first 16. Start with a cleared pattern, then:

1. Mode switch to PATTERN WRITE 1st PART, press START/STOP.
2. Mode switch to PATTERN WRITE 2nd PART. Hold CLEAR and press the step for how long the 2nd part should be (16 for a full second bar). The step lights now run through the 1st part and on into the 2nd.
3. Write steps 1 to 16 in 1st PART, then switch to 2nd PART and write the rest.

The 1st PART and 2nd PART lights show which half is playing. CLEAR + TAP in 2nd PART sets it back to nothing.

Mute and solo for arrangement

Hold BANK and TRIGGER OUT, then press steps 2 to 12 to drop instruments in and out (press TAP first for solo). Start with only hats, bring in the kick, mute the kick for a breakdown, then bring everything back.

Exercise 7

Perform a two-minute arrangement from a single pattern using only the variation switch, fills, mutes and shuffle. Record it to your phone and listen back.