The TR-808
Roland’s TR-808 Rhythm Composer came out in 1980. It made its sounds with analog circuits rather than recordings, so it sounded nothing like a real drum kit, and it sold poorly at first. Its deep bass drum, snappy clap and hissing hats then became the sound of early electro and hip hop, Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing (1982) and Miami bass, and today the long, pitched 808 kick is the bass line of trap and drill.
This page opens the drum machine on the 808-style kit with a trap pattern at 140 BPM: the kick plays on step 1 and around the second half of the bar, one clap on step 9 gives the half-time backbeat, and the closed hats run in sixteenths with a few doubled hits.
Making it yours
- Kick: the 808 kick rings for most of a beat, so leave space after it. Two kicks close together (steps 8 and 11 here) give the bounce trap beats are known for.
- Hats: use Velocity mode to make every other hat soft, then add a burst of four steps before the clap for a roll.
- Cowbell and rimshot: both were 808 staples in electro and Miami bass; try the cowbell on off-beats.
- Swing: trap is usually straight (50 %); for an older hip-hop feel set 55 to 60 % and lower the tempo to 85–95 BPM.
When it’s done, the address bar holds the beat. Download a WAV loop to build a track on, or the MIDI file to play it with your own 808 samples in a DAW. For a 909 kit set up for house, open the 909 drum machine.