The Shape of Things That Hum - Roland TR-808

[rizdraver]

"Before those records were out, I knew immediately, you know, that they were the shit, basically." : )

[extremeeXrement1]

watch?v=3Gtrl52ZnWM 808 solo

[dirt0jumping]

they should make the 808 exactly like it is again

[mishmoshable]

6:38; Love it

[MrGadboa]

Do Love this

(just had to ask if ok)

sry - its ON

gadboa - your friend to hell and back .)

[nightskytube]

Thing is, I disagree about the 'reaction to the sloppy drummer, the human drummer, it became unacceptable.' Adjusting a tempo slightly midsong reflects the drummer's musical sensibility, to suit the parts. A machine has no sensitivity.

[itsreal1971]

I want to buy a TB-808 they must be super rare nigs...

[djpio707]

what a dumb cunt..it TR not TB

[LALOMAN18]

Ya should see how Egyptian Lover uses this kick ass drum machine (his favorite anolog machine) and dominates the stage in the 80's.. ya can youtube it!

[esc319]

so why did they need Baker if he was hiring the guy to make the beats...? He's not such a top dog.. I mean how can you say that? ghost writer......

[fooloof]

nobody talks about the fact that the factory shipped different sounding models. you can hear them on different songs, as well as youtube videos. for example, this guy's snare at roughly 7:10 has a different snare than the one in planet rock.

by the way, the snares go on 5 and 13 for programming on the 808. this translates to the 2 and 4 in 4/4 music.

[foxfoobar]

I will never understand why people have to smoke in their studio!? I smoke too but only outside or atleast in the kitchen only!

[kurnilse]

1.26 wow on the right Korg PS-3300,and three of them fuckers:-)amazing

[vegunited06]

lol the woman said TB. oops

[513black]

best machine ever

love this rythmcomposer 808 4 life

[sleestack808]

did that guy say he thought the 808 sounded wimpy?

[MalteSer001]

you have to understand that prior the 808, the most popular drum machine that was available was the linndrum . so if you compare them to each other ( one had real battery sound and the other had a new strange sound ) you could understand why he said that .... ive got the 808+909... 909 kits with 808 bassdrum in my oppinion ... although you wont really notice the diff in a song when you test the units next to each other you can hear the "evolution" as that nerd in the vid said .

[cliklab]

Daniel Miller (Mute Records) is the man behind THE NORMAL, "Warm Leatherette". If anyone has the chops to say the 808's kick "sounded wimpy", it's this guy. He's comparing the presets generated by the 808 relative to the massive noise generators like MOOG and KORG synths; where every sound was literally crafted by the artist; using gear like Modular Synthesizers, Bass sequencers and looping it up using 2" Analog tape machines. He's just saying so what or wtf is up??? You know what I mean?

[rantarave]

yeah well if its not EQ'd right it sounds wimpy

[carbonatedbrainsauce]

That guy at 7:00 can't even program a snare on 2 and 4...

That has to be an embarrassing moment for him caught on tape.

[adrifromhh]

yeah, strange taht they didnt shoot that again...

[maccagrabme]

@carbonatedbrainsauce Hey is the guy out of Coldcut so I think he knows what he doing. ;)

[BonusBee923]

at 1:02 she says TB 808! TB?! What a fuckin insult!

[yano421]

I thought I was only to catch that. I actually rewinded the vid to make sure i heard it correctly. I'm literally sitting next to mine!

[peadbarry]

Does anyone know where i can download the full show/series from?

[aritomi76]

I'd like to see the episode of "The Shape of Things That Hum" about the Yamaha DX7, I can't find it anywhere... if anyone can help.

[snolan1990]

@aritomi76 Its on videogoogle

[Headcrabb]

Coldcut - Timber

that is an awesome song

[adrifromhh]

Can I get Drum sounds like from the 808 (like snare) with an modular system?

[JuggaloTinman]

fl studios has a 808 drum kit on it

[adrifromhh]

Thats not the answer to my question ^^ but thanks.

[Hazy804]

yea it does and i use it all the time the 808 is essential in dirty south rap beats

[discotechwreck]

yes, and more!

[snolan1990]

7:12 is absolutely true :P

[fooloof]

The 808 kick is surprisingly tame compared to what you hear on records. All the compressors and other processors really fatten it up. I love mine and will NEVER sell it, but I remember getting it home and being disappointed. When the dude turned up the decay at about 7:30, that's pretty much how it sounds.

[intromix]

Im with you on THAT!! When I got my 808I thought the whole 808 had pitch, only to find the toms/congas were pretty much it, and I was like WTF?!! Then I realized what really gives the actual Roland TR-808 credit, is that the 808 kick (longer decaying) came a few years later, and you could actually "sustain" the kick drum by using a SAMPLER, by looping it and adding decay and when you press the key on a synth, you can hold it down to keep the "hum" sound going all day until you release the key

[raymondleeleggs]

BOOM BOOOM BOOM BOOM I love those old drum machines, I have an anlogue toy drum machine that has a Bass drum similar to the 808 if i mic it it makes the walls rattle!

[petersedin]

great upload! thanx!

[Madrrrrrrr]

Juan Atkins the orignal electro artist. The rest is fake :P

[niquele]

John Robie, Pretty Tony, Baker, Hashim, among others, are not original electro artists? Gotta be joking.

[Madrrrrrrr]

First. There we're loads of electro artists which made OG tracks in 1982 and before. Phase II - The Roxy is pure, not sampled. And uses a oberheim dx like most electro artists did then. The known fact that Baker invented electro is the biggest farce in the musicscene. How about the Normal - Leatherette ? 1977 and rocking electro all the way. Just ask Daniel Miller who's also in this intverview.

[Madrrrrrrr]

Second Juan Atkins surely wasn't the first one but he's always forgotten when it's about the 808 and electro history. Also Pretty Tony is the only who did electro before 1982. The rest you name all released later.  Also: all you 'thumb down' guys listen to Alleys of you Mind by Juan Atkins as Cybotron and tell me that's not electro as we know it now!

[vegunited06]

people found out to get deeper bass a little later on though, sampling the 808kick onto an Akai, then downpitching it from there. now THAT was window shattering!

[TheAstroKid]

This is god man ;)

[repeatle]

"Roland TB-808"? Hehe...

[squidfanny]

awesome show man!

Do you have the others in the series? The 303 one was also really great, please uopload it if you can get5 hold of it!!

[ropewalkingelephant]

it's amazing how popular it is in mainstream urban music right now, even just the hi hat

[e808kick]

Awesome!

[lewisjp8young]

great video. i love the 808. its my favourite.

[kenspin]

U said it all...

[AppA]

"Like a tidal wave"

Mmmmmmm.......

[stoffenl]

This is excellent, machine history and with a bit of input from those who you look up to and reallt wanna hear from (with a bit of exception from keety;) pure awesome! Does anyone know when this show was produced?

[uomodonore]

Well the subtitles say 'MM', so I reckon it's from 2000.

[aisuru1876]

it was on Channel 4 in the UK in 2000, late night fridays. as the description says, 8-parts - other shows included the MiniMoog, the Fairlight and the mighty TB-303.

[reggiereg1]

excellent post...thanks for this

[brantan84]

great vid on 808's history. love this. thank you