The 909 is the drum machine that most strongly hints at its modern descendants. It had more sophisticated sound generation and sequencing, and even more importantly, MIDI sync. The 808 and 909 will always go side by side, retained for their unique sonic quality – and often used together on tracks – but the 909 improves on the 808 in almost every technological aspect. It was and is the template for Roland drum machines to come.
The best combination
Ikutaro Kakehashi told Keyboard in 1994 that at the time, the team at Roland felt the combination of analog synth sounds with PCM samples was “the best combination.” In that sense, the TR-909 represents the realization of what Roland’s drum machine dream team saw as the ideal.
The team that designed the TR-880 – which was renamed TR-880D (D for digital), then TR-909D, and finally TR-909 – was an impressive collection of talents. Mr. Yoshiro O-e contributed heavily to the PCM voice circuitry. Atsushi Hoshiai not only wrote the new software but also recorded the digital samples, and there were considerable design contributions from Tadao Kikumoto of 303 and 808 fame.
Out of the 11 sounds on the 909, four were sampled – the crash/ride cymbals and open/closed hi-hats. The bass, snare, low/mid/high toms, rimshot, and clap were updated analog circuits that had evolved from the ones in the 808. They offered the potential for more nuanced timbres, aided in large part by the 909’s improved sequencing features.
Many now-iconic features were introduced on the 909, a fact often forgotten in the light of the 808’s overshadowing fame. For the first time, each instrument part could have its own accents per step. Simulated flams were created by doubling up on sequence steps. Most importantly, the 909 introduced shuffle to Roland drum machines – while the 808 was stuck on the grid, the 909 could groove enough to help define the new sound of house and techno.
The 909 could accept DIN sync from older devices or send/receive MIDI clock signals, but those MIDI ports did more than handle sync. While the buttons on the front panel weren’t velocity-sensitive, the 909 could accept MIDI velocity data from external devices, giving players direct access to the improved sensitivity of the 909’s new sounds.
To all of this, the 909 retained the 808’s many established strengths – tap writing, pattern programming, fills, numerous hands-on sound controls (now with a few extras), and easy navigation, transport, and programming. Taken together, these many features laid out a model of what drum machines could be.
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