Roland’s TR-1000 Rhythm Creator is the ultimate drum machine

It took a long time, but Roland finally gave up and gave the people What do they want?: A convenient analogue successor to the popular TR-808 drum machine. the 808 voice, especially the kick drumHe is Planted So Deeply in DNA to accident music that it He was be a total damage to He tries and Boiling that it impact under To A bachelor sentence Or a existing to Artists. (Note: Not all linked songs necessarily use actual 808, but they do at least contain samples or approximations of their sounds.)

But, in typical Roland fashion, the company didn’t do that only Recreating some famous analog circuits. No, the TR-1000 also has digital emulations of other classic Roland drum machines. It has FM synthesis, PCM samplers, and a built-in sampler with looping and cutting capabilities. Not to mention dozens of effects, the ability to layer sounds, and a state-of-the-art sequencer with probability, automation, and precise timing. In short, if there’s a feature you want in a drum machine, the TR-1000 is probably what you need. But it also means that the TR-1000 is an equally intimidating piece of equipment $2,699.99 price.

Just looking at it can be a bit daunting. Roland sometimes turned towards garish or com. toylike Designs, which were rightly criticized. Now the company may have overcorrected. The last Gaia 2 and Sh-4d Synthesizers are utilitarian and almost boring looking. The TR-1000 continues that trend, but carries a heft that these two don’t. Roland’s flagship drum machine means business and looks the part.

The stark gray and black scheme gives it an almost brutal, industrial feel. There are 16 satisfyingly noisy switches at the bottom for step sequences, fixed sliders for each of the 10 audio channels, plus a plethora of buttons and knobs. Roland heard that you wanted more practical controls and decided to offer them to you everyone Process controls.

The result is that you can do a lot on the TR-1000 with minimal menu diving. If you’ve used a step sequencer before, you should be able to produce a simple rhythm right away. There are dedicated adjustment and decay knobs so you can easily get your hands on the modern, ultra-deep 808 drone. While the labels on the other handles are generic (CTRL 1, CTRL 2, CTRL 3), the screen at the top right shows what they control.

Now, that doesn’t mean there is no Dive into the menu here – this is a Roland machine, after all. But the company has made big strides in its user interface in recent years. The problem is that Roland still hasn’t gotten to grips with being forced to cram every possible feature into every device. Would it be nice to have the TR-1000’s sample cutting and resampling capabilities? certainly. But their use isn’t always intuitive, and the layout isn’t ideal for exploring pieces to recontextualize the episode. For sampling single takes and drum hits, the TR-1000 is great. But some of the more advanced features feel like they’ve been remedied, buried behind complex button combinations and cumbersome menus. The result is that I rarely used the looping or clipping features, instead treating the TR-1000 as a more traditional drum machine.

From this perspective, the TR-1000 is an undeniable success, albeit an incredibly expensive one. The main feature is, of course, the 16 analog drum circuits that recreate the distinctive sounds of the TR-808 and TR-909. These are the reasons why you should splurge on the TR-1000. If you don’t care about getting an original analogue version of a snare 808, spend your money elsewhere. There are countless digital fax machines, including affordable options such as T-8 from RolandAnd more Free sample packs from I can number. But for those who crave the real deal, this is what you’ve been waiting for.

If you’re interested in making classic hip-hop, house, or techno music, this is the canvas you want to draw from. But I wouldn’t call the sounds of the 808 or 909 old. They are immortal. The TR-1000 helps prove this point by placing it in the context of a modern sequencer, alongside more powerful digital sounds.

The analog filter and drive help glue all these disparate sounds together while also highlighting the grain of the analog drum circuits. Increase the decay on the 808 kick and rev the engine to about 75 percent – that’s the sound of the gods. It’s the point where the bass starts crossing the fuzz zone and hits hard enough to pummel your chest. I found myself returning to this specific sound over and over again when I felt like jamming out.

Roland could have replicated the sounds of the OG 808 and 909 and called it a day. But in addition to the classic tones, there are extended controls that give you much more sound sculpting options than were available on the original devices. This involves tuning the 808’s kick so you can play it like a bassline, which it is clearly common in accident music But a sampler or compound is usually required.

The TR-1000 also turns out to be a great advertisement for the company’s digital simulation. If you put the analog circuit behavior (ACB) simulation of the 808 kick next to the real analog simulation on the TR-1000, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference—it’s very accurate. I like to think I have a relatively discerning ear when it comes to these things, but when I tried to guess which ones in a blind taste test, I was no better than pure chance.

ACB Models is also where you’ll find my favorite Roland sounds. Although I have the appeal of the 808 and 909, I’ve always been drawn to their lo-fi sounds TR-606 and CR-78. Now, if Roland wanted to give me a real analog version Those Looks like I would gladly throw all my money at them.

Despite all the additional sounds and advanced features the TR-1000 offers, I usually find myself starting with some slight variation on the same soundboard: an analog 808 kick, snare, hi-hat, clap, an analog 909 snare, and a digital 808 kick phased with the analog kick. Then I fill in the other five tracks with various digital percussion sounds that struck me at that particular moment.

Because of the quirks of the TR sequencer, I often found myself working with shorter, simpler patterns. Instead of having a long 64- or 128-step sequencer, the TR-100 essentially has a 16-step sequencer, with eight different variations that you can then change, as well as four “fill-in” versions for each variation. So instead of thinking of things as one long eight-bar loop, I would work in two loops or even one loop, but then build up a bunch of subtle variations to switch between.

This workflow actually created more diverse drum tracks, and the stacks of practical controls meant I could treat the drum machine as a one-off performance tool, rather than a backdrop for noodles.

My favorite performance tool is the Morph slider, which is definitely inspired by the crossfader found on Elektron’s Octatrack. It lets you set two different sets of parameters for all your sounds and then blend them seamlessly. Often times, I would use it to switch between the basic version of the pattern and the cranked version, and the decay appears on the kick, and the snares are tuned to hit harder.

Another performance-focused feature that I kept coming back to is Step Loop. Some drum machines allow you to repeat a specific part of a pattern — for example, the first half of a bar or a single step — to create quick fills and buildups. But Roland is the only company I know that lets you repeat the steps you want and in any combination you want. Do you want to repeat steps one, five, and nine to create a repeating fill that avoids any traps? Simply hold these steps for as long as you want. It turns packing into an active process, rather than just something you program and run from time to time. It’s a rare Roland feature that I wish other companies would blatantly steal.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the TR-1000. It’s more fun than I’ve had with a drum machine in a long time. But I also feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface over the past couple of months. Repetition, time-stretching, and interruption are all things I rarely bother with; The same goes for the virtual analogue synth engine – largely because programming melodic sections is a massive beta. There are individual outputs for each track, which would be huge in a more professional setting, but in my office/studio in the attic, I was only bothered by the teacher walking out. I also never touched on the placement of the song. (To be fair, I never touch song placement in any of my gear.)

There’s so much going on on the TR-1000 that it becomes overwhelming. Roland has really built the perfect drum machine, but it can seem overdone at times, and I preferred to stick to the basics. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; You should use a tool in the way that feels natural to you. But if you’re not going to use the TR-1000 to its full potential, the $2,699.99 price tag will likely be a deal breaker.

Photography by Terence O’Brien/The Verge