Bad Gear - Roland R-8M - Rack 808???

Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about one of the classic late 80s, early 90s Roland black frontplate rack instruments, the Roland R-8M. Is this much-loathed drum module dinosaur and sequencerless version of the R-8 the rack 808 we have been looking for?
Thanks to
/ poptracker
for the Roland R-8M and don't forget to check out his Roland JX-305, as well:
• Bad Gear - Roland JX-3...
He is such a great guy!

[@odaxne]

Looks good to me

[@ZemanTheMighty]

Looks good to me

[@qjames0077]

Looks good to me

[@theoboehm1064]

Looks good to me

[@AudioPilz]

I concur!

[@ZemanTheMighty]

I commented first yet you got more likes

[@matthewlister3755]

AudioPilz makes better tracks as a joke than I do when I am dead serious. The track he made with this thing was a banger! What a talent.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@farquoi]

just to make sure there's no confusion, though, the track after the credit is the demo song on the ROM card, by Roland. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYjOop-te56dg9k

[@Robertkopp84]

I heard he was asked to make the new Donkey Kong OST. I assume the game will be about Funky Kong and his bad audio gear.

[@nutrainers]

Agree, all videos have great tunes but in this particular one the 90's eclectic is out of this world. True late late 80's extension to 90's feeling, love it.

[@jevogroni4829]

very true. this guy could be a famous rap producer or whatever any time he wants

[@Sledger721]

The jam at the end absolutely slaps, that was like if Buddy Rich was trapped inside of an 80's rack unit.

[@AudioPilz]

Maybe he is;)

[@finonomastropiero4261]

uff what a joy

[@Owoshima_]

Y E S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING

[@slugstory]

This shit KNOCKS

[@palyndrumatix7790]

He was there. Together with his buddy Animal.

[@Daring2Win]

He has such a distinct cadence to his speech; it's like the same 8 or so notes looped. This rack sounds so good; if only these weren't the most overly sampled sounds on the market, I'd buy one. Whoa, that end piece!

[@AudioPilz]

It's the techno approach to public speaking ;) Thanks for the feedback...

[@Individual_two]

Good one! I'm a sucker for old Roland rack mounts. The JV1080 is still a mainstay in my rig to this day.

[@AudioPilz]

Only heard good things about the JV1080

[@georgegeez8708]

I agree with you guys. I have the JV2080 myself only because it has 8 slots for cards. Mine is nicely loaded with the Asia, World, Vintage Synths, 60s&70s, Orchestral 1 and Hip Hop cards. All great sounds.

[@pascalvanelstlande6954]

The JV1080 is also my main module. besides the holy trinity Korg M1 , D50 en DX7

[@palyndrumatix7790]

One can have it virtual in the Roland Cloud. Those strings the JV1080 is famous for even sound better in the RC version.

[@pascalvanelstlande6954]

@@palyndrumatix7790 I love my physical synths to much too use RC. I will try those strings when my Roland Sonic Cell arives. I think this must be a good one too.

[@jmsiener]

I literally have every single expansion card made for this machine with an R8M. I should get an R8 just to round it all out.

[@AudioPilz]

Absolutely! Sequencer seems to be nice

[@Aharshreality9281]

That's awesome. I hope to find some cards . A friend is selling me his

[@eugenetorres8601]

@@AudioPilz Have been using an r8 MK2 and can confirm. Super intuitive and fun.

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Seriously though are we going to talk about how killer the tracks he made for this video are? Like what is this crazy prog jazz polyrhythmic metric modulation drum solo madness starting at 1:27? If you made a Patreon and shared your full tracks, I would join it in a heartbeat.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! Roland really upped the demo track game on this one (I'd take the Patreon money, tho - coming soon;)

[@BrianRRenfro]

Paul Hardcastle called and wants help on his new single, "20" It is all news report samples from 2020 and people thought "19" was kind of a bummer of song... "ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba Bad Gear, ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba Bad Year"

[@AudioPilz]

A hit record ;)

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

Yes.

[@dustrickx]

It just blows my mind how efficiently you set-up, link, use and record with all these different tools most people find bad and make enjoyable music every time... I've had my own current set-up for a few months and don't even have it up and running hahaha

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! I've been setting up and tearing down complex setups for a living multiple times a day so I'm kinda used to that

[@ArmlessAndOveractive]

Keep up the new format, think I'm not the only person who would love to see a quick jam after the bad gear outro.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for the feedback! Marvel-Style!

[@MarneusAndMilkyBlood]

You're totally right! I loved that little jam at the end!

[@ChrisSmout]

Your jams this week make it nearly impossible to not like the R8M, excellent job!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@loomPEDAL]

this channel is a bizarre mix of gear, comedy and wild creativity - i love it. Do you have a Patreon, 'cause I'll support you x

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! Coming soon!

[@notmyrealname9059]

@@AudioPilz Discord might be fun too

[@tylerevans1700]

So excited every time I see an upload from you!!

[@tylerevans1700]

And the r8m sounded fine to me! Love the individual outs.

[@AudioPilz]

Happy to hear that!

[@johnmeroney2007]

As someone who likes programming synths as much as jamming, I like the idea of “gear finds a way.” ex: Emu Morpheus, all of my FM synths, etc.

[@AudioPilz]

Best Jeff Goldblum quote!

[@HiGlowie]

I was feeling that jam around 3:33 Kind of a Psychic TV/Fred Gianelli vibe! Very cool.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@busyak]

The tropical jam!!!!! R8M State

[@AudioPilz]

That was the name of the DAW session ;)

[@gwads5404]

i see what you did there

[@DestroyER82]

Sounds absolutelly awesome, such pleasure to hear thoose really carefully selected and well threated samples. No boring overcompression and liveless fake punchiness I hear everyday in modern music / tracks.

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, it's interesting that those dated samples can be a breath of fresh air

[@TheJesterboy1969]

This is one of my favorite modules! Great tracks you created.❤

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@handzproductionz6361]

WHOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!! That DJ PREMIERE LINE ALMOST MADE ME FAINT !!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT VIDEO @!!!!!!!!!! 😎😎😎🎵

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@Nimhskate]

R8 is truly an all time favorite! Such punchy sounds

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, punch for days!

[@tukushtacos2518]

The video w the neon dolphins on reverse and the lions making sexx was a true masterpiece

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!!!

[@danarves7452]

Am I alone in wondering what it would sound like if you played all the bad gear intros including the "welcome to..." together all at once in some giant arnie-moby chorus? Yep, thought so :D

[@AudioPilz]

Welcome to Bad Intros, the show about combining ectomorph US dance artists and Austrian body builders

[@tomasmulcahymusic]

@@AudioPilz much loolz@ectomorph

[@lukesimmonds387]

Things I love to see: an upload notification from my new favourite channel!

[@AudioPilz]

Happy to hear that!

[@mister2628]

Werdict... you are a genius!

[@AudioPilz]

Senks!

[@russ8889]

My R-8m with dance card was used on all my records made me a living I think it's pretty good and never had anyone complained it wasn't a real 909

[@AudioPilz]

Dance card sounds awesome!

[@onlysoma]

the two songs in the middle fully sound like 90s action cartoon chase sequences, which is probably exactly what the machine was used for professionally

[@ninjaxhayabusa]

The R8 soundset is my favorite bunch of drum samples from a single unit. I'm not a big fan of 80s retro revival or synthwave at all, but I use those samples on everything.

[@AudioPilz]

Super versatile unit!

[@thchris]

i had this thing... i always loved the high-hat.. they always sounded really nice and alive..

[@AudioPilz]

Great cymbals!

[@t3hjnz]

I was like "wait, I've never heard this Delerium track before," and then there was lion sex. This is the weirdest timeline, but.. did I just buy an R-8M on Reverb? Dammit.

[@AudioPilz]

Kitties like to play ;)

[@proaudiorestore8926]

Some great early 90's flashbacks there!

[@AudioPilz]

It still holds up!

[@nakanda]

I had the R-8 and sampled all the sounds in the highest quality possible and I still use them!

[@AudioPilz]

Great sample library!

[@djciregethigher]

Wow that drum medley at the end clearly shows you know how to shred on IRL drums IRL!!!!! Nasty!!!! 🙌🔥🔥🔥

[@AudioPilz]

It was one of the factory demos, TBH. Great stuff!

[@demagmusic]

I had an R-5, and my good friend had an R-8. Great line of machines if you dig into the sounds a bit and tweak things

[@AudioPilz]

Loved the R8m - pro sounds!

[@mikebest2537]

I still use the R8m i bought new wwwaaayyy back when... in fact, i now have 2! BRILLIANT machine.

[@AudioPilz]

Two of them are the bare minimum;)

[@RegebroRepairs]

OK, OK, OK, I admit it. I've become a collector of drum machines. Cheap? Makes drum sounds? It's on my list.

[@AudioPilz]

I feel the same way!

[@_sl3600]

The final bonus drum solo is approved by the Creative Prodikeys demonstrator. "This is Lock and Loll!"

[@AudioPilz]

...called tomtoms!

[@retrigger_]

@@AudioPilz lock and loll is very simple, just 4 counts

[@Timoty777]

Amazing as always!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you

[@galacticecho7027]

Dude, I don't care if it sounds dated! Those are some sexy drum samples!

[@AudioPilz]

People would still dance to this ;)

[@foxholeartist]

That intro is lit. All of them.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@BranoMacko]

At first I thought I had Crash Bandicoot soundtrack playing in another tab. It took me a while to understand you chose a very loud and rhythmically rich background music.

[@BranoMacko]

thumbed up nonetheless

[@AudioPilz]

That music is so grotesque. Had to use it in that way

[@julieblair7472]

I thought I was having a cooler-than-usual panic attack

[@turtleCalledCalmie]

By now you should understand that I love your videos my dude

[@AudioPilz]

I highly appreciate it!

[@morganbebell9003]

Dated or not, I kinda like it. I get an old Ministry vibe, an that's ok by me.

[@AudioPilz]

Love Ministry!

[@joshuam8406]

man i love the background song that plays for the first two minutes. Sound like some cool game music

[@AudioPilz]

The jazz factor is high on this one...

[@dietmarschlichtherle7061]

R8 and R8M are the most beautiful Systems ever made

[@AudioPilz]

Classic!!!

[@robgs]

It's a brave man that throws in a shakuhachi sample ;-)

[@AudioPilz]

Those who dare...;)

[@littlebubble380]

that solo at the end holy hell lol you could probably make some sick old school DNB with this thing

[@AudioPilz]

Roland took them demo somgs quite seriously

[@TheAstroKid]

I had never touched the R8M Module version, but i have the R8 drummachine still at my studio and i love it

[@AudioPilz]

R8 is a total classic. It has the feel;)

[@luisinovitschluisfighters1526]

Love the snare

[@AudioPilz]

Weapon grade snare drum

[@7177YT]

+1 for the outro. (: loved the rest as well

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@mastercylinder1939]

I’ve done it again, I bought a R-5 because a R-8 never appeared for sale in my area, and now I’ve just bought a R-8M for the best of both worlds.

[@AudioPilz]

The extra slots of the R-8M are great!

[@ccfunk1]

For years the Roland R8MK2 was my drum machine. i couldn't afford a mighty Akai MPC3000 that everyone else was using and i got made fun of at a studio once(i remember those things!!! Lol) . later i got a MPC2000xl and today i have MPC Live. and as dated as the sound i use many samples for the R8. some of them are pretty cool i think.

[@AudioPilz]

The OG R8 is legend!

[@joshwizinsky1979]

Please tell me you're making an album soon! I'd buy it in a heartbeat! your beats are insane dude!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much. Working on it!

[@planetflop]

4:51 tuneeee! nice to see the racks models, i have a roland xv-3080 and yamaha tx81z!

[@AudioPilz]

Roland rack units 4 life!

[@PeteBetter]

Did anyone ever build a midi user-friendly front end for all these modules?

[@nkrusty3907]

Damn these videos make all the great gear shoot up in price!!!

[@AudioPilz]

I was already accused of the exact opposite today😂

[@marcomaureira]

Lol "arrested by the jazz police" I laughed too hard at that one lol great video just what my Friday needs

[@AudioPilz]

The Jazz Police is strong in my country ;)

[@r5tony67]

Holy Christ your content is insane!!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@RhenishHelm]

Consider the Alesis Airsynth - just try to get a useable sound for the intro from that pseudo-theremin tchotchke. I dare you.

[@AudioPilz]

I would have to make an intro about failing to do this ;)

[@hyghfidelity7888]

Always nice to see an A&H Zed mixer, was my very first :' ). Few years later and now I have a mammoth 32 channel GL2200 and a room full of quirky synths, it's been a fun journey.

[@AudioPilz]

Love them A&H

[@paolocervi9365]

Not bad gear, R8 is a Classic.

[@AudioPilz]

Why not both;)

[@static-audio]

Another great vid. I liked the sound of it even if dated. You certainly look like you had enjoyed tinkering with it!

[@AudioPilz]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching!

[@zeproo]

I had a wet dream i was attending an after COVID-19 Autopilz bad gear gig in a small pub in Austria.

[@AudioPilz]

Looking forward to real gigs again!

[@ZetaCarinae]

Pandemic Log, Day 211: After binge watching Bad Gear episodes I now spontaneously have different versions of the theme song pop into my head at all hours.

[@AudioPilz]

Many more to come!

[@novakjovanovic7313]

Wow! That last 90's tune with the terrible (brilliant) video was the closest to a time machine to the 90's we will ever get, I know, I was a teenager in the 90's...

[@AudioPilz]

Oh, a fellow 90s youth. Thanks!

[@noiselessfox7618]

XD the track at the end gives me massive Mortal Kombat 2/3 vibes

[@AudioPilz]

The Raiden of drum modules

[@qjames0077]

Annnnnnnddddddddddddddddd *My Friday just got better*

[@AudioPilz]

Thank god it's friday!

[@mycosys]

@@AudioPilz Its Saturday but Australia forgives you

[@qjames0077]

@@AudioPilz so when travel restrictions lift you'll come to the states and do a show right? I'll bring the 🍄🍄🍄

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

this is the best channel! I love it!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@ThomasCorfield]

"..once you manage to overcome the initial disgust."

[@ATSinclair11]

always liked the sounds, so many orbital samples!

[@AudioPilz]

True that!

[@micedevice2389]

Oh there’s your Allen & Heath! (What a musical eq’s :)!

[@AudioPilz]

Nice little consoles

[@tritonrecordings]

The R8/R8M is my go-to for 80's industrial type drums, along with the Kawai R100/R50/R50e. Did a whole album which I think all but one song were using the R8 for drums!

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, still a piece of pro gear!

[@lemelstudio]

I loved the original R-8 for the sounds (at the time, 1991-ish). But those hard plastic pads - ugh - they were painful misery. Barely playable.

[@AudioPilz]

They seem to be an acquired taste

[@theelectronic4051]

Thumbs up for the Star Wars mug

[@AudioPilz]

That's how I like my 6 espresso in the morning ;)

[@MarkBayfieldvillageidiot]

Top gear, top video dude x

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you !

[@radoslavhristov5618]

Finally got where the drums in MK 3 came from 😎

[@peterdonofrio1038]

The R8 is one of the best sounding drum machines and a favorite of mine!

[@AudioPilz]

Total drum workhorse!

[@juanocordoba]

loved the ending

[@juanocordoba]

whiplash inspired?

[@AudioPilz]

Demo Song inspired ;)

[@Vexonia_Music]

I believe David Wise sampled some of the sounds from one of these when making the soundtrack for the Donkey Kong Country games

[@AudioPilz]

Cool, didn't know that!

[@VintageGearFreak]

The tropical jam totally killed me.. give me back MTV Party Zone from '93

[@VintageGearFreak]

I'm sorry I confused rain forest sounds with sampled audience cheers.. But I'm pretty sure I heard tropical in some rave songs too :)

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, 90s MTV flavor for days!

[@sebastopolband]

As an R8 owner and huge fan, I 100% concur that it has a mysterious ‘groove’. I did timing checks and the internal clock is not actually very exact which is funny because the R8 is supposed to be able to accurately produce micro-timings. However, even though the timings aren’t accurate, the playback sounds fantastic and somehow ‘human’.

[@AudioPilz]

Classic!!!

[@SlyHikari03]

I remember Wayne Lytle of Animusic used this on songs. Notably Future Retro and A slight delay to name a few. Just wanted to share that.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for the info!

[@matthewpreston1396]

These videos have just reminded me of the horror pairing of the Yamaha TG500 and (even worse) the RM50 rack drum module. I’d love to see you tackle either of those, in a kind of sadistic way :)

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for the input!

[@cravader]

@@AudioPilz my pleasure. Really enjoying the channel by the way! You'll love the RM50. Plenty of the thinnest and most bizarre sounding "Prince kick drums" and suchlike. I used to have the the Roland R5 beforehand and it made that retrospectively sound like like an amazing bit of kit that I instantly regretted selling

[@MrXamanX]

I am simple man I see bad gear I like

[@AudioPilz]

I am a simple man I see a nice comment I heart

[@MrXamanX]

@@AudioPilz do you actually publish any of your jams from these episodes somewhere??

[@AudioPilz]

@@MrXamanX I'm working on it but I'm somewhat limited by those dreadful 24h/day;)

[@Iain0101]

I had the R8. One of the biggest musical equipment regrets of my life. I didn’t have a lot of money when I bought it so I was stuck with it for years.

[@AudioPilz]

It's actually quite a professional tool

[@HACKTHEPLANETfcm]

That snare. THAT SNARE.

[@AudioPilz]

The T-Rex of snares

[@BassmeantProductions]

Got the r8 first piece of gear I ever bought

[@AudioPilz]

Not the worst starting point

[@stephenwall9036]

Great to hear that you can still make that old tech sing like it's 1991. I've thought about getting one to fill my rack (why can't you buy rack compliant modules anymore!) - also there's a hardware mod you can shove in the rear port to mash those beats, as demoed by Richard Devine recently. Maybe if I got one I could park it next to my unused roland s760 (of same vintage) - in fact why don't you do a show on that...? Great video btw!

[@megamarkd]

Okay, after owning an R-8 and several cards and hating it, I have to say that your final sequence really made me think that I was doing it all wrong! I replaced the R-8 with an RY-30. It never had nearly as good sounding samples (and was noisy as hell), but it's sound architecture and sequencer left the R-8 for dead. Both of them were an attempt to replace an R-70, which had the best jam-ready sequencer of any drum machine I've owned. Only thing to come close is a BSP and a pile drum machines running as percussion modules. In the end all the Japanese drum machines from that era I've owned have died that horrible death where they boot but just show nonsense characters on the screen. The R-70 was what Roland replaced the R-8 with way back when and I'd say do a show in the R-70 but then they were not Bad Gear!

[@AudioPilz]

R70 is super interesting - never tried one tho

[@megamarkd]

@@AudioPilz If you ever get a chance to have a go on one, it's a straight up no manual needed machine. The first night I got mine (back in 1999), I seranaded my girlfriend with an improvised, R-70 only jam session that went for several hours. Whenever I hit stop to work something out, she would say "why have you stopped, I'm enjoying this!" If I didn't leave it on for 5yrs, I think it'd still be running today.

[@reggiep75]

2:17 - Initial disgust.. Ohh how that got me so laughing, and nodding at the same time, like a lunatic!!

[@AudioPilz]

I remember legions of audio engineers trying to avoid those rack units like the plague

[@elizazryvombrozy]

I love how you do that :D

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@RobTFilms]

the samples in this are gorrrrrrrrrrrrrrgeous

[@AudioPilz]

Really punchy!

[@legitimatefrenzy]

Yo that 90's concoction is so sexy good work lol. None of this bad gear seems bad to me lol

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@PorchBass]

Wtf the programming at the end was great.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@platinumedgemusic9293]

I'll always have a R8m in my arsenal.

[@AudioPilz]

Weapon grade drum samples!

[@21stCenturyDub]

4:57 That FM synth bass tho

[@AudioPilz]

It's actually two Roland samples stacked...

[@smellymala3103]

I bet you would love to review one of my favorite bad effects, the PockRock. It’s best feature is that it fits in a cassette long box with a bunch of pocket operators. Can be found cheap on the internet, especially direct from our boys in the manufacturing sector 🇨🇳

[@AudioPilz]

Wow, it looks like the copy of a copy of a...

[@calleenmusicchannel]

Dude, you are hilarious sometimes. Thank you

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!!!

[@BillOdyssey]

Thanks for this...been wondering about these but in a “convincing 909” context...perhaps a quest for the above might be popular ( and inevitably drive prices up 😅) great channel tho man, be safe 👍

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@MatthewHarrold]

I had a R-8M, a U220, a D70, and a vintage organ/string machine with an awesome audio input and analog filter/distortion thingy. I probably had more Roland kit, but at 49 and 20 years past my gear purchasing habit, I cannot reliably say. I DO know that the Alesis HR-16b was a contemporary ... and hopeless in comparison.

[@AudioPilz]

... but it has the best crash cymbal out there;)

[@happypathway5418]

Dude, your videos are always awesome. The way you prove that there's no such thing as bad gear is pretty ingenious.... Only issue I have is that your videos probably single handedly drive up the price of all of these units, any chance you can send me a PM prior to releasing the video so I can grab one before hand!? ;)

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! The pre-notification would be a nice idea for Patreon ;)

[@happypathway5418]

@@AudioPilz yeah, probably would be. Guess I'll have to support you rather than just write nice things about you, eh? :)