Roland R8 - The Autechre drum machine

[@JayCeaupes]

I lost it at “If you’re watching this video you probably own one, and chances are you got it after reading that Autechre used to use one” - peak understanding of the IDM cult

[@bleepsandboops]

😂😂

[@pauliedibbs9028]

...or you were the kid who always liked to watch others play video games growing up lol

[@supermonkeycollider]

HAH .. Autechre got theirs because they heard I owned one.

[@christiantorma2440]

​@@supermonkeycolliderwahrscheinlich wirklich 😅

[@B0K1T0]

@@pauliedibbs9028 haha almost thought I was the only one 🥹 but would love to have an R8 as well.. promised myself to not buy even more gear without selling some stuff though, and already struggling with the urge to buy an MS-10 someone is selling on my country's "ebay" equivalent 🫣

[@skummelkatt]

Aphex Twin used it as well instead of real 808 and 909. The pitch modulations on hihats on Polygon Window really give it away.

[@bleepsandboops]

100% - once you hear it, you start noticing it all over those early Warp records

[@krushagrape786]

Loads of the SoundCloud stuff too.

[@manfromdelmonty303]

Is that what gives the ‘drill’ sound on Hangable Autobulb?

[@RecMirage]

@@manfromdelmonty303 no that’s done with the retrigger effect in trackers like Renoise.

[@B1SCOOP]

R8 with its parameter automation seems like the machine that helped define IDM movement, just like TR-909 influenced Techno.

[@bleepsandboops]

I reckon so? I think the complexity of the instruction manual helped define the I in IDM too!! 🤣🤣

[@ropeburn6684]

​@@bleepsandboopsHoly shit yes. I imagine the manual for a modern jet plane can't be more complicated. 😂

[@RY30DM]

My Yamaha RY30 can also do parameter adjustment, and can do it in step mode too for fine adjustment.

[@ZombieLincoln666]

That’s a great comparison

[@tomdwij]

My favourite drum machine..so intuitive and versatile.

[@bleepsandboops]

They're really deep when you get into it!

[@peterfuzz3887]

intuitive uh....

[@laika6340]

it’s rare to find a discography that has evolved so naturally as autechre’s. all of this ways of approaching composition and sound design are still a fundamental part of their sound, just more expressive developed. loved your commentary too! please keep them videos coming.

[@bleepsandboops]

Will do! Thanks!

[@sabre22b]

Sleaford Mods.

[@JVB_DJ]

I remember when Autechre's gear was a mystery and part of the legend, thanks for this.

[@bleepsandboops]

😀 Happy to help shed some light on it!

[@TheColourAwesomer]

God I love early Autechre. Thanks for the video, sounds great!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks so much!

[@chondublin]

I used a R8 in Sound Training College Dublin in 1992 that we had to program for our exams. Just messed around with it really and passed! Bought one last month in great condition for 250 euro for nostalgia reasons. It's USP really is the Autechre Pitch Shift trick...worth the price of entry alone.

[@bleepsandboops]

❤️ welcome (back?) to the club!!

[@Andronicus2007]

I lusted after the R8 back in the early 90s, but I didn't have a job then, lol. I eventually got a R5, which is pretty similar. The R5 has a smaller screen, 4 individual outputs instead of 8 and no ROM card slots. I did a lot of that pitch/glitch sequencing like is featured in this video. I use some of the R8 sounds to this day, especially the cymbals which are so good. I'm a fan of the Solid kick sound and I think its the Wood snare. I've never used the triangle sample but its delightful too. Many of the sounds are dated now though, its very late-80s-in-a-can sounding to me.

[@bleepsandboops]

It's tricky to shake the 80s sounds... I often find myself punching a pattern in an suddenly it's Pretty Hate Machine era NiN 😂 The trick seems to be the garbling the pitch and other parameters.. I need to do a video with the Quadraverb's ring mod too... 🤓

[@JohnLunney]

It's the snare doing it :)

[@ExpectResistance]

Big R8 fan. Love and use mine all the time. There really isn’t much else that sounds quite like it. That extreme and gritty pitching is something really lacking on the Rytm by comparison. Every time i use the R8 it just sounds great. Roland done a great job making this box and the sounds. I was thinking only this week, what would Aphex Twin and Autechre sound like if the R8 never happened. It’s such a key piece of kit, not just in sound but how kits and patterns are independent, allowing accidental combinations to occur. I’ve been meaning to do an R8 video for a while, it’s literally sat under my Rytm while shooting my videos. Criminal behaviour really. Ai is a great album, both of them are, as are the videos. Nice job!!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks so much!! It's funny - I was going to try and do Crystel on the RYTM for comparison, using the R8 samples, but it just doesn't pitch shift extreme enough, and the samples end up being too 'clean'... which I guess is a testament to how far we've come but also how nasty the R8 can get 😁 Both incredible boxes, mind! And yeah - AI should be mandatory listening for anyone with an interest in electronic music!!!!

[@devondetroit2529]

You seem to like alot of corporate products for such a radical anarchist communist?!

[@AppaBoy]

This video sold me on one. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now and i like it a lot, really makes me think more about drum programming

[@bleepsandboops]

Congratulations and welcome to the club! I really do think they're great machines - makes you consider what you're actually programming especially when you start getting into song mode!!

[@TeddyLeppard]

Programmability is a pain with this hardware, but the pads are second to none. Fantastically engineered.

[@bleepsandboops]

Very true!

[@djcoolcliff]

This is the first drum machine I wanted! I saw it in a store while my dad was dropping 1000 on a drum set!!!! I wanted to tell him this is what I really wanted but I was already a gigging drummer in the 6th grad and needed a kit!!! Lol!!! Dope video!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks! Are you still (real) drumming or did you eventually get an R8? 🥁

[@ropeburn6684]

Fun fact: it's also great for circuit bending, if you know what you're doing. Anything mangling the internal ROMs works on the cards too, due to the way it's connected.

[@bleepsandboops]

Want to try that, especially seeing Florian's 'Better Gear' demo of it.. and the Waverex at some point 🤓

[@elektronzer3809]

I had one circuit bent by alien-devices. It was cool but I think there are way better machines out there for circuit bending.

[@tripkovsky]

I highly advise against this. The ribbon connectors to the pads are super brittle at this age. One little movement will crack it in half like a potato chip. They can't be replaced either. Better get yourself a rack version to toy around with.

[@RY30DM]

I have a Yamaha RY30 drum machine that came out around the same time. It does very similar things to what you were showing, but it goes further. In addition, You can manipulate the filter (it has a LP12/24 and a HP 12/24, per sound and the balance between the samples per pad sound. And if you don’t want to do it real time, each parameter can be adjusted per step sequence (4 bars). On a side note, I got to meet the guys in person a hell of a long time in Baltimore, Maryland. I saw them in a warehouse later that night, and they played behind an opaque curtain. Hearing Second Bad Vibel over a PA system was something else.

[@bleepsandboops]

Heard good things about the RY30!

[@RY30DM]

@@bleepsandboops I should put up some tracks where I was using it for everything, including sequences, filter sweeps, and bass lines.

[@ronj9448]

Fun to see this. I picked up an R5 for maybe $499.00 in 1989 and loved it. It cost more than my rent!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks! It's funny how trends have shifted... I bet if you'd bought a 303 back in 89, you could sell it now to buy an entire house... 🤣🤣

[@ronj9448]

@@bleepsandboops Probably. I still have the R5, its power supply went out in 1991 and cost $60.00 order a new one. Rip off. Anyway at the time my rent was $400.00/month and my car, a junk, cost me $600.00. I used the R5 with a Kawai K5 additive Synth and an ATARI ST (with built in MIDI!) the wild west back then. Now I use my R5 rarely - it is a bit of personal history. All the best to you guys and thanks for sharing the video.

[@pliiant]

The sounds on the r5 were truly awful though. Without using serious effects, what came out it's arse end was the driest collection of bottom end free sounds ever... Loved the functionality and jiggery pokery, but rarely the results...

[@ronj9448]

@@pliiant I think you just didn't know what you were doing.

[@jeremy8936]

Very cool. I loved listening to that CD in the 90s and still do from time to time. So glad KZbin took me here! I use the TR-8s from Roland with my Novation Peak and my TD-3..

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks! How do you find the Peak? Looks like a powerhouse!

[@jeremy8936]

Fantastic @@bleepsandboops I believe it will be one of those instruments that defines a sound one day. It was made for true sound design and screams out to make ambient/trance/movie scores with it.

[@xfloodcasual8124]

Burr-Brown DACs all sound great.

[@bleepsandboops]

That they do!!

[@garyjohnson627]

Be great to see a video on how to plug this in and get it up and running with a step by step guide on getting a sound from it.

[@bleepsandboops]

Will see what I can do!

[@Vingul]

1:11 instant Crystel flashbacks

[@bleepsandboops]

👍👍 Funny you should mention that...!

[@shhh7035]

Oh man this is exactly that sound from the early autechre mix. Phenomenal!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks so much! It's a classic sound - Warp Tapes has the r8 alllllll over it 😁😁

[@livewarp]

I used to have a studio in London, Shy Fx used to be in Ibiza records studio across the other side of the building. I know Shy used to use the flam on the R8 to make d&b by triggering samples, possibly creating the genre. I know because Paul the owner brought it over, showed me and lent it to me 😂

[@bleepsandboops]

Mind. Blown. That's awesome! I've not tried doing any dnb or amen sequencing off it yet, but it's on my list... possibly with some squarepusher if I can get the samples chopped up right... 😂😂

[@dam0black]

really enjoyed your video, I remember that cymbal sound,i always thought it was from a sampler didn't realize until recently it was r8, i had a real tr-808 but there is also place for sampled versions for a different flavor, i had r5 back in the day too, i heard these sounds on polygon window tracks too,love early warp,i used to go into their record shop early 90s in sheffield,u.k, the warp artificial intelligence series were a great inspiration to me:)

[@bleepsandboops]

There's a really strong (R8 shaped) line between Polygon Window and aE - and that Artificial Intelligence album is absolutely killer!

[@telogic1]

I used an R8 and R8m with all cards in the 90s really underrated machines

[@bleepsandboops]

All the cards!!?! That's a hell of a sample set! What sort of stuff did you make?

[@telogic1]

@@bleepsandboops I bought the r8 and electronic card to make techno and trance as I bought more cards I really needed the R8m it became an obsession to own all the cards

[@apoclypse]

Cool video. One suggestion though is to maybe put a ducker on the music and audio from the drum machine. It was a bit hard to make out what you were saying in the video when you were speaking and the music was playing at the same time.

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks, and noted!

[@gonzinigonz]

I remember when these first appeared back in 1989, was working in a music shop at the time doing repairs. The one we had suffered with duff caps in the internal power supply as they were leaking. I replaced them.. Duff batch i guess. Mad era for Roland gear, D50 etc oh and the Korg M1 turned up.

[@bleepsandboops]

All buttons and as few variable encoders as possible! 😂😂

[@gonzinigonz]

@@bleepsandboops Oh yes, hard work beyond the presets...

[@vhsx]

great video. keep ‘em coming

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks so much!

[@PhatLvis]

Awesome-sounding.

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks!

[@tsktsktut]

Really enjoyed this video!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks!

[@popcycles]

Man, I was watching a vid of the SP12 drum machine, and it has the capability of remembering pitch changes too. Crazy, how old that SP12 is.

[@bleepsandboops]

It's amazing what could be done back even then!

[@justinbennitt835]

yep, several sampling drum machines allow this feature (the SPs, Sequential Studio 440, Akai MPC60 and I think also the Linn 9000 if you assign pitch to the hi-hat decay slider, but that might be a Forat O/S feature, it's been a long while since I owned one). A few of the older 8 bit sampled machines also do, including the Sequential Drumtraks (which I was impressed with as my DMX couldn't do it).

[@popcycles]

@@justinbennitt835 Wait, the drum machines you listed, can remember those "pitch slides" that the dude did in the video? Those realtime pitch bend movements? Those machines will remember those movements? Nuts! I associated that feature with newer gear, like from 90s and up

[@evadum4149]

Oh this is so good, thank you so much

[@bleepsandboops]

Thank you!

[@jodyglover7429]

It was okay for the time that it came out. Even back then I mostly used it for triggering midi notes. I didn't use as well as these guys for sure. There's so many great drum machines out now.

[@bleepsandboops]

tbf the sequencer on it is great - easily up there and can do all the rolls and flams that other machines just can't

[@RY30DM]

I never liked the rack tom sounds. It just sounded too electronic, and I wanted more acoustic.

[@futureworldmachines4407]

I've just managed to get hold of a mint condition R5, it's difficult to find these machines in decent condition nowadays, they all seem pretty battered and well used.

[@bleepsandboops]

I think Roland designed them for studio use, and then as tastes changed they weren't as well looked after... the PSU seems to be the Achilles heel, they're really weird/hard to get hold of

[@Kung_Fu_Jesus]

So much better and more useful than it’s competitors of the time the Alesis SR16 and the RY30, RX11

[@bleepsandboops]

Waiting to see if Uli clones it now... 😂😂

[@acidtechno]

ry30 rules 😂

[@RY30DM]

The RY30 actually outdoes it based on this video, and I would know since I’ve had one since ‘93. On the RY30, you can manipulate pitch, decay, pan, filter, and balance in real time, or you can enter in more precise values in step mode. I don’t believe the R8 had a filter. RY30 can have LP 12/24 or HP 12/24 per sample side, not globally. It also has synth waveforms from which I’ve made synth bass, sequences, fx’s, and filter sweeps and they’re easy to make because it also has an envelope per sample side and it also has resonance. I’ve programmed a lot of Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode/Recoil) like stuff in there.

[@Kung_Fu_Jesus]

@@RY30DM you could well be correct as I didn’t own an R8, I did however do the same as you and bought the RY30 when it came out, still have it but haven’t given it a good airing for about 25 years. I used to make quite a bit of music on it, I found it paired really well with a good analogue filter like the Pro1 to get rid of all that yucky 24bit brightness; I was sampling it into a Roland S760 to make techno, it made it a whole lot better going through some analogue gear

[@marklewis4024]

I bought one when it was first released. I still have the R8 and later got an R8m as well.

[@bleepsandboops]

They're great boxes when you get your head around them!

[@marklewis4024]

@@bleepsandboops for me it was very intuitive but now I’ve had it for many years.

[@t0x0n1x]

The guys at Roland said "we gotta make it as big as the MPC 60. Maybe not AS big, but still huge." It's huge. The MKIIs are getting too expensive. If you don't already have one it's probably not worth it. Aphex Twin has a CR-80 too, you don't see those going through the roof

[@bleepsandboops]

😂😂 I blame Aphex and Autechre...

[@gorsefan]

Sounds great, can’t think of a machine with worse pads though 😅 it’s like programming on paving slabs

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks and yeah! No idea what they were thinking!!

[@justinbennitt835]

I remember trying one in a music store and took an immediate dislike to it just because of the horrid pads (I was so shallow back then). Polar opposite to the Sequential Studio 440 from the same era with it's super-squidgy pads. IMO the Linn 9000 got it just about right very early on, firm enough and responsive.

[@RY30DM]

Yeah, my RY30 is much easier to play. The R8 took too much effort.

[@phonkyfeel1]

I owned one back in 1989/1990. Super fantastic awesome, loved it. Some asshole stole it and I was heartbroken. I had years of music on there (memory card)

[@bleepsandboops]

That's gutting! Did you ever get another?

[@djangofett4879]

It seems like a pre-elektron elektron box. pretty awesome for 1989. edit: two seconds after i posted this comment, you showed an elektron 😆

[@bleepsandboops]

Had to be done...! 😂👍

[@BassmeantProductions]

I have mine plugged into the akai s01. Gonna do a really old school project eventually.

[@bleepsandboops]

oof, that's going back some! Would love to see/hear the results!

[@MePeterNicholls]

I think Mike Oldfield used one on Heavens Open album. Very familiar sound

[@bleepsandboops]

Entirely possible - you can definitely lean heavily into the late 80s early 90s sounds if you want to

[@loalrecords]

ahh a classic

[@bleepsandboops]

👍

[@wax83]

void filling. thank you!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks for watching!

[@ultramet]

Hahaha. I found this last week in a box in my basement. I never liked this drum machine but appreciate what others have done with this gear. The sounds were just too “thin” vs. the 808.

[@bleepsandboops]

👍👍 It's a cool box, needs running through some outboard to fatten things sometimes but I love the flexibility of re-tuning the samples

[@LCDouglas]

Well done

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks!

[@fergusryan1486]

great vid, thankx

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks!

[@peterfuzz3887]

the intro track is nice (y)

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks!

[@SharedVision333]

Yes indeed,a keeper! Right next to MDUW

[@bleepsandboops]

♥ I always wanted to try an MD but when I first got into hardware stuff it was around the time the AR first came out so went with that instead... ! MD looks waaaaaay deeper though?

[@fakshen1973]

I bought a Yamaha RY30. It was fine. But I should have had an R8. I acquired a Roland R8M later in life back when they were dirt cheap.

[@RY30DM]

The RY30 is more versatile based on what he just showed. And I don’t think the R8 has any synth waveforms (I’ve programmed a crapload of sequences, synth basses, filters, and fx’s. I don’t believe the R8 has any filters either. The RY30 has LP 12/24 and HP 12/24 that can applied to both samples in the final sound. But I never had one.

[@distorson]

Can the parameters of the R8 be modified via Midi? Than it would be possible to make a midi editor for the computer to edit it much more conveniently.

[@bleepsandboops]

Yes! Though it's quite limited. The R8 only receives on one MIDI channel, and each drum instrument gets assigned a note. In addition, the R8 can only listen to 8 CC parameters (the R8 calls them Ctrl-1 to Ctrl-8), which you then need to map an instrument parameter - I demo it in a video here -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/al6nZoenesyCmZo

[@distorson]

@@bleepsandboops Oh I see. Yes that is really limited. Thanks for the link!

[@geluix69]

Owned the R8 MKII

[@bleepsandboops]

How did you find it? It's got the 808/909 samples built in, right?

[@geluix69]

Compared to the original 909 and 808 (which I did own ) the kicks were a little thin, Overall the PCM sounds were excellent. However Editing was a bit clunky , my current machine the TR8S using ACB technology which is very close to the original.. The Downside of the R8 Mk1-2 is for a live situations , I was using the individual outs in a mixing desk which gave me complete control over Volume, EQ and FX. If you truly want a Tr-909 and 808 , buy the Behringer clones , there excellent and affordable.

[@bleepsandboops]

Totally agree on the live use side of things. My first drum machine is/was the Analog Rytm, which is perfect for live use - muteable tracks, performance and scene modes etc. I guess there were limitations with the R8 because of its time, and Roland just assumed no-one would be mad enough to take it on the road..!

[@geluix69]

@@bleepsandboops just like everything of that era that went from analog to digital , almost every synth and drum machine became a convoluted one button with a tiny display interface nightmare. DX7 ? The OG TR-909 and 808 were the best for live even until this day, Jeff Mills is a master on the 909 live. Limitations are a good thing, many of us are spoiled and get choice paralysis syndrome.

[@tonimeloni2110]

Hola!Me encanta la canción del principio, no la tienes desarrollada?😊 La he escuchado en modo "clip" de KZbin... Ultimamente estoy alucinando con Telephasic workshop de BoC..Me preguntaba cómo la habrán hecho también.

[@bleepsandboops]

Thank you! I haven't worked on the intro track beyond using it as background music, but will maybe look to releasing things in the future! I *think* Telephasic Workshop is lots of samples - the main vocal part I think is a sample that's been either chopped up, or (my guess) use the velocity to change the sample start point?

[@tonimeloni2110]

Gracias por tu respuesta, me orientó.. Estaremos pendientes de tus novedades, Saludos

[@kanebanner]

Nails are wild.

[@bleepsandboops]

💅🎸😁

[@theeggqueen]

It's apparently the Type O Negative drum machine also. I guess most of their albums don't have live drums

[@bleepsandboops]

Sounds very much like it!

[@cathanof]

you should really do a video on the roland PMA-5 too if you can get your hands on one, maphive 6.1 was made entirely with it and it sounds it

[@bleepsandboops]

If I could get hold of one, I'd give it a go... there's a lot of AE fans who've bought them up!

[@RY30DM]

Was that the drum pad?

[@steenkoudahlfrederiksen6417]

Have anyone else encountered this using the R8? When I try to program a straight 4/4 beat, instead of going 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4 it goes 1,2,3,4and then a slight rest, and so on!?! But in step mode it works absolutely fine, steady as a rock

[@bleepsandboops]

Not noticed it tbh.. ?

[@chalkboardguy226]

Do you have anywhere you release music at all? I have been absolutely loving these videos you are doing.

[@ExpectResistance]

I was thinking of asking the exact same question. Happy to support them if you do. 🖤

[@bleepsandboops]

Ah, thanks so much! Weirdly, nothing much on the electronic front. I messed about with it years ago (pre-streaming) but didn't ever come to much, then my folky guitar stuff started being taken more serious so the electronics took a back seat. I started doing these videos as a way to try to get back into it, but they seem to have taken on a life of their own now..!! I'll see if I can put together something original for release and post here when it's ready

[@chalkboardguy226]

@@bleepsandboops - That is even more mind blowing that you can remember how to do this stuff then. Anyhoo, loving these videos and looking forward to the next one. Would love to hear your folky guitar stuff though.

[@totopolo2379]

“never a finished a tune in his lifetime”

[@bleepsandboops]

benwalkermusic.bandcamp.com is the folky folk stuff - I got heavily into Reason and Rebirth at Uni, so trying to re-learn how to do this for real has been quite fun 😂

[@tudorhulban2817]

could you maybe use sidechaining on the vocals? :)

[@bleepsandboops]

I think this was the first video I spoke on, and hadn't worked out ducking in Premiere! 😂😂

[@InFamousProductions]

man, I regret selling my R8. I think it was an R8s? but when I had it, I just didn't understand it and now I wish I had it. I didn't have a manual and couldn't figure it out. you got some great sounds and grooves coming out of it.

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks! Yeah, you'd have struggled without the manual... it's one of those boxes from a time when the manual is both incomprehensible and necessary!

[@desoconnor7445]

Me too , I sold mine for peanuts in the 90z..big tegret

[@MarkAtherton-bf4pq]

Same here!

[@InFamousProductions]

@@desoconnor7445 totally. couldn't give it away. I lost my ass hahah now I want it soooo bad

[@InFamousProductions]

@@MarkAtherton-bf4pq I'm not alone hahahah

[@Chermans]

You can get the MK1 of this and get it modded to have a bunch of different sound cards. Super cool machine but the workflow is difficult.

[@bleepsandboops]

Workflow is very of its era!!!!! There's a few mods - I've seen the WaveRex card where you can load your own samples on it, which sounds mad?? Also there's a glitch/circuit bending box that someone makes for them, would love to try it out at some point.

[@elektronzer3809]

bought mine used in 1995 for 500 bucks off the band N17. Had both the electronic and dance cards, It is not bad gear at all and I still like the R8 to this day although I did get rid of it. Also used it to sequence scene 2 of my an1x. The mode where you can assign each pad a different pitch works great for this.

[@bleepsandboops]

They're really cool, and those cards seem to be a big draw. Keep trying to bid on the Dance card for 909 goodness but the price just gets silly... Want to try and use mine as a midi controller for the Quadraverb next; there's some pitch controlling stuff you can do that looks both very nerdy and awesome at the same time 😁

[@shortattentionspa.....]

Fantastic video thanks so much for sharing! Can the R8 run different length patterns per part so you can do some cool polymeter type fun with things coming in and out of synchronicity?

[@bleepsandboops]

Thank you! Unfortunately not!! All the pattern lengths have to be the same... it's one of the reasons I wanted to try sequencing the R8 externally (see the video with the Hapax) - I don't think Roland anticipated polyrhythms back in '89!

[@shortattentionspa.....]

Ah cool idea to sequence externally, I will check that vid out! Thanks so much for sharing your videos, love them, your BOC, FSOL and aphex videos are also amazing viewing!@@bleepsandboops

[@VideoJunkXXL]

Long Time hoping to get a MK ii. Two years ago i got to sell mine mk i.

[@bleepsandboops]

Good luck! They seem to be getting more scarce!

[@VideoJunkXXL]

@@bleepsandboops i own a Drumstation and rd-9... Still working for me

[@tremolo664]

Very noice, I always wanted to get one because of Autechre, but then I decided to get an Octatrack and didn't make sense.

[@bleepsandboops]

Big fan of Elektron - How are you finding the OT?

[@peterfuzz3887]

does the R5 features the same pitch/decay function also ?

[@bleepsandboops]

I believe so - under the hood the engine is the same. The main differences are (only) 4 outs on the R5 instead of the 8 on the R8, and (the big difference) is the R5 doesn't have a ROM card slot so you're stuck with just the onboard sounds.

[@peterfuzz3887]

@@bleepsandboops just wondered if the value cursor can change pitch or decay (or pan) as for the r8

[@bleepsandboops]

I think so!

[@peterfuzz3887]

@@bleepsandboops I own the R5 now, and yes it does ! but, I must be dumb : it is very difficult for me to enter this Turkish prison... (while normal people try to escape from prisons) I don't know where to find how to erase parts, even how to change part ...or to have a default set for the pads, (just to play without recording or seq - like a normal drummer I am not) )Do you have a BASIC tutorial for this machine ? :)

[@manuelsirotti9340]

Wooooow I really Love love. THe sound are from the card ? the name of your Card. i buy one tomorrow

[@bleepsandboops]

All stock R8 sounds, no expansion card used on this video! 👍

[@tonimeloni2110]

Hello, i wish making music like Aphex, and Autechre, but dont have any machine jet, seems buying this is as good start as they say in the comments, im all right? Anybother machi e will u bike? Roland mc 50 as sequencer?well...thanks a lot

[@bleepsandboops]

Don't get hung up on the gear - making music like afx etc is way more about the mindset than it is about having the right drum machine. Find something that you feel creative with - that could be software, it might be a drum machine, might be something else! Bike, maybe!!

[@tonimeloni2110]

@@bleepsandboops I understand yieah, thanks! When u say bike, is a bicycle?

[@bleepsandboops]

Think I got confused, I thought you were talking about the Autechre track, "Bike"!

[@tonimeloni2110]

Wanted to say "buy" instead of "bike" yes....thanks for your answer..nice video ❤

[@Theaphextwin972]

I really want an r8 it has such a unique sound especially the electronic card with 808 samples

[@bleepsandboops]

It's a beast when you start getting it to do things I don't think Roland envisaged it to do!!

[@ropeburn6684]

I don't even think you should get one without the 808 card. The 909 too preferably, but the 808 by all means.

[@Theaphextwin972]

@@ropeburn6684 both would be good but on the r8 you can't use 2 card at the same time

[@ropeburn6684]

@@Theaphextwin972 Sadly, yes. But what the hell, both are still great to have and a lot of fun to use, even if it isn't at the same time.

[@Theaphextwin972]

@@ropeburn6684 i agree

[@bubcentral23]

I have the feeling Autechre will be the algorithm that defeat Ai from composing music. GANTZ GRAF already sounds 100 years ahead of any Ai music ive heard.

[@bleepsandboops]

💯 agreed

[@RickDrift]

I have one sitting around with no power supply, of which, seem impossible to find and an outrageous price when you do.

[@bleepsandboops]

I'm surprised no-one has worked out how to mod it to run off a standard IEC. Those PSUs are going to be worth more than the machine at the current rate... 🙁

[@RickDrift]

@@bleepsandboops I actually just checked on Ebay and there are some remanufactured power supplies. They still cost about 50 bucks though.

[@RY30DM]

Did you check Reverb (used music gear site) yet? If not, I don’t know if you’d make out any better there.

[@screwrecords6791]

this is great thank you, i just bought a r8. Are the sounds you were using at the very beginning of the video from the stock sounds or from the pcm card you have inserted in the r8?

[@bleepsandboops]

👍👍 Have fun with your R8! They're great machines! Intro track was a mix iirc - I think the zaps are off the Electronic card whilst the rest is stock. The Electronic (808) and Dance (909) cards are increasingly difficult to get hold of now, but there's also Waverex (I haven't tried it...) that apparently lets you upload your own short samples 🤯

[@screwrecords6791]

@@bleepsandboops thank you for te reply :) yes, I have discovered about Waverex and I have also found good quality samples of all additional sound cards. The only thing I am not sure about is : will the samples in the Waverex be handled by the r8 modulation engine the same way as they are when they are inserted through the original cards?

[@bleepsandboops]

@@screwrecords6791 not sure, but my assumption would be that they work in the same way - I think someone's demoed it here? You'd need some pretty lofi samples to start with but that's all part of the charm..!!

[@screwrecords6791]

@@bleepsandboops yes absolutely :) why lofi? i mean, of course it's a quite old machine, but do you need some special procedure when loading samples into your waverex?

[@bleepsandboops]

@@screwrecords6791 I think it's more about the capabilities of the R8 - I don't have a Waverex here, but it will only allow 512kB of storage and the samples are all 44.1kHz 8bit mono, which I think means pretty lofi!?

[@billB101]

The Dance card was the one.

[@bleepsandboops]

👍👍 Am lusting after one for the 909 sounds!

[@billB101]

@@bleepsandboops Yeah, not easy to find nowadays.

[@peterfuzz3887]

there are some reverbs already in the kit ??

[@bleepsandboops]

No, there aren't any internal effects, just samples

[@Gencoil]

It's a bit hard to hear your voice over the drum sounds.

[@bleepsandboops]

Yeah, I think someone else noted that too - taking it on board for next time 👍

[@ArtieOddity]

I would like to see a Roland R8 drum machine next to a Neo Geo AES system

[@bleepsandboops]

Think I know which one plays Metal Slug better... 😂😂

[@ArtieOddity]

Metal Slug is a classic like the R8

[@yarnf]

..... the destroyer of worlds ...... the destroyer of worlds

[@thesurgingmass]

Still have my R8M with the Electronic card… wish I had the room to use it. lol.

[@thesurgingmass]

Also, amazing work on this!

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks!

[@bradylasserre9320]

Do you own the Nord based on Autechre influence?

[@bleepsandboops]

Sort of - that and used cost!

[@WARDISWARD]

the early autechre drummachine was the yamaha ry30 , a nod to that on their ep We R Are Why ( get it ? ) , all ry 30 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_R_Are_Why

[@bleepsandboops]

On that ep, yes. The R8 was used elsewhere, not only as a drum machine but as a sequencer.. The pitch shifted (factory) samples are a dead giveaway especially on the Warp Tapes

[@AMPCM]

I worked in a recording studio in Japan in the 90's and did music production on a daily basis. I used AKAI MPC60 a lot.

[@bleepsandboops]

Would love to have tried an MPC out, they look awesome

[@8uyhghggfcmjt]

.. ⚡️⚡️💥( can u not get most those sounds for about three hundred. Now a days tho. Without Daw ?!?

[@bleepsandboops]

Thanks! Yeah, there'll be somewhere that has all the samples for Kontakt etc, not sure how you'd get away with the grungy pitch shifting?

[@jawsxx8683]

I had one of these.

[@bleepsandboops]

They're pretty awesome drum machines!

[@mattyg499]

Detroit techno machine too…….my first drum machine.got the R5 now_

[@bleepsandboops]

They're great boxes - how do you find the R5?

[@mattyg499]

@@bleepsandboops I have not used it much,was a local deal.but yeah it sounds just like the R8.very good.gonna dig it out and and do some sequencing on it again ))

[@bleepsandboops]

Would love to see it in action!

[@alphaprobe1710]

Sounds like the one used on Legofeet 👍🏻

[@bleepsandboops]

💯 the hi-hat pitch shifting is really distinctive

[@alphaprobe1710]

@@bleepsandboops Definitely, it jumps out at you 😁

[@nobbystyles4807]

where are those little stabs coming from that start at 0:16 ? ive always wanted to use that sound

[@bleepsandboops]

Think it's either 'High Q' or 'Rap Noise' off the Electronic expansion card - I'll check tho

[@nobbystyles4807]

@@bleepsandboops thanks. id love to know

[@jamesmcn0000]

R8 gearlust increasing. But I'm sure I can do all of this on my OT and MD 😇

[@TheJacksonscience]

Keep telling yourself that

[@jamesmcn0000]

@@TheJacksonscience I'm buying a (very very small) boat today, so the R8 will have to wait.

[@GeorgeL909]

You definitely can with the OT, some R8 samples and bit crushing. Half the fun of samplers imo is pretending they're instruments you don't actually have 🤣

[@TheJacksonscience]

@@jamesmcn0000 I was projecting lol, I sensed what I thought was some self denial in your message lol, its all my own projection

[@Andronicus2007]

I get better results on my Digitakt using some R8 samples. The cymbals are so good on the R8. That sequenced glitching thing though I don't think you could do on a Digitakt, but I'm not so into that.

[@levinsonl]

your voice is mixed really low, hard to hear you through the music

[@bleepsandboops]

Yeah, a few people mentioned that - my first try with Premiere Pro's ducking, will sort it for next time 😎👍

[@aki_gong6271]

They used many other drum machines among the R8, so I'm afraid that using that statement is pretty far away from reality.

[@bleepsandboops]

But as far as recognisable sounds go, their early work heavily features the R8... also "Exploring the Roland R8 - a drum machine used extensively by Autechre for both drum sounds and midi sequencing up until the release of Tri Repetae" didn't have the same ring... 😂

[@BinxKnightNumbers]

Get bent

[@rashodlewis2918]

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

[@bleepsandboops]

🥁🤖🎶🎶

[@smellymala3103]

All I can think about is powder drugs watching this demo 😅

[@bleepsandboops]

😂😂

[@mauriciomandara5946]

I will buy An improved R8 boutique version

[@bleepsandboops]

😂😂 I'm surprised Behringer haven't marked it out for a potential clone yet...

[@carlpencil5126]

Parla del SID del Commodore64

[@bleepsandboops]

I don't have one, sorry! ☹️

[@carlpencil5126]

@@bleepsandboops and PAULA of AMIGA?

[@bleepsandboops]

@@carlpencil5126 maybe the MegaFM?

[@carlpencil5126]

@@bleepsandboops no no...PAULA of Commodore AMIGA

[@flamegrylls8965]

If you're reading this comment you probably wrote one, and chances are you wrote it after reading that Autecture used to make comments

[@bleepsandboops]

.. but do check on the WATMM Google Spreadsheet first before posting...

[@flowershavesacs]

Is that how British people pronounce Autechre? Have I been hitting the TECH wrong for 20 years?

[@bleepsandboops]

😂 I've no idea how it's supposed to be pronounced tbh - possibly needs to be more German??

[@TuffLittleunit]

Always been AW-TEK-RA to me (Leeds, UK)

[@bleepsandboops]

Scone and scone 😂

[@Roland808]

AW-TEK-ER 1000%

[@amonster8mymother]

I have the rackmount. You dont need the pad.

[@bleepsandboops]

I quite like the pads for programming other things though... 😁

[@kdmn5570]

YAMAHA RY30 anytime

[@bleepsandboops]

😁

[@RY30DM]

Hell yes! From this demo (admittedly short) I prefer the RY30. I’ve had mine since ‘93 and I just had it on today. For me, it’s not just the samples, it’s the synth waveforms and filters. Back when I got it, I only had a Kawai K1-Ii and it had no filter. Enter the RY30, and I’m living out my Alan Wilder fantasies, without the gear that he uses.

[@kristoferkristensen9021]

Autechre? More like nine inch nails 🥴

[@bleepsandboops]

😂 That super 80s rock snare is pretty potent, not sure if Trent ever went there, maybe sampled and mangled for parts on PHM?

[@vinylarchaeologist]

@@bleepsandboopsI think they were referencing the (gasp!) fingernails, again 😅

[@bleepsandboops]

😂😂

[@westerncivilization]

RY30 is superior.

[@bleepsandboops]

😂 I've heard arguments for and against!!

[@westerncivilization]

@@bleepsandboops arguments in both directions are correct. I'll say this about the R8 - the industrial design speaks to my soul. It is impressive to behold in person. And the roll button. And the matrix LCD. OOOOohhhhh pure kino.

[@bleepsandboops]

😁😁

[@Jonacci]

Dude has nails

[@bleepsandboops]

Just the one hand though... 😎

[@Dathom1986]

It sounds too much like 808 State ..cubik anyone!., and possibly to sophisticated for the current scene , it might be just me but playing that at the moment doesn't feel right ..almost laughably .

[@bleepsandboops]

😂😂 Yeah, the R8 sounds like it's all over Cubik - there's a flanged snare sound on the 808 card that gives the game away too... I know what you mean though: I think a lot of the early IDM tracks really tried to put the "intelligent" into Intelligent Dance Music, (mostly because the manuals for these things are indecipherable)... Now nobody has the time, patience or motivation to make anything more complicated (unless you're one of the original Warp artists)

[@Dathom1986]

@@bleepsandboops there's on on ebay for £395 with the 808 card ( well it was there the other day) but I'm not tempted cos I feel musically redundant, i cannot think of one idea , and that's unusual for me.

[@bleepsandboops]

I saw the one on eBay - would be worth a punt. A lot of it is about the instrument as a package.. I've seen a few posts saying how it's just samples, but really there's a workflow that's in that weird limiting but inspiring space..!

[@RY30DM]

I hear Cubik being partially R8 when some of the deep kicks come in. But they have one song on United States 90 that is textbook R8 and I can’t remember and KZbins not helping either. I’ll have to pull out of my CD.

[@Dathom1986]

@RY30DM the Roland R8 was Dance Music's secret weapon ! .. I think everyone ( in the know) used it. 🤔