Roland TR-8S Tutorial - Pattern Chaining

In this tutorial, I show you how to chain patterns together and copy variations within a pattern to create a song. using a simple copy function along with added Auto Fills and motion Recording, you can make up to a 128 bar song that plays out entirely without you touching it. The song I make is quite basic, but with some creativity and forethought, you can make a song in no time! Please leave comments below letting me know what you think.

[@goodatsolitaire]

6:40 is where he actually explains how to chain patterns, for those of you who don't want to sit through six minutes of "this variation sounds like this"/"this is how you copy and paste something". I do appreciate the walkthrough I guess, but if you already have a grasp of the basic functions of the TR8S and just want to know how to chain patterns, that's where it is.

[@bdxfhsf]

Main component here, thank you very much

[@kezstone1]

Thank you for the demo but really it's about time Roland implemented a dedicated song mode, where would could use any pattern or variation in any order and build a track quickly

[@kezstone1]

@@neilkiots well a song mode would be just that, being able to build a track/song from start to finish...intro, verse, chorus, mid 8 ect.. It's all very well being able to string a load of patterns together but it's just not the same. A geniune song mode would let you place any pattern or variation in any order, insert patterns, rearrage them, copy, cut & paste sections, alter tempo...you basically use you patterns as building blocks and place those blocks in any amount and order, then sit back press play and off it goes...save the complete song, recall at anytime ect. I remember 80's drum machines having this feature so why not in 2021. It could easily be implemented in a firmware update as it's only down to software.

[@davidallred991]

agreed, I would actually rather have a song mode than the FM synth from last update. I just don't use it that much and as my main drum machine I would use song mode a lot. I have a keystep pro also and the song mode works great. Even if they don't add it to variations at least to the patterns. Especially since the TR8s is actually pretty limited in pattern memory. (Keystep pro holds 16 patterns for each of 4 different tracks in a project, then it has 16 projects) @nikos the song mode for patterns would simply be like hold pattern button and press 1 - 1 -2 -1 -3 -2- 1. then it will play the patterns in that order. Hoping they add it but not holding my breath. Even my volca sample 2 has song mode now. For their flagship drum machine I am surprised it doesn't have it, especially since it has so many other amazing features.

[@forrestcitygroove]

@@kezstone1 Song Mode would be better

[@aldovanamstel4163]

You truly are a master of teaching. The tr8s video's saved me hundreds of hours flipping back and forth the manual. Thanx so much, really appreciate your work.

[@UnitE808]

Glad you find them helpful!

[@UnitE808]

@@gsweater5544 the reference manual has way more pages than the 13 you say.

[@gsweater5544]

@@UnitE808 I'm looking at mine - physical copy. 13 pages. Might want to check your facts before ridiculing someone.

[@UnitE808]

@@gsweater5544 why would you use the owners manual and not the reference manual? You're shorting yourself a lot of information

[@UnitE808]

@@gsweater5544 no ridicule intended, unlike your comment above. The Reference manual has 52 pages, not 13. Check your facts before you comment.

[@robertbowes7111]

Thanks for this. I had no idea you could chain patterns in this way. It will open up some great possibilities.

[@jasonfnorth]

Excellent tutorial... seriously thank you for literally stepping us through the sequence... super helpful in understanding how to arrange a song with pattern chaining. THANK YOU SIR! APPRECIATE YOU.

[@Christov37]

If you only knew how many times I duplicated patterns manually then you'd be laughing as hard as I was when you demonstrated how to copy them! As always, thanks Unit.E! You're the man.

[@mintpillow]

Big Ups man - this was superbly useful - and dope beat too!

[@zapp346]

Thanks a lot dude!! Your videos are really helpful and really good explained. Im waiting for all your new stuff!

[@rathnapish]

Thank you, Always learning something from your videos.

[@djmumma]

Awesome, love these. You are a great teacher. Thank-you ❤

[@kevinanderson7243]

E your patterns chain video was awesome. I just brought this machine. If I can figure out the different patterns to put together to make a complete song like you did that will be great. Keep the videos coming

[@lillehammerexperimental]

Amazing video / great techniques - beat sounds really cool and organically evolving :)

[@brianboyer6801]

Excellent! Very useful information. Thank you for your videos.

[@2787Marty]

Thanks, I was doing some of this but manually, the hard way. Pattern chaining like this is great.

[@gamblesgroove111]

Brilliant, finally a way to prepare a song without a daw. Very cleaver 👍

[@IKUCHI-TRIBE-ICUICY]

Thank you for such a great video. Really helped my song length.

[@Pluppo]

Amazing video, this is incredibly usefull. Thanks!

[@nealsvids6646]

Thanks Brian, very helpful 👍🏻

[@MiCtiSilen]

Wow, thank you so much. HAPPY NEW YEAR & GOOD LUCK

[@UnitE808]

You're welcome! Happy New Year! Stay safe!

[@hadlbah]

Perfect timing for such a vid given my lovely bride got me one of these as a gift. Completely explains how to incorporate the TR8S into my workflow. Sure, there are more bits and bobs to learn but this vid is jet-fuel for beat creation. Thanks man!

[@UnitE808]

Awesome! Glad to hear that you will be able to use it! As with any machine, there are always little nuances that make it tricky to learn, but you'll see how easy this machine can be! Take care!

[@strandedaliensband]

Hey brother. Hope you had a great Christmas! Good info in this video. Keep it up!

[@UnitE808]

Thanks brother! Happy holidays!

[@juanjosegomezjimenenz4729]

Thanks, this class was very useful 🙏

[@BlakeeBlue]

THANK YOU KING!! 👑

[@DJFxallMixX]

Very cool Brian, good video!!

[@UnitE808]

Thanks for watching and your support!

[@xpump876]

Nice!

[@AlainHubert]

As usual with all Roland products, a very convoluted way of multiple button strokes and button combinations just to do something very simple.

[@UnitE808]

This isn't a Roland recommended procedure. Song Mode is not in machine, I made a work-around.

[@AlainHubert]

@@UnitE808 Yeah I had read that these expensive drum machine don't even include a Song Mode? WTF? in 2021? Even my 40 years old Boss DR-110 has a Song Mode on it!

[@UnitE808]

@@AlainHubert well, the TR-8S is a rhythm performer, not rhythm composer. It's designed to be played. I know that's not the answer you want, but it's what they designed it for.

[@alexmorgan9843]

Great video! I have a questions, do the pads have to be in a row to chain or could I program them in random selections? Thank you!

[@simonsabattingarcia9463]

EXCELENTE VIDEO!. No entiendo porque la gente pide un "Song mode" si esto soluciona todo, siempre estuvo la solución. Saludos.

[@daflux7]

thnk u , love from germany

[@soundscaperecordings1111]

Nice thanks man

[@johnmelas3118]

Thanks UnitE- I was wondering whether to start using multiple patterns per track rather than relying on the eight variations

[@laboratoriodefeiticossonor1788]

Thank you!!

[@abrokenframe82]

Nice video and informative. Is there anyway to save the work in this tutorial so you can play it instantly at another time? If the answer is no then is it possible to use another sequencer or drum machine and program the song inside that and just use the sounds on the TR8S?

[@TimothyDempsey]

Thanks. There is always something new to learn from you about this instrument. I don't mean to hijack, but is it possible to send PC messages from a sequencer to select a particular bank/pattern? Keep up the great work, Roland should hire you!

[@UnitE808]

Yes. PC messages 1-128 will call for patterns 1-01 through 8-16

[@Holiday_Ringo]

Nice video

[@fungui5]

Thx dood ✌️❤️🍄

[@stevel850]

Thanks for that. I totally forgot you can go way beyond the 8 bar variations.

[@angthekeys621]

Thks for yr video, brilliant. So’ for a complete playlist, in yr opinion, is it possible to program tr8x for each track, let tr8 play and play keyboards live?

[@UnitE808]

Sure, that's totally possible. Just take your time programming the pattern chain so you don't have to backtrack and do too much cooy/pasting.

[@jibzzzzz]

Super useful, thanks a lot! I bet a lot of new users of the TR-8S are really glad to stumble upon your videos :) Is there a way of editing patterns while playing on a different pattern ? (as it's possible to edit variations while playing another one) Thanks and please keep it up !!

[@UnitE808]

Thank you for the kind words! Yes, there is a way to edit one variation while another is playing. Hold TR-REC button and press the variation you wish to edit. It will flash red.

[@Mr.J2U]

Can confirm... Just learning the TR-8S and this is useful as hell!

[@JohnOSullivan_bray]

great videos. your the manual for the TR-8S

[@georgeactv011]

Merci beaucoup! ; )

[@stripeyjoe]

Hi! Great vid, this is making me think about getting a TR8S to go with my MC 707. Is there a way to send programme changes out of the TR when it changes from one pattern set to the next so the MC moves to the next scene as well? That would solve a few issues for people jonesing for a song mode!

[@UnitE808]

Yes, it will do that. I love using the 2 of them together!

[@stripeyjoe]

@@UnitE808 that might swing it, though still getting to grips with the 707 and I went and bought myself a used e-drum set with the idea of learning to drum properly rather than just bashing! Lockdown hobbies... Hope you had a good Xmas and are able to celebrate kicking 2020 up the arse!

[@schofieldmusic]

Wow, great video! I would have got the tr8s if it has song mode. 2 questions, is the max patterns you can chain 16? Also, you pressed stop at the end of your chain. Does it loop back to pattern 1 if you don't press stop? Thanks for your clear demo!

[@UnitE808]

16 patterns is the most to chain at once, but you can easily chain another set. Yes, the chain will loop back to the first pattern.

[@schofieldmusic]

@@UnitE808 thanks for your reply! That seems like enough of a chain to do around a decent length song. The repeat at end of chain would be great live for the kind of use I'm looking for too.

[@Satellite484]

how meany chains can you create on the roland TR-8S ?

[@cameronrobertson5209]

Could you use this method to trigger a synth bass? Say you only wanted it coming in on bank 12 & 16 but not on any of the others? If so, could you do this and have no kit playing but purely then being used as a trigger sequencer?

[@UnitE808]

It can trigger the synth bass sequencer, sure.

[@babbax]

Greetings, If i build a whole track in for example pattern 1 (of curse with all variations and a lot of live work). Whats the best way to make a transition to another pattern? Because in the new pattern, I have a new kit with New sounds. You know, what I mean? 😅

[@UnitE808]

I like to keep at least one instrument in the new kit the same as the kit I’m leaving. This keeps a little consistency for the listener.

[@chriswilson6118]

@Unit E I'm thinking can this be done to change tunes completely? As if they were being mixed? If i had a tune on pattern 1/1 and 1/3 then had 1/2 set up with a different kit of some instruments from 1/1 and some from1/3? Would that work? 🤔

[@UnitE808]

Yes, just make sure each pattern is using a different kit number

[@chriswilson6118]

@@UnitE808 👍🏻 will do thanks .

[@marshalldestro]

Hey Unit:E, thanks for all the great vids. I have TR-8S question that i cant find the answer to anywhere.... Is there any way to restore the default kits (909,606,626 etc) WITHOUT doing a factory reset?? and i think i know the answer to my second questions, but if you have to do a factory reset to restore the kits, is there anyway to preserve all of my patterns and kits while restoring other parts of the machine? It seems like kit/pattern management is a mess on this thing.

[@UnitE808]

If you have performed a backup before overwriting the factory kits, you can import kits from the backup. If you do not have a backup version of the system before the overwrites, there is one in the files section of the Roland TR-8S and TR-6S Facebook group. Factory resets generally reset only the system settings, not patterns or kits. The only time patterns and kits were reset was when updating to 2.0 because new kits and patterns were introduced.

[@marshalldestro]

​@@UnitE808 Thanks for the speedy reply. WOW i didnt realize that you could pick out specific patterns/kits from the .BAK file to restore. I always thought the .baks were an all or nothing affair. Luckily i made a backup right before upgrading to 2.0. (i dont have FB so I cant access the group) I ran into a similar problem upgrading to 2.0 where i wanted the new kit presets and demo beats, but didnt want to overwrite my custom kits/patterns (which admitedly were not saved in the most logical fashion since i didnt understand this machines file hierarchy). In the end i upgraded to 2.0 and restored my backup to get my work back - essentially foregoing the new kits (i know the instruments are still there, it wouldve just been nice to have the premade kits with the kit/pattern level settings applied.) So it seems that in regards to reloading your custom kits/patterns after upgrading to 2.0, the following steps would apply. 1) make a list on paper of which pattern and kit numbers you have customized. 2) flash the system to 2.0. 3) go to those kit and pattern numbers and chose to import them from the .bak - thus restoring your original work but overwriting what ever is in those slots on 2.0 And for restoring default kits you can go to their kit number and restore from a .bak that you know has the default kit. Do those last two paragraphs sound right to you? Again, thanks for making all these vids! -P.L.U.R.

[@UnitE808]

@@marshalldestro you got it! Kits and patterns can be imported separately, sp find the kits installed that you don't care for and import to those slots. Remember, if a pattern is using the kit that you overwrite to, it will change how that pattern sounds.

[@bwah7]

holy crap - just being an echo chamber here - but, yeah... cutting the shit/to the point = so useful. Thank you!

[@michaelpallasmusic1646]

I want to set up a pattern in 5/4. Is it possible to have variation A be 16 steps and variation B be 4 steps and chain them together? Or is this only possible by chaining two patterns together?

[@UnitE808]

I believe that you are able to designate step length for each variation, so you could do exactly as you described. There wouldn't be a need to chain patterns. I can verify in the morning.

[@Aiimy]

My question is can you chain in a completely different kit when your programmed kits finishes for example say you transition into next song for a live set? Is there a smooth way to transition from one made song to next?

[@UnitE808]

Each pattern carries a kit. Its up to you how you want to transition between them. Setting the last pattern in a song to utilize all 8 variations gives you time to change banks and select the next song.

[@Aiimy]

Unit:E so just to be clear you can chain together banks?

[@UnitE808]

@@Aiimy no

[@riojamz2553]

Was this a new update? What filmware version is this, thanks.

[@UnitE808]

Hi! It has been there since the beginning. I just finally got around to making a video on it! Lol!

[@LaurentDiscShowMan]

JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAAA..Muy bien animo con alegrias..very good...

[@BobbyGeneric145]

What sliders are those? Chromacsps says theirs are too small

[@Italo_Brutalo]

Correct me if i am wrong but it´s not possible to chain more than 128 bars, right? It´s 16 patterns with 8 variations each, correct?

[@UnitE808]

Let me double check on that...

[@francescoirosa3466]

hello I need help in my tr8s I check the light blue bars in 1 5 9 13 and then each fader plays without bars help I don't know what to do or reset but no thanks

[@UnitE808]

I'm not sure I completely understand. Which instrument channel are you sequencing? That is the only fader that needs to be up.

[@francescoirosa3466]

@@UnitE808 I can search for you on Facebook to send you some videos please help me I no longer know what to do I'm also happy to pay for 3 weeks that I try to solve the problem but nothing

[@UnitE808]

@@francescoirosa3466 you can find me on Facebook. DJ Unit:E or Brian Lamb. Let's get this fixed!

[@ryanpwm]

The tr-8s has held up extremely well over time. How ok’d is it now? They could have released it yesterday and it’s still one of the best drum machines.

[@UnitE808]

3 years old.

[@ryanpwm]

@@UnitE808 huh thought it was older, but it's all tech from the tr-8. The tr8 even has more control knobs. All it is is a Tr-8 with the ability to hold samples and few minor changes that resulted in a wildly better drum machine.

[@UnitE808]

@@ryanpwm I would say lfo, motion recording, individual inst fx, assign out and trigger out, and the fm sounds make it more than just a TR-8 with a few tweaks and sample import. I do like the scatter implementation on the TR-8 better though.

[@ryanpwm]

@@UnitE808 Yep cant disagree there. I'm only on this video now because I think this should probably be the drum machine to complete my live modular rig. ATM trying to disqualify it in anyway fast cause there's one for $500 like new in my area and I'm like 5 minutes away from throwing rocks at the owners window in the middle of the night so I can just have it now.

[@UnitE808]

@@ryanpwm I use it with my modular setup too.

[@vaitomanocularrypage]

Hi, how do you play patterns in sequence?

[@UnitE808]

In Pattern Select mode. Hold the first pattern you want to play, and press the last pattern you want to play

[@TanzBarKeiten]

t.h.x. so much for your good explained Video. i try out what you explained and watch more videos from you;-) Hope i can send Messages to you to better understand my TR-8S ;.)? Peace and have a good Time .-)))

[@DJ-Lazy-Lodger]

may i use the last half in making it a song?

[@UnitE808]

Not sure what you mean.

[@DJ-Lazy-Lodger]

@@UnitE808 when you comment the track how each pattern evolves into the other thats almost beauty in itself.

[@smallelephant_og]

What chroma cap pot model are those?

[@UnitE808]

These are Roland knobs and faders,and were given out at conventions. Chroma caps don't fit proper because of the recessed faceplate of the 8S.

[@trusto1016]

Synchronicity...I knew you were going to do this vid B.

[@UnitE808]

We in tune like that!😉

[@kevinanderson7243]

E your patterns chain video was awesome. I just brought this machine. If I can figure out the different patterns to put together to make a complete song like you did that will be great. Keep the videos coming