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Roland R-8 | Drums Everyone Wanted!
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- Опубліковано 22 вер 2021
- Roland R-8 drum machine from 1989. 68 stellar high quality 16 bit sounds. Fantastic programming capabilities, great drum pads and at a fair price.
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A year after, Roland released the R-8M, the 19" rack module that expanded on the ROM card slots and the rack made everything gig-worthy for when you just wanted the drum sounds and not the sequencer, as many people already did their drum sequencing from a dedicated sequencer or computer.
My demo track is done with only sounds from the factory sounds AND some 808 drums from the 08 card you see in the video.
All reverbs are from the Valhalla VintageVerb plugin and the track has been thoroughly mixed and mastered. The drums are multi-tracked and not sequenced.
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Growing up I listened to so much synth-pop and it's only natural that my own music takes inspiration from many of the acts I loved back then. I still love them and listen to them!
Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Erasure, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, The Human League, Propaganda. FGTH, Ultravox, OMD, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, Alphaville, A-ha as well as loads of artists doing what is now called Italo Disco. And many more great acts like Nik Kershaw, Spandau Ballet, Wham, Dire Straits ++
As a kid I fantasized about owning the R8. It's one of the best looking drum machines ever made. A few years ago I purchased a NOS from a music store that was going out of business. Let's just say I was very lucky. :)
The R-8 rock snare sound is fuggin PERFECT. Love it. Forever
5:48 THANK YOU I’ve been looking for this sound!!
I love the look of 80's instruments, minimalist, simple. I'm a guy from that era, everything was simple but it worked. Especially talking to girls without 100 text messages and 500 Facebook likes.
Very good point!
And the ladies weren't batshit crazy like they are today 😄
and only two genders. I miss those days 😔
@@jessihawkins9116facts
@@jessihawkins9116 ROFL!! True!
I'm impressed that the pressure sensitivity has lasted this long. I can't imagine hardware today lasting almost 30-40 years.
Yes, good point but these units were mega expensive in those days, like the equivalent of $3,000 USD today. When new, here in Australia they cost between $1,300 AUD and $2,000 AUD in 1990-ish dollars depending on year, make and model. There was the R-8, released in 1989, R8 MK2 in 1992 and R5, a cut down version. Not sure when the rack came out. I could not afford them when new, I bought mine second hand in the late 90s!
these machines are built like a tank, someone tried to stab mine with a scissor, afterwards one pad had only a little scratch ;-)
@@lundsweden It's tough to say. Im not sure a $3k device today would do the same. I bout a $2k keyboard last year, and I can't imagine that thing lasting so long and I take good care of it 😞
@@roberttodd2414 I haven't! But I'm not surprised. Entire retro industries are built up from this era's reliability. I get nervous/frustrated with my newer tech bc I know it's basically not supported after 5 years anyway 😆
Absolutely stunning to see how quality changed over time! Instead of long lasting devices did it change to rapidly upgraded features - mainly on a software base... which is somehow not completely the same feeling as some hardkeys. 😍
You're right - that SN-R8-04 card sounds incredible. Can't say that about many drum machines!
I wouldn't have any other Drum Machine in the Studio. The R-8 sounds great, is simple to use and always synchs up to anything. I've made several albums with it.
Still got mine. I intend to use it again 😊
I ordered the R8m as soon as it came out and played it live from Simmons pads and an Octapad II for years. That drum kit cost me a fortune, and I don't think I even made my money back but I had so much fun with it. I still keep a TD-7 in my rack, which has the same sound engine. R-8 is a classic and you never hear anyone talking about them. Good video!
Nice story. Cheers!
One advice: before buying the R-8 check if the original power adapter is part of the deal!
Totally agree on this. I've just recently bought a Boss DR 660 and a Roland R5 for US$10 both, neither of them with power supply. So, as soon as I get home I see how much it cost this power supply and now I know why it was so cheap... Power supplies can cost more than US$80. So far I havnt been able to try'em out
Mine didn't have it but I did one myself. Not that difficult, two voltages, but still.
It was cheap so...
This was my first drum machine that I got only a year or two ago to make synthwave music with... Even 30 years later I was impressed with the technology of this thing. This must have made people's heads explode in 89.
Nice Espen. The machine itself is awesome but those ROM sounds themselves from the Roland library have an almost mythic quality. A lot of them ended up in some of the Boss Dr. Rhythm machines as well. They all have a “final production ready” sound and I’ve used them a lot in my own work. Great video!
Thanks!
Right! And those R-8 samples have been applied in Roland Sound Canvas series, like SC-55mkII, as General MIDI Drum sounds. You can recognize some of them in the drum patches like Standard Kit, Room Kit, Power Kit, Brush Kit, and Orchestral Kit. The cymbal sounds included in the Sound Canvas are absolutely R-8 cymbals!
Roland R70 duplicates a lot of the samples also. Sound quality is slightly different though.
in 1988 i was invited to a pre presentation of the R8, i was blown away and bought my first R8 back then. Because of the size i tried then the R5,R8m and back to the R8.In the late 80s and early 90s all the Amnesty Musicprojects used it too. Never had a machine were you could more easily get a interesting beat so quick.
I just scored one of these for peanuts. Didn’t know if it worked. Took a gamble & bought a new power supply and WOW 🤩 The R8 is my missing link. No shit. The real time motion record is the bomb. All this from a 1980’s machine. I am blown away. Drop the mic.
You really are the 80s brother wow. I love the Miami Vice style and the 80s Miguel Bose.
Cheers!
Yeah, it sounds great.
I had the Roland R-5 drum machine in the early to mid 90s, which also came out in 1989. It sounded fantastic, and still sounds great today. The R-8 looks even better than the R-5, even if many of the sounds are quite similar!
Really regret getting rid of my R-5!
Yes. R-5 is a scaled down version of R-8. Perfect if we want the R-8 alternative with a valuable price.
@@MichaelSouhoka R8 is a scaled down version of the R8 🤔 ……..mmkay whatever you say. 😐
@@jessihawkins9116 Oops. I just realized it. Sorry... typo. Now I edited it.
@@MichaelSouhoka it might have been scaled down without the ROM card expandability and smaller display but it sounded exactly the same.
Sounds like a synthwave drumbox that dreams are made of!
Love the Roland R8 Amazing Drum Machine for the 80s very sophisticated ideas for programming and sound design.
Wish there was a card with different acoustic Hi-Hats.
I have the r8m , amazing rompler and to this day nothing sounds like it
The nuance parameters make all the difference
The r8m is superior to the r8 when sequencing externally , I am sequencing the r8m from a cirklon 2 ..tight is an understatement :)
Also there is now a waverex card available to load your own samples and or make copies of your exising rom cards
My first drum machine back in the day was an R-5, the budget version little brother of R-8. Loved it! I used to record it thru a Yamaha REX-50 into a Tascam 424, combined with a Jx-8p and a Dw-8000. Good times ♥
Sold everything in the late 90s and regretted it later.
A couple of years ago, I bought an R-8 mk2. It was nice, but felt a little too "glossy" sounding, not like I remember the R-5, and certainly not like on my old cassettes!
Anyways, another great video, Espen. Cheers! :)
Many thanks! :D
Keep the R-5, although it doesn't support the SN-R8 cards but you've got all the essential sounds such as basses, bongos, timbales, electronic toms and brush snares. Cause in R-8 (except R-8 mk II) some sounds included in R-5 are not available unless you purchase several SN-R-8 cards. Valuable but essential!
And yeah, I have to admit that R-8 mkII sound quality is not as fat as it's predecessors, even it has some new drum and cymbal samples. Well, those new sounds is a tricky bonus to make more interesting.
Remember when these came out, working in a music shop between 87 ~ 89. Was a Roland dealer so saw a lot of gear from this era. Couldn't afford any of it but used to take stuff home to try it out. Owned a few of the classic Roland / Boss drum machines since.
R-8 Was my first drum machine! Bring me back memories.
My high school had one of these. I felt really lucky to play with it and use it for years. It was nice to just program the drums and move on. The Sounds were so good
Got mine out a few days ago. Still sounds great and works perfectly after all these years. When I bought mine the Mark 2 was available and I remember being chastised for going for the Mark 1, so I find your comments regarding the Mark 2 interesting.
Ahh, the very first drum machine I ever bought! ❤ I wish I still had it today.
R-8? This is the most popular drum machine in Asia especially in Indonesia! Before this machine was born most Indonesian musicians were rely on TR-707 and TR-727, rather than 808 and 909. But several years later they want for something new. When the R-8 released with the SN-R8 cards, it became the most successful, best selling drum machine ever. The R-8 sounds can be heard in many Indonesian songs in the 80s to 90s.
Interesting! As an American that knows nothing about Indonesian music, I appreciate this insight. The R-8 kicks ass across all continents :)
Cool, thanks for sharing! :D
Those features are still awesome in 2021!
The shop I bought mine from no longer exists. Who would have thought the drum machine would outlast the shop?
The Roland R-8 was heard in the song "Rhythm Nation" (1989).
Yeah, that's Janet's cut. But did you know that Janet's brother Michael also uses R-8 in some of his songs? Check out "Remember The Time" and "Blood On The Dance Floor". If you listen to the drums carefully, it is R-8 sounds, but modified to make it cool!
Great video! I bought the R-8 when it came out, then sold it to buy the R-8M. Big mistake! The R-8 was much easier to program and delivered better results thanks to better feel implementation. But recently I fixed my mistake and bought the R-8 again. So now, I have both!
Thanks!
Interesting.
Wow i wished more music of today sounded like what you were playing at the the beginning of this video..
Long live retro and the80s and synths and drum machines iàm Andrew bull 54 yrs young and love this stufg
Thanks for this very informative and helpful video. I have the R-8 myself and the 'Human Feel' was implemented very well and the sounds are pristine as you mentioned.
Cheers!
Remember when I saw this on store 1989, it was mind blowing!
R-8, definately a classic, still have some of the sounds loaded up in my Korg Electribe 2 Sampler and DAW! The cymbals are REALLY nice, some of the best cymbal sounds IMO. The other sounds are pretty good too, fairly dry (no inbuilt FX). I had the rack and the R-5, which was some of the same sounds, some from the R8 cards, but no card slots, smaller screen only two outputs but still pretty ace!
I'm not going to fight Espen on whether the MK2 sounds better or worse, but I have read this on many forums, so there seems to be some consensus on this. Not sure how the R-5 compared, but I was satisfied with the sound of mine. What eventually turned me away from the series was the extremely high price of the (excellent) 808 and 909 cards. The 909 card is so rare, too!
The mkI version as shown in the video needs SN-R8-11 "Dance" to get the 909 sounds. But glad that you have the mkII version cause the 808 and 909 already included in there, although some sounds from the mkI replaced with some new samples, like Crash Cymbals in mkI and mkII are different.
When I had my R8-M, another cool feature (iirc) was you could assign velocity to pitchbend for individual sounds in the PERF settings. I used this with hihats, cymbals and snares etc. Like in Art of Noise 'Moments in Love'. Sold it of course like many of the stuff in your video's 😏
Never had an R8 (still have dr660 though), but the last sentence of your comment made me laugh so much. Watching espen is like watching a dream reel of past lovers...
"Dream reel of past lovers", cool song title. ;-)
Ha! Excellent! I had the R-5, which I believe had everything the R-8 had except no card slot, fewer outputs, and no backlight on the LCD. I always loved the demo tune, which made clever use of the single bass guitar sample for melodic parts. All this kinda makes me wish I still had it around!
Wait a minute....you mean the R8 has a backlight!? I've had mine for 22 year and never had one, I've always said "this would be nice if it had a backlight".
My bad, apparently. I only had the R5, and all those years I thought the R8 had a backlight..Now I find out it was 22 Years of false envy! Googling suggests there might be a backlight mod out there, but possibly only for the R8 MKIi..
@@ladyapp-titude That's OK, I still enjoy that drum machine...I've got other drum moduals but the R8 will always be in my set up!
Keep the R-5, although it doesn't support the SN-R8 cards but you've got all the essential sounds such as basses, bongos, timbales, electronic toms and brush snares. Cause in R-8 (except R-8 mk II) some sounds included in R-5 are not available unless you purchase several SN-R-8 cards. Valuable but essential!
I have a Casio RZ1, couldn't afford the R-8 but it wasn't long until I had a Roland U110 which had some nice drum sounds.
It's difficult finding a video on youtube showing off just the stock sounds that came with the original R8. Thank you
I remember attending a Roland clinic at Music Junction in Melbourne in 1989 where Roland clinician and noted session keyboardist, Chong Lim did an outstanding demo of the newly released R8, along with the W30 workstation sampler.
That grid format was kind of new, right after the MPC-60 came out, of course descended from the Linn 9000. The R8’s low profile controls seemed well optimized for not snapping off inadvertently. We had a Toshiba laptop made out of that same suede-textured grey rubberized plastic.
I remember those particular drums quite well. They indeed were very popular among music producers in the late 80s, especially in pop and R'nB. Off the top of my head, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" by Milli Vanilli and "I Will Always Be There For You" by Anquette are two of the many songs from that period which made good use of those distinctive sounds. Fabulous stuff!
Thanks a lot for R8! I'm listening to your "Hello, baby". Great advices at the end! Thank you!
Cheers!
I bought a Yamaha RY-30 in 1991. It included filters as well as a pitch strule wheel that could be assigned via a physical switch to modulate the filter, pan, balance between two samples, and pitch of a note played or recorded via the pads. The sound engine felt pretty good... I think it was very similar to the SY-77 & 99 as those synths could load the expansion ROM cards. The design philosophy was different than the R8 and there were only 12 pads... but the pads were pretty nice membranes.
I have them both the RY30 and R8 . If you ask what is the favorite ? The RY30! the minus is no outputs enough . The programmable pitch,decay,nuance..... functions on the r8 and ry30 are similar . The Ry is also more a drumsynth .
just ordered one, cant wait for it to show up!
Great video as always. I used to have a R8 back in the early 90's. Changed it for the R8M early 2000. I've still got that unit in my rack. I remember chasing down the Electronic card. I had to look for it for a long time. :)
Cheers!
I had one for years, with the Electronic card. It's all over my 'Flash in the night' cover, somewhere on my channel. I loved the way it could record slider movements. The sounds are indeed incredible and the eight separate output made it a dream to record and process. I sampled all its sounds before I parted with it but I still miss it.
This is one of the best R8 demos that I've seen on UA-cam.
Many thanks!
Michael Knott used this a lot around that time, loved the sounds and songs!
The MIDI programming is sic!
The R-8 was just so pricey when it came out. I got an Alesis SR-16 in 1990 and still have it. :-) Before then, I had an Alesis HR-16, Roland TR-707, Yamaha RX8, Boss Dr. Rhythm, Roland TR-606 and Mattel Synsonics drums.
Excellent collection!
This brings back some good memories of being in a rap group. K4 keyboard, TR 707, MC 300, HT3000. Of course, once the guys knew how to program the MC 300 they didn't need a live keyboard player anymore. So I started playing in a ballroom dance band.
Hi Eespen and thanks for sharing your view on this epic drumsequencer. I have two of these in my studio and it is worth to mention that the Roland R8 is also a fabulous midi sequencer. I also have the waverex card that has been released not so long ago. Great machines that go ex-tre-me-ly deep ito programming sequences. Cheers!
Cheers!
Think those WavRex cards are wayyy overpriced. Almost $200.00 for 512k just to have the R8 play what your daw does ? It's not worth it. Quite a rippoff if you ask me.
I have just bought a Roland R-8 on EBay bundled with a hard case to store it,
the power supply, manual plus 4 rom cards including the Electronic card. It
was pretty expensive but actually it was more cost effective. I also can't
wait to recreate that edited gated snare, it's amazing how smoothly you can
edit the drum sounds. I did also consider the R-5 as it was cheaper and
smaller but it was collection only.
Congrats on the purchase.
@@EspenKraft Thank you.
I just picked up the R8M today. Now I have to hunt the cards down
Congrats!
Thanks! I would’ve gotten the drum machine version but I couldn’t find one that wasn’t beat to hell. I get it’s an old piece of gear, but these especially look the part.
I also have the R8m and still love it! In the begonning of the 90ties I had a R5. Never used the machine gun ROLL function😂🤟
COOL video, I have the rack version and some cards, the sound are very nice.
Brought back beautiful memories when I used to do music production professionally. The R8 was used extensively.
It was a perfect drum machine! Thanks!🤝
Still have my R-8m sitting in my old Rack. Was about the best E-Drums you could get for a reasonable money in 90'es without having to use an expensive 16bit sampler, and like you said, the feel patches was what made the difference. Most of the samples in this was using X-fade or vel switching wich made it sound much more real than any of the competition, second to none .. well maybe the Alesis HR-16 /B and SR-16. The SR-16 was a real gem cause it worked much like an arranger, just only drums :)
Splendid! The sounds are really good. Roland had great sounding samples back then. Had an edge over Yamaha and Korg.
Cheers!
Remember the R-8 so well!!! Used to play it with an Octopad.
Fantastic demo of the R-8. Sounded so much like the late 80s...
The R-8 was simply great. It was the last drum machine you ever needed. Ironically, they were the last drum machines for Roland, too.
Roland ceased from producing stand alone drum machines after the R series (R-8, R-8M, R-5, R-8mk2, R-70) and went into a long hibernation.
Many thanks!
Actually it doesn't stop completely. Roland continues making drum machine product but under BOSS division. And some R-8 sounds were applied as the General MIDI standard for drum kits in Roland Sound Canvas series.
There's the TR8-s flagship now. But alas without R8 sounds. :(
This was my first new drummachine at the time, i still have it!
Great video Espen! Nice to see the R-8 in action! 😉👍🏻
Thanks man! It was great to finally do a dedicated video on it, and not just only use it. ;-)
Wow, how good the music sounds! Thank you 😊 Btw, I see Rm1x on the shelve! Kind of "does it really fit" inducing moment (I have one, and for the techno head in me it fits... but it's cool as a sequencer too).
Cheers!
I still have mine too ! with the complete collection of souncards , i brought it when it first came out in the late 80`s? ... a great machine in it`s day , it was all over everything back in the day and had a distinct sound that i could pick out on releases i.e Depeche`s "Violator" used it alot , the opening drum brushes on "Sweetest Perfection " are from the Jazz Brush card .... and listen to the opening of "Halo" for the 808 stuff ...not too long ago you could have picked up the R8m for around £50 gbp..( i always wanted the module version as well because you could combine 2 cards at the same time )... but as with everything else these are now much more to buy !
That beginning / Pattern of the Demo Track reminds me of the Song you made for the Food & Harbor Festival
Well spotted! It's a variation on that drum pattern and programming. Same tempo as well. ;-)
Wow, I had one of those, shouldn't have sold it. Great video. Thanks.
Cheers!
I could listen to that first mix forever man!!
Sweet!
Oh yes! I have an R5 myself, I love it!
I have the Roland R8 myself. I used it extensively and still use it today along side the MPC Renaissance. I hope to get an MPC Live to “take the place” of the Renaissance.
Hello Espen😊 Great performance and video 👍👍👍 Have a wonderful day and weekend 😉 Greetings Adam 😎
Very cool video, and these days are strange, just got a free set with all the samples from this drum machine....
Cheers!
I hadn't heard of this module before but the sounds sound very familiar, very smooth sounding and non intrusive.
If you have heard the General MIDI sounds before, like Sound Canvas modules or Microsoft GS Wavetable in your Windows computer, the drums are from R-8. So it's no surprise if some sounds are familiar because R-8 was released before General MIDI standard was born.
@@MichaelSouhoka Ah, I see so the sounds lived on past this machine, and must have been used in a bunch of pop music during those years.
Roland always had the best claps
Hi Espen, I love your videos, they are very inspiring, and you are a great host. Best regards from Argentina.
Many thanks for saying David!
Great video. I used to prefer this great drum machine to my old linndrum and oberhiem dx.
Great video Mr. Kraft!! Love this drum machine. It's an amazing piece of technology. Also to your left there, if I am not mistaken that's a Poly 61??
That is correct, as Poly-61.
I found a great deal on the R-8M. The seller also had two cards sold separately. Latin percussion and jazz brush. He washed to get rid of the cards. So I got both cards for $50. now I just have to wait for everything to arrive. I always sequence my drums with my Arturia KeyStep Pro. So the rack unit is just the thing. I look forward to having all those individual outs on my 24 channel console.
Gr8 video Espen..well presented🙂
Loved it and the R-5
Love the sound Jam and Lewis used this on Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation.
Roland R-8 drum machine are fat creamy sound I love it
Your sound is really well done.
Many thanks!
I own both...R8 ant the R8M and use them after all those years :-)
Early UGK records, Rest Up Pimp C☝🏽
Roland funnily enough used the samplesets from this for the SC-55 2 years later
I remember my days with the Roland R-8
I remember the Tom and Snare
this channel is like being in heaven😁
Cheers!
Very good review of a super nice drum machine - unfortunately I do not have the pleasure of having one in the studio. Great song to demonstrate the capabilities!!!!!! :-)
Many thanks!
I have one of those aaaaand I can see a lovely Yamaha Rm1x up there. I looooooove that machine :D
have a R5 roland, great sounds !
The R8 sounding better than the R8 MK2 is a total myth. I suspect it come from R8 owners being pissed of the rarity of the MKii, and the fact that the MKii have (almost) all the sounds on board. I have both, and appart a slight difference of the plastic finish, there is absolutely no differences. You can look at the schematics (or just inspect them if you have both), you will see that the DACs are the same on both machine. ROMs are the same too.
If you can get a R8 that's great, if you can get a MK2 that's even better if you want more sounds, but I wouldn't loose sleep over which one to get, they are both amazing drum machines.
We're free to believe what we want. Goes both ways.
The Roland D-110 can also be used as a cheaper alternative for those who can't get the R-8M: 63 PCM drum sounds from the same era, with 6 individual outputs, besides main stereo out.
And D-110, D-50, U-220 and R-8 sounds have been incorporated together by Roland to create a General MIDI standard sounds. You guess it, Roland Sound Canvas series!
@@MichaelSouhoka only the SC-55's kit has R-8 sounds, but I'm pretty sure that all of the later Sound Canvas modules contain compatibility modes that make them sound almost identical to a particular Sound Canvas module (I know the SC-88 and SC-8820 have SC-55 modes, although they don't sound 100% identical)
@@TorutheRedFoxRight. And also, the Sound Canvas have been built into DirectX to become a standard MIDI synth in Windows, replacing the old technology that uses the wavetable sound from the PC compatible sound cards.
@@MichaelSouhoka the sound canvas being built in to windows is a bit of a stretch
sure, the gs wavetable synth does support gs and uses samples from the sc-55, but it's nowhere near as capable as a real sc-55
Great Drum machine
There also Roland R-70 (1992) .The Model Look Different but same sound
Slightly less hi-fi and more dynamically compressed, but close.
I would love one of these-had to turn down a s/h one in the 90s as I was cash poor at the time.
I believe that the Sisters of Mercy's infamous drum machine "Doktor Avalanche" was an R8.
I have the R-8, and it sounds amazing. By the way, great song, damn, nice job!
Cheers!