Roland TR-808

The Roland TR-808 was one of the very first programmable drumcomputers in the beginning of 1980. It was designed with studio musicians in mind, to quickly create a demo track. The sounds of the TR-808 are completely analog and don’t resemble real drumsounds that much. However, the Roland TR-808 was popularized by hip-hop artists because of the big booming kicks, the excellent snare drum and the characteristic cowbell sound.

The Roland TR-808 is nearly 40 years old, but its sounds are still used nowadays. Not only in hip-hop, but also in techno and various other musical genres. A real 1980’s TR-808 can cost up to 5000 dollar and are hard to come by. Luckily, we sampled the basics of this wonderful drummachine. These 808 samples and loops are free to download.