First off, I apologize for including the Crazy Frog version of Harold Faltermeyer’s wonderful song Alex F in this blog post. The (very European) remix doesn’t hold a candle to the clean fresh sound of the original. However, the remix is a large part of the songs history so here you have it. There are a few reasons the original is so great. I always like music with a strong lead melody and no one can deny this isn’t catchy as hell. Now let’s talk gear: Roland Jupiter-8 (lead), Moog Modular (bass), a Roland JX-3P (chord stabs), Yamaha DX7 (bell/marimba), and a LinnDrum drum machine. I wish Eddy Murphy would make a real comeback and I wish there were more songs like Axel F.
“Axel F is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop performed by Harold Faltermeyer. The title comes from the main character’s name, Axel Foley (played by Eddie Murphy), in the film. It topped musical charts in 1985 and remains a popular remix track. Mixes of “Axel F” topped European pop charts in 2003, and again in 2005 as the Crazy Frog song. In addition to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, the song also appears on Faltermeyer’s 1988 album Harold F. as a bonus track. Reportedly Faltermeyer was against including it, but MCA insisted, as it was his most recognizable track.” – Wikipedia
Buy the song: iTunes or Amazon
This entry was written by , posted on December 29, 2010 at 4:52 am, filed under music and tagged 1980's, Axel F, Crazy Frog, Eddie Murphy, Harold Faltermeyer, Jupiter-8, LinnDrum, Moog Modular, roland. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
808 Drum programming (by Eekkoo) from Eekkoo on Vimeo.
Roland TR-727 from Clocklife on Vimeo.
I start my songwriting with the drums. Touching actual buttons and watching flashing lights go left to right as the sequencer plays is more fun than pushing around a mouse. My iPad is getting a lot of attention these days for the fun factor too but the sound is not exactly the same.
“The famous Roland TR-808 was also launched in 1980. At the time it was received with little fanfare, as it did not have digitally sampled sounds; drum machines using digital samples were much more popular. In time, though, the TR-808, along with its successor, the TR-909 (released in 1984), would become a fixture of the burgeoning underground dance, techno, and hip-hop genres, mainly because of its low cost (relative to that of the Linn machines), and the unique character of its analogue-generated sounds.” – Wikipedia
For more info: wikipedia.org/Drum_machine
photo credit: Ethan Hein
This entry was written by , posted on September 25, 2010 at 3:56 am, filed under drum machine and tagged drum machine, roland, TR-727, tr-808. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Wave Alchemy has released a free sample pack of the vintage analog Roland TR-606 drum machine. Four free kits are included titled: Driven Kit, Dry Kit, Stereo FX Kit and Warm Kit. To grab the samples: click here
“606 Drums by Wave Alchemy serves up 290 drum samples from Roland’s sought-after TR-606 drum machine. The samples included have been lovingly recorded through an API pre-amp with many sounds boasting multiple round robin variations, accent and velocity layers! 606 Drums contains four pre-mapped drum kit patches for use with Kontakt 2, 3, & 4 and Battery 3. Each kit makes extensive use of multiple velocity layers, round robin sample playback and choke groups to create truly expressive sample instruments.” – Wave Alchemy
Disclaimer: Wave Alchemy is an advertiser on Wire to the Ear.
photo credit: BatterseaTrump
via Synthtopia
This entry was written by , posted on July 8, 2010 at 4:29 am, filed under drum machine, sounds and tagged drum machine, free, roland, TR-606, Wave Alchemy. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
2 Korg iElectribe Loops by thingstocome
Funkbox iPad -TR-808 Loop by thingstocome
So I’ve had my iPad for about a week and I can say it actually is a very different experience than the iPhone. Case in point the are drum machine Apps above. Funkbox on the iPhone is ok but I never really used it past a novelty show off item. On the iPad I can sit comfortably and knock out loops with pleasure. The iElectribe really knocks you out. It feels like hardware. Fanboyism aside if you have not had a chance to play with these and you make electronic music go do so.
Is it real or Memorex?
For more info: Funkbox and iElectribe.
This entry was written by , posted on June 21, 2010 at 6:08 am, filed under drum machine, iPad and tagged Funkbox, iElectribe, iPad, Korg, roland, Roland TR-808, tr-808. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Roland TB-303 Documentary BASSLINE BASELINE by Nate Harrison from Jack Time on Vimeo.
I first heard Acid House at club Mars in the late 80s. I believe the first Acid record I bought was from Fast Eddie called Acid Thunder. I bought my first Roland TB-303 from Rogue Music in New York City for $300. I later bought another one and used them live. They eventually were stolen and since then I used various soft versions such as the Audiorealism ABL.
“If you’re interested in the early history of ROLAND, the Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments and the TB-303 Bassline, you’ll enjoy this 20-minute video. The TB-303 and its design are described in depth, and many examples of popular music made with the machine are presented. Director: Nate Harrison” – Jack Time
For more info: wikipedia.org/Roland_tb-303
This entry was written by , posted on May 12, 2010 at 3:52 pm, filed under Uncategorized and tagged acid, Acid Thunder, Fast Eddie, roland, Roland TB-303. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Here’s a quick beginner tip that may save you from loosing a sound. If your using hardware and you want to remember what patch you are using label your Ableton clip with the same patch number! Some hardware will respond to a MIDI Program change. In Ableton double click a MIDI clip to enter Clip View and in the Notes section you will see Bank, Sub-Bank and Program. That’s where you can pick and save the corresponding hardware’s patch number.
When I used DR. T’s KCS and a Roland Juno-106 I would create a sound then slightly change it, save it over 16 patch locations and then have DR. T’s cycle through each patch using Program Change messages. With different filter settings saved in each Patch the Juno sounded like a more expensive synth. Imagine old school Depeche Mode arpeggio patterns with filters opening and closing. It was a pain to set up but worth it in the end.
Happy music making.
This entry was written by , posted on April 26, 2010 at 4:43 am, filed under Ableton Live, hardware, song writing and tagged ableton, Dr. T, Jomox, Jomox MBase, Juno-106, label, MBase, program change, roland. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmt0ru2Y7wQ
FunkBox looks like it will be the most fun drum machine emulation on the iPhone yet. Coming soon for $1.99.
“Demo of the FunkBox Drum Machine iphone app from Synthetic Bits. FunkBox is a pocket-sized emulation of a classic vintage beatboxes, along with all their dirt and quirks.” – syntheticbits.com
For more info: syntheticbits.com
UPDATE… Available now: click here (iTunes link) Definitely fun!
This entry was written by , posted on January 18, 2010 at 9:26 am, filed under iPhone and tagged drum machine, emulation, iPhone, roland, tr-808, vintage. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLnf_gtBZtg
This morning I had to scan about one hundred energy audit survey sheets collected from our salespersons. Even though I have a nifty (fast!) ScanSnap S1500M I still have only a few minutes for Wire to the Ear before it’s off to the races. I have nothing important musically related in my head so I revert to one of the best things in the world: an analog drum machine. The good old TR-606 is a metal looking and tight sounding box that unbelievable can still be found on eBay for a reasonable price. YouTube and cheap video camera compression works well on the 606′s sound. Someone please tell my wife to throw one of these under my tree this year.
A cool little box! So primitive and cute! The 606 was the percussion side-kick to the TB-303. It even looks like the 303. It stores up to 32 patterns and 8 songs. The 606 allows switching between Pattern Play and Write mode while running – making the 606 the only drumcomputer in the X0X series that can be edited while performing and switching patterns. It is also possible to link up to 4 consecutive patterns in Pattern Play mode. There is only a mono audio output, however there are mods from Kenton Electronics and Analog Solutions that will add individual outputs for each drum tone. The 606 has seven analog drum sounds which are simple, yet great! Kick, Snare, 2 toms, open hat, closed hat, cymbal, accent. The hi-hats are a very tinny electronic sound…” – vintagesynth.com
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_TR-606
This entry was written by , posted on December 10, 2009 at 6:32 am, filed under hardware and tagged analog, drum machine, roland, TR-606. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCa8prvT9yM
I’ve said many times the Roland TR-808 is the king of all drum machines. It has the sharpest deepest kick with the most attack, snares and hats that sound like lighting and a sequencer that makes any beat sound incredible. I love this machine so much I think I subconsciously liked songs because they had an 808 on them (all before I even knew what a Roland TR-808 was!). I love this video above where a bunch of classics with 808 drums were recreated on an Korg Electribe SX. I own everyone one of these songs on 12″.
Here’s a few ways into 808 land: AcidLab Miami (German recreation) $1399, GoldBaby The Tape808 (samples) $24, D16 Nepheton (virtual plug-in recreation) 139 EUR
“Recreations, again by ear, of some classic early 80s beats that were originally made on a Roland TR-808 drummachine. This became the signature sound for freestyle music and later for house. Mantronix – 808 Beats, Shannon – Let the Music Play, Freeez – IOU, Man Parrish – Hip Hop Bebop, GLOBE & Whiz Kid -. Play that Beat Mr. DJ, Nineteen – Paul Hardcastle (iTunes link), C.O.D. – In the Bottle, Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing” – Harlem Nights Music
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_TR-808
This entry was written by , posted on November 16, 2009 at 6:21 am, filed under hardware, live performance, music and tagged drum machine, Electribe, Korg, Man Parish, Mantronix, roland, Shannon, tr-808. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhy2dU1hZOY
My studio in the early 90s was full of hardware mixers and long patch cable strung all over the place. Before computers with fast CPUs the way to get an original sound was simply plugging hardware boxes into each other. Electrocomp-101 synthesizer into a Boss Pedal into a Korg Digital Delay and so forth. I always felt like a pioneer pushing the equipment to unintended limits.
My favorite trick that I never actually heard anyone else do was something I called the “Wicked 106″. I created 16 slightly different patches on a Roland Juno-106. Next, I would create a 16th note pattern in Dr. Ts KCS. Here’s the trick: I would then put a different Program Change (number) on each of the steps. You never heard a Juno-106 sound so interesting. It really made the 106 sound like a modular going through a step sequencer.
“What most don’t know about the original TR-808, aside from it’s original voices (sounds) there is a “pulse” sound that you can hear when plugging a cable from the ACcent trigger out, it generates a metallic “zap” sound very similar to a Hi Q (sound from the Roland R-8) This sound was used in “Egypt Egypt” and “Funkbox” from Masterdon. THIS IS HOW THE SOUND IS DONE!!!!” – intromix
Do you remember an old hardware trick you used to do?
This entry was written by , posted on October 16, 2009 at 4:43 am, filed under hardware, sounds, synthesizer and tagged drum machine, Juno-106, program change, roland, tr-808. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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