As advancements in digital sampling began to surface in the early eighties the TR-909 drum machine remained with technology more familiar to designers for the most part. However, while all of the TR-909 drum sounds remained in the analog realm the cymbals and HiHat sounds incorporated 6 bit sampling technology.
The TR-909 was released in 1983 just three years after the iconic TR-808 drum machine. It's success seemed to be overshadowed by the 808 and while not quite as popular as its predecessor, nonetheless still remains widely used to this day. The TR-909 usefulness expressed itself in a variety of musical styles ranging from techno and electronic dance music, to current hip hop and rap.
The overall design was well thought out and it's use was definitely qualified for use in studio production or even live performances. The basic TR-909 sounds featured bass drum, snare, low tom, mid tom, low tom, rim shot, handclap plus 6 bit samples of hi hat, ride cymbal and crash cymbal. Control knobs offered individual adjustments for each of the drum sounds including tune, attack, level and decay controls. Ride and crash cymbals could be also altered with individual level and tune knobs. More controls via tempo knob, plus volume control. Extras included a display, start and stop buttons, accent, a shuffle feature and also a flam button as well.
The programming seemed intuitive enough with a 16 step sequencer with buttons laid out in the form of a 16 note 4/4 pattern and with lighted buttons to boot. The TR-909 offered several editing modes. Basic editing features included copy, chain function, delete, insert and copy. Variations of writing rhythms was possible for shuffle, accent and flam. Step write and tap write programming was also available.
Other functions for the TR-909 allowed multi outputs for each instrument, memory cartridge, sync functions, external instrument mode, trigger out- stop, tape interface, DIN sync 24, plus the standard MIDI in and out (x2) connectors. Moreover, a master stereo out (mono option) was available.
All in all, an impressive drum machine for its time its sounds still sought after by today's musicians. The analog sounds the TR-909 possessed interestingly enough remains the key element to its longevity and usefulness over its digital counterparts that would soon follow. Musicians always seem to favor the flex ability of technology that allows for altering and customizing sounds and the TT-909 certainly provided for just that option.
Check out this video featuring the TR-909 drum machine.
Check out this video featuring the TR-909 drum machine.
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