Roland’s TR-1000 is the ultimate drum machine

But, successful emblematic Roland fashion, the institution didn’t just re-create immoderate iconic analog circuits. No, the TR-1000 besides has integer emulations of different classical Roland drum machines. It has FM synthesis, PCM samples, and a built-in sampler pinch looping and chopping abilities. Not to mention dozens of effects, the expertise to furniture sounds, and a modern sequencer pinch probability, automation, and microtiming. In short, if location is simply a characteristic you wish a drum instrumentality had, the TR-1000 astir apt has you covered. But that besides intends the TR-1000 is an intimidating portion of cogwheel pinch an arsenic intimidating $2,699.99 value tag.

Just looking astatine it tin beryllium a spot daunting. Roland has astatine times trended toward garish aliases toylike designs, which it’s rightly been criticized for. Now the institution whitethorn person overcorrected. The caller Gaia 2 and SH-4d synthesizers are utilitarian, almost boring-looking. The TR-1000 continues that trend, but it carries a gravitas that those 2 instruments don’t. Roland’s flagship drum instrumentality intends business and looks the part.

The stark gray-and-black strategy gives it an industrial, almost brutalist vibe. There are 16 satisfyingly clacky keys crossed the bottommost for the measurement sequencer, patient sliders for each of its 10 audio channels, positive buttons and knobs galore. Roland heard you wanted much hands-on controls and decided to springiness you all the hands-on controls.

The consequence is that you tin do a batch connected the TR-1000 pinch minimal paper diving. If you’ve ever utilized a measurement sequencer before, you should beryllium capable to bang retired a elemental hit immediately. There are dedicated knobs for tuning and decay truthful you tin easy get that ultra-deep, modern 808 footwear drone. While the labeling connected the different knobs is generic (CTRL 1, CTRL 2, CTRL 3), the surface connected the apical correct shows what they control.

Now, that does not mean location is no paper diving present — this is simply a Roland machine, aft all. But the institution has made strides pinch its UI successful caller years. The rumor is that Roland still hasn’t gotten a grip connected its compulsion to cram each imaginable characteristic into each device. Is it bully to person sample chopping and resampling abilities connected the TR-1000? Sure. But utilizing them isn’t ever intuitive, and the layout isn’t perfect for exploring chops to recontextualize a loop. For sampling one-shots and drum hits, the TR-1000 is great. But immoderate of the much precocious features consciousness tacked on, buried down convoluted fastener combos and cumbersome menus. The consequence is that I seldom utilized the looping aliases chopping features, and alternatively treated the TR-1000 arsenic a much accepted drum machine.

From that perspective, the TR-1000 is an undeniable, if incredibly expensive, success. The header characteristic is, of course, the 16 analog drum circuits that re-create iconic sounds from the TR-808 and TR-909. These are the reasons to splurge connected the TR-1000. If you don’t attraction astir having an authentic analog re-creation of the 808 snare, past walk your money elsewhere. There are countless integer facsimiles, including affordable options for illustration the T-8 from Roland, and much free sample packs than I can count. But for those who crave the existent deal, this is what you’ve been waiting for.

If you’re into making old-school hip-hop, house, aliases classical techno, this is the palette you want to beryllium coating from. But I wouldn’t telephone the 808 aliases 909 sounds retro. They’re timeless. And the TR-1000 helps beryllium that constituent by placing them successful the discourse of a modern sequencer, alongside much aggressively integer sounds.

The analog select and thrust thief glue each these disparate sounds together while besides highlighting the grit of the analog drum circuits. Turn up the decay connected an 808 footwear and crank the thrust to astir 75 percent — this is the sound of the gods. It’s the constituent wherever the bass conscionable starts to transverse complete fuzz territory and hits difficult capable to rattle your chest. I recovered myself returning to this circumstantial sound complete and complete again erstwhile I felt for illustration jamming.

Roland could person conscionable replicated the OG 808 and 909 sounds and called it a day. But successful summation to the classical timbres, location are extended controls that springiness you acold much sound sculpting options than were disposable connected the original machines. This includes tuning the 808 footwear truthful you tin play it arsenic a bassline, which is obviously popular in modern music but usually requires a sampler aliases synthesizer.

The TR-1000 besides turns retired to beryllium a awesome advertisement for the company’s integer emulations. If you put the analog circuit behaviour (ACB) emulation of an 808 footwear adjacent to the existent analog 1 connected the TR-1000, you’d beryllium hard-pressed to show the quality — it’s very subtle. I for illustration to deliberation that I person a comparatively discerning receptor erstwhile it comes to this stuff, but erstwhile I tried to conjecture which was which successful a unsighted sensation test, I was hardly amended than axenic chance.

The ACB models are besides wherever you’ll find my individual favourite Roland sounds. While I get the entreaty of the 808 and the 909, I’ve ever been drawn to the much lo-fi sounds of the TR-606 and the CR-78. Now, if Roland wants to springiness maine a existent analog reissue of those sounds, I will gladly propulsion each my money astatine them.

Despite each the further sounds and precocious features the TR-1000 offers, I usually recovered myself starting pinch immoderate flimsy variety of the aforesaid sound palette: an analog 808 kick, snare, hi-hat, and clap, analog 909 snare, and a integer 808 footwear layered pinch the analog one. Then I’d capable up the different 5 tracks pinch various integer percussion sounds that struck my fancy astatine that peculiar infinitesimal successful time.

Because of the quirks of the TR’s sequencer, I besides often recovered myself moving pinch shorter, simpler patterns. Rather than person 1 agelong 64- aliases 128-step sequence, the TR-100 fundamentally has a 16-step sequencer, pinch 8 variations that you tin past change, positive 4 “fill-in” versions of each variation. So alternatively than reasoning of things arsenic 1 agelong eight-bar loop, I would activity successful two- aliases moreover one-bar loops, but past build a bunch of flimsy variations to switch between.

This workflow really led to maine creating much varied drum tracks, and the piles of hands-on controls really had maine treating a drum instrumentality arsenic a capacity instrumentality for once, alternatively than a set-it-and-forget-it backdrop for noodling.

My favourite capacity instrumentality is easy the Morph slider, which is decidedly inspired by the crossfader connected Elektron’s Octatrack. It lets you group 2 different sets of parameters for each your sounds and past seamlessly blend betwixt them. Often, I would usage it to move betwixt a basal type of a shape and 1 pinch the thrust cranked, the decay connected the footwear turned up, and the snares tuned to deed harder.

Another performance-focused characteristic that I kept coming backmost to was the Step Loop. Some drum machines let you to repetition a definite portion of a shape — say, the first half a barroom aliases a azygous measurement — to create on-the-fly fills and buildups. But Roland is the only institution I cognize that lets you repetition whichever steps you want successful immoderate operation you want. Want to repetition steps one, five, and 9 to create a looping capable that avoids immoderate snares? Just clasp those steps down for arsenic agelong arsenic you want. It turns playing fills into an progressive process, alternatively than conscionable thing you programme successful and trigger occasionally. It’s the uncommon Roland characteristic I wish different companies would blatantly steal.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my clip pinch the TR-1000. It’s much nosy than I’ve had pinch a drum instrumentality successful a agelong time. But I besides consciousness for illustration I’ve hardly scratched the aboveground complete the past mates of months. The looping, time-stretching, and chopping are each things I seldom fuss with; the aforesaid goes for the virtual analog synth motor — mostly because programming melodic passages is an tremendous PITA. There are individual outs for each track, which would beryllium immense successful a much master setting, but successful my attic agency / studio, I only ever bothered pinch the maestro out. I besides ne'er touched Song Mode. (To beryllium fair, I ne'er touch opus mode connected immoderate of my gear.)

There’s conscionable truthful overmuch going connected on the TR-1000 that it’s overwhelming. Roland really did build the eventual drum machine, but it tin consciousness for illustration excessively overmuch astatine times, and I preferred to instrumentality to the basics. There’s thing inherently incorrect pinch that; you should usage an instrumentality successful the measurement that feels earthy to you. But if you’re not going to usage the TR-1000 to its afloat potential, the $2,699.99 value tag is astir apt a deal-breaker.

Photography by Terrence O’Brien / The Verge