The TR-909 Drum machine is a legend. This instrument has been featured in hundreds of tracks ranging from electronics to hip hop. I love using this vintage sound in my tracks. It adds a nostalgic and interesting sound. I had the opportunity to record the TR-909 and build an easy to use Live Drum Rack for my own music, and decided to share it with the world.
About the 909
The Roland TR-909 has been in a lot of classic tracks over the year. From oldschool Orbital tracks, new trap beats, and even pop music.
The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based, drum machine introduced by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1984.The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and cost-effectiveness. It is fully programmable, and like its predecessor, the TR-808, it can store entire songs with multiple sections, as opposed to simply storing patterns. – WIKIPEDIA
To give you a taste of what the 909 sound like here are a few tracks i’ve loved that feature the TR-909.
Here is a quick video I found that lets you hear the difference between the 606, 707, 808, and 909 drum machine.
Recording the TR-909
I recorded the TR-909 by patching it into a vintage Aphex Aural Exciter to give it a little life and then patched that into my soundcard. This lead to a very organic, bright, yet clean signal of the TR-909. I would then change some of the parameters and record many different takes. From there I edited down the best and put them into the Ableton Live Drum Rack.
Download the TR-909 Drum Rack for Free
This Ableton Live Pack and Sample Pack are a collection of recordings taken from the Drum Machine. You can download just the Samples, for any DAW, or the Live Pack to use the Drum Rack. It’s free / by donating below.
Thanks for checking out the TR-909 Drum Rack I put together. If you make any tracks from it, please feel free to share it with me or in the comments bellow. I also have some other random drum machine recordings lying around, like the 303. If you are interested in a specific vintage drum machine, let me know.
Music on mates.
