@@johnnymorgansynthdreams i bought my Jupiter 6 of a christian musican. He still had the factroy sounds in it, and said he only ever used the electric piano sound
"Believe it or not, the hats were sampled at only 16-bit"... I wonder why you say that. 16-bit was state of the art in 1982, and (arguably) still great today. Afaik, higher bitrates such as 20 and 24-bit only became viable ten years later, in the early 1990s. Thank you for a great video!
Very true, plenty of machines still used 12-bit in the early 80s. Though one small nitpick: that's bit depth (raw bit rate is determined by multiplying your bit depth by your sample rate) 😊
To me, what always stands-out besides the sound itself has to be the shifting design sensibilities over only a few years. The 808 had little microswitches under colourful buttons, the 909 had computer keys, then the 7x7 had (still fairly-modern looking) rubber drum pads. Going from indicator LEDs being high tech, moving onto an LCD to show the whole drum grid. Knobs, going into faders. The last gasp of analogue's first era, made readily visible in the shape of the case.
Great fact...".Skinny Puppy was the first band to ever use it on a record." :) SP kills. Great video. The 9 draws you in. Great machine. Many good ones!! Damn good.
5:00 DIGITAL internal ROM 3 PCM samples coded at 6 bits resolution / 18 kHz frequency- the rest of the audio signal path is pure analog including EG, VCF and VCA. TECH: PCM shots are stored in a 32 Kb ROM HITACHI HN61256P.
I’ve, never owned a 909, but I have tr8s, and the tr-09 boutique. The tr-09 is much much better then the tr8s (imo). If you like the sound on tr8s, try to get a hold of a used tr-09.
Thanks - yes for sure - a lot of balls in motion this fall but it's been awesome to finish our album. I'm pretty excited about it's release on Dec 6th.
@@johnnymorgansynthdreams it will be bittersweet. Tod’s final performances, but it’s great that it’s happening. I heard Kerry doing the second vocals on Glammhammer on Hiwatt’s channel, and it was an awesome teaser.
Great documentary! But I’m surprised that you haven’t mentioned the eurodance genre at all! That was the biggest commercial use of use of the 909 in the 90s, a whole generation grew up on the sound of the 909 because of it! (including me)
I'll have to check that out. Damn - I'll see if I can edit those credits. They're one of my all-time favorite bands and I actually knew Dwayne a little bit back in the early 90s. I love how they totally mangled the snare sound in the reverb chamber at Mushroom studios.
Sometimes Key takes suggestions on who to invite for his Sunday live chats. It would be so great to see you two together! I didn't think the credits omission was intended at all, especially given that you can easily tell your appreciation for them!
Totally - it's a complicted story to be honest - there are so many ways to go with this. By no means does this cover remotely 10% of the 909 History or story. You could easily do 2 hours on it.
Great video - good job! One thing though - Mantronix use of the 909 came before (at least by a year or so) the house/Techno explosion in the later 80's. There's a record cover for a release of Just-Ice (Back to The Old School), that features a cartoon version of Curtis Mantronik holding a TR-909 circa 1985. The way that he programmed the 909 (and the tape/sample edits too), were hugely influential in terms of what came after (for everybody from Aphex Twin, to House & Techno, etc). Curtis Mantronik was our (my) Gen X drum machine/sampler Hendrix. There were also many seminal hip-hop tracks that used the 909 between 85-90 (Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince being the most obvious top 40 rap group to do so). The 909 also became THE sound of '89 once Soul 2 Soul had their huge hit with "Keep on Moving" (ruclips.net/video/1iQl46-zIcM/видео.html), & that same 909 beat backed a plethora of early 90's "chill-out" tracks.
Hey Sam - thanks for that detailed info. So much 909 history from '85 that was start of the ground swell - even Phil Collins in Take Me Home. During that time the 707 was equally as popular in early Acid tracks / Chicago house as well. Mantronik was a pioneer of the 909 for sure though. I mean there is sooo much 909 history it's probably a 2 hour deep dive easily.
@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Definitely! I had a 707 in 1985, and I loved it! But even back then it never had quite the "cred" of the 808/909 - it WAS considerably cheaper than either one (used prices back in the day). Even after the 808/909 were discontinued it's not quite true that those machines were affordable for most people (maybe, if you were lucky at a pawn shop than had no idea?). I think this idea of "cheap 808/909" may be part of Detroit techno lore, or "maybe" in Detroit you could buy those at less cost? Definitely in California, where i was, both of those devises, even in the 80's after they were discontinued, were too expensive for most of us. In any case, (in the mid to late 80's) a lot of us settled for buying a Roland R-8 (or samplers, which had become affordable). The R8 was a great (digital) drum machine that had 808 & 909 ROM cards, but yeah, it wasn't the real thing. I guess my point is that the 808/909, although commercial failures for mainstream pop/rock applications in the early 80's, were always in demand for a lot of producers making dance & hip-hop in the mid 80's, and those machines were never considered "obsolete" or even affordable for most people. I would have had an 808 in 1988 if it was something affordable. LOL!
@@SamUrtonDesign So true - I remember looking forever for a 909 - they were still very much in demand all through the late 80s and 90s. They were able to be found though - we combed pawn shops and buy-sells and eventually got multiple 303's, an 808 and 909 for all very low / cheap prices.
Great job Johnny, its a difficult subject because everyones had a crack at it. That was fresh and entertaining. I expect nothing less from you. Sooo many sad stories below about sellers regret. My first drum machine was a dr660 dont reckon they will hit the "endangered species" list anytime soon. 🤣 Cheers for your help the other week about the scsi for the eps16+. All sorted. Zulu drive.👍
Awesome - yes it's like a 2 hour Doc if you wanted to cover it all.. Just shows how epic the Tr-909 really has been. And yes - ZuluSCSI is the way to go!
Great video! I wish I could afford a real 909 but I am also quite happy with my RD-9 for the price and additional features. By the way, what's that killer tune playing in the background from around 2:12?
Great video, as always. Annoyingly I passed up the opportunity to buy a second hand 909 in a music store in 1987 because I wanted a brand new TR-505 for the same price, instead 😖. Doh!!!
I was unaware they only made it for a year. I assume they restarted production, as there are loads of them out there, (not the modern recreations.) My house music producer fanatic friend often said if there was one musical instrument he would like above anything else, it would be the original hi hats that were sampled for the 909 so he could have them framed on his studio wall. :)
I’ve owned several 909s over the years. Still have one that I just installed the Revolution909 V5 mod in. 909 is probably my all time favorite piece of gear. Also own an 808, 2x 707 and a 727.
Nice doc! I used to own an 808 in the mid eighties and a 707. I never bought the 909 because I didn't like all sounds and was able to make its drum sounds on other synths like the Korg MS-20, the Alesis Andromeda and the Arturia MatrixBrute.
I think that was definitely a common take in the 80s - I remember wanting more realism and wasn't that interested in the 909. Actually when the R-8 came out in the late 80's I was super excited.
@johnnymorgansynthdreams That's why I lost 70 percent on my 808 when I sold it. I regretted the sale until I bought the MFB 522 and Tiptop Audio 808 rimshot module.
Back then, I compared the 909 & 707 side by side looking for a machine to replace the studio’s 808… The 909 sounded rlly poor against the 707 I bought the 707..
The 707 is actually pretty decent. In 1986-1987 it was the early sound for Acid House. I still really love the sound of the 707 - it's different, but still works well. Just wish the build quality was a bit better - it feels so cheap.
Great video. Bought mine for $50 from a local church choir around 1994. They used it as a metronome.
I love that story Espen. Great find!
@@johnnymorgansynthdreams i bought my Jupiter 6 of a christian musican. He still had the factroy sounds in it, and said he only ever used the electric piano sound
@@bradleywright7066 wow - nice - he probably didn't realize what he had!
you should sell it my boy, gifted to the same church, they will make a better use
Wow
The mood you create in your videos is just something else.
"Believe it or not, the hats were sampled at only 16-bit"... I wonder why you say that. 16-bit was state of the art in 1982, and (arguably) still great today. Afaik, higher bitrates such as 20 and 24-bit only became viable ten years later, in the early 1990s.
Thank you for a great video!
Very true, plenty of machines still used 12-bit in the early 80s. Though one small nitpick: that's bit depth (raw bit rate is determined by multiplying your bit depth by your sample rate) 😊
@@kaitlyn__L Oh hell yeah, you're right. Bit depth, duh.
Sorry for the mistake - I mean to say 6-bit and totally mis read my script. I've edited it best I can on the RUclips editor. Thanks for the catch!
Very enjoyable. Cheers Johnny.
Thanks Alex!
I want to see in next video History of Roland TR 707, also in next videos History of Linn Drums and Drumlator models includinf SP12
Great video! Good to see you back and congrats on 10K+ :)
Thanks S4E - much appreciated. Got little side-tracked with my SCSI project, but got some great new videos in the works. Hope to talk soon!
To me, what always stands-out besides the sound itself has to be the shifting design sensibilities over only a few years.
The 808 had little microswitches under colourful buttons, the 909 had computer keys, then the 7x7 had (still fairly-modern looking) rubber drum pads. Going from indicator LEDs being high tech, moving onto an LCD to show the whole drum grid. Knobs, going into faders. The last gasp of analogue's first era, made readily visible in the shape of the case.
The 808 and 909 have my favorite drum sounds of all time, hands down.
Great fact...".Skinny Puppy was the first band to ever use it on a record." :)
SP kills.
Great video.
The 9 draws you in. Great machine.
Many good ones!!
Damn good.
Been wishing for a Johnny doc!
5:00 DIGITAL internal ROM 3 PCM samples coded at 6 bits resolution / 18 kHz frequency- the rest of the audio signal path is pure analog including EG, VCF and VCA. TECH: PCM shots are stored in a 32 Kb ROM HITACHI HN61256P.
Thanks for that catch - I've edited it to 6-bit.
Love these type of videos! I got TR8S & it may not sound 100% like the OG it still sounds amazing in it's own way.
Peace JM.
I’ve, never owned a 909, but I have tr8s, and the tr-09 boutique. The tr-09 is much much better then the tr8s (imo). If you like the sound on tr8s, try to get a hold of a used tr-09.
"Better" is subjective.
And imo, is imo.
For sure - the TR8/s are super highly regarded. The sound and feel authentic to Roland.
@@Xtr4s4 But if he likes TR-8S why would he need the other one? TR-09 is very cool though, both sound-wise and visually.
Glad you could take a bit of time from KillCure to give us another one of these, Johnny. ☺️ Can’t wait to hear it.
Thanks - yes for sure - a lot of balls in motion this fall but it's been awesome to finish our album. I'm pretty excited about it's release on Dec 6th.
@@johnnymorgansynthdreams it will be bittersweet. Tod’s final performances, but it’s great that it’s happening. I heard Kerry doing the second vocals on Glammhammer on Hiwatt’s channel, and it was an awesome teaser.
Another great video.
To everyone reading this: if you haven't listened to Skinny Puppy yet then you need to, right now
Hell ya!
Pro tip: put on the album Too Dark Park after some square paper in the mouth
@@rdubb77 that album is twisted - just listened to the b-side today actually. What craziness.
In 1988, I found one in a small town pawn shop for about $180. The old man had no idea what it was. Sold for thousands, years later.
Ahh yes - I know so many stories like that, including myself
Nice video. That song at the end is cool.
Thanks - it's all Prophet 5 with the 909
if the person who played and sampled the original Open Hat was paid 1 dollar for each song released using that sound it would be a multimillionaire
Lol totally.
It's a guy from Roland. He still uses the actual hi-hat that was sampled in a jazz band!
@@wjec1970 Atsushi Hoshiai
@@wjec1970 Here's a video of those cymbals being used in his jazz band ruclips.net/video/igfX3uFZluY/видео.html
Great documentary! But I’m surprised that you haven’t mentioned the eurodance genre at all! That was the biggest commercial use of use of the 909 in the 90s, a whole generation grew up on the sound of the 909 because of it! (including me)
yes pretty ignorant yank
Another great video & music JMO!
Thanks AWM!
Sick video. Always imagined it as popular from the jump
Looking forward to this one. Have to wait till ive finished work. 😂👍
I really love your channel!
cEvin Key goes into his use of the TR-909 on his Patreon. You left Skinny Puppy out of the end credits
I'll have to check that out. Damn - I'll see if I can edit those credits. They're one of my all-time favorite bands and I actually knew Dwayne a little bit back in the early 90s. I love how they totally mangled the snare sound in the reverb chamber at Mushroom studios.
Sometimes Key takes suggestions on who to invite for his Sunday live chats. It would be so great to see you two together! I didn't think the credits omission was intended at all, especially given that you can easily tell your appreciation for them!
Incredible video! God damn that snare is perfect
It's the sound.. right. Great to hear from you!
Close enough. Great effort once again.
Totally - it's a complicted story to be honest - there are so many ways to go with this. By no means does this cover remotely 10% of the 909 History or story. You could easily do 2 hours on it.
Great video - good job! One thing though - Mantronix use of the 909 came before (at least by a year or so) the house/Techno explosion in the later 80's. There's a record cover for a release of Just-Ice (Back to The Old School), that features a cartoon version of Curtis Mantronik holding a TR-909 circa 1985. The way that he programmed the 909 (and the tape/sample edits too), were hugely influential in terms of what came after (for everybody from Aphex Twin, to House & Techno, etc). Curtis Mantronik was our (my) Gen X drum machine/sampler Hendrix. There were also many seminal hip-hop tracks that used the 909 between 85-90 (Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince being the most obvious top 40 rap group to do so). The 909 also became THE sound of '89 once Soul 2 Soul had their huge hit with "Keep on Moving" (ruclips.net/video/1iQl46-zIcM/видео.html), & that same 909 beat backed a plethora of early 90's "chill-out" tracks.
Hey Sam - thanks for that detailed info. So much 909 history from '85 that was start of the ground swell - even Phil Collins in Take Me Home. During that time the 707 was equally as popular in early Acid tracks / Chicago house as well. Mantronik was a pioneer of the 909 for sure though. I mean there is sooo much 909 history it's probably a 2 hour deep dive easily.
@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Definitely! I had a 707 in 1985, and I loved it! But even back then it never had quite the "cred" of the 808/909 - it WAS considerably cheaper than either one (used prices back in the day). Even after the 808/909 were discontinued it's not quite true that those machines were affordable for most people (maybe, if you were lucky at a pawn shop than had no idea?). I think this idea of "cheap 808/909" may be part of Detroit techno lore, or "maybe" in Detroit you could buy those at less cost? Definitely in California, where i was, both of those devises, even in the 80's after they were discontinued, were too expensive for most of us. In any case, (in the mid to late 80's) a lot of us settled for buying a Roland R-8 (or samplers, which had become affordable). The R8 was a great (digital) drum machine that had 808 & 909 ROM cards, but yeah, it wasn't the real thing. I guess my point is that the 808/909, although commercial failures for mainstream pop/rock applications in the early 80's, were always in demand for a lot of producers making dance & hip-hop in the mid 80's, and those machines were never considered "obsolete" or even affordable for most people. I would have had an 808 in 1988 if it was something affordable. LOL!
@@SamUrtonDesign So true - I remember looking forever for a 909 - they were still very much in demand all through the late 80s and 90s. They were able to be found though - we combed pawn shops and buy-sells and eventually got multiple 303's, an 808 and 909 for all very low / cheap prices.
Great video, absolutely iconic sound 👍
Thanks!
Great job Johnny, its a difficult subject because everyones had a crack at it. That was fresh and entertaining. I expect nothing less from you. Sooo many sad stories below about sellers regret. My first drum machine was a dr660 dont reckon they will hit the "endangered species" list anytime soon. 🤣 Cheers for your help the other week about the scsi for the eps16+. All sorted. Zulu drive.👍
Awesome - yes it's like a 2 hour Doc if you wanted to cover it all.. Just shows how epic the Tr-909 really has been. And yes - ZuluSCSI is the way to go!
Who remembers the Swedish könsrock (genitalia rock) band "Onkel Kånkel" who dominated their TR-909 about 35 years ago with real frenzy?
Skinny Puppy!
Awesome Johnny!! This was my first drum machine, hooked up via an MPU401 to an Apple ][! I wish I kept it! Thank you for the history!!!
Hi Jeff - that is great history - I can totally see you with that 909 hooked up to the Apple years ago!
so fkn what
Yes. the 909 Is Electronic kommercial top. Also House Hitparade.
But the 808 is a masterpiece.
Great video! I wish I could afford a real 909 but I am also quite happy with my RD-9 for the price and additional features.
By the way, what's that killer tune playing in the background from around 2:12?
Hey - I own an RD-9 as well and love it. It's taken me a little time to get the hang of it relative to the 909, but it's great.
Great video, as always. Annoyingly I passed up the opportunity to buy a second hand 909 in a music store in 1987 because I wanted a brand new TR-505 for the same price, instead 😖. Doh!!!
Oh man - yeah! That was the time to buy a 909 for sure
1:03 TR-66* one minor correction. Great video though Johnny! I agree about Madonnas vouge song as well.
What a machine 😍 Thanks
Nice one.
Amazing device for it's time
👍🏼
5:00 Weren't they only 6-bit, and not 16-bit? At least the final versions that actually were stored in the ROM on the unit itself.
Sorry - was supposed to say 6 bit - totally missed this error - I'll shortly - thanks for catching that!
Story of DX7 when?
There are a few good ones out there already, but I might tell it from my perspective
I was unaware they only made it for a year. I assume they restarted production, as there are loads of them out there, (not the modern recreations.)
My house music producer fanatic friend often said if there was one musical instrument he would like above anything else, it would be the original hi hats that were sampled for the 909 so he could have them framed on his studio wall. :)
I hear they made about 10,000 units so not too bad. Was expensive though for the time - once the 707 was released I’m sure sales dropped right off.
@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Neither the 707 or the 505 had the same charm. The LCD was useful, but the sounds never quite did it for me.
@@TryptychUK Yeah totally. the 707 is also a much cheaper build quality.
Got mine for 150 at Trowbridge in 1991 sold it for 760 in 1997 noW I just use a TR 09 and trig out into the sh101 for the memories :)
Will you ever do the Roland S-550 Sound Bank Collection?
As a story doc.... interesting. Good idea!
Love it, great job Johnny. Did you say you had a spare? ;-)
Ha - lol - I wish!
I never got around using flams. Any tip how/where to use them?
This is a great tutorial on it. ruclips.net/video/aXajgr6Q2to/видео.html
@johnnymorgansynthdreams Thanks!!!
good vid but can you get the roland engineers names right in the captions? cheers bruv
I'll try and fix that - thanks - captions are auto generated, but I think I can bypass it manually.
I’ve owned several 909s over the years. Still have one that I just installed the Revolution909 V5 mod in. 909 is probably my all time favorite piece of gear. Also own an 808, 2x 707 and a 727.
so fkn what..always an ego trying to find validation....
Nice doc! I used to own an 808 in the mid eighties and a 707. I never bought the 909 because I didn't like all sounds and was able to make its drum sounds on other synths like the Korg MS-20, the Alesis Andromeda and the Arturia MatrixBrute.
I think that was definitely a common take in the 80s - I remember wanting more realism and wasn't that interested in the 909. Actually when the R-8 came out in the late 80's I was super excited.
@johnnymorgansynthdreams That's why I lost 70 percent on my 808 when I sold it. I regretted the sale until I bought the MFB 522 and Tiptop Audio 808 rimshot module.
so fkn what..always an ego trying to find validation....
I swapped a cheap bass for mine in 1991
The narrator sounds like he's speaking smiling......
I'm sure Jarre used this is on the Rendez-Vous album, anyone?
On Chronologie.
@@Pepijn_a.k.a._Akikaze Ah yes that one too
@simonsays335 No, he only used an 808 on Rendez Vous.
lovely........hade one for 90 dollars, sold it for 200......great deal I thought........kill me...:)
I know - we all sold them for so little, but it seemed like a lot at the time.
Back then, I compared the 909 & 707 side by side looking for a machine to replace the studio’s 808…
The 909 sounded rlly poor against the 707
I bought the 707..
The 707 is actually pretty decent. In 1986-1987 it was the early sound for Acid House. I still really love the sound of the 707 - it's different, but still works well. Just wish the build quality was a bit better - it feels so cheap.
Street Life?
I had 7 909s
3 808s
2 606 & a Linn Drum
None of them compare to a vst
The sound of the VST shaped the future😂
Tr77 looks like a printer!!
✌🏻🥸🇲🇽
It's clear that it's groundbreaking and all. I can't stand it's sounds, sorry.
Fair - it's not for everyone.