Tr-808....vs.....tr-909....???

C

Chew_Bear

New member
I need a somewhat detailed and easy to grasp explanation between the sound of these 2 drum machines.

When I say sound...I mean in regards to 'character', 'style', 'body/warmth' and pretty much anything that can help me to distinguish between the 2.

As I am a newbie. Seems like all drums sound the 'SAME' to me and I can not differentiate if its a 808, 909 or whatever.

But...It seems like these 2 drum machines are the most popular and I would like to know how they are different so I can start buying some sample packs and VST's.

Thanks.
 
It's difficult to describe in words - best explanation I've heard was from a guy on gearslutz who said "the 808 sounds like weed and the 909 sounds like meth" :) Generally, the 808 is considered to be warm, 909 harsher and more electro. To tell them apart, you need to spend some time practicing critical listening. Here's a link to the 606, 707, 808, and 909 playing the same beat, just listen critically until you can comfortably tell which is which. Another good exercise would be to listen to the sound examples on Goldbaby's site, particularly the SuperAnalog 808 and 909. His sample kits are very good, and reasonably priced. As far as what's better, well, that's up to you.

PS - A quick explanation of what I mean by critical listening (more to it, though). Most important is passive vs active listening - letting the music wash over you, feeling the emotion - passive listening. Critical listening is active - breaking down and analyzing what's going on. In the above drum machine comparison, listen to the track while isolating (in your head) the kick, snare, tom and cymbal sounds. Listen to just the kick from all machines (once again, in your head) - what are the harmonics? What's the pitch? Does it have a long or short decay? Now, just listen to the snare. Very different between 808 and 909 - 909 snare is very distinctive, used on many 80's 90's dance tracks. Cymbal sounds are also distinct, notice the different attack and decays.

This post is too long - many great drum machines out there, use what you like and have fun.
 
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ponkapog said:
It's difficult to describe in words - best explanation I've heard was from a guy on gearslutz who said "the 808 sounds like weed and the 909 sounds like meth" :) Generally, the 808 is considered to be warm, 909 harsher and more electro. To tell them apart, you need to spend some time practicing critical listening. Here's a link to the 606, 707, 808, and 909 playing the same beat, just listen critically until you can comfortably tell which is which. Another good exercise would be to listen to the sound examples on Goldbaby's site, particularly the SuperAnalog 808 and 909. His sample kits are very good, and reasonably priced. As far as what's better, well, that's up to you.
Click to expand...

Just checked out some of those Goldbaby sample packs.

The description said something about "Round Robin"....???

What is this and how does it relate to your workflow/preference and/or your DAW...???

I am using Ableton. Will round robin help or be any benefit....???
 
You can also try Audiotool to get another perspective on them.

"Round robin" in the context of samples means that instead of, say, having 1 snare sample you'd have 4, with subtle variations. These are then cycled through so successive hits - especially fills and such - play different samples and don't sound so mechanical. This cycling (which needs to be a feature supported by your drum sampler software) is called "round robin".

There's no built in round robin option in Live as such, but there are ways to do it: https://www.ableton.com/answers/sample-randomizing-in-sampler
 
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You kind of learn to tell the difference through experience, like I know the sound a TR-808 makes because I have spent a lot of time sitting in front of one and the same thing applies to becoming familiar with the samples in an 808 kit........once you have spent enough time using the sounds you should be able to recognize them.
 
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