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The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 909, is a drum machine introduced by Roland Corporation in 1983, succeeding the TR-808. It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples for some sounds, and the first with MIDI functionality, allowing it to synchronize with other devices. Though the 909 was a commercial failure, it influenced the development of electronic dance music genres such as techno, house and acid house.
DevelopmentEdit
The TR-909 was designed by Tadao Kikumoto, who had also led development on Roland's previous drum machine, the TR-808,<ref name="Story">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Kikumoto">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and designed the Roland TB-303 synthesizer.<ref name="emusician">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Makoto Muroi was also a chief engineer, the software was developed by Atsushi Hoshiai, and the voice circuits were developed by Yoshiro Oue.<ref name="Kirn-2011">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Tsuboi-2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="RC-808">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The 909 was the first Roland drum machine to use samples, for its crash, ride and hi-hat sounds.<ref name="Reid-2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hoshiai sampled his own drum kit for the cymbals, using a mismatched pair of Paiste and Zildjian hi-hat cymbals.<ref name="Tsuboi-2020" /> He sampled them in 6-bit and edited the waveform on a computer with a CP/M-80 operating system.<ref name="Tsuboi-2020" /> Other sounds are generated with analog synthesis.<ref name="Reid-2014" /> According to a Roland representative, the engineers felt that samples had some disadvantages and so opted for a combination of sampled and analog sounds.<ref name="Lewin-1984" />
Sounds and featuresEdit
Whereas the 808 is known for its "boomy" bass, the 909 sounds aggressive and "punchy".<ref name="Wilson-2016">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Howard-2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
}}</ref> It has 11 percussion voices and offers sounds for bass drum, snare, toms, rimshot, clap, crash cymbal, ride cymbal and hi-hat (open and closed).<ref name="Goldstein-1984">Template:Cite journal</ref> It omits the clave, cowbell, maracas, and conga sounds from the 808.<ref name="Goldstein-1984" /> The bass has controls for attack and decay.<ref name="Goldstein-1984" /> The snare has controls for tone and "snappy", which adjusts the amount of the snare wire sound.<ref name="Goldstein-1984" /> As the clap and snare are generated via the same noise source, they produce a phasing effect when played together.<ref name="Aisher-2017">Template:Cite news</ref>
The 909 features a sequencer that can chain up to 96 patterns into songs of up to 896 measures, and offers controls including shuffle and flam.<ref name="Reid-2014" /> Users can add accents to beats.<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> The 909 was the first Roland drum machine to use MIDI,<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> allowing it to synchronize with other MIDI devices,<ref name="Reid-2014" /> or to allow sounds to be triggered by an external MIDI controller for wider dynamic range.<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> Older Roland machines can be synchronized via its DIN sync port.<ref name="Kirn-2011" />
ReleaseEdit
The 909 was released in 1983<ref name="Reid-2014" /> and retailed for $1,195 USD, Template:Inflation.<ref name="Reid-2014" /> It attracted interest in the industry as the first Roland instrument to use sampled sounds.<ref name="Lewin-1984">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In its review, Electronics & Music Maker found the 909 easier to use than the 808 and felt it offered the best analog drum sounds on the market. It concluded that it offered a good combination of analog and sampled sounds and that the addition of MIDI brought the 909 "as up to date as it needs to be".<ref name="Goldstein-1984" /> One Two Testing found the 909 "gloriously easy to use", but felt it was overpriced and "still sounds like a drum machine, instead of a machine playing drums ... It lacks the authenticity of real sounds for studio work."<ref name="Lewin-1984" />
The 909 was a commercial failure, as users preferred the more realistic sampled sounds of competing products such as the LinnDrum.<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> Roland ceased production after one year,<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> having built 10,000 units.<ref>Butler, Mark Jonathan. "Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music". Indiana University Press, 2006. Template:ISBN. p. 64</ref> Roland changed elements of the 909 in later revisions, correcting problems and adjusting sounds. Some users modify their machines to match sounds from earlier revisions.<ref name="Aisher-2017" />
LegacyEdit
Whereas the TR-808 was important in the development of hip hop, the TR-909, alongside the TB-303 synthesizer, influenced dance music such as techno, house and acid.<ref name="Howard-2014" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to Gordon Reid of Sound on Sound, "Like the TR-808 before it, nobody could have predicted the reverence in which the TR-909 would eventually come to be held."<ref name="Reid-2014" />
In 1984, the 909 was used in records including the city pop album Sailing Blaster by Hiroshi Sato,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> the electronic album S-F-X by Haruomi Hosono,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the EP Remission by the industrial band Skinny Puppy.<ref name="Jenkins-2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Another early 909 user was Kurtis Mantronik, who used it on records by his hip-hop group Mantronix and records he produced such as Back to the Old School (1986) by Just-Ice.<ref name="Jenkins-2019" />
In the late 1980s, the 909 was popularized by Chicago house and Detroit techno producers such as Derrick May, Frankie Knuckles and Jeff Mills, who bought second-hand units.<ref name="Wilson-2016" /> DJ Sneak said that "every Chicago producer was using the 909".<ref name="Jenkins-2019" /> Mixmag described Mills as the "master" of the 909.<ref name="Mixmag-2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mills said its design made it possible to "play" the 909 rather than just program it, using the tuning controls to imitate the feel of a live drummer.<ref name="Mixmag-2018" />
The 909 was used on hip-hop records by acts including Boogie Down Productions, Ultramagnetic MCs, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and Public Enemy.<ref name="Jenkins-2019" /> In the early 1990s, the Japanese composer Yuzo Koshiro incorporated samples of the 909 in his soundtracks for the Streets of Rage games.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That decade, the 909 was adopted by pop musicians such as Madonna and Pet Shop Boys,<ref name="Jenkins-2019" /> and by rock and alternative musicians. Mark Bell used it to create "militaristic" percussion for Björk's 1997 song "Hunter",<ref name="wowandflutter">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="sweater">Template:Cite journal</ref> and Radiohead used it on "Videotape", from their 2007 album In Rainbows.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Electronic artists such as Kirk Degiorgio and Cristian Vogel created sample libraries by recording their friends' machines.<ref name="Mixmag-2018" />
The 909 was succeeded in 1984 by the TR-707, which uses samples for all its sounds.<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> In 2017, Roland released the TR-09, a smaller version of the 909 with additional features.<ref name="Aisher-2017" />