The 808: The Influential Hitmaker who Changed Music

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone alive today who hasn’t heard the sound of an 808 drum, whether that be the original or one of the many imitators who came later. Initially a commercial failure, a cult following propelled the 808 drum into the collective consciousness of music lovers across the world. 

In this blog post, we’ll delve deep into the origins, influence, sound and modern day legacy of a piece of hardware that inspired countless producers, revolutionized pop music, and redefined the boundaries of what was thought to be possible in electronic music. Let’s get started!

Origins

Back in the 1960s, drum machines and electronic drum loops were primarily built into home organs to accompany the player. The drum loops were not programmable, and were simple preset patterns with little variation. While this served one kind of purpose, it wasn’t long before producers and home musicians wanted more flexibility and control over the rhythms available to them. Legendary circuit bender, musician and engineer Don Lewis was hired by Ikutaro Kakehashi, CEO of the fledgling Roland Corporation, to design drum machines, and the two formed a legendary partnership which led to the creation of the Roland CompuRhythm CR-78, the first piece of hardware which would allow users to save, write, and replay their own rhythms. 

The 808 drum would come next (officially known as the TR-808), and it was designed for the professional market, with the view to allow producers to create quick demos without having to rely on a session drummer. Roland’s outside the box thinking was unmatched in the development of the 808 drum, with Kakehashi deliberately purchasing faulty transistors to give the 808 its influential ‘sizzling’ sound. However this creative genius was quickly undermined by improvements in semiconductor technology, as the faulty transistors essential to the 808’s circuits were no longer available by 1983. This led to the discontinuation of the 808 after only 12,000 sales and three years of production. 

Sounds and Features

Sequencer

The 808 drum was blessed with features that separated it from its competitors, and made it accessible to anyone who had the ability to count. The 808 drum was the first drum machine which allowed musicians to program an entire percussion track from beginning to end, including breaks and rolls- accents could also be placed on certain beats too. Accessibility was ingrained into the colour scheme of the sequencer too, with different colours allowing users to clearly save, load and play their preset rhythms. 

The Bass Drum

You can’t talk about the 808 drum without talking about the legendary bass drum. The bass drum was well known as being a speaker shatterer, and the power it generated through a massive sound system was unparalleled at the time. The bass drum was generated through a low pass filter and a sine wave, and when the decay was lengthened, basslines could be generated which became a mainstay across multiple genres. 

Percussion

At the time of its release, the sounds generated by the 808 drum were considered robotic and cheesy, and its initial failure could be somewhat attributed to these negative perceptions. The Linn LM-1 had been introduced to the market in 1980, and the sounds it was able to produce bore more resemblance to an acoustic drum set than the 808. However, the 808’s percussive features eventually became iconic. The cowbell provided a futuristic, melodic accent to the percussion. 

The claves allowed further complexity and depth of patterns by providing high frequency clicks. The snare, clap, and hats, all had a sizzle to them which cut through some of the darker tones, to create a sound which was wholly complete. The LM-1 eventually was superseded by the LinnDrum in the mid-80s, but the 808 required no such upgrade, staying legendary in its elegance and simplicity. 

Appearances In the Charts

Pop

The 808 was immensely resilient, and even though it was discontinued after a short time, even in its initial run it enjoyed some chart success. Marvin Gaye’s 1982 smash hit “Sexual Healing” was the first hit single to make use of the 808 drum in a creative sense. Gaye was prophetic in his words about the 808 drum, stating that he enjoyed using it because it allowed him to create music on his own, and without the influence of other musicians. Little did he know, in a few short years, this would become the standard way producers worldwide would use the 808 drum. 

Perhaps one of the most extensive uses of the 808 in pop music was Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The track makes use of all of the percussive flavour and variances of the 808 drum, providing a unique and engaging sound which came to define the late 80s and early 90s.

Hip-Hop

The 808 has been described by many as doing for Hip-Hop what the Fender Stratocaster did for Rock. It completely levelled the playing field for Hip-Hop producers and gave a distinctive, electronic sound which was a massive departure from the live instrumentation found in soul and funk records. Use of the 808 drum was spearheaded by revolutionary acts like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Run-DMC, and affection for the 808 continued well into the next century. Kanye West’s ‘808s and Heartbreak’ was a love letter to the 808 drum, and he used the drum machine on every single track. 

Dance & Electronic

British Gen-Xers will fondly remember the Second Summer of Love, Acid House, and the heady days of the early 90s. Raves were springing up in warehouses across the country, and were so ubiquitous that the British government eventually intervened with the ultimate comedown: The Public Order Act of 1994. This was a hugely significant cultural moment, and it couldn’t have happened without the 808. Legendary Manchester Electronic group 808 State had named themselves after the 808 drum, and their early releases massively influenced the burgeoning acid house scene in the UK. 

The Glorious Glide

Perhaps one of the most iconic 808 sounds heard in modern music, is the 808 glide. An 808 glide is when an 808 bass drum sample with a long decay is modified to create a smooth, sliding effect as it transitions to the next note (It can also be known as an 808 slide, glissando, or portamento). It’s a textbook feature of modern hip-hop, and it gives a fluid, classy sound to any 808 bass.

Ironically, achieving this sound in the past goes against the original accessibility and simplicity of the 808 drum in its original form. However, Soundtrap has democratised that process by introducing a dedicated 808 glide instrument. There is no endless tweaking of knobs, no scrolling through online forums to find answers on how to create the perfect glide, and no hours wasted in the creative process. 

The great thing about Soundtrap’s 808 glide instrument, is that it also has presets which embrace the unique glide settings found in different genres like Trap, UK Drill, and even Pop. It’s simply a case of looking through the menu to find which genre you’re looking for, and selecting the instrument! Check out this more detailed guide here, which should help you find your way around the 808 Glide Instrument. 

Conclusion

There is really no other drum machine that can hold a candle to the 808 drum in terms of influence. It was iconoclastic in the way it made electronic drum sounds the norm in pop music. It democratised the process of music production, and allowed bedroom producers and even seasoned musicians like Marvin Gaye to work independently- channelling their creativity directly into the production of a fully fledged track. Inclusive, iconic, influential.

About the author

Max McLellan is a composer, songwriter, and audio engineer with credits ranging across film, TV and radio. He provides composition, mixing, and mastering services through his company MKM Audio.