Roland Boutique TR-08 (808)

Still confused about the MX-1. Does it allow mixing and eq of individual channels from the TR-08/9 or is it only getting the main stereo bus over USB from the boutiques? How does one set it up?

The MX-1 takes the stereo bus only. I think the only way to do separate outs over USB with the MX-1 is to go out via Ableton, do the track assignments there, and back in with the MX-1 in DAW/external mixing mode. But youā€™ll get latency.

Iā€™ve not yet tried taking an assignable out from the TR-8 as an analogue input in combination with the USB audioā€¦ that might workā€¦ Not possible on the boutiques though.

Thanks. Even though I agree that itā€™s a shame that the TR-09 only has a single analog stereo output, theyā€™re also sufficiently cheap to consider buying a second one simply to get more outputsā€¦ :wink:

Well I have the Rytm, A4 via OB (sync and audio) and the TB-03 over USB (sync and audio)

Iā€™ve tried the TB both on its own and as an aggregate device paired with two different interfaces (MOTU and Focusrite). And tried clocking both ways. TB->Interface and Interface->TB

The aggregate device doesnā€™t make it any worse or better. It only adds a small amount of latency to what Iā€™d normally be getting from either interface

It doesnā€™t seem to matter how I try to sync the TB (internally, externally, mid or trigger) the audio over the USB is about a 1/64th note later than audio from OB or any other VSTs I have running

I canā€™t jam the TB with my other gear unless I monitor the physical outputs.

What exactly is the timing option you mentioned? Iā€™ve not heard of it before. But if itā€™s there to make them feel ā€œmore genuineā€ then itā€™s definitely part of the ACB design

Interesting

http://airainfo.org/index.php/tr8/

In setup mode (switch on while holding PTN SELECT) itā€™s toggled with pad number 7.

ā€œTR-808 timingā€ is the default option. In this mode, any drum sounds that are sequenced on the same step are not triggered at exactly the same time. They are triggered one after another - very close to each other, but it does add a bit of movement to the rhythm, depending on how many sounds are sequenced on each step. If you switch it to ā€œprecise timingā€, all the drum sounds that are sequenced on one step will all trigger at exactly the same time, as you would expect on a modern sequencer.

ACB = Analogue Circuit Behaviour = Rolandā€™s term for modelling the individual components in a circuit in order to more accurately replicate the behaviour of the whole circuit design (supposedly). I donā€™t think the TR-808 timing option has anything to do with modelling specific circuits, itā€™s just a bit of code that delays the triggers by a small, specific amount of time.

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can anyone with a Roland boutique synth confirm/deny that the sequencer responds to external MIDI start/stop commands via the Elektron boxes?

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They definitely respond to start stop commands

Interesting. This is definitely part of ACB behaviour. The sequencer of the 808 was as analogue as the rest of it Iā€™m sure. And here the behaviour of the sequencer has been modelled in code. Albeit optional code if you will. From another post I found about this with a video:

"Innerclock did their litmus on it and found that, by default:

ā€œEven with Swing set at Centre/Zero the Tr-8 has a significant 16th swing - mostly very accurate but pushing and pulling by 50 samples (1.04ms) either way against a straight grid with a slight wobble at the Pattern A/Pattern B transition point.ā€

They also tested the TR-808 (scroll down on the same page). Roland donā€™t kid around with emulations:
Internal sync, maximum variation between any two consecutive Sixteenth Event intervals:
TR-808 = 99 Samples [2.06ms]
Tr-8 = 101 Samples [2.10ms]

(External sync is different however: TR-808 gets tighter, Tr-8 remains as is, or worse in one of the cases)"

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I was trying to find that video. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I donā€™t know if itā€™s considered ACB or not, but itā€™s there.

The loose clock that the ACB models is quite impressive to me. I used to be obsessed with old sequencers & their different grooves, and Iā€™m a huge fan of humanization algorithms.

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Iā€™m eyeing this more closely, and will try one out in the week now, as the dealerā€™s getting a batch.

Iā€™m looking at creating a micro rig now, with the SH01A and just a drummer to boost, which might be this one or it might be that Iā€™ll return to the TanzbƤr (friendā€™s got one, so I can borrow his for reference).

What I remembered from the TanzbƤr, when I had one, was apart from the fact that it sounds awesome, and very much has a character of its own, itā€™s also a quite versatile tool for sound design. When you put a max decay on the maraccas and triggered it on all steps, you got a noise source, for example. And tuning the toms made for excellent bass tones, as well as high frequency leads and arpeggios. Not to mention the built-in reference tones for actual bass and lead, which could be used to great effect for emphasizing harmonies within the drums. And the implementation of p-locks, I actually prefer before Elektronā€™s.

But itā€™s not as direct, not as convenient in size, price and just fleshing out a track, and it doesnā€™t run on batteries, and while the 808 sound has been used to death, it still sounds spectacular when you place it right.

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You might also enjoy the Lite edition.

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Really? You tried it? I loved the original TanzbƤr and think I might miss a few of its features that I loved. But certainly, what Iā€™m hearing from the Lite version is not bad, not bad at all.

So I picked this up yesterday, and have played with it a few hours. Iā€™m surprised for reasons I wasnā€™t expecting. Note that Iā€™ve never had my hands on a real 808 or 909, and am not familiar with the workflow of these instruments from before.

I didnā€™t expect to have to read the manual, just to get a track going. The basic interface remained totally incomprehensible to me, until Iā€™ve read a page or two and got a grip of the basics.

I didnā€™t expect it to sound so damn good. I was expecting quality, of course. But it really sounds outstanding. Thereā€™s so much nuance in this little thing.

I wasnā€™t expecting such an original sequencer (obviously, since I had trouble figuring it out). But once you get deeper with the relationships between the 1st and 2nd pattern sections, the fills, the sub-triggers and the individual step counts per section in a pattern, thereā€™s a lot of things going on here that spawns new ideas.

Once you get into the interface, it pulls you in. I felt like a mad scientist, pulling all the switches, turning the knobs, tapping away. Thereā€™s an oddly compelling balance between it all, where you push, twist and flip things around while the sequencerā€™s jamming away. Itā€™s not just buttons, or just knobs, or just whatever. Itā€™s the mix of it all. And that also generates ideas.

The sound sculptingā€™s a bit bleak, until you dive into the menu and find panning, decays, a small compressor on the kick and snare, and stuff like that. While I do miss the Tanzbar p-locks, what the TR-08 has going for it, makes up for it.

It works stupid well with the SH01A, both sonically and in terms of interface. I can def see why Rolandā€™s pairing the two in their communication. With the SH01A in four voice mode and the TR-08 banging away, youā€™ve got material for hours.

All in all, a very attractive little piece.

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Yeah, thereā€™s more to it than meets the eye. On the TR-8 though, most of that is available on the front panel (panning is a shift command in instrument select mode), which is one of the reasons itā€™s such a good live instrument. You can do a lot with the gated reverb and delay too.

Sorry, Iā€™ll stop going on about the TR-8 now. I do like the look of the -08, for some reason it appeals to me more than the -09 boutique did.

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IMHO, the most interesting feature of both the TR-08 as well as the TR-09 is that they replicated the human interface in all its details. Also, note that the sequencer on the TR-909/TR-09 is completely different than the one on the TR-808/TR-08 in terms of features and interface.

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I was curious about this. No TR-09 for me, then. Never much cared for that sound anyway.

In fact, if I throw in an SE-02 into the mix and use the Deluge as the recorder and mastering unit with additional samples, fx and potential ambience to boost, I think Iā€™ve got a nice little setup. The boutiques for composing and building the tracks, the Deluge for finishing them.

I owned the original large TanzbƤr for a while and I also had a Tanzmaus before the TR-09 took over its role. I much preferred the build quality and the aesthetics of the Tanzmaus, and I appreciated its compacter size compared to the big TanzbƤr.

Since the TanzbƤr Lite comes in the exact same case and has the same sequencer controls, I assume this will be the same for that box. You obviously do miss out on some of the features of the bigger one, of course.