Roland TR-8S

[finalform]

I do have an Octatrack, it’s very under-utilised at the moment though. I sequence all my gear from the Monomachine, and I can do most of the same MIDI stuff the OT can in that regard - apart from conditional trigs, uneven track lengths, and having two fewer MIDI tracks.

In general though, a big part of what I like about the TR-8 is how fast the sequencer is to work with, so I’ve tended not to get too deep into that, but I have played with MIDI CC from the Monomachine - especially LFOs on things like hi-hat decay and velocity. The CC implementation on the TR-8 is really good (it’s always lacked a CC for pattern change though, as does the TR-8S).

The TR-8S does alleviate a lot of the limitations that external sequencing deals with on the TR-8, eg the small number of available patterns, differing track lengths, LFO & motion control, etc., but no doubt the potential for melding crazy Elektron sequencer tricks with the TR-8S sound engine is huge. Would be great to put some time into exploring that specifically.

[agentklx]

Thx so much for your feedback. I know I’ll get a TR-8S down the line but I enjoy my TR-8 as it is, sequencer, sounds and all. But the Elektron sequencer adds something really cool to it. Let’s keep in touch and see where this leads.

[agentklx]

[finalform]

The TR-8 is one of my favourite drum machines. It’s so much fun and sounds great. The 8S is an excellent upgrade that loses nothing of the immediacy and gains a load more features. But there’s masses you can do with the 8 if you get creative. That KiNK video where he’s jamming with a Rhodes and a looper (triggering the looper from the rimshot track) is fantastic. Also that video where the guy cranks the tempo to max and turns it into a drone machine.

[finalform]

I’ve been surprised and puzzled as well at the lack of feedback and good YouTube videos of the TR-8S. I don’t mean Roland demos or technical walkthroughs - those have been pretty good. I guess I mean non-affiliated users just jamming on the TR-8S. I’ve been searching almost weekly for “dub techno” “TR-8S” “jams”, etc. and have not found much at all. I want to see some solid TR-8S jams with guitar pedals used on separate outs and things like that - a real hands-on setup jam. Not sure why there aren’t more on YT. Maybe people are too busy having fun to record anything for us on-the-fence types.

I’ll try and record a few jams. My stuff at the moment is either electro or kind of lo-fi distorted house/techno, so not doing anything too crazy with rhythm or modulation but I like to use external hardware effects (Eventide Space & TimeFactor, Torcido, Bitrazer) so I can show a bit of that. I think for TR-8 owners it would be interesting to see what the internal effects bring to the 8S.

[Bwax]

That would be great. No pressure though! I know everybody is busy. You’re right, the internal fx must be a huge part of the TR-8S. I like what I hear so far. I’m a sucker for Tape Delay. Glad they put that in there.

Think there are any internal fx that are lackluster or would be better replaced with Boss pedals and the like? Your Space and TimeFactor are a step up, no?

I’m planning on pairing the TR-8S with things like Zoom 70CDR, Boss DD-7, Boss RV-6, Boss DM-2w, monotron delay, etc. I’m currently wondering if these would be a step up from internal fx, or just give more hands-on fun-factor potential.

[Bwax]

I love all those KiNK TR-8 vids! He probably “sold” a ton of these things. He should get free Roland drum machines for life from now on. Wonder why he’s not doing a bunch of TR-8S jams?

If I keep the TR-8 along with a new TR-8S, I’ll have to embrace the cheese and pimp it out with a bunch of colored knobs like KiNK does. Makes it look better, imho.

[finalform]

It’s not so much the delay/reverb send effects that I’m talking about, those are good but not that different to the TR-8 (the tape echo is great though).

What I’m talking about is the per-track INST FX setting. Every instrument channel gets one and they can all be different. There’s filters (LPF, HPF, and LPF/HPF which transitions from one to the other like a DJ filter), high/low EQ boosts, Isolator (which is like a three-band parametric EQ), Transient (which emphasises attack/release), compressor, drive, combined comp & drive, and a bitcrush.

It’s these INST FX that allow you to punch sounds up way beyond the standard TR-8/08/09. And being able to freely assign any sound to any track (just like a Machinedrum ). That means you can layer bass drums, etc etc.

Aside from all the out-there stuff you can do, the basic kit building is very strong and very flexible.

[Bwax]

I see what you mean. The individual sound sculpting and tweaking potential does seem greatly improved from the TR-8. Can’t wait to try it out. Soon… soon.

What I also love is, if all that still isn’t enough, there are individual outs to take sounds through pedals, racks, or DAW. I like it when we are given - choices. Must… resist… ranting about lack of… individual outs on Digitakt… aaarrrghhh.

[pix]

Is it possible to record the EXT IN as stereo through USB when in ASSGN mode?

[pix]

just found the answer, you need to route it to one of the assignable outputs…I thought it’d show up as 2 separate channels

[chapelierfou]

Hi there, can someone confirm that there’s no way to change patterns/variations via midi ?

[djadonis206]

You can change patterns with midi

[finalform]

Oh really? So it’s not like the TR-8 where the program change only worked for changing kits? I assumed it was the same as the TR-8 looking at the manual. I need to try this, this would be huge for me.

Is it literally just a 0-127 value that maps to a pattern number? There’s no variation select, I assume?

[chapelierfou]

Are you absolutely sure ? I’m asking because it’s nowhere in the midi chart. Can you change variations as well ?
Edit : sorry, same questions as above.

[chapelierfou]

Answer from Roland :
You can change the Pattern and/or the Kit via Program change. However, there is not a way to change the variation via Midi.
Kind regards,
Roland Product Support

[chapelierfou]

I ordered a tr8s. I intend to sequence it from the computer. Does anyone know if the unit can rend all the kit parameter values via Midi when a kit is loaded ?

[leehu]

Not that I’m aware of - as per Roland usual, there is no sysex spec.

[finalform]

It can transmit parameter changes when you move sliders and knobs but I don’t think you can send a snapshot of the kit parameters.

There are loads of parameters saved in a kit, it would have to use sysex if you wanted midi control over everything. The available parameters vary a bit depending on which effects and filters and so on you choose. There is one custom parameter you can assign to the spare control knob for each instrument, and you can midi control that one in addition to all the other front panel ones, but that seems to be as far as it goes. The screen will display the 0-127 value for every parameter as you step through them so if you wanted you could figure out exactly what all the front panel settings are that are saved in the kit. By the way it’s not like the TR-8, where the front panel settings are always applied to the kit. The settings are saved in the kit and recalled with it. They only override when you move the control.

[chapelierfou]

Thanks ! I’ll drop them an email about SysEx request.