Fair critique.
I don’t think it is just nostalgia, certain sounds gain popularity and then become a key part of what makes a ting a ting.
Don’t mean you have to use them all the time, but I do think we all fall into this way of thinking from time to time, then someone comes along and does something different, and it can prove the point that these things are not set in stone.
It can be useful to shoot for the moon and end up on mars.
8 Likes
Fuckem, put the 909 in. Then squeeze that disgusting synth patch over the top.
3 Likes
It’s amusing to me this thread popped up tonight.
I’ve been knee deep in Syntakt the last week but tonight just jammed with an RD9 —> t-resonator.
It was extremely satisfying 
1 Like
Riddim-id says there’s 488 records on Sleng Teng. Play them all end to end, time them, then divide that by the length of the 909 ride. That’s how many techno records are “allowed” to use the 909.
5 Likes
Here we go, 909 Hats.
Are you bored now?
48 Likes
1 Like
What about high hats?
8 Likes
Good thread. Been down similar paths of thought myself.
Someone grab @AdamJay so he can chime in. I know he’s a big fan of the 909 hats as well.
Personally I think going with gut instinct when making music is the way to go. If you are craving those 909 hats in a track, throw em in. The other elements can be less nostalgia-inducing.
3 Likes
From the the OED:
Techno (noun) - “tek-noh”: Club music rooted in 80s Detroit, characterised by communal rejoicing at a relentless the use of Roland’s 909 kick and ride sounds in a “four to the floor” figure. And some dirty synth bass.
1 Like
“Do I really feel the way I feel?”
If you’re avoiding 909 hats because you’re feeling bored, that might be a sign to look for new hats. But if you still love those hats and are only worried about someone else might feel, or fear of being stuck, or whatever, I say stick with the 909s
3 Likes
Or just get a 606 and put it upside down.
13 Likes
Thanks for translating it into Leicestershire too.
2 Likes
The thing about the 909 hat is that it’s neither a sound, nor a sample, nor a product of synthesis…
It’s a time machine.
It takes you back to the first time you heard it, the next 1,000 records you heard it on, the hundreds of sound systems you rocked your body to while it pierced your ears (ear protection not withstanding), the laughs, the cries, the friends you made along the way.
No other sound will take you those places. So trying to get there by other means will always fall short.
My advice, if you want that 909 hat with your Syntakt… Pick your poison for a small partner, even sequence it from Syntakt if need-be.
-Roland TM-2 via midi (actually super nifty, I used it with my A4 for years), battery powered!
-Model Samples
-Small 4ms pod sidecar with a midi input capable euro sample module
-AKAI MPX8
-Volca Sample
-TR6S
you get the picture.
2 Likes
Use the 909 but make everything else from bass clarinet samples
5 Likes
This is the one.
You try the clap machine for hats yet?
I think layered with another machine (either analog hat, or UT noise), it’s good for techno. Not a 909 hat, but not a bad hat either. Some experimentation with the metallic OH machine might bring the sheen and get close enough to be happy with it.
I’m also trying to remember how solid the PCM samples of the 909 hats were on the old boss DR-660/DR-770. 
I remember the DR-202 having solid 909 sounds., and matching salmon colored buttons!
2 Likes
Speaking of nostalgia: first drum machine I used.
1 Like
Salmon Tek noh.
Proper class
1 Like
I am surprised to hear you overthinking. That is not your reputation.
4 Likes