Editing Roland TR-808 (section)

== Background ==
In the 1960s, [[drum machine]]s were most often used to accompany [[Electric organ|home organs]]. They did not allow users to [[Programming (music)|program rhythms]],<ref name="Wolbe-2013" /> but instead offered preset patterns such as [[bossa nova]].<ref name="Beaumont-Thomas-2014">{{Cite news |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=6 March 2014 |title=The Roland TR-808: the drum machine that revolutionised music |language=en |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/06/roland-tr-808-drum-machine-revolutionised-music |access-date=16 January 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Anderson-2008">{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Jason |date=27 November 2008 |title=Slaves to the rhythm |publisher=[[CBC News]] |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/slaves-to-the-rhythm-1.771508 |access-date=16 January 2017}}</ref> In 1969, the [[Hammond Organ Company]] hired the American musician and engineer [[Don Lewis]] to demonstrate its products, including an electronic organ with a built-in drum machine designed by the Japanese company [[Ace Tone]].<ref name="Wolbe-2013" /> Lewis was known for performances using electronic instruments he had modified, decades before the popularization of instrument hacking via [[circuit bending]]. He made extensive modifications to the Ace Tone drum machine, creating his own rhythms and wiring it through his organ's [[expression pedal]] to [[Accent (music)|accent]] the percussion.<ref name="Wolbe-2013" />

Lewis was approached by [[Ikutaro Kakehashi]], the president and founder of Ace Tone, who wanted to know how he had achieved the sounds using the Ace Tone machine.<ref name="Wolbe-2013">{{Cite web|last=Wolbe|first=Trent|date=30 January 2013|title=How the 808 drum machine got its cymbal, and other tales from music's geeky underbelly|url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/30/3932574/how-the-808-found-its-cymbal-musical-tales-namm-geeky-underbelly|access-date=16 January 2017|website=[[The Verge]]}}</ref> In 1972, Kakehashi formed the [[Roland Corporation]] and hired Lewis to help design drum machines.<ref name="Wolbe-2013" /> By the late 1970s, [[microprocessor]]s were appearing in instruments such as the [[Roland MC-8 Microcomposer]],<ref name="sos" /> and Kakehashi realized they could be used to program drum machines.<ref name="Kirn-2011" /> In 1978, Roland released the [[Roland CR-78|CompuRhythm CR-78]],<ref name="sos">{{Cite web|last=Reid|first=Gordon|date=November 2014|title=The history of Roland: part 1|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/history-roland-part-1|access-date=16 January 2017|website=[[Sound on Sound]]}}</ref> the first drum machine with which users could write, save and replay their own patterns.<ref name="Kirn-2011" />