Editing Roland TR-808 (section)

== Development ==
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| quote = The TR-808 is a piece of art. It's engineering art, it's so beautifully made. If you have an idea of what is going on in the inside, if you look at the circuit diagram, and you see how the unknown Roland engineer was making the best out of super limited technology, it's unbelievable. You look at the circuit diagram like you look at an orchestral score, you think, how on earth did they come up with this idea? It's brilliant, it's a masterpiece.
| source = — [[Robert Henke]], musician and co-creator of [[Ableton Live]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/monolake-in-full|title=Monolake in full|last=Walmsley|first=Derek|newspaper=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref>
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With its next machine, the TR-808, Roland aimed to develop a drum machine for the professional market, expecting that it would mainly be used to create [[Demo (music)|demos]].<ref name="Hamilton-2016">{{Cite news |last=Hamilton |first=Jack |date=16 December 2016 |title=808s and heart eyes |language=en-US |newspaper=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2016/12/_808_the_movie_is_a_must_watch_doc_for_music_nerds.html |access-date=16 January 2017 |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> The team was led by the chief engineer [[Tadao Kikumoto]].<ref name="Kikumoto">{{cite news |last1=McCabe |first1=Paul |title=Tadao Kikumoto: An Exclusive Conversation |url=https://articles.roland.com/tadao-kikumoto-exclusive-conversation/ |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Roland Articles |publisher=[[Roland Corporation]] |date=31 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="Wolbe-2013"/> Makoto Muroi was a chief engineer, Hiro Nakamura was responsible for designing the analog voice circuits that generate the sounds, and Hisanori Matsuoka was responsible for developing the software and engineering hardware.<ref name="Kirn-2011">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbtJAgAAQBAJ&q=%22mark+vail%22+808&pg=PT72|title=Keyboard Presents the Evolution of Electronic Dance Music|last=Kirn|first=Peter|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2011|isbn=978-1-61713-446-3}}</ref><ref name="Kikumoto"/>

Kakehashi and Lewis asked the team to ask produce an inexpensive machine that would play realistic drum sounds.<ref name="Kikumoto" /> Due to the cost of [[memory chip]]s, instead of using [[pulse-code modulation]] to play [[Sampling (music)|samples]] of percussion, Kikumoto instead proposed a "drum synthesizer" which would generate sounds using [[Analog synthesizer|analog synthesis]].<ref name="Kikumoto" /> They aimed to allow users to program [[Music sequencer|sequences]] and edit parameters such as tuning, [[Envelope (music)|decay]] and level.<ref name="Jenkins-2019">{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Dave |date=1 February 2019 |title=Roland TR-909: The history of the influential drum machine |url=https://djmag.com/content/rolands-iconic-tr-909-we-chart-history-influential-drum-machine |access-date=14 September 2019 |website=[[DJ Mag]] |publisher=Thrust Publishing |issn=0951-5143}}</ref> Kakehashi deliberately purchased faulty [[transistors]] to create the 808's distinctive sizzling sound.<ref name="Norris-2015">{{Cite magazine |last=Norris |first=Chris |date=13 August 2015 |title=The 808 heard round the world |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-808-heard-round-the-world |access-date=16 January 2017 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast]]}}</ref>