Roland TR-909
Rhythm Composer (1983)

The legendary cult drum machine considered as sought-after as the elder brother Roland TR-808.

TR-909 has been a commercial failure and Roland retired the machine from the market after a few months.

DRUM MACHINE Main panel features a basic segments display, 31 knobs, 23 buttons and 16 pads with no velocity.

Back panel terminal connectors:
- main signal out
- 10 individual outputs
- Midi interface
- tape interface
- 5-DIN sync input
- a +5V pulse trigger out controlled by rimshot
- pedalswitch input for start/stop
- memory cartridge slot.

 

 

SOUND based on a CPU NEC UPD7811G manages 10 channels each with individual mix levels.
STRUCTURE the sound generation is an hybrid between:
- Analog generation.
- PCM digital samples.

ANALOG family is generated like as several mini-synthesizers with individual circuits, onboard VCO oscillators, noise generators, envelope VCA stages and filtered by lowpass filters.
Each percussions have different controls:

Bass Drum tune sets the pitch decay sets the lenght attack adds a click at the beginning	Snare Drum tune sets the pitch tone emphasizes the VCF filter and the total decay snappy sets the amount of white noise
Low tom pitch sets the tuning decay sets the relative lenght	Mid tom pitch same as low tom but with different range decay sets the relative lenght
High tom pitch same as low tom but with different range decay sets the relative lenght	Rim Shot no controls
Handclap no controls

 

DIGITAL internal ROM 3 PCM samples coded at 6 bits resolution / 18 kHz frequency- the rest of the audio signal path is pure analog including EG, VCF and VCA.
TECH: PCM shots are stored in a 32 Kb ROM HITACHI HN61256P.

Hi-Hat (open) decay makes a long open sound tune sets the pitch	Hi-Hat (close) channel-shared with opened hihat circuit they canno be played at same time
Crash tune sets the pitch of the sample	Ride tune sets the pitch of the sample

 

SEQUENCER is based on famous 16 steps or tapping method.
There are 3 main sequencer functions that enhance the pattern groove:
- ACCENT: makes a specific step louder for a single instruments or all
- SHUFFLE: swings the beat for a more human rhythms
- FLAME: adds a syncope on a step. It does not apply to: rimshot, claps, hihats, crash and ride.
MIDI it is possible to trigger the sound percussions directly by Midi, but implementation is rather basic and offers only ON/OFF messages.

 

SYNC internal tempo range from 37 to 290 BPM or external clock sync is possible in 3 ways:
- 5 DIN SYNC signal at 24 PPQ
- Midi clock
- tape sync.

MEMORY:
- 4 songs max.
- 48 patterns (up to 896 measures)
Patterns and songs are saved if batteries (2X 1.5V) are fitted, then these can be saved to tape dump or in a M-64C RAM cartridge.

 

 

RELATED FAMILY

	Roland TR-8 - digital tr808 / 909 emulation from 2014. SEE ALSO: TR-8 VS TR-909 AUDIO TEST
	Roland TR-09 boutique digital emulation 2016
	Some clones: -Novation drumstation rackmount digital clone - JOMOX Xbase 09 commercial analog-digital clone - synthage 909 VIDEO - DIY clone project VIDEO

 

VST PLUGIN & SAMPLED there are some free and commercial samples set, app and VST:

	name	price	demo
	-bedroom producer-simenschi.com	free samples
	d16.pl	commercial VST
	Thomas Nomaier	free VST	N/A

AUDIO DEMO

	factory pattern
	jampattern
	broken toms :)
	session with ELKA SYNTHEX and TB303

 

VIDEO CLIP SELECTION Drum Machine demo with Elektron A with ROLAND TR-808

 

Marcel with Tr909 and Sh101

 

ROLAND TR909 MANUAL

Roland TR-909 Service manual

original brochure

original brochure

original brochure

custom from Ebay

by synth.co.uk