The R-8 Human Rhythm Composer is an electronic drum machine introduced in 1989 by Roland Corporation, using PCM voices. The R-8 features velocity- and pressure-sensitive trigger pads, and the ability to create loops of beats. The device has eight individual outputs, 12-voice

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...

, and four-part

multitimbral Monotimbral (from the root prefix ''mono'' meaning one, and ''timbre'' meaning a specific tone of a sound independent of its pitch) is usually used in reference to electronic synthesizers which can produce a single timbre at a given pitch when pre ...

MIDI. The R-8 has one RAM memory card slot for saving user-created patterns and songs, and one slot for PCM

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

cards to augment the internal sound banks. The R-8M is a

rackmount A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...

version of the R-8, lacking the trigger pads and the sequencer capability, but with three front-facing ROM card slots. These sound libraries may be accessed simultaneously. This device was available from 1989 through 1994. The rack version has fewer individual outputs: 6 instead of 8. In 1992, Roland released a second version of the R-8 drum machine, the R-8 MKII. This version offers greatly expanded memory. The ROM went from 67 to 199 samples. It brought onboard content from the PCM cards SN-R8-01, SN-R8-02, SN-R8-09, SN-R8-10 and most of the 808 samples from SN-R8-04, while losing 22 of the MK1 samples. Another 16 samples from the MK1 returned in a slightly modified version with another name. A minor omission on the MKII is the absence of the Space Invaders boot screen. This device was discontinued in 1996. Roland also released a trimmed-down version of the R8 in the form of the Roland R-5, which had fewer sounds and features than the R-8

PCM sound cards

Known Roland ROM cards, each containing 26 samples: * Roland SN-R8-01 - Contemporary Percussion * Roland SN-R8-02 - Jazz Brush * Roland SN-R8-03 - Sound Effects * Roland SN-R8-04 - Electronic (Contains 11 TR-808 samples) * Roland SN-R8-05 - Jazz * Roland SN-R8-06 - Ethnic Percussion * Roland SN-R8-07 - Mallet * Roland SN-R8-08 - Dry * Roland SN-R8-09 - Power Drums U.S.A. * Roland SN-R8-10 - Dance (Contains 6

TR-909 The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a drum machine introduced by Roland Corporation in 1983, succeeding the TR-808. It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples for some sounds, and the first with MIDI functionality, allowing it to syn ...

and 10 CR-78 samples) * Roland SN-R8-11 - Metallic Percussion

Notable Users

Drexciya Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002) and Gerald Donald. Career The majority of Drexciya's releases were in the style of dance-floor oriented electro (music), electro, p ...

Pimp C Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American rapper and record producer. He was best known for his work with Bun B as one half of the hip-hop duo Underground Kingz (UGK). S ...

Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...

* New Order * 808 State *

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...

* Aphex Twin * Keith Marquis *

Colin Towns Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948 in West Ham, London) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, telev ...

Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackso ...

PIG The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

Jimmy Edgar Jimmy Edgar is an American conceptual artist and sound designer from Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by minimalism, Yves Klein and Immaterialism, early in their career Jimmy released two hip-hop glitch albums under the names Michaux and Kristuit ...

* Noheadchicken live * NTRSN *

N-Trance N-Trance () are a British electronic music group who were formed by Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth in 1991. The group is known for their European hit songs " Set You Free" and " Electronic Pleasure", and their covers of the 1970s disco songs ...

* Orbital *

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

The Shamen The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping British electronic dance music act by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie. Peter St ...

* Studio Fresh *Anthony Manning

PCM sound cards

Notable Users

References

Further reading