909 SESSIONS

When it comes to legendary names among drum machines, Roland stand firmly at the top, having created a number of seminal beatboxes that have pounded their way into our collective consciousness over the years thanks to the innumerable hit tracks in which they’ve appeared. From the delicate pitterpatter of the CR-78 that opens Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight to the shutter-shaking TR-808 kick that rumbled through Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force’s Planet Rock, these machines have shaped the soundtracks of the last four decades.

And though the 808 is the one drum machine everyone can name-check, it was its follow-up that arguably shaped the musical direction of the 1990s and beyond. Along with another underrated Roland also-ran, the TB-303 BassLine, the tight ’n’ punchy sounds of the TR-909 would become the de facto sonic signature of house, acid house and techno styles – initially underground genres that eventually found their way into the mainstream.

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