The sequencer on the 808, a row of 16 color-coded buttons, offered artists a way to store beats they programmed. Courtesy of Roland Even if you don't know the Roland TR-808 drum machine by name, ...

It’s almost impossible to imagine the modern musical landscape without the distinctive sounds of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. When the Japanese electronics company Roland started releasing the 808 ...

The music-making machine that almost single-handedly birthed pop and hip-hop beats is back in production with some major updates. There hasn’t been anything quite like the 808 in decades, and Roland ...

Alexander Dunn's documentary "808: The Movie" focusing on the legendary Roland-808 drum machine has been released exclusively on Apple Music, and will be available for download or rent on the iTunes ...

I want to mark the passing of a genius who changed the soundscape of popular music in the 1980’s. Ikutaro Kakehashi (1930-2017) died earlier this month at the age of 87. He founded the Roland ...

Even if you've never heard of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, you've definitely heard it. Developed in Japan as a user-friendly way to produce an electronic drum beat, the 808 grew into one of the ...

If you spent the 1980s hanging out at your local record store, and you don’t have a hankering for spandex and bouffant rock-god hairstyles, the chances are you’ll have more than a few pieces of ...

He was a founder of Roland, the music electronics company, and the inventor of the ubiquitous Roland TR-808 drum machine. The 808 has cemented its place in music history and pops up on a wide variety ...

Interviews with Afrika Bambaataa, Questlove, Pharrell, Rick Rubin and more are featured in a film documenting the story of the Roland TR-808 drum machine debuting Dec. 9 as an Apple Music exclusive.

These days, few new electronic instruments have an identifiable "sound". We buy them on the understanding that they'll have thousands of preset configurations that will let us emulate sounds we've ...