Using The Roland TR-8S Live To Create Complete Tracks

Roland shared this series of videos, recorded live in Berlin, featuring a variety of artists performing complete tracks live with the new Roland TR-8S drum machine, and in many cases, using only the TR-8S.

Features artists include: La Fraicheur, BEC, Virginia, Catnapp & Steffi. In each performance, the artist makes extensive use of the live control features of the TR-8S, along with its custom sample capability, to perform complete arrangements live.

32 thoughts on “Using The Roland TR-8S Live To Create Complete Tracks

    1. The last one was very awesome, don’t understand how any synth enthusiast could think anything else. (I might ad that Steffi is an highly acknowledged artist in the techno scene.
      The two first ones was a bit embarrassing yes (embracing?:D)
      Number three and four was not that bad, but not my cup of tea.

  1. The videos impressed me. The possibilities are really high. And the girls rocked it mighty well. Man i can’t be spending money on gear again…..

  2. Good mastery of the machine.
    But the music is boaring… more than 20 years and always the same….
    Let’s be creatif

    1. Agreed, I appreciate their technique, but it did sound boring to me. Still one of the better instrument demos coming from Roland.

  3. bs music imo. i´m sorry. compare that track to a song from the album “a secret wish” by eighties pop act propaganda (programmed and produced by stephen lipson). wtf has happened to contemporary electronic music? laughable.

  4. The head-weaving and finger-twisting behind a controller stereotype needs to be killed off. Other than that, interesting piece of gear.

  5. I keep thinking of the pioneer toriaz which I really enjoyed working with. The colorful steps, sampling and the instant effects and assignable outs. What was also great is the ability to hit 1 button and have your tracks “tracked” out to separate tracks on a usb drive or internal which is a great feature.

    The only different here is 808/909 and the other drums with tune and decay…. I still cant figure out why people are so stuck on those samples for so long, like i really just dont get it. Buy a 808 drum machine vs a sampler and sample 808 drums.

    I’ll never understand the high demand of those drums but this thing would make a great sampler in itself, but it seems to lack the sample control that a 2018 machine would have. The sampling seems more like a sample player vs a sampler.

  6. In the last video, she’s using a Syncussion(!)
    In the next couple of months I’m going to build a two of those 🙂

    1. I keep seeing all these anti-women posts concerning this thing. WTF? I’m not one to care about this PC-gender political BS, but really? It’s a talented artist doing their thing.

  7. I thought everyone was just being haters as usual, but these performances really are garbage with the exception of Steffi, who has been doing it long enough to do it well. The other ones seemed more focused on their image than making good music.

      1. Well the sounds themselves sound bad and the sequences are boring and unskilled. Does that satisfy you, master? Or was there some deeper analysis I was supposed to make about lazy music?

  8. Subliminal message from video: this machine has the power to make EDM-loving musician/cuties sway hypnotically. Use responsibly! 😉

    1. Yes this machine is pretty cool. The Tr8 always looked a bit like a super market drum machine to me. This one i can’t put my finger on it but it looks much better. The sound capabilities are rather only limited by ones inspiration and ideas with this one.

  9. i don’t get the hate… really, if you’re making dance music (which all the artists are quite clearly making) and you’re not swaying, bouncing around while making it, then you’re doing it wrong!

  10. I have my Roland TR-8S being delivered as we speak. Who cares on comments from the videos. It’s all about your own technical advances. I can wait to make this machine my main beat in music I am about to produce.

  11. I like Catnapp’s beat best. I think two things are a little clearer to me after these videos: it’s really hard to make a reverb algo to gel properly with electronic drums, and the one in the TR-8S could use some love from the developers. For my ear the overall diffusion is not quite there and the high frequencies sound slappy / tinny. And from a composition side, while the pattern length offered here seems fine to me for rhythms, there just seems to be too little flexibility here to make interesting tonal stuff – for me the cycles should be longer and / or more diverse (IMO two chords don’t carry this over a stretch of five minutes).

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