System 80, a small modular synth brand based in Toronto, shared some more information about the legendary Roland TR-808 drum machine clone announced in January 2017. The synthesizer is in the Eurorack format and will be available for you this fall.

Analog generator waveform is far from being perfect – it’s unstable and suffers from inevitable voltage-brought deformation. Many of the analog filters are unsteady – you might hear some noises, phase shift or self-oscillation. But these very drawbacks make the signal so brisk, lively – well, actually, alive indeed. Digital developments helped to tame analog sound, cut it into samples, increase polyphony, give you a synthesizer equipped with the functions which were simply unobtainable in analog instruments. In 1990s instrument manufacturing companies got highly interested in analog modeling technologies development – they were eager to re-create those smallest details of electric musical instrument circuit behavior.

9.09 Roland starts a 24-hour music online festival dedicated to the 33 anniversary of the legendary Roland TR-909 rhythm machine. More than 30 instruments and services: drums, pianos, synthesizer, DJ devices, effect processor, amplifier and etc. There are going to be exclusive performances and the event will be broadcasted live from Los Angeles, Tokyo, Toronto, New York, Berlin, Paris, Brussels and other cities.