#The 808 drum kit how to

Once your standard 808 is in its rightful place, decide what role it should play, which should be one of the following three: If you want to play in вЂPOLYвЂ™ and still glide when a new note is triggered, enable вЂPORTAвЂ™ (portamento).Д®ach note must overlap for the effect to take place properly.ДЄll 808s are generally built on the same foundationвЂ¦ but as a producer in the modern world, you need to push the limits and put your own spin on them, every.

Legato is usually monophonic only, while portamento is most often polyphonic. Think of Legato as more of a вЂplayingвЂ™ style, whereas Portamento is similar to an effect.Д®ssentially Porta = Poly-Legato but with a longer glide/slide time range, which can often be scaled based on the distance between the last note triggered and the new one.

PORTAMENTO дёЂВ implements a pitch-glide/slide that can uniformly go from one note to the next, or that can be scaled by the length between the two notes being played.

Envelopes are not retriggered, as they would if legato was disabled in MONO mode.

LEGATO дёЂВ slides from the note you first play to the next note you hit.

Just like that, youвЂ™ve successfully added the quick pitch-dive attack, similar to that of a kick drum! You may have even connected the dots that this same method can be used to synthesize your own kicksвЂ¦ but weвЂ™ll get to that later.Д®nable вЂMONOвЂ™ and вЂLegato,вЂ™ along with вЂPortamento.вЂ™ This remains the same regardless of the 808. If you want the 808 to keep playing after youвЂ™ve released a note, simply bring the Release up. STEP 7 дёЂВ Adjust both the modulation amount вЂvalueвЂ™ and envelopeвЂ™s parameters until you hear what you like.

This will be labeled: вЂMaster,вЂ™ вЂOctaveвЂ™ or вЂCoarse,вЂ™ depending on the synth.

STEP 6 дёЂВ If itвЂ™s not already routed, route that envelope to the oscillator/deviceвЂ™s main pitch. STEP 5 дёЂВ Bring the decay up slightly a few hundred milliseconds tops. Those are ideal for this task in particular.В However, anything that can serve as an extremely short modulation source will do. Some synths (like Serum) allow you to customize your LFOs by making them whatever shape you want. STEP 4 дёЂВ Go to an unassigned envelope that can be used for modulation and bring the ADSR parameters all the way down. STEP 3 дёЂВ Make sure your Amplitude EnvelopeвЂ™s attack, decay, and release are as low as they can possibly go (for now), with the sustain all the way up. STEP 2 дёЂВ Bring its pitch down 2-3 octaves and select a sine wave. STEP 1 дёЂВ Initialize (reset) your synth, and only enable 1 oscillator. The basis of your 808 can be synthesized in less than 20 seconds:.

#The 808 drum kit how to

Putting history aside дёЂВ letвЂ™s dive into what an 808 actually is, how an 808 is built, and the most important part: how to make them go crazy!Д®very 808 you have ever heard started out the same: a pitch-modulated sine wave (shown below). Most modern synthesized drums, particularly ones found in hip-hop, were all spawned from drums found in the 808 drum machine in one way or another. I guarantee you have used the 808вЂ™s non-low-end elements in your work MANY times.

Plus, of course, the вЂboomingвЂ™ bass drum we all know and love today.

Users were able to program up to 32 patterns using the step-sequencer, chain up to 768 measures, and place вЂaccentsвЂ™ on individual beats.Д«ut what made it truly stand out was the sounds it produced werenвЂ™t modeled after real percussion or acoustic drums, but rather emitted a more advanced, futuristic (synthesized- or circuit-generated) sound. It was the very first drum machine that allowed the programming of a percussion track (from start to finish) complete with breaks and rolls. The 808 eventually became featured in more hit records than any other drum machine and has had a long-lasting influence on producers and listeners alike. However, over the course of the 80s, it slowly built a huge fan base: underground musicians.В It quickly became the cornerstone of electronic, dance, and hip-hop genres alike playing an influential role in defining them. When the 808 drum machine was first introduced in 1980, it actually failed commercially and was considered a toy that just made вЂroboticвЂ™ sounds.ДЄfter building 10,000+ units, the 808 was discontinued because its semiconductors became absolutely impossible to restock.

#8: BEGINNER & EXPERT TIP (BONUS 2-in-1):.

#7: AUTOMATING LIVE PITCH-DIVES (MOD WHEEL).

COMBINE YOUR KICK & 808 INTO ONE BASS ELEMENT:.