REVIEWED REFERENCE HUB
Drum Machines and Their Kick Drums
Understand which machines contain a dedicated kick or bass-drum voice, how that voice is generated, what the original controls can change, and where modern samples or recreations may differ.
19 canonical machine guidesFEATURED LISTENING COMPARISON
808 vs 909: hear the difference before choosing
Compare their bass-drum controls, circuitry, history and musical roles, then hear two level-matched KX1000 directions designed to make the practical contrast obvious.
Compare the 808 and 909ROLAND EXPANSION
Ten reviewed Roland guides
This batch strengthens five existing pages and adds five missing machines. Each machine has one definitive page, so wording variations such as “what does the kick sound like?” remain inside the same canonical guide.
NEW COMPARISON PATHS
Move from machine names to useful decisions
What Is the Roland TR-1000?
Understand its analog 808 and 909 voices, digital engines, sampling, sequencing and kick workflow.
Open current reference →606 vs 707 vs 808 vs 909 Kicks
Compare source architecture, controls, envelope and arrangement role.
Compare four machines →R-8 vs R-8 MkII
Compare library size, pattern memory, polyphony and shared PCM editing workflow.
Compare both models →What Is the Roland TR-66 Rhythm Arranger?
The Roland TR-66 is an early preset Rhythm Arranger with a dedicated bass-drum voice and automatic arrangement controls. It belongs to Roland’s pre-programmable rhythm-box era, so its kick is part of a fixed electronic ensemble rather than a deeply editable standalone voice.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland CR-5000 CompuRhythm?
The Roland CR-5000 is a CompuRhythm produced from 1981 to 1985. It provides twenty-four preset rhythms and twelve sound sources, including a dedicated bass drum, with separate voice-level, accent, fill, arranger, trigger, and tempo controls.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland R-5 Human Rhythm Composer?
The Roland R-5 Human Rhythm Composer is a sample-based drum machine produced from 1989 to 1992. It contains sixty-eight internal instrument voices and lets the user edit pitch, decay, nuance, output assignment, sensitivity, velocity, pan, and performance feel.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland R-8 MkII Human Rhythm Composer?
The Roland R-8 MkII is an expanded Human Rhythm Composer with two hundred internal instruments, twenty-six copy instruments, support for Sound ROM cards, twelve-voice polyphony, two hundred user patterns, and eight individual outputs.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland CR-80 Human Rhythm Player?
The Roland CR-80 Human Rhythm Player is a 16-bit preset rhythm machine produced from 1991 to 1994. It contains sixty-nine percussion sounds, eight effects, thirty-six rhythm styles, twelve-note polyphony, song memory, MIDI, and an external Music Style card slot.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland TR-808?
The Roland TR-808 is an analog rhythm composer introduced in 1980. Its bass drum uses analog circuitry and a pronounced downward pitch movement, with tone and decay controls that let it range from a compact thump to the long, low sound now commonly called an “808.”
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland TR-909?
The Roland TR-909 is a programmable rhythm composer launched in 1983. Its bass drum and several other voices use analog circuitry, while its cymbals and hi-hats use digital samples. The kick is tunable, attack-forward, and decay-adjustable, which helped make it central to house and techno.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland TR-606?
The Roland TR-606 is a portable, fully programmable analog rhythm machine released in 1981 and designed as a companion to the TB-303. It has seven drum voices plus accent and individual level controls. Its bass drum is compact and mid-forward rather than deep and sub-dominant.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland TR-707?
The Roland TR-707 is a mid-1980s digital rhythm composer built around PCM samples of acoustic-style drums. It contains a dedicated bass-drum sample and is known for a short, dry, clearly outlined kick that is easier to place in a pattern than to radically reshape inside the machine.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland CR-78?
The Roland CR-78 is an analog CompuRhythm introduced in 1978 and one of the earliest widely used programmable rhythm machines. Its warm bass drum is softer and shorter than an 808, functioning more like an electronic pulse beneath a preset or programmed groove than a modern sub-bass kick.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland CR-8000?
The Roland CR-8000 is a programmable CompuRhythm produced from 1981 to 1986. It includes thirteen sound sources, including a dedicated bass drum, eight program-rhythm locations, preset rhythm banks, arranger functions, and individual voice-level controls.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland TR-505?
The Roland TR-505 is a compact digital rhythm composer produced from 1986 to 1990. It contains sixteen fixed drum voices, including a bass drum, and offers forty-eight preset patterns, forty-eight user-programmable patterns, six tracks, MIDI, and battery operation.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland TR-626?
The Roland TR-626 is a digital rhythm composer produced from 1987 to 1990. It uses fixed digital drum voices, provides forty-eight preset and forty-eight internal patterns, records at 96 PPQN, and offers stereo outputs plus eight individual instrument outputs.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland R-8 Human Rhythm Composer?
The Roland R-8 Human Rhythm Composer is a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz sample-based drum machine built for detailed performance and programming. It contains sixty-eight internal instruments, editable pitch, decay, nuance, pan, microtiming, velocity-sensitive pads, and optional Sound ROM cards.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23reviewed machine guideWhat Is the Roland R-70 Rhythm Composer?
The Roland R-70 is a PCM Rhythm Composer with 210 internal instruments, velocity- and aftertouch-sensitive pads, 14-note polyphony, editable user instruments, and built-in reverb, delay, chorus, and flanger. It includes multiple kick choices rather than one fixed signature bass drum.
Evidence A · reviewed 2026-07-23definitionWhat Is the Linn LM-1?
The Linn LM-1 is an early commercially influential drum computer built around digital samples of acoustic drums, offering a different aesthetic from analog synthesis.
Evidence B · draft-review-requireddefinitionWhat Is the LinnDrum?
The LinnDrum is a widely used sample-based drum machine of the early 1980s whose acoustic-derived samples helped define pop production.
Evidence B · draft-review-requireddefinitionWhat Is the Wurlitzer Sideman?
The Wurlitzer Sideman is an early commercial electro-mechanical rhythm machine designed to accompany organists with preset patterns and drum-like voices.
Evidence B · draft-review-requireddefinitionWhat Is the Rhythmicon?
The Rhythmicon is an experimental 1931 electronic rhythm instrument designed by Leon Theremin for Henry Cowell to explore relationships between rhythm and the harmonic series.
Evidence A · draft-review-required