But still, the snare, clap, cowbell, cymbal hi-hat and other 808 sounds are well-loved and heavily used by many producers. That's why today 808 generally refers to the widely used 808 bass drum sample. The 808 bass was of particular interest to these early hip-hop producers. The TR-808 drum machine defined the sound of techno and house in the 80s and 90s. It’s a rare piece of vintage gear that’s still sought after today. This drum machine defined the sound of techno and house in the 80s and 90s.īeyond dance music, the drum machine inspired early hip hop producers like Rick Rubin and Afrika Bambaataa to pioneer the 808 laden sound of 90s hip hop. The 808 sound originated from the Roland TR-808. You’ll hear 808s in pretty much every trap track in existence. Just search 808 on an online sample market and you’ll hear hundreds of different versions. Producers have spent a lot of time twisting and sculpting the classic sounds into their own versions, adding distortion, playing with attack and decay, adding compression and more.

Generally, that means a loud attack and a quick resonating decay.īut today, 808 drums don’t always sound like the original 808s of the TR-808. The original TR-808 comprised programmable kick, snare, low tom, mid tom, hi tom, clap, cowbell, open hi-hat, closed hi-hat, low conga, mid conga, hi conga, clave, rimshot, maracas and cymbal sounds.Ĩ08s are based on static noise that is carefully sound designed to electronically re-create the strike of a beater and resonating drum head. They’re characterized by a punchy low-end subby-ness that is easily tunable to different pitches. In this article, we’ll look at why the 808 is such an appealing sound, where it came from and how to make tracks with perfect 808s.Ĩ08s are a type of electronic percussion sample that originates from the Roland TR-808 drum machine.

So what makes an 808 so important to producers and how can you get pro-sounding 808s in your tracks? It’s used extensively in pop music and most other forms of electronic music too. It’s incredible that a drum sound that was created in the 80s is still so consistently used and sought after today. The 808 is one of the most iconic sounds in modern music.

808s and heartbreak hat