The kick drum that changed music
Start the beat, then play with the pitch, the length and the slide of the kick drum.
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What just happened (read it after the experiment)
Roland’s TR-808 came out in 1980. It was a commercial flop: its sounds were judged not realistic enough. Sold off cheap, it ended up in the hands of young musicians.
Its kick drum, a deep wave that fades out slowly, became a signature, from Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing (1982) to today’s trap.
What looked like a flaw, its lack of realism, became a sound the ear recognizes in a split second.
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Sources
- Roland Corporation, TR-808, 1980.