Driven Machine Drums: FR-909 Free Sample Pack by Tonebuilder

Tonebuilder releases Driven Machine Drums: FR-909, a new free-for-download sample pack featuring sounds from the Roland TR-909 drum machine.

When the Roland TR-909 came onto the market in Germany in 1984 for around 2000 DM, it was a big flop, as it was in many other countries. The hybrid drum machine, designed by Tadao Kikumoto’s development team, was intended as a drum replacement for pop and rock musicians. The target clientele was not very enthusiastic, after all the device did not sound like a real drum kit at all. It was only years later, long after production had stopped, that the synthetic sound of the Roland TR-909 shaped house and techno like no other drum machine.

Bass, snare, and toms have Tune and Decay controls, with the snare decay passing through as Tone. The bass drum’s attack time can also be adjusted, while the snare’s snappy potentiometer determines the amount of noise. Handclap and rimshot can actually only be adjusted in terms of volume, which is inevitably the basis of their unmistakable sound.

The Roland TR-909 is one of the most famous vintage drum machines of all time, best described by the following equation: 909 = Techno. The sound quickly becomes a very old school, but can also be used in a completely modern way. Rarely is the 909 sound reserved, usually with a lot of power when pounding.

This is a new capture/take on the ever popular TR-909, this time combining outboard vintage NOS tubes and body compression in parallel. Those signals are then combined and fed into a high-end mastering equalizer to further glue, shape, and focus the sound. The entire 549 free tr-909 sound collection in 16-bit, 44.1kHz WAV format is available here, complimentary.

Free download: Driven Machine Drums:FR-909