We've got the beat.

August 12, 2016 1:38 PM

A TR-808 browser-based emulator. You may need the tutorial.
posted by OmieWise (16 comments total)

That's badass
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:40 PM on August 12, 2016

I know several people who will be enjoying this later this evening. Thank you for the share. Already RT'ing on twitter.
posted by Fizz at 1:50 PM on August 12, 2016

I swore this was a double, but it's not. I was thinking of the pure HTML5 TR-909. Now they can be friends.
posted by The Bellman at 2:13 PM on August 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

808 Stateless
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:20 PM on August 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Thank you for the share. Already RT'ing on twitter.

Got it from a Brian Eno tweet.
posted by OmieWise at 2:22 PM on August 12, 2016

*notes that there is no swing, nods satisfied*

Note that the HTML5 TR-909 site also has yet another HTML5 808 on a subsite.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:23 PM on August 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Everybody needs an 808
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 3:48 PM on August 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

My dad has a TR-707. The story he tells is that he bought it at a music store, and immediately after he'd paid the guy behind the counter said "man, you just made a BIG mistake! Oh man, they're coming out with a new one next month and it's going to blow this one away!" And my dad was like "why didn't you tell me this before I bought it?"

Anyway, he kept it, and that's why he has a 707.
posted by teponaztli at 4:26 PM on August 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'd rather hear a 707 these days. The 808's gone beyond saturation point. Justifiably, mind - there's still no better kick to me - but the rest is rather less fresh.
posted by solarion at 5:01 PM on August 12, 2016

The 707 is OK, and when I talked to someone at synthesizer store (Future Music in LA), I think he said there is some interest in them nowadays. But obviously it's nothing like the interest in the 808. It really is a great kick.

The 707 is great for making stuff that sounds like TV soundtracks from the mid 80s, so it's got that going for it. Mostly I'm just peeved that my dad could have had an 808 to give me had he waited a little while to buy a drum machine.
posted by teponaztli at 5:24 PM on August 12, 2016

My dad has a TR-707. The story he tells is that he bought it at a music store, and immediately after he'd paid the guy behind the counter said "man, you just made a BIG mistake! Oh man, they're coming out with a new one next month and it's going to blow this one away!" And my dad was like "why didn't you tell me this before I bought it?"

If the implication is that he ended up with a 707 because he missed the boat on the 808 I have to point out that the 808 was the very first one in the series, and was in fact out of production by the time the 707 came out. The 909 was a few years after the 808 but I think still a little before the 707. The closest thing to an successor to the 707 was the 505 I think. I'd probably take the 707 of those last two anyway (if the implication of the story is that a 707 is way cooler to have now than whatever "realistic" 80s drum machine your dad missed getting that's probably true.)
posted by atoxyl at 5:36 PM on August 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

What browser you all using? It loads as an unplayable mess in (usually Chrome-compatible) Vivaldi.
posted by Anoplura at 6:24 PM on August 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

If the implication is that he ended up with a 707 because he missed the boat on the 808 I have to point out that the 808 was the very first one in the series,

Oh you're right. I'd never looked it up. I guess I always assumed it would have been an 808, or I'm remembering the story wrong, or something. Either way, you can do worse than a 707. Need to change the battery, though, and I seem to recall that being a complicated affair.
posted by teponaztli at 7:33 PM on August 12, 2016

808 Stateless ..are fucking great, Les.
posted by Artw at 11:17 PM on August 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh you're right. I'd never looked it up. I guess I always assumed it would have been an 808, or I'm remembering the story wrong, or something. Either way, you can do worse than a 707. Need to change the battery, though, and I seem to recall that being a complicated affair.

Well it's a good story to tell to people who don't know! I didn't have the release dates of all the Roland drum machines off the top of my head or anything - I just knew the 808 was first because I've always heard that nobody actually wanted one until after they stopped making it, because it didn't sound anything like real drums.
posted by atoxyl at 12:46 AM on August 13, 2016

I tried it in Safari, and it worked fine. Not sure about FF.
posted by OmieWise at 4:25 AM on August 13, 2016