How it started: a simple repair job on a Roland drum machine. How it ended: a scratch-built FM drum synth module that’s completely analog, and completely cool. [Moritz Klein]’s journey … ...

In the 80s, Roland drum machines were at the epicenter of hip hop, house, techno, acid house and other music genres. The 808, 909, 707, and 606 helped create the beats of some of your favorite songs.

For this review, Roland sent us the top-level V-Drums kit, the TD716. It comes as a six-drum, three-cymbal and hi-hat setup, as does the TD-713, but the main difference is that the KD-18 bass drum ...

I liked the idea so much, that I couldn't stop building my own drum robots, and ended up replacing all the electronic sounds of a whole drum computer, placed in a 3,3 x 1,7m2 case.

The Iconic '80s Drum Machine You've Never Seen, but Heard Everywhere. All Hail the Beat is a three-minute celebration of the Roland TR-808, which has inspired musicians from Kanye West to Daft Punk.

In 1984, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell sketched out a new song using a drum machine and synth: as Petty didn't feel the song suited the feel of the album he and the group ...