What is an 808? The drum machine and the bass
Updated · 2 min read
Short answer
“808” means two related things. The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer is an analogue drum machine made from 1980 to 1983 whose kick, snare, clap, cowbell and hats became staples of hip hop, electro and pop. In modern trap, drill and hip hop, “an 808” usually means its bass drum stretched into a long, tuned boom that plays the bassline.
The machine
Roland released the TR-808 Rhythm Composer in 1980. It made every sound with analogue circuits rather than recordings, so its drums sounded synthetic next to rival machines that played back samples of real drums. Production ended in 1983, after roughly 12,000 units. Cheap on the second-hand market, it was picked up by producers who loved exactly what reviewers had disliked: the deep, decaying kick, the snappy snare, the hand clap, the cowbell and the ticking hats.
Records such as Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force’s “Planet Rock” and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”, both from 1982, made it famous. Electro, Miami bass, early hip hop and house all leaned on it.
The bass
The 808’s bass drum has a decay control. Turn it up and the kick becomes a long, falling sine-like tone with a definite pitch. Southern hip hop producers tuned it to play basslines, and trap made the tuned 808 the centre of the track: a short kick for the attack, then a long 808 note per bar or half-bar, often distorted so it is audible on small speakers, with glides between notes.
Today “808” in a sample pack almost always means this tuned bass sound, whether recorded from the machine, from a clone or synthesised from scratch.
Using 808 samples
- Pick an 808 with the character you want: clean and round, or distorted and gritty.
- Find its root note and load it in a sampler, so the keyboard plays in tune.
- Write the bassline in your key, leaving space for the kick.
- Add glide between notes for movement, and saturation for presence on phones.
- Check the low end in mono and on headphones.
The 808 bass collection and the TR-808 drum machine collection list free samples with licence verdicts; the kit builder can pick a kick and an 808 that suit each other.
Questions
- How do I tune an 808?
- Find the sample's root note (Sound Server shows it when known, or use a tuner plugin), load it into a sampler with that root, and play the bassline from the keyboard. Keep it in the key of your track and check the low notes on headphones, where pitch is easier to hear.
- Why does my 808 clash with the kick?
- Both sit in the same low frequencies. Shorten the kick, start the 808 just after it, or sidechain the 808 so it ducks when the kick hits. Choosing a kick and 808 tuned to the same note also helps.
- What is an 808 glide?
- A slide in pitch from one 808 note to the next, made with a sampler's portamento or glide setting in mono mode. Overlapping two notes slightly triggers the slide.
- Are 808 samples free to use?
- Only when whoever made the recording licensed it openly. Many free 808 sets are; others are copied from old collections with no licence stated. Sound Server shows a verdict on every 808 so you can tell them apart.
Try it
Live searches across every source, with a licence verdict on each result.
Sources
Practical information, not legal advice. AI agent? This guide is also available as Markdown.