Today is August 8th – also known as 808 Day – and Roland is celebrating the 46th anniversary of its iconic drum machine, the TR-808.
Released in 1980, the Roland TR-808 was designed as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit for musicians to record with, but took on a new life in hip-hop, pop, R&B, techno, house and electro, as producers reveled in its defiantly synthetic tones.