TS-808 Drum Machine

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(Windows Only) WARNING 32Bit Only

TS-808: Free TR-808 Drum Machine Plugin

TS-808 is a free virtual emulation of the Roland TR-808 drum machine: booming kicks, snappy snares and crisp hi-hats, with the rest of the 808 voice set. It runs on Windows only and is 32-bit.

All Voices

• All voices have controls for Level (* Lev), Velocity Sensitivity (* < V), and Output (* Out).
• Any voice can be routed to any of the 8 outputs.

Bass Drum

• The base frequency of the BD is 48.999 Hz, better known as G1 or MIDI note 31.
• BD Tune alters the pitch by up to +-12 semitones, i.e. a value of +2 will raise the base frequency of the BD by 2 semitones, to A1 (55 Hz).

Snare Drum

• The base frequencies of the SD tone generators are 174.614 Hz (F3) and 349.228 Hz (F4).
• SD Tune alters the pitch of the tone generators by up to +-12 semitones.

Toms

• The base frequencies of the toms are:
  • LT - 97.999 Hz (G2).
  • MT - 146.832 Hz (D3).
  • HT - 220 Hz (A3).
• The Tune parameters alter the pitch by up to +-3 semitones.
• The Rev parameters control the amount of pink noise mixed with the signal.

Congas

• The base frequencies of the congas are:
  • LC - 195.997 Hz (G3).
  • MC - 293.664 Hz (D4).
  • HC - 440 Hz (A4).
• The Tune parameters alter the pitch by up to +-3 semitones.
• The Decay parameters extend or reduce the decay time of the signal.

Rim Shot

• There are two tone generators for the RS.
• The signals are half-wave rectified. The rectified signal is mixed with the clean signal.
• RS Tone controls the mix.
• At -5 only the rectified signal is present, at 5 only the clean signal.
• At 0 the mix is equal and the sound is very close to that of the TR-808.

CLave

• The base frequency of the CL is 2349.318 Hz (D7).
• CL Tune alters the pitch by up to +-6 semitones.

ClaP

• The CP is composed of a strike portion and a reverb portion.
• CPR Lev controls the amount of the reverb portion present in the mix.
• CPS Dec and CPR Dec control the decay times of the strike and reverb portions respectively.

MAraca

• The MA is just bandpass filtered white noise shaped by an envelope.
• MA Tune varies the frequency of the band pass filter from around 350Hz to 10500 Hz.
• MA Attack & MA Decay control the envelope generator.
• When all controls are at 10 the sound is all but identical to that of the TR-808.

Cow Bell

• The CB comprises two half-wave rectified square waves run through a bandpass filter.
• According to the schematics, the frequencies are 540 Hz and 800 Hz. In the samples Tactile Sounds analysed, they were closer to 565 Hz and 849 Hz. Tactile Sounds settled on base frequencies of 523.251 Hz and 783.991 Hz - a perfect fifth, and in tune with the rest of the voices.
• CB Tune alters these pitches by up to +-12 semitones.
• CB Buzz controls the amount of the rectified signal in the final mix.
• CB Clang controls the amount by which the oscillators are detuned.

Hi Hats

• The CH and OH of the TR-808 have different envelopes and filters. In the TS-808 the envelopes are different but the filter is shared.
• HH Tune varies the cutoff frequency of the filter, from ~8000 Hz to ~11000 Hz.
• HH Dec controls the decay time of the OH.