Roland To Revive TR-909?

Have you always dreamed of owning a Roland TR-808, 303 or 909? We know we have here at DT and to our mind any studio we built wouldn’t be quite complete without several pieces of Roland’s genre defining pieces of kit.

Whilst we often wax lyrical about the creative exploits of legends from Detroit and Chicago and the movements that accompanied these artists about their contributions to the evolution of electronica as we know it the equipment makers seldom garner the recognition they deserve outside of the industry.

Don’t get us wrong, we’re as happy to discuss the sociological aspects of acid house as much as the next electronic music scholar but we were delighted to see such important technological advances and those behind them get some mainstream recognition.  For without these integral pieces of kit, we probably wouldn’t have seen such genres as 80’s Hip Hop, Techno and House come to the forefront in quite such a way, with Acid House in particular coming to be commonly characterized by the trademark squelch of the TB-303.

So it was huge news for us in the office when Roland Corporation finally announced that they would be reviving their most beloved product in producing a fresh production line of the iconic Roland Tr-808 Rhythm Composer but are they now set to also reissue the equally iconic 909? The rumor mill into overdrive that they are following the company sharing a video that hints that the seminal techno rhythm box may be next in line for a reboot. Whilst the new video does not show any sort of new drum machine or give any details as to what Roland has planned it does reveal a few interesting details on the back story of one of techno’s most integral pieces of kit. It remains hazy whether or not a new 909 is in Roland’s future plans or if their new 808 will instead attempt to incorporate sounds from both machines but we can live in hope that we’ll see two distinct products hit the shelves in the near future.

Check out the video below: