Filip Brož Apple Music subscribers have reason to rejoice. They can watch an exclusive full-length documentary on their devices 808: The Movie, which discusses the influence of the Japanese Roland TR-808 drum machine on the creation of modern electronic music. Without this iconic drum machine, maybe hip hop, rap, funk, acid, drum and bass, jungle or techno would never have been created. The documentary 808 is Alex Dunn's directorial debut and Apple co-produced Beats 1 host Zane Lowe.
The legendary drum machine was produced in Osaka, Japan by the Roland company between 1980 and 1984. The musical instrument manufacturing company was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi, who was himself very surprised at the impact his "eight hundred and eight" had. This contained a set of sounds representing percussion instruments such as bass drum, conga snare drum, cymbals, percussion and many others.
The joke was that the musicians could arrange them into rhythmic units and further modify the individual sounds. Thanks to this, it was possible to achieve extremely low-frequency sounds and thus create unique deep bass and tinny beats.
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/LMPzuRWoNgE” width=”640″]
“Without the 808, I wouldn't have been able to create the musical atmosphere in the single Another day in paradise,” confides Phil Collins in the documentary. A similar opinion is shared by a number of other singers and producers who appear in the documentary. It is certain that without this percussion instrument, for example, a cult song would never have been created Planet rock by Afrika Baambaataa. It subsequently influenced the American groups Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, and hip hop was born.
It is also interesting to see how the Roland TR-808 spread around the world. Mecca was New York, followed by Germany and the rest of the world. Among others, the instrument influenced the bands Kraftwerk, Usher, Shannon, David Guetta, Pharrell Williams and rapper Jay-Z. People used this machine as their main instrument as if it were a guitar or a piano.
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/hh1AypBaIEk” width=”640″]
The hour and a half long documentary 808 is definitely worth watching. I think it will please not only fans of electronic music, but also others who want to look under the hood of the creation of modern music in the eighties. It's incredible what a simple transistor machine can do. "Roland 808 was our bread and butter," the Beastie Boys state in the documentary.
So it's no wonder that two years ago Roland decided to resurrect its pride and improve it for the demands of today's performers and producers. It can also be found in Apple Music thematic playlist to this movie.
An image 808: The Movie it was created back in 2014 and was supposed to appear in cinemas after its premiere at the SXSW festival in 2015, but until now it has not been released to the general public. If you're not an Apple Music subscriber, you can wait until December 16, when the documentary will also appear in the iTunes Store. You can currently there 808: The Movie pre-order for 16 euros (440 crowns).
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/Qt2mbGP6vFI” width=”640″]
