Bjooks’ celebrations for this year’s 909 Day will be welcome news amongst drum machine lovers, as the company have announced that physical copies of their highly anticipated Beat Gems: Drum Machines in Modern Music book will begin shipping this September. The celebration also includes an early look at the book’s TR-909 feature for Patch & Tweak Club members, a special offer pairing Beat Gems with Bjooks’ History of Roland, and new online content exploring the people and machines behind electronic music.
Written by electronic instrument historian Oli Freke, the latest addition to the Bjooks range takes readers on a 336-page journey through six decades of drum machines, rhythm boxes and grooveboxes, from early home-organ accompaniment to the machines that ultimately shaped hip-hop, house, techno and modern electronic music.
Appropriately for 909 Day, the Roland TR-909 appears on the cover, while the book opens with a foreword born from a conversation with Detroit techno pioneer and drum machine virtuoso Jeff Mills. The book details around 100 rhythm machines, as well as covering the artists, engineers and ideas that helped to create and define entire genres of music.
Beginning on 909 Day, (9 September 2026) customers who purchase BEAT GEMS directly through Bjooks can receive 30% off Inspire The Music – 50 Years of Roland History for the following week, pairing Bjooks’ newest exploration of drum machine history with its look inside one of electronic music’s most influential companies.
Celebrate 909 Day with Bjooks
- Beat Gems physical editions begin shipping in September.
- Buy Beat Gems and receive 30% off Inspire The Music for one week following 909 Day.
- Patch & Tweak Club members get an early look at the Beat Gemstr-909 feature.
- All three installments of the Robin Rimbaud/Scanner documentary series are now available on Patch & Tweak.
- Inspire The Music is now available digitally through Google Play, with additional Bjooks titles available, and The Minimoog Book rolling out soon.
- Bjooks and Roland will present Beat Gems at ADE Lab in October
If you are in the UK, you can see and buy the book on the Bjooks stand at SynthFest UK on Saturday 24 October, where the author will be signing copies. See the SynthFest UK website for more info.
