Roland TR-1000

Elegantly combining analogue and digital, and balancing programming with performance, the TR‑1000 is the best drum machine Roland have ever made.

Music production gear is often designed with aggressive price points in mind and that means compromises, but the brief for a true flagship product should be more of a ‘give them what they want and we’ll figure out the money later’ vibe. Initial reactions suggest that the TR‑1000 is indeed the pro drum machine we wanted from Roland. Join us as we explore Roland’s vision of an analogue drum machine for modern times.

The Big Picture

The TR‑1000 expands both physically and functionally on Roland’s primary general‑purpose drum machine of recent years: the TR‑8S. It adds analogue drum voices to the digitally synthesized and sample‑based sources, new features like sample slicing and bpm matching, and a much improved user interface.

The instrument follows the layout of the TR‑8S, but moves away from the black plastic Aira build to a more serious‑feeling metallic silver chassis. There’s some resemblance to the MkII Elektron flagships; while the step keys reference the 909 they are more like Elektron’s, and there’s a modulation crossfader like the Octatrack.

Comparisons with the Analog Rytm were inevitable as it’s the reference point in my studio for a modern hybrid drum machine. But it’s fair to say that everyone has been influenced by Elektron’s conventions in recent years. And if Roland had asked me what I wanted it would have been the TR‑8S’s form factor with the Rytm’s functionality. In the end the 1000 has kept all of what makes the 8S unique, and crossed over into the territory of multiple rival units.

Sat next to an 8S or Rytm, the TR‑1000 is massive. It’s a heavy, chunky wedge built to be a studio centrepiece and pro touring instrument. The thickness and raked panel make room for that analogue synth circuitry as well as an internal power supply, and the resulting rear‑panel space has been stocked with a full set of split track outputs, full‑sized MIDI, USB ports, some analogue trigger/CV connectivity and more.

The panel design comes from the TR‑8S, which itself was an evolution of the 808/909’s track columns and step keys. As we’ve said before, the faders are a defining feature, typically slammed up and down in place of mutes rather than used for setting balances. It’s hard to explain why this makes these machines so playable — it just does.

The panel is similar to the TR‑8S, but the display and encoders offer much easier editing.

Fader count is down from 11 to 10, but notice channels 1‑4 are double width with six knobs. These are dual‑layer tracks; more on that in a bit. There’s a proper screen instead of a text display, supported by six push encoders. This, along with the wealth of dedicated buttons and a generally better‑thought‑out UI make working with the TR‑1000 faster and easier. You’re much less reliant on assigning knobs as you can achieve most sound design and editing tasks quickly from the screen. But first, let’s dive into sounds.

Analogue Soul

This is, I’ll say up front, a great drum machine in general, but it’s the analogue piece that’s caused most excitement. The TR‑1000 has 16 synth circuits taken from the 808 and 909, skewed towards the 808 as the 909 had some sample‑based sounds. Although channels are named on the panel, any of the analogue sounds can be used on any track, but only once per kit of course.

Let’s zoom in on the 808 kick as it’s so iconic. The TR‑1000 808 kick has the same two shaping parameters as the original: Tone, which affects the transient click; and Decay, which adjusts the length of the subby boom that accompanies it. The 1000 version also gets a Tune control. It doesn’t disappoint, delivering that air‑shaking thump.

The decay can go way longer than the original. In fact once you get to about 70 percent the circuit oscillates indefinitely, giving you a sub tone that you can shape with the track’s envelopes, filter and LFO. This makes sense, as in modern hip‑hop production ‘808 bass’ is more associated with sustained bass lines than kick drums. However, as we’ll see there’s not really a great workflow for melodically sequencing or playing the TR‑1000, at least in this first release.

In short, both analogue kicks sound mint, as do all the other analogue circuits. And many have extended capabilities, such as the hand clap with controls for clap size and tail level. Not everything is covered. There’s no mid tom, but the other toms can cover its range. Also absent are any of the switched modes on the 808: congas, claves and maracas. For these you’ll need to go digital.

A super cool feature of the analogue voices is dynamic responsiveness to velocity, and not just in terms of level. For example, the levels of the Snappy component of the snares and the membrane sound on the toms increase relative to the body tones with harder hits. The TR‑1000 has no velocity‑sensitive pads, not even the single tap button found on the TR‑8S, but it does have the usual Accent system for pushing some steps, and a ‘weak note’ entry option, giving you three basic levels. It’s easy to adjust the velocities of notes in a pattern more finely by holding and dialling in a value. Triggers from MIDI inputs also respect velocity.

All 10 channels are split out, and there’s a direct out from the analogue effects for a pure analogue path. The only thing missing is a dedicated aux send.

Digital Heart

Roland’s Analogue Circuit Behaviour DSP was first seen on the TR‑8, recreating the 808 and 909 sounds by building the circuits virtually, and staying mostly faithful to the original controls. ACB has evolved over successive instruments like the Boutique machines, adding sounds from the other TRs and some new and extended control ranges. In fact some sounds like the 6x, 8x and 9x kicks (x being the naming convention for ACB) can be switched between the TR8 and Boutique versions, in either the original or long decay modes that these units offered.

ACB models provide the classic sounds from other great instruments like the 606 and CR‑78, as well as 8x and 9x sounds that aren’t rebuilt in analogue here. But beyond that, Roland have pimped the ACB patches, unlocking control over many new parameters within the component parts of the algorithms, so they are great to have alongside the analogue versions.

For example, the 808 Snare now has independent control of the levels and decays of the tone (body) part of the sound and the ‘snappy’ noise. The tone circuit is a blend of two basic oscillators, which can now be detuned. The hand clap is even more bendable: you can set the speed and decay of the flammed bursts that approximate a clap, and the tone and decay of the filtered noise that simulates reverb. Perhaps whimsically, the cowbell is completely deconstructed and mod‑able. It’s fascinating to see the workings of these original synth circuits, and to explore new sounds with them.

As well as ACB, the TR‑1000 offers FM and virtual analogue sound engines,...