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Roland TR-606

The Roland TR-606 Drumatix is a programmable analog synthesis drum machine built by the Roland Corporation from 1981 to 1984. It was originally designed to be used with the Roland TB-303, a monophonic analog bass synthesizer, to provide a simple drum and bass accompaniment to guitarists without backing bands.

History [link]

The TR-606 was part of Roland's line of computer-controlled musical instruments that are now very highly sought after. The TB-303 and TR-606 launched in 1981 as a matched pair to provide solo artists the chance to practice without other individuals, solely using the TR-606 and TB-303 as drums and bass lines to practice to, but the programming and artificial sounds made the boxes uncomfortable to use and they soon lost their luster. The group was doomed to an early demise as popular music soon shifted to sampled drum sounds and real bass lines for hit songs, as sample capabilities were the newest development of the late 1980s. At one time, the TR-606 could be found in pawn shops for as little as $50; since the resurgence in popularity of analog drum sounds for electronic music, however, the TR-606 will commonly sell for $400 to $500.

While it did not sell well at first, it did eventually become an integral part of the early acid house electronic music scene, and is still used by many electronic musicians today.

Users [link]

The TR-606 was used by punk rock/noise rock band Big Black and was credited on its records as Roland. It was also used on The Sisters of Mercy's early records.

Outside of rock music, the TR-606 was commonly used by electronica artists Plastikman, Aphex Twin, Mike Ink, and Autechre. Even artists that preferred breakbeats to 4-on-the-floor rhythms used it, seen when 4Hero credited the TR-606 on its well-received album Parallel Universe. Another example was Massive Attack's 1994 album Protection, which prominently used the machine on some tracks, and the CD booklet included a photo of the TR-606 connected to a TB-303. The Swedish electronic band Covenant used it extensively for most of their career, citing it as "one of the most beautifully distortable drum machines ever made".

Sounds [link]

The TR-606 has six synthesized sounds labeled as: Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Hi Tom, Lo Tom, Cymbal and Open/Closed Hi Hat, as well as an additional function labeled accent, which serves to modify the timbre of the main sound set, rather than produce an additional seventh layer.