Remember the 808

A good chunk of this current issue of MMR turns the spotlight on electronic drums & percussion, with significant attention given to how recent (and ever-continuing) technological strides have benefitted both top-level pro performers who make use of increasingly realistic and “tweakable” sounds, as well as entry-level players as kits drop in price.

Those are absolutely valid selling points for suppliers and retailers, to be sure, and it’s a segment of the market I’ve watched with great interest over the past few years as its grown into new levels of acceptance – to the point of being effectively a “must-have” for many. As Roland’s Drew Armentrout notes in this month’s roundtable, “Contemporary music of practically every style requires the modern drummer or percussionist to use some type of electronic percussion. It is simply an essential tool.”

Nonetheless, some retailers remain unconvinced, as demonstrated in this month’s survey.

“Even with most high-end sets you cant get a natural cymbal sound,” says Dan Patterson of Roger’s Pawn & Music in Fort Payne, Alabama. Shane Kinney of New Hampshire’s Drum Center of Portsmouth maintains that, “People buy [electronic drums & percussion] for volume issues. They would prefer to buy acoustic. It’s a diminishing focus for us.” And, of course, there were plenty who told us they simply don’t or won’t sell electronic percussion instruments.

As a peripheral, but related issue, as we’ve been putting together the content for this month, I’ve been thinking more and more about the venerable drum machines of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Much like analog synths, which have seen a healthy resurgence in popular culture in recent years (see Paige Tutt’s feature on KORG’s reissue of the ARP Odyssey in our October 2015 issue or our in-depth cover story on the larger topic in our May 2014 issue), decades’-old drum machines are getting a plenty of play in contemporary music.

The most visible example of this phenomenon is Roland’s TR-808 – an instrument which, interestingly, wasn’t particularly embraced by players and producers of the time when it was introduced in 1980. Digital sampling was all the rage back then and the 808’s analog-generated sounds went against the grain.

Cue to the present day, however, and the TR-808 is an iconic instrument whose sounds have helped define innumerable hip hop, dance, and electronic music hits, with no end in sight (and one which, by the way, is distinguished by not being particularly capable of producing those realistic, “natural” drum sounds).

When asked in the current issue of SPIN what they expect the music of 2040 to sound like, top producers give shout outs to the time-tested machine: “Extensive use of Abelton, software synths like massive and nexus, vocal chops, 32-triplet hi-hats and 808 drums,” says Tor Erik Hermansen (Stargate). While Danja (Britney Spears, M.I.A.) offers, “It seems urban music becomes the basis for pop as the years go by, so I’ll say 808s and sub basses, moody pads and vocal samples, urban based hip-hop style production.”

You can’t necessarily predict what instruments or gadgets will take off and wind up having lifespans that stretch across generations and musical tastes. While hardly alone as an emerging and evolving instrument category, electronic drums & percussion have already proven to many their worth and potential for profit. At the very least, keep an open mind and your ear to the ground. Sales very often go to the early adopters and quick thinkers.