Roland R-8 MKII Human Rhythm Composer 1990s

A very rare classic, in excellent condition. Comes with original Roland AC adapter.



Please inspect photos as cosmetic condition description.



"The rhythm, the rebel.

Here is the real deal. A rare R8 MK2 in great condition from my personal collection. There is a reason why studios want these so bad. It's considered one of the all time classics for it's ease of use and ability to ad the human factor by altering the sound of the strokes and behind the beat timing to.give an authentic drum sound.

Featuring a number the rhythm pages of many software based sequencers, plus sampled rhythm loops - both of which can now offer similar levels of 'rhythmic humanising'.

In addition to the preset sounds, you can also create 26 custom sounds using the extensive list of programmable parameters, including Pitch (covering a useful +/- 4 octaves), decay and the aforementioned Nuance, (which simulates the different timbres you get when you strike acoustic instruments in different places.) Apart from global editing of each sound, the R-8 allows you to dynamically change the main sound parameters as you record rhythms. You can achieve this via MIDI using the R-8's performance functions which allows you to assign sound parameters (pitch, volume, nuance etc.) to MIDI controllers data.

All these humanising functions (and this is only a brief summary) are easy to program. Less so are the Feel Patches which can be assigned to patterns to change further the inflections you might already have built into them. It's impossible to explain how the system works without adding a few more pages to this review, but I can assure you the system does work. However, there's a steep learning curve involved (ye gods! you might even have to read the manual). And I suppose there's a certain irony in the fact that getting a machine to mimic the spontaneity (not to mention the wit and enthusiasm) of real drummers, should involve much sweating over programming buttons.

But enough of humans. What of the rhythm composer bit? Briefly: 32 preset rhythm patterns, 200 user-programmed ones and 10 song memories. Max pattern length is 99 bars; available time signatures range from the sublime to the ridiculous; quantise can go as low as 1/96 with further adjustment of notes possible to resolutions of 1/384.

Complex, but ultimately a rewarding experience, it's fair to say that the R-8 gives you virtually everything you could want from a standalone drum machine - possibly too much for many people. For that reason, I can understand Roland's decision to go for what amounts to a minor upgrade rather than a new model. Add more features and you'd lose any semblance of user-friendliness."