Bad Gear - Roland TR-505 - Worst Digital Drum Machine Of All Time???
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- In this episode of Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools, we will talk about the probably least sought-after member of the Roland TR family, the Roland TR-505. Can we find some use for the static 12 bit samples of this 80s relic?
❤Thanks to Alf & the Kommando Elefant Crew for their support. All Kommando Elefant material used with permission❤
Listen to the full song: • KOMMANDO ELEFANT - Sch...
❤Thanks to Thorsten for being the drummer❤
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I miss my little 505. Sold it cause everyone gave me flak about it being "Old sounding". Never will I bow to peer pressure. Now to hit EBay and find me another.
Do it! And mod it! th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
@@AudioPilz damn you and your charming German persuasion.
@@monkeyhammar thäts wot wee arr known forr
I will never call LED lights LED's again after learning about Lauflicht. Thank you.
Lauflicht 4 Life ❤
If you see a 505 going cheap it’s a no-brainer, just buy it. Depending on your favourite genre it’s sounds are brilliant or terrible, but that’s not the point. Assuming the MIDI OUT port works, each of the 16 parts can be assigned its own MIDI note number AND its own MIDI channel. That makes it ripe for triggering external modules like the Novation Drumstation as well as units that are a PITA to program locally such as the Quasimidi 309. There’s more of interest to the 505 than first meets the eye, if it has a working MIDI OUT port of course. Mine does 😁
Mine is modded to F so I contemplate getting another one ;)
Good midi tip. Super easy to program too. Thanks!!!!!!
Exactly - I use this to trigger Samples of higher end samples in Battery 4 for example - plus the MIDI Drum Patterns are great as well and recordable via your MIDI OUT into your DAW.
Wait, can you explain further? You are using the TR 505 to trigger sounds from another module via midi 1-16 in the daw ? I have an mpc2500 but the damn thing does not allow for multitimbrality, I can only trigger one channel via daw (pad1-16 on the MPC midi channel 1 for example) So I wonder if somehow I could use this trick to turn it into a multitimbral module somehow since it does have several midi channels.
505 is awesome, works so well in synth pop/industial/ebm/indie dance/syntn wave. i love the hats & snare
Well, mine has changed... th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
true!!! the best music for these drum machines is the soviet post punk music ! the vinyl tune acoustic with new twist th-cam.com/video/zntW_FPsWyg/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=ZvezdaPolyn%27-Topic
th-cam.com/video/aAHjvPTDj8A/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=%D0%9A%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%90%D1%80%D1%81%D1%8F
I know this video is old but the jam goes hard!!!
Sounds very joy division
I'll never get over how good the production quality of your videos is.
Thanks!
I love how you actually used the drum machine in context with a song as part of your review. Tanks
Thanks, man. Glad to hear that
Back in '86, as a 16 year old, I befriended some buskers who were using a TR-505 with the note values of the majority of the pads mapped to play bass notes through MIDI on a DX100. Pet Shop Boys covers featuring sequenced drums and bass with digital effects pedals in the high street, powered by a car battery - I couldn't believe my young eyes and ears!
Cool technique!
Necessity I mean lack of gear is the Mother of Invention
The haunting sound of 505 is really underrated. The drum machine for Joy Division if Ian never did suicide.
Agreed! Very close to the 707
Don't forget to check out the supercharged 909 version of the TR-505
th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
Try washing the equipment BEFORE YOU MAKE A VIDEO!!! ITS GROSS!!!!!!
love your song
1:53 That dry kick is awesome for many styles.
A bit like the Linn kick.
Soft but punchy, not aggressive or boomy. I love it
I really like it a lot but after modding it sounds like a 909. It REALLY packs some punch now
@@AudioPilz Yeah ;) It's soft but very versatile.
Can be used for both pop and metal with some tweaking
I hope that one day Rammstein actually makes a song called Lauflicht. Sounds pretty badass tbh
That would be an honor!
Haha, this was a very enjoyable angle.
Look forward to the next "bad gear" review.
Thank you so much. Working on it!
Mr Ball!!!!
I paid £200 for one in about 1988, the sounds were totally unsuitable for what I was into (House/Acid), the tempo knob was really difficult to get the exact BPM you needed, and even when you did the tempo would often drift a few BPM faster or slower. I don't miss it.
The tempo drift of the 505 is legendary
Actually the sounds are perfect for house and acid and the 707 which the 505 shares its sounds with was used on the first acid track. The problem is that the 505 has only stereo output. The kick is pretty weak without processing. I just use an expanded TR-8 for this sound now. I owned a 505 for years and it was good as a secondary drum machine to layer with another one (in my case it was the Electribe ER-1) and yeah the 505 can not be the master clock source it drifts like mad. I use an Alesis MMT-8 as my master clock source and while that seems to be 1 BPM faster than it should be its drift is only by a few points of a BPM which is great for a sequencer design from 1987.
@@DragonGrafx-16 The only track I ever heard that used this drum machine was Virgo - Do You Know Who You Are. The drums sound at odds with the rest of the track! th-cam.com/video/nKfnfXDAhN0/w-d-xo.html
@@NathanJayMusic The 505 has the same sounds as the 707 and 727 (not all but a mix of the two), it doesn't sound as good as you can't process any of the sounds separately Sure the 505 specifically might not have ever been used much for house but it's not a fault of the sounds themselves.
@@DragonGrafx-16 505 was used a lot
It’s not bad gear, it’s bad users 😅
Sometimes it's both ;)
@@AudioPilz No, it's only ever bad users. Anyone with imagination can make use of any gear.
well id say its pretty bad feature that it sounds bad out of the box and have to use other gear to make it right but at least you can make it right
@@torontotonto6189 Thats the thing it doesn't sound bad out of the box. That's an exaggeration, i find that most people that have extreme opinions like this make shitty music or can't create at all.
@@kensmechanicalaffair its literally a mini 707 dont understand why the same people that praise the 707 hate the 505 sound wise
It's amazing how musically talented you are on top of your superb video editing chops. You're a whole package.
That is very flattering. Thanks!
@@AudioPilz if you ever start making tutorials then i could really use and "how to make your drum machine sound more like rock drums" tutorial would be really nice, like version where you mostly use hardware instead of software and or maybe even "how to do industrial drums" tutorial. I personally have behringer 808 and only this week discovered how awesome it sounds with digital delay pedal after it.
I used it as a sequencer in the 90s it had a solid midi implementation I used it to drive my asrx pro.
True! Nice sequencer for electronic music. Don't forget to check out the modded version th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
I have always loved the sound this machine makes. Classic 1980's and I own two of them.
You can't have enough of those 80s relics ;)
I love that you're combining the Alesis 3630 with the TR-505. Nothing like combining bad gear with bad gear.
I'm really impressed with not just the results of the sound but your musical sensibilities. Your style is vast and interesting. I'm really digging the musical creations on display!
Edit: Also, you've got a really great singing voice!
Thanks!
"Nothing like combining bad gear with bad gear" true statement
I love the TR-505 had two of them at one point. Kept the circuit bent one :P
Damn, still haven't started working on the circuit bending episode
Damn man, you make all the bad gear sound good and you can even sing! Thnx for these amazing videos, and definitely no autotune:)
Thank you!!!
This thing is so underrated the sounds are helldry so it does well with multi-efx machines like Boss ME-30 or Digitech 256XL. Best feature of it is it's MIDI omni mode as a mini midi sequencer it can't be beat that alone makes it a great trigger & all-time keeper for me folks
Dry as a bone!
My first drum machine. Doesn't do a lot well but great for that 80s goth sound.
Instant 80s goodness
First video I ever saw where a chart-topping single was created just for a demo of some bad gear. Kewl!
Thank you so much!
Seems to me based on what it pulled from you, it’s a pretty inspiring bit of kit. And it sounded just right while doing it.
At a time like this, I wish either that my DTX multi 12 had more than the stereo output itself or that I had a power supply for my other Yamaha drum machine, the RX5.
It holds a special memory slot for me - used it with a Mirage and S-10 for simple bassline sequencing and drums. Took a lot of processing, but it was rock solid and did the job well!
80s homestudio workhorse
Did the same thing 'cept with Kurz K2k still doin' to this day good setup for me thanx dude.
@@AudioPilz...as stated in previous reply with a Kurz K2k it's a '90's studio workhorse' as well as it is in this day & age thanx dude.
It's been a while since I've smiled this much, over a "product-review". Excellent editing, clever "visual-puns", and yet very subjective-informative! Nice one AP! Kudos.
Thanks man, it means a lot to me!
The 505 is good. What you talking about lol. Great for house. It's got it's own sound.
I don't hate it, I just reflect on the hate of others...
@@AudioPilz Fair enough lol.
love the 'like and subscribe" sample, wasn't expecting that.. that ticked some boxes.
Thanks!
It’s a very cool piece of gear indeed. I stuck a rom hack in it and now have the option of using both Linn and DMX samples at the flick of a switch. Usually I just sequence it with my BSP and that’s just fine most of the time. Individual outs is a simple and very usable mod that’s next on the todo-list.
Got mine hacked too! Great!
Holy crap, I randomly came across this video and it is bursting with quality! My guy, you've earned a like and subscription from me.
Thank you so much!
Late to the party on this one but needed to say that out of the 207,281 videos of yours I watched recently this one certainly "rocked" the most. Thank you!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane
I own four of these, and am rather fond of them.
Mod at least one of them th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
@@AudioPilz I was excited to find out that there are also eproms for the Linn Drum and DX. I'll look into it, as I know someone with excellent soldering skills (and the equipment.)
@@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5 HKA will have more kits ready in October if you haven't grabbed one already. Honestly, super easy to solder this kind of stuff (large contacts/components) and individual outs on the 505 are also incredibly easy to do also.
When I had mine I discovered by accident that when it was near a uv lamp it actually pitched up the drum sounds and made them snappier sort of like what you would hear on early Prodigy stuff.
I sold it in the end for a Dr Rhythm that had no midi capabilities but had sounds that were excellent especially the clap sounds
Interesting! I have to try that!
Haha, I bet that was radio interference from the ballast
I want to hear more of that rock song! See kids, that's what talent looks like.
Thank you so much!!!
Hoffe, dass dein Kanal weiter wächst! Die Videos und das Editing sind immer einfach nur genial! Super stoked that I found your channel.
Danke!
I have two of them. It was all I had to make drum tracks from the 80s until about 2005. they're fine...the tempo does wander slightly though.
...it is drifting like a glacier
That Jethro Tull Locomotive Breath joke just killed me
Thanks!
My first Drum Machine, i was 20 when i bought it for 80 euros 😅
Since, i bought the TR707, the TR8 Aira, the TR606 and the TR909, but the TR505 is still in my setup !
I love the sounds of this TR505, the only big drawback is the lack of rapid and accessible controls as mini faders, or more knobs and the lack of separated outputs.
Nice!!!
I love my TR 505. The screen is very dim ( crystals leaking maybe?) so its a hard time setting it up from the panel, Therefore I sequence it via MIDI using SEQ24 .
Oh, a Linux aficionado...
Used the 505 to trigg & seq with:
1) Ensoniq Mirage II digital sampler (with MASOS software)
2) Roland D-70 & Juno 106
3) Korg M3R
4) Cakewalk 2002 & Soundblaster II
5) KGB software w Claypipe interface
A little Florian history, Florian rockin' out (on bass!), Florian eating breakfast . . . that's a whole bunch of nicely ticked boxes! And I don't regret for one second that I missed all of this bad music and bad gear back then! 😎
Simpler times;) thanks!!!
The TR-505 is a charming machine. Used to have it. I liked this video and especially the hard rock song featuring the 505. Einfach genial! :)
Besten Dank!
The song was so good I forgot I was watching a video about the TR-505 :-)
Thanks!
3:16 the Volca integration just for the "Like and Subscribe" sample 😂😂
😀
Yet another from your series I've had the pleasure to own. My quickest turnaround on gear ownership, I burnt the chip out the day after I got it when I thought I could lern2bend just by connecting one solder point to the next. This was back in the affordable days and an important lesson that couldn't have happened to a worse piece of gear 🤮
Tragic!
The 80's rock version of the song from the first video was absolutely perfect. Also, I hadn't heard of Komando Elefant, and I might have to start listening to them now that I know that you worked with them.
Thank you so much!!!
I like these old EPROM drum machines. Some are better than others but they have a certain punchiness (usually) that in the context can be quite useful. In this vein, I have the Boss DR-220E. It's not right for everything but for synthwave it fits like a glove.
Have you heard the modified version? th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
Just found your channel in my TH-cam recommendations. Instant subscribe after the first video and am already getting sucked down the rabbit hole of your bag gear playlist. Bad gear or no, you make great music across a bunch of genres, the video content stays interesting the whole time, perfect length, and the video editing is on point! I really hope this channel blows up, you deserve way more than a few thousand subscribers. Geiler scheiß alter! 😁
Besten Dank!
"Chase light" would be the closest English equivalent for "Lauflicht". If it goes back-and-forth then it's a "scanner light".
older English-speaking computer programmers call them Blinkenlights/blickenlichten. a reference to a very old joke.
slightly younger, but still old would say it's like Knight Rider's car (KITT) or the Cylon scanner.
Thanks for the heads up!!!
I had one of those bought at the Rogue blowout and had it ripped off by someone I allowed to stay in my apartment in NY for a few days. Lesson: never let anyone you don't know really well stay in your place, especially in NY ! Lesson #2: I should have bought a 909 they were also blowing out. Don't let a sales guy talk you into buying a drum machine because "it sounds more like a real drummer" LOL OTOH having a 909 ripped off would be far more traumatic now.
Back in the day, we replaced the tr505 with the Yamaha rx15. We were in heaven, more punch and cooler sounds. Now years later we understand we were in hell. The tr505 sits way better in a mix than the rx15.
It always finds its place...
had one of these back in the early 90s.... found memories of it, but no way I'd buy one again, especially considering how much they are going for now.... think I'll stick to my Elektron Digitakt
Digitakt is so great!
I LOVED my 505! Got it as a pawn shop special back in 93' and made a zillion demos on my Tascam Porta 01. The 505 finally died back in 2016...I miss that relic!
After modding it I'm thinking about getting a second one
This channel will go right through the roof. :-) Great videos, very entertaining!
Thank you so much! If you liked this, don't forget to check out the TR-505 modding episode (I'm really kinda proud of that one;)
Another great video! Fantastico supreme!
Thank you!!!
Ngl, just bought one and it’s awesome!! Got the eprom package that emulates linn drum and a few others. It sounds so good paired with my Rhythm Wolf.
Cool, I need to get a more versatile eprom update too!
I think the MIDI out on my 505 might be broken as well? I really like the 505's built-in pattern sequencing, and I was hoping to use the MIDI out to sequence some Garageband drums but the triggering is broken, no matter what I try.
edit: The MIDI out is now working properly when I use the Mio USB MIDI adapter. Still doesn't work with the MIDI interface built into my audio interface. The TR505 ain't so bad after all ;)
I would just LOVE to hang out in your studio with you for a deep dive into your gear! I'll even bring some wine from the Weinviertel. Or beer if you prefer. :)
We should be able to find a mode for that!
Did I miss this one. Lol great production
Thank you so much!!!
i bought this like 5 years ago... it has a special place in my heart but i barely use it... i can't even really use it as a midi-controller because the midi latency is so bad.
Mod it! th-cam.com/video/pPUYGK80yc0/w-d-xo.html
Yall sleeping on the TR-505! Love making beats with it!
Classic!!!
Your videos are entertaining. Thank you
Thanks! It means a lot to me...
Japanese Pop group ZIN-SÄY!’s keyboardist Kim Glison used this before her husband Hitori Etsu joined on drums. You can hear this on their song Merry (メリー), which is the last song on their 1988 release As A Face… (顔として･･･)
This is amazing! please bring back the singing and bass playing!
Thanks! I haven't practiced in a while tho;)
Love the videos! Nice to hear about the forgotten 505. Question, what bass do you own? Is it a fender?
Thanks! Originally a Fender player, I now mostly use an old modified Danelectro with flatwounds
Love the Outrun intro!
It's from the same year as the TR505;)
@@AudioPilz That's excellent!
Any chance to review a BOSS DR-110. Now that was a limited machine although it predated all the mini sized Korg stuff by a couple decades 😂! I managed to get some nice tunes out of it with pedals of course!
Great idea, I'll take a closer look!