In 1985, Roland
released the now-famous TR-707
and TR-727 Rhythm
Composers. Taking their rightful
places next to other classic Roland
rhythm machines, this dynamic
duo of drums and percussion has
appeared on hit tracks in a long
list of genres.
Thanks to our Analog Circuit
Behavior technology, you can now
have the authentic sound and
experience of these influential drum
machines right inside your DAW,
with modern upgrades that take them
to all-new territory.
Here we have an instance of the
TR-707 plug-in.
As you can see, the layout is very
similar to that of the original
hardware with all of the individual
volume faders right here on the
top. And this feature became
very important for the 707
and 727 because they both found
a home with a lot of early live
electronic acts, and having
access to the volume of each part
was very important for playing live.
Now, this feature is still present
on modern Roland drum machines
such as the TR-8S and TR-6S.
The original sequencer has been
replaced with a much more powerful
modern sequencer, which we can open
up to edit by pressing the Edit
button here or by clicking on
the Matrix readout on the top.
Now, we can also change the look and
feel of the sequencer to be more
like the original or more of a grid
layout like you see here.
If we go to Option and
we change Edit Window to LCD,
you can see the sequencer looks much
more like the original.
Keeping the sequencer with the more
modern look, let's take a look at
some of the features.
Just like other legendary drum
machines on Roland Cloud, the
sequencer can play up to eight
variations of one bar each
and those can be chained together or
played individually and recalled
via MIDI.
Right now we're playing four
variations--A through D--in
a chain, and below we
can see that we can edit those
variations individually
by selecting which one we're editing
or we can show the currently
playing variation.
Let's focus just on variation A
right now.
One of the coolest features of the
707 and 727
was its ability to have two
different sounds on one track
alternating.
So you can see on the top we have
rimshot and cowbell, handclap
and tambourine, as well
as the two different hi-hats coming
through on one volume track.
But for these alternate instruments,
we can click the Alt button
on the sequencer here and we can
input them like
this.
We have a handclap.
Let's put some tambourines in
between.
And some may choose to always
had the Alt button pressed, because
when you press twice, that
alternate sound will turn into
the original sound.
And this is really useful to
maximize the amount of sound you can
get out of one track.
You'll also notice that there are
alternate instruments for the snare
drum and the bass drum.
Let's take a listen to some of the
differences.
Switched up that bass drum and we'll
hear the different snares.
All right.
We also have the ability to
put in flams and sub steps.
Let's try some sub steps.
Nice.
And of course, along the top, we'll
see a sequencer just for the overall
accent.
And we have a accent strength volume
just up here. Along
the left side of the sequencer,
you'll see Variable Shuffle for
each instrument.
So essentially, you've got your
Master Shuffle up here and
you can tweak the strength of the
shuffle for each instrument down
here. You've got Mute and
Solo.
And also you'll see above,
we have Last Step.
Now, this will set the last step in
the sequence for each instrument
individually
so you can get some pretty wild
stuff going on.
As you can see, different sequences
playing different lengths, get some
really interesting results really
quickly.
In the early 1980s, as our
technology was progressing from the
analog 808 to the hybrid
909, the
707 and 727 had a digital
core using eight and six-bit
PCM sample ROMs for each
instrument with an overall PCM
clock speed of 25 kilohertz.
However, when playing sampled sounds
with the decay at these low bit
rates, there would be quantization
noise as the decay progressed.
It was for this reason that we
decided to use non- decaying
waveforms, which then,
after the digital to analog
converters, passed through analog
VCAs with envelopes controlling
the decay. All of these inner
workings of the originals have been
faithfully recreated here using
our Analog Circuit Behavior
technology.
The original versions of these drum
machines did not have any options
for editing or altering the sounds
at all without hardware
modifications.
But with these recreations, we've
opened up that authentic circuit to
be manipulated creatively,
taking the 707 and 727
into brand new sonic
territories--territories that
would not be possible by simply
sampling the original hardware.
To access and modify these
parameters, simply click the Panel
button on the right-hand side.
And here we can see how we can edit
each individual instrument.
We have Tune and Decay for
everything individually,
but also we have Attack on the kick
drum and Snappy on the snare
drum. Let's take a listen to a beat
and we'll edit it as we go.
First off, we could crank up the
Tune of our toms
and we could tighten up our hi-hat
decay.
Also, all of these controls
can be mapped out to MIDI
CC for automation.
Let's go ahead and automate the
closed hi-hat decay.
Nice. I'm
going to go ahead and solo the kick.
We can really change the character
by tuning it down,
opening that decay all the way up.
And as we add more of the
Attack parameter, you'll
hear this awesome blown-out sound,
and that's that analog circuit
after the PCM waves getting
driven a little bit more with that
envelope.
Furthermore, let's solo our toms
with the kick, and you'll notice
that we have an Effects knob on each
instrument track. Now, the Effects
knob is a mix of bit reduction and
the way in which the PCM wave
is being read.
We can get really wild with this
one.
You'll also notice this knob up
here, which is PCM Clock.
Now, as mentioned, the original
sampling frequency was 25 kilohertz.
But here we can change that
internally all the way up to 100
and all the way down to
6.25.
Now, we'll use some automation, and
let's listen to a drum fill that
moves through a different clock
frequency at every bar, moving
from high to low.
And finally, if we push the Panel
button once more, we'll see some
additional parameters which are
Panning for each instrument as
well as Gain.
Now, the gain comes before
the main level control
and increasing the gain will push
that instrument through the analog
circuitry, adding even more
character.
You can see here we have the option
for drag and drop as MIDI
or audio. And this is a very
powerful feature which allows you to
take any of your variations and
drag them into your DAW as
an audio file or
MIDI data.
Let's leave it on audio and we
will pull this fill we
have on the sequencer now over into
an audio track.
And let's take a look.
Now we have the audio
rendered here, we can use it
as a loop, we can edit it further,
do whatever we want.
The Sub Out button allows you to
select any of the individual
instruments and remove them from
the main mix on the audio track
where you have your plug-in. These
instruments will be available on
other tracks in your DAW, which
means that you can record them and
process them completely separately
from the rest.
With all of these options for new
sonic exploration, you can explore
through some of the many patterns
and kits included with
the TR-707 and 727.
Now, let's take a look at the
TR-727, and I'd
like to quickly point out that on
both drum machines under Option,
you can change the layout to be a
little bit more compact and
also to show more of an aged
front panel.
Let's leave it like that. And we'll
open up the sequencer and we'll take
a listen.
Now, with the TR-727, you're not
going to find any kicks, snares,
hi-hats, or claps.
But what you will find are 15
Latin-inspired instruments that
help fill out your drum beats and
add a lot of groove to your tracks.
Also, it's worth pointing out the
727 really benefits
from things like sub steps and flams
on instruments like congas and
timbales.
And of course,
we've got the same type of sound
modification that we have on
the 707,
really tighten things up, change the
tuning and
of course, add
some of the effects.
Playing around with the PCM Clock
on the 727 yields some really
interesting results.
Let's open up our sequencer and
change our Panel view and we'll play
this basic conga sequence and we'll
see what we can do.
Let's go ahead and crank that PCM
Clock all the way down.
All right.
Now, those congas have turned into
some cool percussive bass part
with a lot of low end.
Let's even try the cabasa
and maracas.
Nice.
And the short whistle
and star chime.
OK, on top of that, let's add
a little bit of modulation to the
tuning of one of those congas.
All right. And let's add in some
707.
All right, let's have some more fun
with both instruments together and
then we're going to add some other
Roland Cloud Legendary plug-ins
to round it all off.
So here we've got our 707--make
that sound a little tighter. Let's
add in our 727.
All right, let's add some 303.
And I've got that 303 running
through the ZENOLOGY FX Modulation
Delay. And
finally, put some SH-101
in there to add the bass.
And this is a great example of where
these controls
really come in handy for
more practical purposes.
As you can hear that agogo, it's
not really in tune with the track.
Let's go to the TR-727
agogo Tune and we'll turn
it down.
Now, that's sitting much better.
The
TR-707 and TR-727
are among the most influential drum
machines ever made, and they're both
available now at Roland Cloud.
To find out more, go to Roland.com.