A 12-voice digital drum machine, released in 1984. Only 10 000 units were produced. The most famous piece of equipment of its kind along with the TR-808.

The 909 offers 11 instruments with separate level controls for each one. Tuning and decay are also available for most of the sounds, with special tone and snap parameters for the snare plus attack for the kick drum.
According to most sources the hat and cymbal sounds are 18KHz 6-bit samples, and the others synthesized.

Both step and real time recording are featured on the sequencer. It's essentially an improved version of the one on TR-808, with shuffle and flam effects plus a display window to ease the programming. Both individual and general accent is included, with only a single selectable level.
The 909's internal memory holds up to 96 patterns in 8 tracks of 896 measures. The capacity can be doubled by using M-64c memory cartridges, and there is even a tape dump interface for saving your patterns.

The back panel features individual audio outputs for each instrument. One MIDI input and two outputs are included, allowing the user to control external sources with the sequencer. The unit can also be synced to an outside MIDI clock. Roland's own DIN sync is supported, but only allows the 909 to be used as slave.


Instruments:
kick
snare
low / mid / high tom
rim shot
hand clap
crash cymbal
ride cymbal
open hi-hat
closed hi-hat

Dimensions/Weight:
486mm x 105mm x 300mm
4.5kg


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