Roland TR-808 User manual

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MIDI INTERFACE ROLAND
TR-808 DRUM MACHINE
USING THE MIDI INTERFACE
Your TR-808 drum is now equipped to send and receive MIDI information. When turned on the machine will
function normall , sending out and receiving MIDI note & velocit information on the channels set in memor . The
factor channel settings are: receive chan 10 omni off transmit chan 10 and Stop/start TX/RX enabled Clock
information is alwa s sent and Start/stop information is sent and received if enabled. (Not channel sensitive)
YOU CAN RETURN TO THE FACTORY MIDI SETTINGS BY SWITCHING THE MACHINE ON WHILST
HOLDING THE RED BUTTON PRESSED (hold for a couple of seconds)
With the rear panel switch set to normal (up) the TR-808 drum will run from its own internal clock and will send out
MIDI timing information at a rate determined b the tempo control. With the rear panel switch in the down position
however, it will run from MIDI s nc at the rate set b the MIDI device connected. If no MIDI timing information is
present then the TR-808 drum will not run.
Some drum machines/sequencers ma not send start/stop codes, in this case pressing the start switch on the TR-
808, will make it wait until MIDI clock/s nc is present.
You can make the TR-808 ignore start/stop codes b selecting it from the programming mode described in the next
paragraph, when set to disable the TR-808 will neither respond to, nor send start/stop codes - when enabled (the
default condition) start/stop codes will be both sent and received.
RED PUSH BUTTON
Two modes are available b pushing the red push button. Before ou do press the red button however, make sure
the TR-808 drum is not pla ing, otherwise the results ma be unpredictable.
1) SET-UP MODE - Setting MIDI channels and assignments (start-stop etc)
Give the red push button a short press (half a second) - then release. Follow this with a note or sequence of notes
(on the remote ke board) as detailed on page 2. After selecting a channel ou will be automaticall returned to
pla ing mode but after making assignments ou will need to press the ENTER ke (Top C) to return to pla ing
mode. (N.B. set-ups are stored in non volatile memor ).
2) MAPPING MODE - assigning MIDI notes to sounds
Press the red button hold for about six seconds - then release. Follow this (on the remote ke board) with a program
change number, then an MIDI note. The drum sound specified b that program change number will be mapped to
the ke ou pressed. You ma keep assigning drum sounds to ke s in the same fashion (program then ke ). When
ou have assigned all the sounds that ou want to, press an invalid program change number (12 and above), ou
will then be automaticall returned to normal pla mode. On page 3 is a list of which program numbers correspond
to what drum sounds.
N.B. The red button can be "pressed via MIDI - see last page.

C Receive channel 1 [ Bottom C ] MIDI note number 36
Db " " 2
D " " 3
Eb " " 4
E " " 5
F " " 6
Gb " " 7
G " " 8 Selecting a receive channel
Ab " " 9 will automaticall put the
A " " 10 MIDI into omni off mode.
Bb " " 11 That is, it will receive on
B " " 12 the selected channel onl .
C " " 13
Db " " 14
D " " 15
Eb " " 16
E Omni on mode
F Transmit channel 1
Gb " " 2 The transmit channel can be
G " " 3 changed independentl of the
Ab " " 4 of the receive channel, and
A " " 5 can be set even during omni
Bb " " 6 on mode.
B " " 7
C " " 8 [ Middle C ] MIDI note number 60
Db " " 9
D " " 10 default
Eb " " 11
E " " 12
F " " 13
Gb " " 14
G " " 15
Ab " " 16
A Not Used - - -
Bb " "
B " "
C " "
Db " "
D " "
Eb " "
E " "
F " "
Gb " "
G " "
Ab " "
A " "
Bb " "
B " "
C " "
Db " "
D Continue message ignored
Eb Continue treated as Start not true continue (default)
E Disable start and stop through MIDI (both In and Out)
F Enable start and stop through MIDI (default)
Gb Set mode 1 velocit sensitive receive mode (default)
G Set mode 0 two level receive (normal/accent)
Ab " "
A " "
Bb " "
B " "
C ENTER ke Press and release. [ Top C ] MIDI note no. 96

Program >> 1 - Bass Drum 7 - hand ClaP/MAracas
2 - Snare Drum 8 - Cow Bell
3 - Low Tom/Low Conga 9 - CYmbal
4 - Mid Tom/Mid Conga 10 - Open Hihat
5 - Hi Tom/Hi Conga 11 - Closed Hihat
6 - Rim Shot/Claves
1) Above is a list of how program numbers are used in MAPPING MODE. No matter how the sounds are assigned,
these program numbers alwa s belong to the same sound.
2) An program number above 11 will terminate Mapping mode and return ou to normal pla mode.
3) If ou assign more than one sound to the same MIDI note, onl the most recent one will sound - the original
sound on that note will then be "unassigned" until it has been given a new assignment.
4) Assignments are stored in non volatile memor .
5) The TR-808 will alwa s transmit the assigned drum notes as follows:- Normal notes - velocit 64 (40 hex).
Accented notes - velocit 127 (7F hex).
6) Receive Mode 1 - (factor default setting). The TR-808 will pla the assigned note at the incoming velocit .
7) Receive Mode 0 - The TR-808 will pla the assigned note in two wa s onl received velocit 1 to 79 (1 to 4F hex)
- will pla normal volume received velocit 80 to 127 (50 to 7F hex) will pla accented sound which is adjustable b
the Accent control on the TR-808 This mode is provided so that patterns/songs sent from the TR-808 to a separate
sequencer and stored, can be pla ed back exactl as if the were in the TR-808.
8) Modes 0/1 can be changed from within a song/sequence b sending a "General purpose controller 1" message.
In hexadecimal 0Bx - 10 - nn
Where B is Controller status (0B0 hex)
Where x is the current MIDI receive channel (0 to F hex)
Where 10 is controller number 16 (10 hex) [general purpose controller 1]
Where nn is more than 64 (40 hex) for mode 1 - (velocit mode)
Where nn is less than 64 (40 hex) for mode 0 - (accent mode)
9) "MIDI CONTINUE" is enabled as a factor default but it can be disabled (see table on previous page) - when
enabled "CONTINUE" is treated as a "START" command.
10) When the TR-808 is receiving clock via MIDI (rear panel switch down) the rear panel din s nc socket will also
carr the decoded MIDI clock and stop start control signals - enabling another TR-808 or TB303 to run in s nc with
the incoming MIDI.
11) For the TR-808 to run correctl from MIDI s nc, ou will need to use PRE-SCALE setting number 3 (quarter
notes).
TO SET PRE-SCALE - set pre-scale switch to 3 - set to pattern write 1st part - select pattern ou want to change -
press start button - press clear/pre-scale button until change is heard - press stop - reset to pattern pla - done.

MIDI CONTROL OF RED PUSH BUTTON
The red push button can be "pressed" via MIDI as MIDI switch number 95 (5Fh) for regular program mode or 94
(5Eh) for transpose mode. The selection of the push button is enough, it doesn't matter if it is being turned on or off.
In hexadecimal BX - 5F - 00 = program mode
In hexadecimal BX - 5E - 00 = transpose mode
Where X is the current MIDI channel.
[N.B. whilst in program/transpose modes the MIDI is in omni on mode]
MIDI CONNECTORS
MIDI IN should be connected to a MIDI OUT or a MIDI THRU similarl MIDI OUT should be connected onl to a
MIDI IN and a MIDI THRU should also be connected onl to a MIDI IN.
MIDI OUT is the signal from the s nthesizer (or drum machine etc.) that is to be sent to another instrument. MIDI IN
is a received signal that contains MIDI information from another s nth, and MIDI THRU is an exact cop of
information arriving at the MIDI IN socket. This allows several instruments to be connected together.
If ou want to wire our own MIDI cables the following information ma be useful.
1) Although a 5 pin connector is used, onl two connections plus an
earth connection are required.
2) If ou look at the din plug from the wiring side ou will see that the pins are numbered. From left to right (or
clockwise) these are 1 - 4 - 2 - 5 - 3.
3) The pins numbered 1 & 3 are not used.
4) The screen (earth) is connected to pin 2 (centre pin)
5) Pin 4 of one plug should be connected to pin 4 of the other
6) Pin 5 of one plug should be connected to pin 5 of the other
7) You should now have a working MIDI lead
8) It is preferable to label one end of the cable MIDI IN & the other end MIDI OUT, to avoid confusion.
WARRANT
All Kenton MIDI Kits come with a 12 month (from purchase date) back to base warrant , (i.e. customer must
arrange and pa for carriage to and from Kenton Electronics).
KENTON
electronics
12 Tolworth Rise South, Surbiton, Surrey, KT5 9NN, UK.
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Cop right (c) KENTON Electronics & John Price 1986-1996
e.& o.e. TR8V4008/9307241954/JKP