CR-78
CR-78 tech specs
Roland CR-78
- Released: 1978
- Company: Roland
- Type: Drum machine (digital step sequencer; drum synthesiser)
- Synchronisation: 12 PPQN V-trig clock[1]
- CPU: 8-bit NEC μPD8048C-015[2]
- RAM: 64 KB[2]
- ROM: 1 KB[2]
The CR-78 was an analogue drum machine released by Roland in 1978.
It naturally doesn't sound as good as the subsequent TR-808 or even TR-606, with its sounds being a little too simplistic. Still, it was programmable, and an important step on the way to the TR-808.
Quotes
I'm a great fan of drum machines, I like them. On the first two albums I used the Roland square box one for "In the Air" and "This Must Be Love", for example. It had a very distinct sound. You couldn't get any really good drum sounds, but that made it easy to play against with real drums.
— Phil Collins, 1985[3]
I still get ideas as soon as the CR-78 Drum machine gets switched on, and certain synths will do that too. The Vocoder Plus always generates a song idea, and so does the Juno-60. The ARP is mainly used for completing the songs and generating extreme sounds.
— John Foxx, 2011[4]
Oh, I think we've come to understand each other very well over the years. The CR-78 is a marvellous, accidental confection — a non-dancing Japanese programmer's mathematical reconstruction of western dance patterns, intended for use as a cabaret accompaniment device.
Serious recording engineers despised it. But they were wrong.
I immediately realized that this machine offered an entirely new approach to percussion. Its rhythms are so bizarre that it is impossible to get anything conventional out of it. If you make it central in a recording, you immediately have a unique sonic layout and pattern, a new kind of matrix, in which you can easily position other equally delicious sounds, like a piece of abstract sculpture. That is how it demanded that you create something not heard before. Any instrument that can make such demands is infinitely valuable.
— John Foxx, 2011[4]
Notable users
Technical notes
The CR-78 uses an 8-bit NEC μPD8048C-015 microcontroller.[2]
References
- "CR-78 manual" Roland, Nov 1980
- "CR-78 service notes" Roland, Jun 1979
- "In The Chair Tonight" Paul Colbert, One Two Testing, Jan 1985, pp. 60—62
- "Stereoklang in an Exclusive Talk With Synth Pioneer John Foxx" Steelberry Clones, Jan 2011
- "How We Made: Heart of Glass" Dave Simpson, The Guardian, Apr 2013
Downloads
Documentation
Catalogues
- "Roland General Catalogue, Volume 4" Roland, May 1979, p. 39
- "Roland General Catalogue, Volume 5" Roland, Dec 1979, p. 40
- "Roland Keyboard Catalogue, Volume 1" Roland, Oct 1980, p. 28
- "Roland Keyboard Catalogue, Volume 2" Roland, Oct 1981, p. 32
- "Roland Keyboard Catalogue, Volume 4" Roland, Oct 1982, p. 6
Manuals
- "CR-78 manual" Roland, Nov 1980
Service notes
- "CR-78 service notes" Roland, Jun 1979
Digital step sequencers: CR-78 | MC-202 | MS-1 | RD-6 | RE-808 | SH-101 | TB-303 | TR-606 | TR-808
Drum machines: CR-78 | R-8 | RD-6 | RE-808 | TR-606 | TR-808 | TR-909
Roland: Boss | CR-78 | DCB | Edirol | JV-1080 | Juno-6 | Juno-60 | Juno-106 | MC-4 | MC-8 | MC-202 | MPU-101 | R-8 | RS-101 | RS-202 | SH-5 | SH-101 | SN-R8 series | SN-U110 series | SO-PCM1 series | SR-JV80 series | System-100 | System-100M | TB-303 | TR-606 | TR-808 | TR-909 | U-110 | VP-330 | W-30
