Roland TR-606
TR-606 tech specs
!Roland TR-606
- Released: 1982
- Initial price: £178[1] — £185[2]
- Clearance price: £109[3]
- Company: Roland
- Types: Digital step sequencer; drum machine
- Synchronisation: DIN sync
- CPU: 4-bit NEC μPD650
- RAM: 2 KN
The TR-606 was an analogue drum machine made by Roland in the early 1980s. It's essentially a cut-down TR-808, with only seven of its sounds present, in simplified form.
The hi-hat has some useful quirks: triggering an open and closed hi-hat at the same time makes a different sound; and the tempo knob affects the open hi-hat's decay length, even if it's externally synced and otherwise ignoring the internal tempo.
Quotes
The hi-hat's quite good on the 606, you can get quite good feels on it if you know what to do with the hi-hat, what hi-hat players would play, and of course Richard does.
— Chris Heaton, Landscape, 1982[4]
Notable users
- Aphex Twin[5]
- Autechre[6][7][8]
- Ian Boddy[9]
- The Future Sound of London[10]
- A Guy Called Gerald[11][12]
- Richie Hawtin[13]
- Landscape[4]
- Moby[14][15]
- Mr. Oizo[16]
- The Orb[17]
- Jesse Saunders[18]
Technical notes
The TR-606 uses a 4-bit NEC μPD650 microprocessor, and two NEC μPD444s for a combined 2048 nibbles of RAM.[19]
It can trigger up to eight things at once, seven sounds and one accent: ACcent, Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Low Tom, High Tom, CYmbal, Open Hi-hat, and Closed Hi-hat. This suggests each position in the sequence uses 8 bits (2 nibbles). As with the TR-808, this means the one global accent is shared amongst all sounds at once.
References
- "Soho Soundhouse" Soho Soundhouse (Vendor), Electronics & Music Maker, Oct 1982
- "Future Music" Future Music (Vendor), Electronics & Music Maker, Oct 1982
- "Soho Soundhouse" Soho Soundhouse (Vendor), Electronics & Music Maker, Jan 1986
- "Landscape On The Horizon" Tony Bacon, Music UK, Aug 1982
- "Aphex Twin studio collage"
- "Aural Technology Redefined?" Simon Trask, Future Music, Jan 1995
- "Autechre: Techno-logical" Christopher Holder, Sound On Sound, Nov 1997
- "Autechre" Paul Tingen, Sound On Sound, Apr 2004
- "Stagefright" Ian Boddy, Electronics & Music Maker, Aug 1984
- "Past, Present and Future" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Aug 1992
- "A Guy Called Gerald" Vie Marshall, Micro Music, Oct 1989
- "Voodoo Chile" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Apr 1990
- "Kracked Plastik" Roger Brown, The Mix, Dec 1994
- Everything Is Wrong Moby, 1995
- "Recording Moby's 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?'" Tom Flint, Sound On Sound, Feb 2000
- "Key 1999 Tracks: Mr. Oizo — 'Flat Beat'" Chal Ravens, 2019
- "The Orb" Mark Prendergast, Sound On Sound, May 1993
- House Music... The Real Story Jesse Saunders, 2007, ISBN 1-4241-8994-2
- "TR-606 service notes" Roland, Jan 1982
External links
Reviews
- "Roland TR606" Tony Bacon, Electronics & Music Maker, Feb 1982
- "Roland Beatboxes" One Two Testing, Jan 1983
- "Beat On The Cheap" Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music, Feb 1984
Modifications
- "Roland Drumatix Modifications" Brian Jones, Electronics & Music Maker, Feb 1984
- "Workbench" Phil Walsh, International Musician & Recording World, Jan 1986
Downloads
Documentation
- "Roland catalogue volume 2" Roland, 1981
- "Roland catalogue volume 7" Roland, 1984
- "TR-606 manual" Roland
- "TR-606 service notes" Roland, Jan 1982
Samples
- TR-606 samples Ed Vargo, 1995
Digital step sequencers: Behringer RD-6 | Roland TB-303 | Roland TR-606 | Roland TR-808
Drum machines: Behringer RD-6 | Roland R-8 | Roland TR-606 | Roland TR-808 | Roland TR-909