Hi–welcome to the latest episode of GAS [Gear Acquisition Syndrome]! Wife is sick, kid is struggling, work is stressful, so . . . you’ve guessed it, yours truly is nerding out on the latest “Boop Box” that would totally take my music to the next level! Never mind that ever-present truth, the a voice of reason reminding me periodically that I barely have any time to use the extensive and extremely capable rig I already have, and that coveting more is quite absurd!
Today, we’ll be obsessing about Roland’s brilliant TR-8S drum machine. See, my Akai Force is already a powerhouse of a drum machine, but since it’s a jack of all trades and can do a gazillion things, it lacks that kind of “knob-per-function” immediacy that’d let me really dial in easy per-drum mutes, live parameter tweaks, and exciting drum fills the way that I could with this bad boy. Plus, the onboard analog-modeling drum synths would let me really dial in the sounds I’m looking for, without needing to sift through endless drum samples.
All that said, I will keep this round of GAS as fantasy-only . . . gonna work on using the gear I currently have in new and interesting ways. I’ll try to get my Circuit involved in my station to give me some better hands-on access to my drums.
Indeed, I’ve looked at this drum machine as well, looks great.
Definitely try to get your Circuit involved. I’ve just figured out how to use the drum pads on my SL MK3 as a MIDI controller for my Model:Samples, and that is quite nice, plus buttons and faders as mutes and levels, it gives me more of less the TR8-S level of control. I imagine you could do the same thing with your Circuit and Force.