Well, it actually happened. More than four decades after the TR-808 and TR-909 rewrote the rulebook on rhythm, Roland has launched a brand new analogue drum machine: the TR-1000 Rhythm Creator.

Built with and for artists to “catalyse the next evolution of rhythm culture”, the TR-1000 fuses analogue circuitry, modern digital sound engines, and a performance-focused user interface into one hulking groove factory.

• READ MORE: “It’s more than just a machine”: Paul van Dyk’s Roland TR-808 goes on display at the Synthesizer Museum Berlin

Roland knows the weight of its legacy. The 808’s boom and the 909’s snap became the backbone of hip-hop, techno, house, trap, and pop itself. The TR-1000 doesn’t just nod to that history – it carries it forward with 16 freshly built analogue voices lifted from those original circuits, but expanded with wider ranges, better dynamics, and velocity response for today’s players.

And that’s just the start. The TR-1000 also packs Roland’s most advanced digital arsenal yet: 21 circuit-bent TR-808 and TR-909 models built with Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) technology, FM percussion, virtual analogue tones, and a deep PCM library. It also boasts full-blown stereo sampling, 64GB of onboard memory (46GB for your own samples), and over 2,000 built-in sounds. Capture, resample, slice, and time-stretch until your tracks explode.

Tone-shaping is equally over the top. There’s a new analogue state-variable filter (SVF) inspired by vintage Roland OTA designs (like the JUPITER-6), a dedicated analogue drive, and, of course, an absolute buffet of digital effects. Each track combines a model-specific sound generator, compressor, multimode filter/four-band EQ, and amp/envelope control. Four of the available tracks allow for two sound generators to be stacked or programmed separately with per-track FX, internal sidechaining, output routing, and a three-target LFO.

Then there’s the sequencer, one Roland calls its “most advanced yet”. Users can program at lightning speed, push rhythms off-grid, and slam the new Morph slider to mangle beats in real time. The snapshot feature, meanwhile, creates playable step buttons that instantly recall any knob position for an instrument.

And yes, the TR-1000 Rhythm Creator built for modern rigs. With flexible I/O, CV integration, analogue FX output, and a slick desktop companion app, the TR-1000 slots into both studio and stage setups with ease.

As you’d expect, all this wizardry doesn’t come cheap: the TR-1000 lands at $2,699.99. Which is quite the price tag, but considering you’re getting Roland’s first analogue drum machine in 40 years plus pretty much every modern production convenience bolted on, it’s about as fully loaded as drum machines get.

Learn more Roland. 

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