Roland T-8 Wishlist

[OmskInfo]

So the T-8 is basically what I was looking for. I've been wishing for a handheld, battery-powered TB-303 sketchpad. Programming the real hardware isn't that difficult, but you basically need to know what you want to program before you do it. It's therefore much easier to work with a device that has a more "modern" programming interface, where you can really program like an X0X drum machine, and then transfer that bass pattern to the real hardware once you're happy with it. I mainly do this on the x0xb0x, but am happy to have the same functionality (almost) in the T-8 which I can take everywhere.

Now I know there were other battery-operated 303 devices out there, but the T-8 really sealed it for me with the inclusion of some drum voices. Just making 303 bass lines on their own isn't as informative as being able to program them in context with a beat. Hearing what the bass line sounds like against a 4-to-the-floor rhythm or electro break tells a lot about the bass line and even inspires some changes to it. So that's why the T-8 is a winner for me.

Nevertheless, the thing is brand new—OS 1.02—and I have some requests I hope Roland will add in the future. I'm writing them here in hopes I'm not shouting into a void, but I probably am. Anywhere, here's what I've got.

• I like the randomize function, but it annoys me that it randomizes the pattern length. I would like to be able to have the option to keep the pattern fixed while randomizing.

• I wish it was faster to switch between Saw and Square waveforms. Having a menu shortcut is nice, but why doesn't that button combo just toggle the setting? It's annoying that I still have to adjust the waveform with the encoder. I feel like there could be a much faster way to toggle the waveform.

• Roland chose to implement all but one of the knobs from the real TB-303: The Accent knob. I find this really annoying since they DID put in the Pitch (tuning) knob, and that is the one I use the least. They have shown on the drum voices that the Pitch knobs can be re-mapped to Decay, so I would really like an option to remap the Pitch knob in the Bass to Accent amount so that I can really control it like a real TB-303.

• And though it does serve its purpose as providing a reference against the bassline, I would really appreciate the option to change the drum sounds as the current selection becomes stale very fast. I find it bizarre that the majority of the drum sounds are TR-808-ish sounds but the bass drum is the TR-909. At minimum, I'd really like to change the hi-hat to TR-909 hats. Similar to how the hand clap can be swapped for a tom, would also like to swap the open hat for a 909 ride or 808 cymbal. Of course, being able to swap them all between 808 and 909 variants would be ideal, but I'd be happy with a subset if there was some technical reason to limit this; I surely don't see any cannibalization happening with the TR-6S if the T-8 could do 808 and 909 as the TR-6S is still well beyond what the T-8 would be able to do in this capacity.

• And, of course, being able to save all settings would be great. Either saving all settings with a pattern, or just saving a few "kits" which can then be assigned to patterns.

Otherwise, I really like the way Roland is going with these new compact devices. I hope to see more of them in the future because they're really handy, fun, and sound great.

[fferri]

I'll add mine too:

• similar to your 4th point, I'd like to have the option to select an 808-style bass drum, and something else instead of toms (congas?).
• for the bass sequencer, more options for time scaling than just 1/16 and 1/16T; especially if not making acid techno, and playing along with a J-6, one would need a step duration of 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 4, or 8 beats to make anything musically meaningful that can go along the long chord sequences of the J-6.
• (applies to J-6 too) avoid jumps in knobs values (e.g. when the knob physical position doesn't reflect the internal state); most machines that do not use endless encoders, use this technique to avoid jumps in changed parameter values.