Jamming beats with Alex’s classic Roland drum machines
Alex’s Roland gear is synced to Ableton Live via CV using Expert Sleepers’ Silent Way suite. He kicks off with a four-bar bass drum pattern programmed in the legendary TR-808, then adds an extra kick at the end of the second bar. Alex moves over to the TR-909 to place a clap on every other other beat, then, adds a TR-707 clap on the last 16th-note of every bar for good measure.
A rim shot from the TR-707 is added next, and Alex uses the Silent Way ES-4 Controller’s Swing parameter to dial in some shuffle to his beat before adding hats from the TR-909 and rides from the TR-808. Next, he creates a 16th-note snare roll on the TR-707 before finishing things off with some more rides – this time courtesy of the TR-909.
When he returns to the beat later, he records each drum sound on its own audio track in Live, to be mixed later using his Soundcraft Ghost desk and via Ableton Live.