fwiw i love my t8. i feel like the intent was to set the drums to something you like and then focus on the bass for live play. i use the t8 mainly to have a dependable drum backing track while i play other things. for context, i’m a noob slowly accumulating small cheap gear. so this gives me some basic drums and also an acid groovebox to play with. it’s kinda a toy, but that’s where i’m at right now in my music journey.

Can we all just respect the freehand drum beating Free Beat does while in the overdrive menu? The rest is not great (Roland-wise I mean) but your drum skills are great.

Not sure I fully agree. I mean, the points about the weird UI routing are valid, and especially the bit about only auditioning sounds in the overdrive menu. Huh? At the same time, this is not at all intended for live performance. You’re not meant to finger drum on those little buttons - they basically only exist to work with the x0x step sequencer. Having more dedicated buttons and knobs for overdrive, sidechain compression, etc. would get in the way of the simplicity of the device. This thing is literally meant for beginners and people who want something fully portable to throw together a glorified click track on something. The 303 is actually pretty well-implemented, and I was impressed that we got that at all. Same goes with the extra effects and features that were clearly just tossed into the menu. Their half-hearted addition does not subtract from the core purpose of the device, which is meant for very simple beat programming. That being said, with the SH-4d coming out, I’m likely to sell off a few of these AIRA, Boutique, and Volca devices, as the SH-4d can handle all of that in one battery-powered package, and in much greater quality.

Ha! I really love some of my old Roland gear (MC 505, D2 and more) but you absolutely nailed it right away! Roland has consistently been known for ridiculously non intuitive user flow (menu structure or button combinations for different functions etc…). The functions/sounds are often great, but it takes time to learn the workflow. Thanks for your honest and humourous reflection, you made me laugh.

Well, Roland is Roland... Personnaly I found it easier to learn the T-8 than the MC-101, but they are not on the same league :-) I must recon though that it took me several weeks to feel at home with it. The reading of the manual helped me a lot... Together with the J-6, i spent more time with these two than with all my other gear. Roland did a great work, and i hope more will be on the way...

Sort of a relief you were confused by the T8. I thought it was just that I was dumb.

Interesting Video! I own the T8 for a year now and used in in many sessions. The knobs support all controls I need to stay in the flow and use the sounds and t8 the way Roland designed them as a drum&bass machine. But when you look at it from a sound design altering perspective…hm never looked at it this way. Thumbs up! 😊

Nah, i still want it 😅 Maybe there's hope that they'll fix this in a future firmware update? Meanwhile, you could sequence it with the model cycles using only a trs 8mm jack? Ooh, and congrats for the new outro song 😁

its like 2 completely different teams designed the other 2 mini AIRA's and the T-8 guys missed the memo entirely of how one button or knob can have multiple functions by using shift. Or knbs can also be pressed. That's kind of always been Rolands problem though, for every iconic device people love there's 3 times as many devices that didn't work or make sense!

Professional drummer doesn’t like the drum machine. This is crazy.

Interesting. I don't really have any issues with the UI (some aspects could be refined) but I do agree with the stupidity of dumping you back in pattern mode. I wish Roland would fix that. I absolutely love the T-8. I'd recommend it to anyone but like anything take the time to learn it inside and out - it becomes a breeze to operate.

Roland loves doing great gear that also confuses people. Personally I have enjoyed a lot of confusion from the SP 404 Mk2, but everything Roland comes with a nice kit of bad abbreviations and weird button combinations.

I think the main problem with this thing is that old display that Roland has been trotting out for 30 years. It just automatically makes it confusing and hard to use. The device itself is okay I guess, but it just could have been a lot better with a better UI design and without the 1980s screen.

Totally agree. The Aira S1 is pretty much the same but there is a vst plugin for the S1 but not the T8 unfortunately.

I think most of the confusion here is simply that you’ve barely used it at this point. I think these things will cease to annoy you once you’ve spent more time with it. I personally think it’s a very intuitive machine considering it’s form factor.

Yes - this mirrors my experience with it - painfully bad UI. It limits it a lot. The pattern / select problem you found is quite typical of the problems I’ve found - by the time I’ve consulted the manual yet again - I’ve forgotten what I was trying to do in the music Edit : It’s got a lot of “backpack kit” appeal very portable and easy to charge so I’ll persevere with it

i wanted this instrument a few months ago, but after watching your videos on it and how confused you were the whole time? i’m kinda glad i don’t have it now

roland's really bad at firmware/software. i disliked the TR-6S after only a couple of hours of use. the UI really looks like it could handle things, but then they just messed up one thing after another in implementation. P.S. the TR-6S really made me lose a lot of trust with some of the online "reviewers", who just seem to gush about the new piece of kit without followup. thanks for your honesty. i really like the idea of this and their little vocal unit that you've played around with!

For the live set scenario, maybe you could have the features buried in the menu mapped to some knobs and sliders on a controller via midi cc? Not ideal, but there's always compromises with tiny gear

I love this device because it is very versatile but I have one concern with this it is the display, so cheap, so small, even the words looks ugly to read 😢

A person could buy one and if after 3 weeks they still don’t understand it, they could return it. Product operations are so vague even if they do supply a manual.

What I find confusing about it is that it takes different sounds from different instruments. One drum from 808, the other from 909, etc.

Have you tried using it as a module? I just ordered it so I complete the set, other than the j6 iPhone app called auto chords is free and pro is $5 no AUM yet it appears. Will work well for live jam fun! I have three sets of multi pads now and am getting my strength back to make KZfaq happen! yay! Lol I think I’ll start playing with Korg Sample 2 more as well for a portable fun with Bluebox and Blackbox. I want to finish my PO collection. I need tonic, KO, Arcade and robot and I want the dummy batteries as well. I might get the FM2 because of 6 voices! FM makes beautiful bells! Peace brother! Maybe I’ll find a J6 super cheap when I’m pawn shopping, I never sell, only buy!

Totally agree with you. It's not fun & engaging, so it's just sat on my desk. Every once in a while I turned in on when an idea hit and ended up just turning it off & going another route. Sadly, putting mine up for sale this weekend. Had such high hopes for this lil' guy.

Starting to look like a sp 404 mk2 or a tr6s or mc101 menu system I grabbed a volca sample 2 never looked at instructions everything was just where it should be and seemed intuitive even the motion sequence/parameter locks

I think the UI is still better than on an original 303 though :) But your point of selecting parameters is valid. One thing I would like to see is if we could map the delay & reverb physical knobs to settings hidden in the menu like overdrive amount.

The fact that the 303 overdrive was set to ON by default was a pain. Some of the convoluted menu names don't even match the manual either. Ultimately set mine free after only a couple of months but it was handy as a 3rd 303. Especially given the fac t it doesn't drift.

Jesus this even worse than the Volca FM. At least that one’s complex menu was kinda justified

Is this thing that much more affordable than a tr6s? Because the controls on that are about as menu heavy as I can comfortably go. This one looks like not worth it beyond the cost of a po32.

I'm a Roland boss guitar gear aficionado so menus don't scare me , I totally get what you mean though, not great for live performance. I think I might need to get one of these because it's either this or two Behringer units and a delay/reverb to even get in the same ballpark.

I bought this last year and didn’t even read the manual. I sequenced three patterns that sound great but according to this video I’ve been using it incorrectly the entire time. It’s aimed for live performance and use but is anything but. This thing needs a serious OS rewrite.

In the last video I only just learned it also has a 303 in it, and thought, wow, I need this, even though I have a TD-3 and a drumbrute impact, just for smaller scale jamming. But now this looks like the LEAST "jammable" drum machine ever and I couldn't get used to something so unintuitively put together. Shame that bc the E-4 is quite interesting and I love my J-6.

Shift+Tune should set the snappy level, or attack for the BD. Etc.

Actually a pretty cool little device considering the price would come in handy with a p.o KO

Iv been using the t8 for a few months now pretty cool and its good for sequencing the nts1 but the fact it doesn't chain patterns is pretty brutal doing it by hand while dropping drums in and out can be fiddly Apart from that everything else works like how u would expect it to..i just wish i had the 909 hihats instead of the 606 they would have been a better fit especially with a 303 ..

I have 3 boutiques and the J6, and always feel as if roland new products feel locked into their own paraments, as if they were designed to be demo mode players, that you can tweak away from but they are always there locked in the sequencer.

Thanks a lot for the tutorial! I had a question - I was trying to create a rock based beat (When the levee breaks - Led zeppelin intro). Is it possible to timestretch notes on the T8? I wanted to stretch the bass note or combine a few adjacent (quarter) notes. Is this possible in anyway?

Also, staying tuned for the out of the blue pulsar32 demo. (In my mind, a friend wins one in a draw, and loans it)

Just got my T8. Gotta admit even after reading online manual it confuses me also. How do i audition sounds alone without a pattern playing? You would think that would be one of the obvious first things explained in the manual.

I sold my tr-8s because of the overload of options. Now I want to go for a simple small straightforward drum machine to create songs. Was thinking of the T8 or the tr-08. Which one will be the better one?

Thanks for saving me a couple of a hundred bucks.

Read the manual. You won't be confused. It's a simple machine. Certain parameters only go with certain instrument parts and is easy to tell which because they will be lit up and flashing. It's not super intuitive but it's not as complex as you think.

Unconvincing workflow. Sounds cool though!

What confuses me is why they rolled a bass synth into the T-8 rather than selling a seperate mini bass synth. Considering how popular the J-6 has been, I bet Roland are kicking themselves... or planning a second round of these mini synths.

Korg Volca Drum or Roland T-8? Which one is better? 🧐

Hmm. Yeah. You'll laugh, but I just bought a new Alesis SR16. I have some great machines, but acoustic drums were slim pickins. It's been 20 years without a single change. Lol! But no need...it sounds great, and compared to some of these new machines, is a breeze to use and program.

When I saw it, I said - I'll stay with my TR6s! it has (almost) enough controls, and there is a USB editor

They should have made the "screen" 14 segments instead of 7 segments at least.

This sounds like typical Roland gear, the SP 404 mk2 got an update last night and it's almost like having to put in cheat codes to do more and more things that they're adding. It's funny they neglect certain advancements that were normal to graphing calculators in the 90s. Shift alpha functionality would do wonders on these devices. Not hating on the updates tho, just the input methods.

Is this for psytrance too?

Any word on pattern chaining? :(

HIlarious! RTFM. Unless this channel comes with a For Entertainment Purposes Only disclaimer. I'm sure anyone who was confused when they got here is driving down the wrong side of the freeway after watching. 🤣🤣

I don’t know if you remember or not? I told you the last thing I need is another drum machine or chord machine! lol, I couldn’t help my self, and I’ll explain why, the size and I already have the S1 the t8 and the E4, might as well complete the set! The J6 I have a specific reason for. Even though I own Misha and Ndlr, the J6 I want specifily for Komplete Collecors! I ordered the Picocore and the Seqtrack as well. So I have three hardcore samplers, five hardcore drum machines and 3 td, tb-3 ‘s. Now where all this will all fall into place, the Yamaha QY-100 and 300, and I’m waiting for the 700. I believe with 48 tracks and the seqtracks abilities are going to give me a really good base to compose with! All though I’m not using it the way normal people do! lol, I think I will accomplish my goal! I really appreciate your ideas and sharing your thoughts totally gave me the concept of my plan the Picocore will be crazy too. Next will be the NTS1/mrk 2 and the NTS 2 and 3 the reason is I want one carrier to have it all, including its own power! All the POs a couple of Eurorack modules the other Korg stuff controlled by the Yamaha CP right now I just have the pss 50 (the new version and I will continue to use it, with blue and black box. Want to go anywhere I want to film! peace Everyone!

Good vid. Left u a msg. about PO-33 now in stock at PC for 99.! That message does not show for me. 😡

Bad Gear.

It cries for firmware update / hacked firmware.

well whats confusing about the t-8? Nothing. RTFM and all is good - the machine is for playing not talking but that is your problem not ours. Good day!

U can control that machine in acidic state.

Yup. It’s a Roland….

TR6S FTW 😁🌌

Que risa me das😂😂😂

808 views.

roland always makes things convoluted and unintuitive, almost like they refuse to do things right out of spite

I am nauseated just by seeing all the buttons on it.

I dislike the primitiv Sounds of it

your video is confusing

The S-1 is similar, so many things hidden in the menu. The J6, though-much simpler functionality.