TR-909: More than a Machine

For a good harmonica sound: plug TR-909 into an amp you don't need. Run rim shots through it into the amp. Put amp on full treble and 'eleven.' This should sound like gunshots. Turn amp down and check with vocal mike, if your voice sounds much grainier, you know have a great 'harp' amp. I did this by mistake with a Super Reverb, and a big-name harp player loved the sound. The store would not say who it was, but he got my amp cheap!

The TR-909 is a great to practise another instrument to. The Zen of it is, you set it slow for the difficult passages, and so you conserve energy for the hard passages. Pretty soon you are kicking ass on the hard parts and setting the tempo faster. For fiddle practice this 'machine' put me in the passing lane!

I would record the TR-909 first, then we would play to that track, then dump that track and add the drummer. Drummer did not have to waste energy reigning the other musicians in --drummer heaven, man!

The number 909 may be a coincidence, but is also the number of a last train from/to London/Liverpool which the Beatles sang about, and refers to their early and difficult career travels in England.

A great advantage , you can pitch drums and cymbals, to 'merge' them with your song. If you add one or two tracks of a real drum or cymbal, you 'bless' the TR-909 track--make it sound real.