Pounding the beat with a huge mechanical version of Roland's TR-808 drum machine

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Sketchup of the design for the MR-808

Constructing the huge wooden enclosure

The snare drum, kick drum, hi-hat, cabasa, clave, ride cymbal, hand-clap, three toms and cowbell ahead of installation

Making sure the real instruments fit inside the frame

16 thermoformed buttons awaiting placement along the bottom of the frame

Detail is everything

Attaching the MR-808's monster dials

Close up of the detailing

The MR-808's structure diagram

The cabasa is ready for its compartment within the wooden frame of the MR-808

Different combinations of plastic bottles, glass, stone, and wood were tested to find the perfect clap

The hand-clap robots ahead of installation

Close up of the hand clap robots placed in the MR-808's frame

Creating the hands for the clave

The robot clave in place

The MR-808's cowbell mechanism

The MR-808 features three tom toms, all pounded by robots

Motor and solenoid actuators triggered by power electronics and an Arduino microcontroller pound the beats to music written with Ableton Live

The wall-filling MR-808

Moritz Simon Geist has built a huge mechanical homage to Roland's iconic TR-808 drum machine, that uses real instruments played by robots to reproduce 11 key sounds from the original device

Article Summary

If you're a fan of 1980s music, then there's a very good chance that you'll already be familiar with the electronic beats provided by what's widely regarded as the drum machine that started it all, Roland's TR-808. It set the mood for Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing, fired shots at David Byrne in the concert movie Stop Making Sense and was the inspiration for the naming of the band 808 State. In his own homage to the iconic device, electronic music tinkerer Moritz Simon Geist has mechanically reproduced 11 of its key sounds using real instruments played by robots within the supersized, wall-filling frame of the stunning MR-808.

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