By Keith Walsh
In the early 1980s, an array of new tools came along that changed popular music forever. Drum machines like the Roland TR-808, with snappy analog sounds or digital drum machines from others, put drummers aside and let programmers take control. I wanted one of these, I didn’t particularly care which, but was leaning towards the digital sampled sounds found in the Linn and Oberheim. Even Emu had a digital drum machine with samples. However, these were priced at around $2000 each and I didn’t have the cash.
In 1985 Roland released the TR-505 Rhythm Composer, a budget sample-based drum machine, which I got for $299 and used for home recordings. At the time, I wasn’t too much in love with it, but found it adequate for recording demos on my Tascam Porta One, in the mid 80s. I wish I still had these tapes. But on Labor Day in 2024, my old friend Curtis Adamo and I got together to mix down a tape we had made in 1992, using the TR-505 and the Tascam. It was an amazing surprise. 34 years ago, I didn’t believe in myself, and after the session, I gave Curt the tape, without regret. It’s actually a good thing that I did, because I might have lost it.
It was around 2022 that he told me in a text message that he had the tape but didn’t know where it was; later in 2024 I reminded him and he found it. Not only didn’t I believe that we had made anything of value, I also underrated Curtis’ guitar playing because he leaned too heavily into metal. However, the three songs, now released as “Urban Joe” by a name we decided on that Labor Day – Googlephonics – strike me as something really special. And the TR-505 is very much a part of that. Luckily, we had already recorded reverb and effects onto the tape in 1992, so mixing down 32 years later was very simple. Too simple almost, as the Tascam Porta 2 I now have lacks even the EQ controls of the Porta One.
In 2023 I sold the TR-505 on EBay. The LCD screen was filled with a dark haze, but other than that it was functional. Had I known how interesting these recordings were, I might have done otherwise.
“Urban Joe” by Googlephonics on Bandcamp
TR-505 On Vintage Synth Explorer
TR-505 Tech Specs At Roland.com
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