Our friends in the TR-808’s native country, Japan, never cease to honor the drum machine’s holiday in creative ways. So here’s this year’s haul from 808 Day (August 8), 2026.
I swear literally the only reason I keep X around is for Japanese colleagues, and I’ve evidently trained the algorithm so their stuff pops up on top and not the river of sludge that the platform has become. And my language is set to English, not Japanese, even. So enjoy, at least until we get them onto BlueSky or Mastodon!
I love this DIY D-Beam-ish invention!
If you’re curious about that D-Beam-inspired controller widget, creator BEATNVISION has documented the project and its development. It’s dubbed GesticatorMIDI:
This MIDI controller offers touch-free sound control, just like the Roland D-Beam. It comes with multiple Control Change (CC) presets, and switching to NOTE mode lets you enjoy playing melodies. In NOTE mode, you can also select the key and scale. M5Stack FIRE, Unit MIDI, Unit ToF
GesticatorMIDI – Roland D-Beam inspired controller – Hackster
And if you’re curious, the heart of this is an IoT module based on the M5.
D-Beam, for those of you who don’t know, is the infrared range-finding sensor found on vintage gear, like so (uh, warning, may upset dogs or people with high frequency hearing):
Now, returning to our regularly scheduled 808 Day wrap-up:
Frenetic flagship TR-1000 action for the 808’s latest and greatest spiritual successor:
Nice use of Sidecar, an Apple Pencil, and D16 Nepheton2 in this one — see my review of the plug-in.
It’s classic TR-8! And, seriously, Roland, it’s time for a V-Synth: TNG. But meanwhile, the XT will live forever in our hearts. (Okay, I’d also settle for V-Synth in Roland Cloud, whether or not that even makes sense.)
One original 808 (also in feature image):
Faster, faster!
Boutique honestly sounds really perfect:
I did not expect to see a FANTOM. And it has lyrics. It is an actual 808 song. I want the whole version of this. (Seems to be AI for the vocals, but … really, really trippy.)
One for the modular fans:
Bonus: here’s a Hideki Matsutake interview!