The best 909 Day reveal yesterday was this: on Saturday, Kevin Saunderson, techno originator and one of the Belleville Three, teaches a free workshop on the 909 with Roland (with Dustin Good). You can tune in online, and until tomorrow, there are in-person slots in Detroit, at Waajeed’s Underground Music Academy.
Kevin Saunderson needs little introduction, but even the location is legendary: that is literally the street shared with Motown. They’ll be looking at the original TR-909 and the new TR-1000, and since I’m not sponsored by Roland here, I can also say there’s plenty to learn for other drum machines (or however you want to patch up your drum sounds).
Registration is now open and closes September 11, 3:00–6:00 pm Detroit time (that’s 6- 9 pm Berlin, 1- 4 am Sunday in Japan).
Full details at UMA (and more on the great work they’re doing)
The stream will be available here, going live Saturday:
https://www.youtube.com/live/NaI0fQIJ8_4
Roland also released the latest in their ongoing animated series, animated by the amazing Vaughn Taormina. Go check Count Mack and his mural work!
The Rhythm Creators animated series is back with a 909 Day installment featuring Detroit’s Kevin Saunderson. The KMS Records founder is best known for the global hits he made as Inner City, including “Big Fun” and “Good Life,” and for a lifetime of work that helped carry the sound of Detroit around the world. Hear from the artist himself as he recollects the very early days of Detroit techno and the TR-909, in his own words, with stylized animation and music by Vaughn Taormina.
This also raises the question of why more people don’t incorporate a drum machine as an additional deck. And I hope it drives home the idea that this is not about plugging in generic patterns. Guess I’ll do that again next time I play. (Hey, I did bring a T-8 — the tiny one — into the booth with me at Tresor’s upstairs Globus. The tech enjoyed that, too, no joke. Let’s do more!)
Don’t take my word for it — here’s Maestro Prof. Waajeed:
You know I’ve already been talking about Waajeed and UMA this month (I didn’t know about this project in advance):
Image at top: Kevin Saunderson, as pictured by Vaughn Taormina. Courtesy Roland.
Bonus video.