Few decades in the history of contemporary music have given the world as many classic analog drum machines as the 1980s. Both the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 were released in this time frame, as was the Oberheim DMX and LinnDrum.
And, for this week’s edition of our ongoing Synthesizer Favorites video series with Mathew Jonson, we’re taking a look at yet another classic in the form of the Simmons SD 800 drum machine. A regular fixture of ’80 pop, disco and reggae tracks, its an unusual mixer with four drum channels that includes a bass, snare and two toms. To learn all about it, watch the video above.
To watch more videos in this series, check out the playlist below. And if you like what we’re doing, subscribe to our YouTube channel. We post new videos every Tuesday.