DR-880

DR. RHYTHM Welcome

Congratulations on your purchase of the Roland DR-880. This TurboStart contains step-by-step instructions that will quickly introduce you the DR-880s major features.

TurboStart

Auditioning Drum Kits
There are 100 preset and 100 user drum kits in the DR-880. Use the following steps to audition them: 1. Press the KIT button. 2 Turn the VALUE dial to select a drum kit. 3. Play the pads. Tip: You can also change drum kits while a pattern is playing. To do this, select the desired pattern and press Play. Then repeat Steps 1-2.

Playing the Demo Song

A demo song is available in the DR-880 to show off some of its features. Use the following steps to play the demo: 1. Turn the DRUM and BASS PART LEVEL knobs to their center positions. 2. Turn the MASTER VOLUME knob counterclockwise to turn down the master volume. 3. Hold the SONG button, and then press the KIT buttonthe Play button begins flashing. 4. Now turn the MASTER VOLUME knob clockwise to turn up the volume to the desired level. 5. When youre finished listening, press Stop, and then press EXIT.
Changing the Playback Key
You can change the key of the bass part in any pattern, even while the pattern is playing. 1. If necessary, press EXIT to confirm youre not in Edit mode, and then select desired pattern. 2. Press Play. 3. Press the KEY button. 4. Turn the VALUE dial to choose the number of semitones by which you want to change the bass pitch, from -12 to +12. 5. When youre finished listening, press Stop.

Auditioning Patterns

There are 500 preset patterns in the DR-880. Use the following steps to audition them: 1. Press EXIT a few times to confirm that the DR-880 isnt in Edit mode. 2. Press SONG until PATTERN appears in the upper left of the display. 3. Hold SHIFT, and then press SONG until PRESET appears in the upper left of the display. 4. Turn the VALUE dial to select a pattern. 5. Press Play. 6. You can turn the DRUM and BASS PART LEVEL knobs to adjust the volume of each part. 7. While the pattern is playing, you can turn the VALUE dial, or use the and CURSOR buttons to select other patterns. 8. To adjust the tempo, press the TEMPO/TAP button, and then turn the VALUE dial. You can also tap on the TEMPO/TAP button rhythmically to adjust the tempo. 9. Press Stop when youre finished listening.

Groove Modify

The DR-880s Groove Modify feature lets you manipulate the rhythmic nature or volume dynamics of any recorded pattern. There are three types of Groove Modify: Velocity, Ghost Note and Shuffle. As an example, well use Ghost Note Modify on Preset Pattern 101 Standard Hard. 1. Select Pattern 101 Standard Hard. 2. Press Play to listen to the pattern. 3. Press the GROOVE button. 4. Press and/or to select GHOST NOTE. 5. Press ENTERthe pattern stops. 6. Press once. 7. Press Play again to start the pattern. 8. Turn the VALUE dial to select the desired template. 9. Press to select the Depth value. 10. Turn the VALUE dial to adjust the depth of the ghost-note effect. A lower depth value will produce a minimal ghost-note effect, while a higher value will make the ghost-note effect more noticeable. 11. When youre finished, press Stop, and then EXIT twice to return to the main pattern menu.

TBS226

2005 Roland Corporation U.S.

www.RolandUS.com

Faxback #20259

Page 1

DR. RHYTHM Pattern EZ Compose
The EZ Compose section of the DR-880 allows for the quick and simple creation of rhythms and chord arrangements. Use the following steps to create a pattern using EZ Compose: 1. Press the PATTERN button. 2. Turn the VALUE dial to select 16BEAT. 3. Press Play. 4. Press once. 5. Turn the VALUE dial to select 6. 6. Use the , and/or buttons and the VALUE dial to continue to select the following EZ Compose types for each part: KICK SNR PERC BASS 7. 16BEAT 9 CONGO BONGO 5 FUNK SOUL 10

Recording a Basic Pattern (Realtime)
There are 500 user locations in the DR-880 in which to store your own patterns. Use the following steps to record a basic pattern using the realtime recording method: 1. Press EXIT to confirm youre not in Edit mode. 2. Press SONG so PATTERN appears in the display. 3. Hold SHIFT and press SONG so USER appears in the display. 4. Turn the VALUE dial to select a blank user pattern location. 5. Press the PAD button to choose the desired part for the recording. If you want to record a BASS part, hold SHIFT and press PAD to select BASS. 6. Press RECthe metronome starts. You can press TEMPO and then turn the VALUE dial to adjust the tempo. 7. Press Playthe DR-880 provides a onemeasure count in, and then begins recording. 8. Play the pads in rhythm with the metronome. 9. When youre finished, press Stop. 10. Now press Play again to hear your new pattern. Tip: Save your new pattern by following the steps in Pattern Write (Saving a Pattern), above.
Press Stop, and then press EXIT once when youre finished. If youd like to save the pattern youve just created, follow the steps in the Pattern Write (Saving a Pattern) section below.
Pattern Write (Saving a Pattern)
Once youve created or modified a pattern in the DR-880, you must write it to a user pattern location if you want to keep it. Use the following steps to save a pattern using the Write function: 1. Hold SHIFT and SONG to confirm youre in Pattern mode. If Cancel Edit ? shows in the display, press EXIT. 2. Press EDIT. 3. Use the buttons to select PATTERN. 4. Press ENTER. 5. Use the buttons to select WRITE. 6. Press ENTER. 7. Turn the VALUE dial to select a desired user pattern location (U001-U500). 8. Press ENTERNow writing appears in the display while the pattern is being stored. 9. When the writing process is complete, press EXIT twice.

Favorites

You can quickly get to 80 favorite patterns, songs or guitar effects from the FAVORITE area of the DR-880. Use the following steps to store a pattern as a favorite: 1. Press EXIT to confirm youre not in Edit mode, or press Stop if a song or pattern is playing. 2. Hold SHIFT and press BANK. 3. Turn the VALUE dial to select the pattern you want to store as a favorite. There are 20 banks of favoriteseach one holds four favorite patterns, songs or guitar effects. 4. Press one of the 20 instrument pads to select a bank. For example, if you want to store the pattern in Bank 1, press the KICK 1 pad. 5. Press one of the FAVORITE number buttons (14) to choose a location within the selected bank. 6. Press ENTER. 7. Repeat Steps 3-6 to store additional favorites. 8. Press EXIT when youre finished.

DR-880 Dr.Rhythm Q&A
A collection of popular articles from the DR-880 knowledge base
Understanding Patterns, Kits, and Songs... 2 Understanding the Way the DR-880s Internal Memory Works.. 3 How Do I Record a Basic Pattern?.. 4 How Do I Save a Pattern?... 5 How Do I Extend the Length of a Pattern?... 6 How Do I Find DR-880 Articles in the RolandUS.com Knowledge Base?. 7
2009 Roland Corporation US
B D R-880 Understanding Patterns, Kits, and Songs
Although they work together, songs, patterns, and kits are different thingsthis is why you find them in separate areas of the DR-880. Heres what they are and how they relate to each other.

Pattern

Patterns are two- to four-bar phrases that contain drum and bass parts. Patterns can be from 1 to 999 measures in length. There are 500 Preset patterns, as well as 500 User pattern locations in the DR-880 in which you can store your own original patterns.
When a pattern plays, it uses instruments in a kit. A kit is a collection of up to 60 drum sounds along with a bass sound and an effect setup. You can select the sounds a kit uses, change their volume levels and pitch, their effects settings, and more. A kits sounds may include those found in an acoustic drum setkick, snare, toms, hi-hat, and cymbalsor other percussive instruments. You can save kits you create as User kits. In the DR-880, there are 100 Preset kits, as well as 100 User kit memory locations. Any pattern can use any kit for playing its drum and bass parts.
When you create a song in the DR-880, you create a playlist of patterns in the desired order. The typical way to construct the backing track for a new tune is to create a different pattern for each of its sections. When youre done, you link these sections together as a DR-880 song. When you play back a song, its patterns play back in order, one after the other. There are 100 Song locations in the DR-880. A Song in the DR-880 contains no performance data itselfthe actual performance data resides in its patterns.
Understanding Patterns, Kits, and Songs
B D R-880 Understanding the Way the DR-880s Internal Memory Works
The DR-880 can hold approximately 30,000 events. The most common type of event on the DR-880 is a note eventeach note in a pattern is one event. (There are some other event types, too.) While you may be used to measuring the amount of available memory by how much time is left, the DR-880s differentyou measure how much memorys still available by how many events are left. This requires a slightly different way of thinking. Here are a couple of things to consider: A short pattern with lots of notes uses more memory than a longer pattern with just a few notesThe amount of memory a pattern uses is all about how much is going on in the pattern. The speed of a pattern has nothing to do with the number of events it usesIf you take a pattern and set its tempo so it plays quickly, and then slow it way down, it still has the same number of events, so it uses the same amount of memory, no matter how long the pattern lasts. Its the same events, just playing at different speeds. Here are some ways you can get the most from the DR-880s internal memory: Delete unwanted patternsEven though youre not using them, the events the patterns contain are eating up space. Be careful, though, not to delete any patterns your songs are using. Trim repeating patternsIf you have a pattern that contains the same beat over and over, trim the pattern down to one time through, and then repeat the pattern in your song to build it back up to its original length. Throw out extra notesDont make patterns busy just because you can. Think musically, and use just the notes (and events) you really need.
Understanding the Way the DR-880s Internal Memory Works
B D R-880 How Do I Record a Basic Pattern?
There are 500 User locations in the DR-880 in which you can store your own patterns. Use the following steps to record a basic pattern using the DR-880s realtime recording method: 9 Press EXIT to confirm youre not in Edit mode. Press the SONG button so PATTERN appears in the display. Hold SHIFT, and then press SONG so USER appears in the display. Turn the VALUE dial to select a blank User pattern location. Press the PAD button to choose the part you want to record. To record a BASS part, hold SHIFT and press PAD to select BASS. Press RECthe metronome starts. You can press TEMPO and then turn the VALUE dial to adjust the tempo if necessary. Press Playthe DR-880 provides a one-measure count in, and then begins recording. Play the pads in rhythm with the metronome. When youre finished, press STOP.

10 Press PLAY to hear your new pattern.
How Do I Record a Basic Pattern?
B D R-880 How Do I Save a Pattern?
Once youve created or modified a pattern in the DR-880, youve got to write it to a User pattern location if you want to keep it. Use the following steps to save a pattern using the Write function: 9 Hold down SHIFT and press SONG to confirm youre in Pattern mode. (If Cancel Edit? appears in the display, press EXIT.) Press the EDIT button. Use the CURSOR buttons to select PATTERN. Press ENTER. Use the CURSOR buttons to select WRITE. Press ENTER. Turn the VALUE dial to select an unused User pattern location from U001 to U500. Press ENTERNow writing appears in the display as the pattern is being stored. When the writing process is complete, press EXIT twice.

How Do I Save a Pattern?

B D R-880 How Do I Extend the Length of a Pattern?
Though some attempt to lengthen a pattern by changing the number of its measures in the Pattern Info menu, this results in unwanted empty measures at the end of the pattern. The better way to extend the length of a DR-880 pattern is to use the Pattern Copy feature, which extends the length of a pattern along with its musical content. As an example, well use pattern P001 Cool Groove and extend it so it becomes a 16-measure pattern: 9 Select Pattern P001 Cool Groove, and then press the EDIT button. Press the CURSOR 3 or 4 to choose PATTERN, and then press ENTER. Press CURSOR 3 or 4 to choose EDIT, and then press ENTER. Press CURSOR 3 or 4 to choose COPY, and then press ENTER. If necessary, turn the VALUE dial to select CURRENT. Press CURSOR 6 once to highlight Src Meas, and turn the VALUE dial to select 1. Press CURSOR 6 once to highlight Num of Meas:this sets the number of measures to be copied. Turn the VALUE dial to select 4. Press 6 once to highlight Dest Meas, and turn the VALUE dial to select 5.
10 Press CURSOR 6 once to highlight Part and confirm that ALL is selected. 11 Press CURSOR 6 once again to highlight Copy Times, and turn the VALUE dial to select 3. 12 Press ENTERNow Working shows briefly in the display. The pattern is now 16 measures long. If you want to save the new settings, follow the steps in How Do I Save a Pattern? on Page 5.

How Do I Extend the Length of a Pattern?
B D R-880 How Do I Find DR-880 Articles in the RolandUS.com Knowledge Base?
3 Point your browser to the DR-880 Support area on RolandUS.com. Click Knowledge Base. If youre not already logged into Roland Backstage, the Roland Backstage login appears. If youre: a Roland Backstage memberenter your email address and password, and then click the Login button. not yet a Roland Backstage memberclick Create New Profile to create a free new user account. As a Roland Backstage member, you become part of the online Roland US.com community and gain access to helpful tools and services. 6 Once youre logged in, click the large Knowledge Base button. On the Knowledge Base screen, enter DR-880 in the Product field. Click the Find button in the middle of the screen to browse the available DR-880 Knowledge Base articles.
How Do I Find DR-880 Articles in the Knowledge Base?