Roland TR-909

Along with the Roland TB303 the TR909 is the machine that is responsible for the existence of techno as we know it. The TR909 was released at a time when most drum machines were starting to use digital samples as the basis for their sounds and as a result was not as popular as it deserved to be as only the hi-hats, ride and crash cymbals on the 909 are samples. All the other sounds on the 909 are created using analogue technology and it is this that is responsible for the sheer rib cage destroying power of the 909's kick drum. This kick is possibly the most commonly used sound in the history of electronic music as the vast majority of all techno, trance, garage etc etc tracks feature it in some form or another. Combine this kick with the classic crusty hats and analogue clap, drop in a meaty snare roll and you have the basis of a million dance tracks.
The 909 features a wide array of syncing options including MIDI, sync24 and timecode but also includes an easily programmed drum pattern creator with facilities for linking patterns into whole songs. Knobs are supplied on the front panel for the parameters of each individual sound including the classic 'snappiness' control for the snare drum and each sound has it's own separate output or can be routed to the main stereo out's.
Although massively overpriced on the second hand market due to it's status as the king of dance drum machines, the TR909 cannot really be beaten at the job it does best i.e. a pounding 4/4 kickdrum loop. The closet available alternative would be a novation drumstation or full set of 909 samples but neither of these can deliver the power of the real thing.