The TR-09 (revisited)

The TR-09 is a very powerful drum machine that sounds (and look) just like the original TR-909. It’s portable and can seem to be limited at first glance.

It came out  in 2016 as part of the Roland Aira line of products. Like most of the Aira line, the TR-09 is using Roland ACB technology or Analogue Circuit Behaviour that aims to simulate the reaction and interaction of analogue circuit. In the case of the TR-09, that came after the successful TR-8, Roland has been able to capture the essence of the TR-909 : Great sounds, a fateful reproduction of the original interface of the TR-909 and some new features never possible on the original.

Like with all the Aira products, the TR-09 user manual is not even a manual, it’s just a single piece of paper. I remember the old Roland manuals superbly written and prepared. I guess people dont’ read anymore :-(.

The TR-09 hidden features

You will find a lot of great video tutorials online for the TR-09. Roland made a bunch of very clear ones. But you are not here for the basic stuff, your are here for the advance, hidden features. If you ask yourself these questions:

  • How many output?
  • Where is the Mute?
  • Where is the Solo?
  • How can I pan?
  • What is the Trigger for?

All these questions and more are answered in my video “TR-09 Power user Tips”. This is not your normal TR-09 demo. I’ll show you features most people don’t even know exists!

I’m always interested in answering any questions about electronic music production. I received this question :

How to setup a TR-09 USB Audio with Ableton Live?

So I made this video in response.