It is one of the most iconic musical instruments ever built, along with the Minimoog and the MPC. The 808 became the essential ingredient of various music genres, from electronic music to urban beats, pop hits, and indie songs. Is it the heavy analog 808 bass drum, the crunchy clap, the snappy snare, or the cowbell (you gotta have more cowbell!)? Or is it the hardware design and the quintessential orange/red color scheme? It’s hard to decide which 808 component is more iconic.
However, as years went by, 808 was rediscovered by various groups of artists who used it as the backbone of their signature sound. We listed the best free 808 plugins to help you add some classic analog drum machine sounds to your DAW.Īlmost half a century ago, Japanese engineer Ikutaro Kakehashi designed a drum instrument to replace acoustic drum kits.
