Harmonic and transposition constraints arising from the use of the Roland TR-808 bass drum

Emmanuel Deruty

REVIEW 3 major objections 5 minor 1 cited by

Harmonic and transposition constraints arising from the use of the Roland TR-808 bass drum

T0 review · 3 major / 5 minor · reviewed 2026-08-08 · deepseek-v4-flash

Challenge this review Re-run · record.json Download PDF Read on arXiv ↗

Pith's one-line read The paper argues that the practice of transposing the entire song to fit the Roland TR-808 bass drum—rather than retuning the drum to the song's key—is justified by measurable losses in the drum's fundamental register, totaling about 11.8…

desk verdict A credible, well-scoped explanation of why producers transpose the song rather than the 808; the headline 11.8 dB is conditional on listening level, but the qualitative point holds. read the letter →

arxiv 2502.07524 v2 pith:BPRRG22M submitted 2025-02-11 cs.SD

Emmanuel Deruty This is my paper · ORCID

classification cs.SD

keywords TR-808bassdrumtranspositionsub-bassequal-loudnesscontournear-fieldmonitorsScottStorchspectralformants

verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal

The pith

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The reading

The paper investigates a music-producer practice of transposing the whole song to fit the Roland TR-808 bass drum, instead of tuning the drum to the song's key. Its central estimate is that moving the drum's median fundamental from about 49.5 Hz (G1) down a perfect fourth to 37 Hz (D1) loses about 6.3 dB through typical near-field monitor response and another 5.5 dB through the ear's reduced sensitivity at low frequencies, for a combined loss of about 11.8 dB. This loss applies mainly to the fundamental and lowest harmonics, so preserving the drum's characteristic sound and its sub-bass feel argues for keeping its pitch near its native register and transposing the song upward. The paper frames this as a concrete case where register and spectral profile outweigh nominal pitch values in modern popular music.

What carries the argument

The load-bearing mechanism is the pairing of near-field monitor frequency response with human equal-loudness contours, applied to the measured fundamental distribution of TR-808 bass drum samples (median 49.48 Hz, or G1). The paper takes the median of 36 near-field monitor responses from the cited study, reads the ISO 226:2003 60-phon contour at 49.5 Hz and at 37 Hz, and sums the two decibel differences to produce the 11.8 dB figure. A secondary mechanism is the harmonic model of a 'driven' sample, used to show that higher partials reduce the loss, thereby isolating the fundamental as the critical component.

What would settle it

Play a 49.5 Hz sine and a 37 Hz sine at equal voltage through a typical near-field monitor in a treated room, measure the SPL drop, and ask listeners to match loudness with a reference tone; if the combined monitor-plus-ear gap is much less or more than 11.8 dB, the central estimate fails.

Watch

Extended reading notes

Core claim

The paper's central claim is that a TR-808 bass drum's characteristic sound depends on its fundamental staying near its native register around 49.5 Hz, and that transposing it downward—for example, a perfect fourth to D1 to fit a song in D—is far costlier in gain than transposing the rest of the arrangement upward. Combining the median frequency response of 36 near-field monitors with the ISO 226:2003 equal-loudness contour at 60 phon yields a total gain loss of about 11.8 dB for the fundamental. A five-partial harmonic model of a 'driven' 808 sample loses only 4.5 dB under the same transposition, showing that the issue is concentrated in the bottom partials. The paper uses this to explain the producer's advice that songs be modulated up so the bass drum stays near its native pitch, and extends the argument to the drum's haptic, sub-bass role.

Load-bearing premise

The 11.8 dB estimate assumes the bass drum is heard through a pair of near-field monitors whose response is close to the median of the measured set, and that the listening level corresponds to a 60 phon loudness contour; if either condition differs substantially, the number changes.

Editorial extensions

If this is right

Producers who want maximum bass impact should keep the 808 bass drum near its native G1 register and choose song keys that allow that, rather than tuning the drum down.
The 11.8 dB figure explains why very low song keys (such as D) can sound weak or 'muddy' even when the playback system is technically capable of reproducing those frequencies.
Because the gain loss is concentrated in the fundamental, the advice matters most for long-decay 808 samples that function as basslines, and less for short, brighter kick sounds.
Equal-loudness contours imply that the penalty shrinks at loud playback levels and grows at quiet levels, so the optimal song key depends on listening level.
If spectral formants outrank pitch values, automatic key-matching and generative music systems should consider register and loudness, not just note names.

Reading between the lines

Editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

By the paper's logic, the same transposition penalty should apply to any synthesized bass sound whose fundamental sits near the threshold of speaker and ear sensitivity, not just the TR-808.
The 60 phon contour is an illustrative choice; at higher typical monitoring levels the ear correction shrinks, but the near-field monitor loss remains, so the headline 11.8 dB is a reasonable estimate for moderate listening levels rather than a fixed constant.
The paper's emphasis on formants over pitch could be tested by asking listeners to rate timbre similarity of transposed 808 samples across keys, predicting that register-preserving transpositions score higher.
A practical extension would compute the same gain-loss estimates for other drum machines and sub-bass synths to map a 'safe key range' per instrument.

Share X Bluesky LinkedIn Reddit HN

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, and a circularity audit.

Desk Editor's Note

read the letter

Quick take: this is a solid, well-scoped paper that gives a quantitative reason for a documented production practice. The headline number—ca. 11.8 dB loss when dropping the 808 fundamental from 49.5 Hz to 37 Hz—is not a measured constant; it rests on a chosen 60-phon reference and one monitor median. But the authors are clear about most of their choices, and the qualitative conclusion survives the caveats.

What's genuinely new: the measured f0 distribution from a sample library, the explicit arithmetic combining loudspeaker response (Newell et al. median) and equal-loudness contour (ISO 226) to explain Storch's advice, and the harmonic-weighted 4.5 dB estimate showing the effect shrinks when overtones are present. That last point is a nice self-limiting check: it tells you the phenomenon is about the fundamental and lowest partials, not the whole sound. The paper also does a decent job situating the practice in the broader 'register over pitch' idea, with support from orchestration treatises and producer interviews.

Soft spots, in proportion:

1. The 11.8 dB figure is conditional on the 60-phon contour and on a representative near-field monitor. The stress-test is right: at 90-100 phon listening levels the ear term drops to ~2-3 dB, so the combined loss could be ~8-9 dB rather than 11.8. The paper should present this as a level-dependent illustrative estimate with a sensitivity range, not as a precise constant. This is a presentation issue, not a fatal flaw.

2. The two loss terms (speaker + ear) are added as if independent. They are not strictly independent—both are transducer effects in series, and the ear term depends on the SPL delivered by the speaker. A brief discussion or a simple sensitivity sweep would address this. Minor.

3. The historical argument that digital audio enabled the 808's sub-bass and thereby trap's rise goes beyond the correlational evidence. The spectral trend data is fine, but the causal claim is not supported. This is the weakest section, and it could be softened without losing the paper's contribution.

4. Reproducibility: the analysis code and corpus selection details for Figure 6 are not shipped. Given the straightforward nature of the computations, this is easily fixed.

I disagree with the reader on one point: the circularity concern is essentially absent here—the central estimate comes from independently published data and external samples, not from fitting to the conclusion. The only hand-picked value is 60 phon, and that's acknowledged.

Who this is for: MIR researchers, music production analysts, and anyone designing generative music systems where transposition decisions matter. It's a worthwhile referee: the topic is real, the method is transparent, and the flaws are fixable. I'd send it to review with a request for sensitivity analysis on the loudness reference and a softening of the historical claim.

Referee Report

3 major / 5 minor

Summary. The paper investigates Scott Storch's reported practice of transposing the key of a song to fit an untransposed Roland TR-808 bass drum. Signal measurements on Trisample library sounds give a median fundamental near 49.5 Hz, with long samples containing essentially a lone fundamental after the attack and 'driven' samples retaining harmonics. The paper then combines two frequency-dependent losses for a -5-semitone transposition from G1 to D1: about 6.3 dB from the median near-field monitor response and about 5.5 dB from the ISO 226 60-phon equal-loudness contour, yielding a total of ca. 11.8 dB for the fundamental, and ca. 4.5 dB for a five-partial driven sound. The result is used to explain Storch's advice and to argue that spectral register can outweigh pitch in modern production.

Significance. If valid, the paper provides a concrete, quantitative illustration of an attested professional practice and a useful counterweight to pitch-centric accounts of transposition. Its strengths are that the input data are independently published (Newell et al. monitor responses, ISO 226-2003) or directly measured on external samples, and the calculation is not circular: no model is fit to the conclusion. The qualitative conclusion is robust. The main weakness is that the headline figure depends on a single, unmeasured listening-level reference (60 phon) and on a median monitor curve, with no uncertainty or sensitivity analysis; the paper's own driven-sample result shows the figure is scope-limited.

major comments (3)

[5.1, Figure 8] The ear-sensitivity term of -5.5 dB is evaluated only at the 60 phon reference, and the manuscript never measures or justifies this monitoring level. Because ISO 226 contours converge at higher SPLs, the same -5-semitone offset is roughly 2-3 dB at 90-100 phon and larger at lower levels; the headline total of 11.8 dB should therefore be presented as a level-dependent illustrative estimate, with a sensitivity table or curve, not as a fixed constant.
[5.1, Figure 7] The 6.3 dB monitor term is read off a single smoothed median response from 36 near-field monitors, but the inter-monitor spread (visible in the box plot) and the known low-frequency uncertainty of monitor measurements are not propagated into the estimate; please report an uncertainty range or at least state explicitly that the number depends on the median monitor being representative of producers' actual listening chains.
[5.2 and Section 7] Section 5.2 shows that a harmonic-rich 'driven' 808 loses only about 4.5 dB under the same -5-semitone transposition, which means the 11.8 dB figure applies only to the lone-fundamental, 'long' samples. Section 7 repeats the 11.8 dB number without this scope restriction; the abstract, conclusion, and any summary of the quantitative claim should carry the condition 'for the clean fundamental-only case'.

minor comments (5)

[Figure 5 caption] The caption states 'maximum of the distribution' while the text repeatedly calls this value the 'median f0'; if the reported statistic is the mode of the energy-weighted histogram, use that term throughout or compute the actual median.
[4.1] The text refers to the 'Tristar library' where the samples were introduced as the 'TR-808 Trisample library'; please unify the name.
[Figures 2 and 3] The STFT thresholds for the red and blue lines are described only relative to peak energy; state the analysis window, hop size, and normalization so that the measurements are reproducible.
[4.2 and Section 7] The claim that digital audio 'made possible' and 'played a crucial role in the rise of trap' is causal language that goes beyond the correlational spectral evidence in Figure 6; please soften or qualify this inference.
[General] The manuscript gives no data or code availability statement for the sample measurements and spectral analyses; adding one would improve reproducibility.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged · score 0.0 of 10

No significant circularity: the central estimate is computed from external monitor-response data, ISO 226 equal-loudness contours, and measured sample characteristics; the 60-phon reference is a stated assumption, not a fitted parameter.

full rationale

The paper's load-bearing numerical claim—a 5-semitone downward transposition of the TR-808 bass drum fundamental causes about 11.8 dB of gain loss—is not circular by construction. The median 808 fundamental of 49.5 Hz is measured from the Trisample library (Figure 5), independent of the conclusion. The 6.3 dB loudspeaker contribution is read from the median frequency response of 36 near-field monitors reported by Newell et al. (Figure 7), an external published dataset. The 5.5 dB ear contribution is read from the ISO 226-2003 equal-loudness contour at 60 phon (Figure 8), also an external standard. The paper explicitly states the conditionality of this choice ("If we choose a loudness of 60 phon"), so the estimate is a transparent illustrative calculation rather than a result derived from itself. The harmonic-aware estimate of -4.5 dB in Section 5.2 is likewise computed from measured partial amplitudes of a "driven" 808 sample combined with the same external monitor and loudness data. No fitted parameter is renamed as a prediction, and no load-bearing self-citation chain is used; the citations to Newell, ISO, Fink, Hove, and others are independent sources. The acknowledged limitation that the 11.8 dB figure depends on the assumed 60-phon listening level and on the median monitor response is a robustness concern, not a circularity. The paper does not define its inputs in terms of its outputs, and none of its quantitative claims reduce by construction to its own assumptions.

Assumptions & free parameters 1 free parameters · 6 assumptions · 0 invented entities

The central dB estimate uses one hand-chosen reference level, 60 phon, plus published external data and signal measurements. The historical claim about digital audio relies on a representative-corpus assumption. No new entities are introduced.

free parameters (1)

Reference loudness for ear-sensitivity correction = 60 phon
The +5.5 dB ear correction is read from the 60 phon equal-loudness contour (Figure 8). The paper does not justify 60 phon as the actual listening level; other phon values give different corrections, so the 11.8 dB headline changes with this choice.

assumptions (6)

domain assumption Producers primarily listen on near-field monitors, so the median response of 36 near-field monitors is the relevant loudspeaker transfer function.
Invoked in Section 5.1 before Figure 7; if producers check bass on subwoofers or consumer systems with different rolloff, the 6.3 dB loss changes.
domain assumption A 60 phon equal-loudness contour approximates the level at which the 808 bass drum is heard during production.
Used with ISO 226-2003 in Section 5.1; the ear correction depends on the chosen phon level.
domain assumption The two losses, loudspeaker response and ear sensitivity, can be added as independent decibel amounts.
Section 5.1 adds 6.3 dB and 5.5 dB; in reality the ear's contour is applied after the speaker's frequency-dependent SPL, so the sum is a first-order approximation.
domain assumption The Trisample library samples are representative of TR-808 bass drum sounds, and the STFT-based f0 estimates reflect the drum's use in productions.
Section 4.1 bases all spectral measurements on this library; other 808 samples or hardware recordings could shift the median f0.
domain assumption Transposing the sample by minus five semitones preserves the partial amplitudes and only shifts frequencies.
Used for the harmonic calculation in Section 5.2; real pitch-shifting algorithms can alter formants and transients.
domain assumption The Best Ever Albums-based 30,435-track selection is representative of popular music's spectral evolution.
Section 4.2, Figure 6; the album selection is a specific editorial corpus, not a random sample of all popular music.

how reviews work

0 comments

Cite this review

Pith. "Pith review of Harmonic and transposition constraints arising from the use of the Roland TR-808 bass drum." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/BPRRG22M

@misc{pith2026250207524,
  author       = {Pith},
  title        = {Pith review of: Harmonic and transposition constraints arising from the use of the Roland TR-808 bass drum},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/BPRRG22M}},
  note         = {Machine review of arXiv:2502.07524}
}

read the original abstract

The study investigates hip-hop music producer Scott Storch's approach to tonality, where the song's key is transposed to fit the Roland TR-808 bass drum instead of tuning the drums to the song's key. This process, involving the adjustment of all tracks except the bass drum, suggests significant production motives. The primary constraint stems from the limited usable pitch range of the TR-808 bass drum if its characteristic sound is to be preserved. The research examines drum tuning practices, the role of the Roland TR-808 in music, and the sub-bass qualities of its bass drum. Analysis of TR-808 samples reveals their characteristics and their integration into modern genres like trap and hip-hop. The study also considers the impact of loudspeaker frequency response and human ear sensitivity on bass drum perception. The findings suggest that Storch's method prioritizes the spectral properties of the bass drum over traditional pitch values to enhance the bass response. The need to maintain the unique sound of the TR-808 bass drum underscores the importance of spectral formants and register in contemporary popular music production.

Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.

Forward citations

Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

Methods for pitch analysis in contemporary popular music: phenomenological analysis of Primaal's commercial works
cs.SD 2025-02 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

Primaal's commercial electronic music deliberately uses uncertain, continuous pitch that resists discrete-note transcription and is organized modally, not tonally.

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

62 extracted references · 60 canonical work pages · cited by 1 Pith paper

[1]

Harmonic and Transposition Constraints Arising from the Use of the Roland TR-808 Bass Drum

INTRODUCTION In popular music, a common practice is to tune the drums to the song’s key [1]. However, in a 2007 interview [2], R&B producer Scott Storch suggests that during the pro- duction of music involving a Roland TR-808 drum ma- chine, it may be beneficial to do the opposite and trans- pose the song’s key to fit the 808 bass drum [3]. The pro- cess ...

work page 2007
[2]

percussion has a short temporal duration and is rich in noise, while harmonic elements have a long temporal du- ration with most of the signal energy concentrated in pitch spikes

DRUMS AND TUNING The musical signal has been divided into two categories: “percussion has a short temporal duration and is rich in noise, while harmonic elements have a long temporal du- ration with most of the signal energy concentrated in pitch spikes” [4]. “The harmonic and percussive components of music signals have much different structures in the po...

arXiv 2025
[3]

one of the most influential and unique drum machines of its time

THE ROLAND TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer is an analog drum machine manufactured between 1980 and 1983 [19]. It is “one of the most influential and unique drum machines of its time” [20]. “To this day, the 808 remains a bench- mark against which all other analog drum machines are measured” [21]. It can be found in many music genres. The TR-808’s...

work page 1980
[4]

TR808 BD Bass Drum Long 01

THE 808 BASS DRUM 4.1 Signal analysis of 808 bass drum samples Figure 1 shows the waveform corresponding to the “TR808 BD Bass Drum Long 01” preset. All samples considered in this paper originate from the TR-808 Trisample library [28]. The waveform confirms that the sample is tonal. The tonal aspect derives from the TR-808 generation technique, during whi...

work page 2017
[5]

masters which ‘travel’ well to their use by the record buyers

TUNING THE SONG’S KEY TO THE TR-808 BASS DRUM In Section 2, Scott Storch describes how he tries to tune the bass drum (808 in particular) to the music’s key. Later in the same interview, Storch suggests that instead of tuning the 808 bass drum sample to the song’s tonality, one can do the opposite and adjust the song’s key to the 808 bass drum sample: “[S...

work page 2003
[6]

a [music] theory [that] posits a principle of neutral transposition, according to which groups of pitches essentially do not change their character if one transposes them

PITCH AND REGISTER Scott Storch’s advice according to which a song’s key may be adjusted to the 808 bass drum sample is based on the following premise: the transposition of the elements of the music that are not the 808 bass drum is less problematic than the transposition of the 808 bass drum. The change in pitch values does not affect the musical interva...

work page
[7]

However, other authors have stud- ied the existence of pitch in percussion [8–10]

CONCLUSION According to Section 2, some authors have previously di- vided the musical signal into two categories: percussion (rich in noise, short duration), and harmonic elements (long duration, most of the energy concentrated in spikes in the spectrum) [4, 5, 7]. However, other authors have stud- ied the existence of pitch in percussion [8–10]. In mu- s...

work page
[8]

Spe- cial thanks to David Meredith (Aalborg University) for his valuable comments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to Yann Macé and Luc Leroy from the music production company Hyper Music for their insights into Scott Storch’s work and the subsequent discussions. Spe- cial thanks to David Meredith (Aalborg University) for his valuable comments

work page

Show all 62 references

[9]

Is it possible to tune a drum?

P. R. Antunes, “Is it possible to tune a drum?” Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 338, pp. 91–106, 2017

2017
[10]

The perception and importance of drum tuning in live performance and music production,

R. Toulson, C. C. Crigny, P. Robinson, and P. Richard- son, “The perception and importance of drum tuning in live performance and music production,” The Journal on the Art of Record Production, vol. 4, 2009

2009
[11]

Remix Hotel Atlanta an- nounces keynote speaker Scott Storch,

B. Zisook, “Remix Hotel Atlanta an- nounces keynote speaker Scott Storch,” https://djbooth.net/features/remix-hotel-atlanta- announces-keynote-speaker-scott-storch-0830072, 2007, accessed: 2023-11-09

2007
[12]

Scott storch on kick drums,

Penton Media, “Scott storch on kick drums,” https://youtu.be/R5PUcMAFZOI, 2007, accessed: 2023-11-09

2007
[13]

Autoregressive MFCC models for genre classification improved by harmonic-percussion sepa- ration

H. Rump, S. Miyabe, E. Tsunoo, N. Ono, and S. Sagayama, “Autoregressive MFCC models for genre classification improved by harmonic-percussion sepa- ration.” in ISMIR, 2010, pp. 87–92

2010
[14]

A real-time equalizer of harmonic and percussive components in music signals

N. Ono, K. Miyamoto, H. Kameoka, and S. Sagayama, “A real-time equalizer of harmonic and percussive components in music signals.” in ISMIR, 2008, pp. 139–144

2008
[15]

Harmonic/percussive separation using median filtering,

D. Fitzgerald, “Harmonic/percussive separation using median filtering,” in 13th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFX10), Graz, Austria, 2010

2010
[16]

Nonneg- ative matrix partial co-factorization for drum source separation,

J. Yoo, M. Kim, K. Kang, and S. Choi, “Nonneg- ative matrix partial co-factorization for drum source separation,” in 2010 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing . IEEE, 2010, pp. 1942–1945

2010
[17]

Acoustic analysis and tuning of cylindrical membranophones,

P. G. Richardson, “Acoustic analysis and tuning of cylindrical membranophones,” Ph.D. dissertation, An- glia Ruskin University, 2010

2010
[18]

Superproducers,

R. Levine and B. Werde, “Superproducers,” https://www.wired.com/2003/10/producers/, Oct. 2003, accessed: 2023-11-09

2003
[19]

A review of automatic drum transcription,

C.-W. Wu, C. Dittmar, C. Southall, R. V ogl, G. Wid- mer, J. Hockman, M. Müller, and A. Lerch, “A review of automatic drum transcription,” IEEE/ACM Trans- actions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing , vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 1457–1483, 2018

2018
[20]

About drums,

J. Roberts, “About drums,” https://circularscience.com /about-drums/, accessed: 2023-11-09

2023
[21]

Four of the best stem sepa- ration tools,

Attack Magazine, “Four of the best stem sepa- ration tools,” https://youtu.be/9oNHoE4wHc8&t=870 and t=1181, 2022, accessed: 2023-11-09

2022
[22]

iZotope RX 9 - fixing drums in the mas- ter??

S. Loose, “iZotope RX 9 - fixing drums in the mas- ter??” https://youtu.be/LCH23ZiTXCA&t=177, 2022, accessed: 2023-11-09

2022
[23]

This Might be the CLEANEST Stem Remover from Songs | StemRoller,

Verysickbeats, “This Might be the CLEANEST Stem Remover from Songs | StemRoller,” https://youtu.be/- G76oQ3uL90&t=364, 2023, accessed: 2023-11-09

2023
[24]

How to tune drums in four steps,

Drum Magazine, “How to tune drums in four steps,” https://drummagazine.com/how-to-tune-drums- in-four-steps/, accessed: 2023-11-09

2023
[25]

20 producers that the R&B game,

M. Singleton, “20 producers that the R&B game,” https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/ 20_producers_that__the_r_b_game/s1__37845173, Oct. 2022, accessed: 2023-11-09

2022
[26]

‘That ill, tight sound’: telepresence and biopolitics in post-Timbaland rap production,

D. Chapman, “‘That ill, tight sound’: telepresence and biopolitics in post-Timbaland rap production,”Journal of the Society for American Music , vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 155–175, 2008

2008
[27]

Production hacks: Creating 808 basslines,

C. Burchell, “Production hacks: Creating 808 basslines,” https://articles.roland.com/production- hacks-creating-808-basslines/, Nov. 2022, accessed: 2023-11-09

2022
[28]

How the Roland TR-808 revolutionized music,

Z. Hasnain, “How the Roland TR-808 revolutionized music,” The Verge, Apr. 2017

2017
[29]

Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer,

O. Meyers, “Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer,” McGill University, Tech. Rep., 2003

2003
[30]

A physically-informed, circuit-bendable, digital model of the Roland TR-808 bass drum circuit

K. J. Werner, J. S. Abel, and J. O. Smith III, “A physically-informed, circuit-bendable, digital model of the Roland TR-808 bass drum circuit.” in DAFx, 2014, pp. 159–166

2014
[31]

Roland TR-808,

G. Dayal, “Roland TR-808,” Grove Music Online, Jan
[32]

Read, The Recording and Reproduction of Sound

O. Read, The Recording and Reproduction of Sound. A Complete Reference Manual for the Professional and the Amateur, 2nd edition . Howard W. Sams & Co., 1952

1952
[33]

Dunn, “808,” https://youtu.be/KClqn0oN1lY , 2015, accessed: 2023-11-09

A. Dunn, “808,” https://youtu.be/KClqn0oN1lY , 2015, accessed: 2023-11-09

2015
[34]

Masterclass: becoming a hitmaker with Scott Storch. Chapter 8, ‘Defining a bass line’,

S. Storch, “Masterclass: becoming a hitmaker with Scott Storch. Chapter 8, ‘Defining a bass line’,” https://www.aulart.com/masterclass/scott-storch- becoming-a-hitmaker/, 2022, accessed: 2023-11-09

2022
[35]

Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer (Retro),

C. Carter, “Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer (Retro),” Sound on Sound, May 1997

1997
[36]

What is an 808? 7 ways to make huge 808 kicks,

A. Lavoie, “What is an 808? 7 ways to make huge 808 kicks,” https://blog.landr.com/what-is-an- 808/, Sep. 2020, accessed: 2023-11-09

2020
[37]

Reality of trap: Trap music and its emanci- patory potential

J. Kaluža, “Reality of trap: Trap music and its emanci- patory potential.” IAFOR Journal of Media, Communi- cation & Film, vol. 5, no. 1, 2018

2018
[38]

Trisamples, “TR-808,” https://trisamples.com/roland- tr808-free-download/, 2020, accessed: 2023-11-09

2020
[39]

Practical bass drum synthesis,

G. Reid, “Practical bass drum synthesis,” Sound on Sound, Feb. 2002

2002
[40]

R. Fink, M. Latour, and Z. Wallmark, The relentless pursuit of tone: Timbre in popular music . Oxford University Press, 2018

2018
[41]

The boom in the box: Bass and sub-bass in desktop production,

R. Fink, “The boom in the box: Bass and sub-bass in desktop production,” The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music Production, 2020

2020
[42]

Loudness, its defini- tion, measurement and calculation,

H. Fletcher and W. A. Munson, “Loudness, its defini- tion, measurement and calculation,” Bell System Tech- nical Journal, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 377–430, 1933

1933
[43]

Millard, America on record: a history of recorded sound

A. Millard, America on record: a history of recorded sound. Cambridge University Press, 2005

2005
[44]

Best ever albums,

Best Ever Albums, “Best ever albums,” https://www.besteveralbums.com/, 2023, accessed: 2023-11-09

2023
[45]

boom” (ca. 30Hz) is “the semi-audible vibration in the gut felt during the deepest drops in dancehall and dubstep

suggests that even if a negative gain is applied to lower Figure 9. The black line shows the combined response de- riving from both the near field loudspeakers and the ear’s sensitivity at 60 phon (Figures 7 and 8). The red vertical lines represent the median values for the 80...
[46]

Spectral characteristics of popular commercial recordings 1950-2010,

P. D. Pestana, Z. Ma, J. D. Reiss, A. Barbosa, and D. A. Black, “Spectral characteristics of popular commercial recordings 1950-2010,” in Audio Engineering Society Convention 135. Audio Engineering Society, 2013

1950
[47]

Increased lev- els of bass in popular music recordings 1955–2016 and their relation to loudness,

M. J. Hove, P. Vuust, and J. Stupacher, “Increased lev- els of bass in popular music recordings 1955–2016 and their relation to loudness,” The Journal of the Acousti- cal Society of America, vol. 145, no. 4, pp. 2247–2253, 2019

1955
[48]

2 Chainz explains why ‘pretty girls like trap music’,

C. Lee, “2 Chainz explains why ‘pretty girls like trap music’,” https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music- features/2-chainz-explains-why-pretty-girls-like-trap- music-talks-his-bucket-list-and-benihana-193850, 2017, accessed: 2023-11-09

2017
[49]

Senior, Mixing secrets for the small studio

M. Senior, Mixing secrets for the small studio. Taylor & Francis, 2011

2011
[50]

The Yamaha NS10M: twenty years a reference monitor. Why?

P. R. Newell, K. R. Holland, and J. P. Newell, “The Yamaha NS10M: twenty years a reference monitor. Why?” Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics , vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 29–40, 2001

2001
[51]

Radio days,

A. Robinson, “Radio days,” The Mix, Aug. 1997

1997
[52]

Timbre semantic associations vary both between and within instruments: An empirical study incorporating register and pitch height,

L. Reymore, J. Noble, C. Saitis, C. Traube, and Z. Wallmark, “Timbre semantic associations vary both between and within instruments: An empirical study incorporating register and pitch height,”Music Percep- tion: An Interdisciplinary Journal , vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 253–274, 2023

2023
[53]

Normal equal-loudness level contours-ISO 226: 2003,

ISO, “Normal equal-loudness level contours-ISO 226: 2003,” 2003. [Online]. Available: https: //www.iso.org/standard/34222.html

2003
[54]

Masterclass: becoming a hitmaker with Scott Storch. Chapter 6, ‘Selecting drum sounds’,

S. Storch, “Masterclass: becoming a hitmaker with Scott Storch. Chapter 6, ‘Selecting drum sounds’,” https://www.aulart.com/masterclass/scott-storch- becoming-a-hitmaker/, 2022, accessed: 2023-11-09

2022
[55]

A duplex theory of pitch percep- tion,

J. C. R. Licklider, “A duplex theory of pitch percep- tion,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Amer- ica, vol. 23, no. 1, Supplement, pp. 147–147, 1951

1951
[56]

The re- lationship between vibratory sensation and body sur- face vibration induced by low-frequency noise,

Y . Takahashi, K. Kanada, and Y . Yonekawa, “The re- lationship between vibratory sensation and body sur- face vibration induced by low-frequency noise,” Jour- nal of low frequency noise, vibration and active con- trol, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 87–100, 2002

2002
[57]

Feel the bass: Music presented to tactile and auditory modal- ities increases aesthetic appreciation and body move- ment

M. J. Hove, S. A. Martinez, and J. Stupacher, “Feel the bass: Music presented to tactile and auditory modal- ities increases aesthetic appreciation and body move- ment.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , vol. 149, no. 6, p. 1137, 2020

2020
[58]

In search of lost harmony,

R. Frisius, “In search of lost harmony,” Contemporary music: theoretical and philosophical perspectives , pp. 77–87, 2010

2010
[59]

Berlioz, Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes, dédié à sa majesté Frédéric Guillaume IV roi de Prusse

H. Berlioz, Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes, dédié à sa majesté Frédéric Guillaume IV roi de Prusse. Schonenberger, 1844
[60]

F. A. Gevaert, Nouveau traité d’instrumentation . Lemoine & fils, 1885
[61]

Koechlin, Traité de l’orchestration en 4 volumes

C. Koechlin, Traité de l’orchestration en 4 volumes . Eschig, 1954

1954
[2014]

Available: https://doi.org/10.1093/ gmo/9781561592630.article.A2257229

[Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1093/ gmo/9781561592630.article.A2257229

Pith tools

Reviewed August 8, 2026 · model on record in the stance chip above.

[1] [1]

Harmonic and Transposition Constraints Arising from the Use of the Roland TR-808 Bass Drum

INTRODUCTION In popular music, a common practice is to tune the drums to the song’s key [1]. However, in a 2007 interview [2], R&B producer Scott Storch suggests that during the pro- duction of music involving a Roland TR-808 drum ma- chine, it may be beneficial to do the opposite and trans- pose the song’s key to fit the 808 bass drum [3]. The pro- cess ...

work page 2007

[2] [2]

percussion has a short temporal duration and is rich in noise, while harmonic elements have a long temporal du- ration with most of the signal energy concentrated in pitch spikes

DRUMS AND TUNING The musical signal has been divided into two categories: “percussion has a short temporal duration and is rich in noise, while harmonic elements have a long temporal du- ration with most of the signal energy concentrated in pitch spikes” [4]. “The harmonic and percussive components of music signals have much different structures in the po...

arXiv 2025

[3] [3]

one of the most influential and unique drum machines of its time

THE ROLAND TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer is an analog drum machine manufactured between 1980 and 1983 [19]. It is “one of the most influential and unique drum machines of its time” [20]. “To this day, the 808 remains a bench- mark against which all other analog drum machines are measured” [21]. It can be found in many music genres. The TR-808’s...

work page 1980

[4] [4]

TR808 BD Bass Drum Long 01

THE 808 BASS DRUM 4.1 Signal analysis of 808 bass drum samples Figure 1 shows the waveform corresponding to the “TR808 BD Bass Drum Long 01” preset. All samples considered in this paper originate from the TR-808 Trisample library [28]. The waveform confirms that the sample is tonal. The tonal aspect derives from the TR-808 generation technique, during whi...

work page 2017

[5] [5]

masters which ‘travel’ well to their use by the record buyers

TUNING THE SONG’S KEY TO THE TR-808 BASS DRUM In Section 2, Scott Storch describes how he tries to tune the bass drum (808 in particular) to the music’s key. Later in the same interview, Storch suggests that instead of tuning the 808 bass drum sample to the song’s tonality, one can do the opposite and adjust the song’s key to the 808 bass drum sample: “[S...

work page 2003

[6] [6]

a [music] theory [that] posits a principle of neutral transposition, according to which groups of pitches essentially do not change their character if one transposes them

PITCH AND REGISTER Scott Storch’s advice according to which a song’s key may be adjusted to the 808 bass drum sample is based on the following premise: the transposition of the elements of the music that are not the 808 bass drum is less problematic than the transposition of the 808 bass drum. The change in pitch values does not affect the musical interva...

work page

[7] [7]

However, other authors have stud- ied the existence of pitch in percussion [8–10]

CONCLUSION According to Section 2, some authors have previously di- vided the musical signal into two categories: percussion (rich in noise, short duration), and harmonic elements (long duration, most of the energy concentrated in spikes in the spectrum) [4, 5, 7]. However, other authors have stud- ied the existence of pitch in percussion [8–10]. In mu- s...

work page

[8] [8]

Spe- cial thanks to David Meredith (Aalborg University) for his valuable comments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to Yann Macé and Luc Leroy from the music production company Hyper Music for their insights into Scott Storch’s work and the subsequent discussions. Spe- cial thanks to David Meredith (Aalborg University) for his valuable comments

work page