The Roland TR-808 drum machine doesn’t have MIDI or CV/Gate to enable external control of its voices. It does have a DIN Sync port that allows it to be synchronised with other equipment. Kenton offers a variety of options to get your TR-808 connected to MIDI, depending on whether you want to control the voices, or just sync with other MIDI equipment.
This page covers the options you have to control the TR-808’s notes with MIDI. If you just want to sync your TR-808 using the MIDI Clock, see our Converting between MIDI and DIN Sync page.
For current products:
- Control your TR-808’s voices and sync your TR-808 by fitting a MIDI Retrofit Kit to your TR-808
- Control your TR-808’s voices by fitting a KADI port to the TR-808 and using a Kenton Pro KADI MkII MIDI to Digital drum machine interface
For previous products:
- Control your TR-808’s voices by fitting a KADI port to the TR-808 and using a Pro 2000 MkI or MkII (discontinued)
- Control your TR-808’s voices by fitting a KADI port to the TR-808 and using a Pro 4 (discontinued)
For previous products:
See below for further details on each of these options.
Fitting a MIDI Retrofit Kit or KADI port to your TR-808 is a skilled job which should be undertaken only by a competent synth service engineer or fitted by us at our premises in Tadworth, near London (UK customers only).
1. Control your TR-808’s voices and sync your TR-808 by fitting a MIDI Retrofit Kit to your TR-808
This option offers the most comprehensive level of control of your TR-808:
For incoming MIDI
- Any MIDI channel can be selected (default 10)
- MIDI clock / stop / start
- Any voice can be mapped to any MIDI note number (defaults 36-46)
- Full velocity control of note volume (default) – alternatively notes can be played accented or unaccented.
For outgoing MIDI
- Any MIDI channel can be selected (default 10)
- MIDI clock / stop / start
- Sounds generate MIDI notes according to the mapping table (defaults 36-46)
- Notes generated are given velocity 64 or 127 for unaccented and accented notes respectively
Please see MIDI Retrofit Kit for the Roland TR-808 for more details about the retrofit kit.
2. Control your TR-808’s voices by fitting a KADI port to the TR-808 and using a Kenton Pro KADI MkII MIDI to Digital drum machine interface
You can fit a KADI port to the Roland TR-808, which will allow it to be controlled by the Kenton Pro KADI MkII. This will allow you to play all 11 of the TR-808 sounds, with or without accent, from a keyboard, DAW or MIDI sequencer. Accent is controlled by setting note velocity to over 70.
The Kenton Pro KADI MkII can also sync your TR-808 – see section 4 below.
Which products do I need?
You will need the following products:
Pro KADI MkII MIDI to Digital drum machine interface (can be purchased with KADI cable).
KADI Port for the Roland TR-808 – this should be fitted by a competent synth service engineer.
If you already have a Pro KADI, but purchased it with a WASP cable, you also will need a KADI cable for your Pro KADI.
Connecting the Pro KADI MkII to the TR-808
The KADI port fitted to a Roland TR-808 provides a 15 pin D plug. Connect it to your Pro KADI with a 15 pin-15 pin KADI cable.
Configuring the Pro KADI MkII
Use the following settings on your Pro KADI:
| Parameter | Setting |
| 0 – MIDI receive channel | set to the required MIDI channel (default: 1) |
| G – Mode Select | [Ka] Kadi (default) |
| E – Accent Threshold | set to desired threshold (default: 70) |
Note that by default the Pro KADI MkII assigns the TR-808 voices MIDI notes per the table below. This can be changed using parameters 1-b on the Pro KADI:
| Parameter | MIDI Note | TR-808 sound |
| 1 – Voice 1 | 36 (C1 – 2 Octaves below Middle C) | Bass Drum |
| 2 – Voice 2 | 37 (C#1) | Snare Drum |
| 3 – Voice 3 | 38 (D1) | Low Tom/Low Conga |
| 4 – Voice 4 | 39 (D#1) | Mid Tom/Mid Conga |
| 5 – Voice 5 | 40 (E1) | High Tom/ High Conga |
| 6 – Voice 6 | 41 (F1) | Rim Shot/CLaves |
| 7 – Voice 7 | 42 (F#1) | Hand ClaP/MAracas |
| 8 – Voice 8 | 43 (G1) | Cow Bell |
| 9 – Voice 9 | 44 (G#1) | CYmbol |
| 10 – Voice 10 | 45 (A1) | Open HiHat |
| 11 – Voice 11 | 46 (A#1) | Closed HiHat |
3. Control your TR-808’s voices by fitting a KADI port to the TR-808 and using a Pro 2000 MkI or MkII (discontinued)
Which products do I need?
You will need the following products:
KADI Port for the Roland TR-808 – this should be fitted by a competent synth service engineer.
KADI Port for the Pro 2000 (includes KADI cable) – this is can be fitted by the user.
Connecting the Pro 2000 to the TR-808
Connect the KADI lead from the KADI Port on the Pro 2000 to the SYNC socket on the TR-808. Set the TR-808 sync switch to INPUT.
Configuring the Pro 2000
Use the following settings on your Pro 2000:
| Parameter | Setting |
| ChD EXPANSION PORT MIDI Receive Channel | set to the required MIDI channel (default: 4) |
| ChD EXPANSION PORT status | KADI |
The TR-808’s sounds can be accessed by playing notes as follows:
| Parameter | MIDI Note | TR-808 sound |
| 1 – Voice 1 | 36 (C1 – 2 Octaves below Middle C) | Bass Drum |
| 2 – Voice 2 | 37 (C#1) | Snare Drum |
| 3 – Voice 3 | 38 (D1) | Low Tom/Low Conga |
| 4 – Voice 4 | 39 (D#1) | Mid Tom/Mid Conga |
| 5 – Voice 5 | 40 (E1) | High Tom/ High Conga |
| 6 – Voice 6 | 41 (F1) | Rim Shot/CLaves |
| 7 – Voice 7 | 42 (F#1) | Hand ClaP/MAracas |
| 8 – Voice 8 | 43 (G1) | Cow Bell |
| 9 – Voice 9 | 44 (G#1) | CYmbol |
| 10 – Voice 10 | 45 (A1) | Open HiHat |
| 11 – Voice 11 | 46 (A#1) | Closed HiHat |
A Note Velocity of over 70 will play an accented note.
4 – Control your TR-808’s voices by fitting a KADI port to the TR-808 and using a Pro 4 (discontinued)
Which products do I need?
You will need a KADI cable for your Pro KADI.
Connecting the Pro 4 to the TR-808
Connect the KADI lead rom the KADI socket on the Pro 4 to the SYNC socket on the TR-808. Set the TR-808’s sync switch to INPUT.
Configuring the Pro 4
Configure the Pro 4 as follows:
| Parameter | Setting |
| KADI>H MIDI Receive Channel | set to the required MIDI channel (default: 8) |
The TR-808’s sounds can be accessed by playing notes as follows:
| Parameter | MIDI Note | TR-808 sound |
| 1 – Voice 1 | 36 (C1 – 2 Octaves below Middle C) | Bass Drum |
| 2 – Voice 2 | 37 (C#1) | Snare Drum |
| 3 – Voice 3 | 38 (D1) | Low Tom/Low Conga |
| 4 – Voice 4 | 39 (D#1) | Mid Tom/Mid Conga |
| 5 – Voice 5 | 40 (E1) | High Tom/ High Conga |
| 6 – Voice 6 | 41 (F1) | Rim Shot/CLaves |
| 7 – Voice 7 | 42 (F#1) | Hand ClaP/MAracas |
| 8 – Voice 8 | 43 (G1) | Cow Bell |
| 9 – Voice 9 | 44 (G#1) | CYmbol |
| 10 – Voice 10 | 45 (A1) | Open HiHat |
| 11 – Voice 11 | 46 (A#1) | Closed HiHat |
A Note Velocity of over 70 will play an accented note.
