The First Famous Drum Machine! 

Add your favourite CR-78 hits below.

Alex Ball's finger snap is so famous that a Prophet 10 becomes a mere backdrop for it.

In Australia it was called the 8𝘓-ꓤϽ.

Every German teenager from the 80ies will know this drum machine as it was prominently used in every second "Drei Fragenzeichen" music track :)

I use to be John Foxx's window cleaner when I was 18......many many years ago. And I use to drool over his studio set up. He was a really lovely bloke who was extremely down to earth.

I grew up with Numan, Foxx and Warren Cann mod'ing his like hell so its cool 40 years later to see comments from people discovering that for the first time. Cann said there are tuning pots inside the 78 - he altered the decay of the kick as the standard kick tended to go "BOING!" through a PA instead of "THUD!". They didn't use backing tracks live so he also had it mod'ed to display a tempo readout as it triggered the bass synths on some tracks. Anyway, great little vid as always - but 2 small things you missed off - the programming part was done by a plugin write switch, and the 78 came in 2 finishes - the "rock and roll" black you showed, and the "creaky organist" wooden case. Alex Ball - preserving EM tech history for the future. Nice one. :)

METAMATIC IS A MUST HAVE. Damn. Such a classic album.

Metamatic, what an album. My mates mocked me endlessly for going “liquid in the sheets”! But I knew it was a work of art.

Just love the percussive sounds of the CR 78. Still sounds great today. One song to add using the CR 78. “Games without frontiers” Peter Gabriel. Many thanks Richard.

I love this drum machine , there's a Genesis gig from 1980 ( available on RU-vid), where Phil Collins "plays" it, in the intro to the song Duchess, he manipulates the standard pattern using the faders. So many iconic songs that were created from one machine, it's the DX7 of drum boxes.

Love this drum machine didnt realise Roxy Music used it too. Behringer are doing great things preserving history

My favorite drum machine hihats of all time, love my Cyclone TT-78

Yes I was screaming at the screen and then you pulled out that album and I was immediately calmed and transported.

Westlicht Performer Module + Blck_Noir is a pretty sweet new rendition of the CR-78. My go to setup. Thanks for the vid!!

Massive love for referencing the "I Can't Go For That" video.

Glad to see Metamatic getting a mention, still listening to that record. A little nod to John Foxx me thinks in your excellent, as ever, outro tune. Your channel is ace btw.

Sick guy for including the samples!

Awesome thanks....soundtrack of my youth...

I love the CR-78! It might be my favourite sounding Roland drum machine overall

Great roland cr78 video. I remember seeing pop group the quick use this on their song hip shake jerk back in 1980.

The Heart of Glass intro is so iconic!

This is such an awesome sound! It speaks to me so much lol... and thank you for the sample pack!

Love the song at the end. Sounds like a timeless classic from 1981!

I really dig this jam at the end, very creative use of MS-20 and also REALLY FREAKIN COOL harmony

Metamatic... great album. Great video, thanks!!

I still have one! Lovely machine.

2:37 I was listening to this part in another tab, and it gave me such a whiplash that I felt like a gorilla about to drop the sickest drum solo in history.

I'm 99% sure that Metamatic was one of the first two albums I ever bought. It holds up extremely well today, and the production quality is solid. The other album was Replicas, and yes... I was one of those people shouting "what about Gary Numan?" :)

Duchess by Genesis is probably my favorite use of the CR-78. I Am a Camera by The Buggles from Adventures in Modern Recording. The album also features a lot of Linn LM-1, Simmons SDS-V, and TR-808.

Excellent performance to he music you play towards the end.

The prophet glamour-shot snapping for I can't go for that 🤣😂🤣🔥🔥

When I was in 7th grade Metamatic was one of my favorite albums! It was just as I started to realize that I wanted to get into music production,. I had no idea it was as a CR-78 for the drums! But listening back through it it’s really clear!!! Thanks for mentioning it, I’ve been having a lot of fun relistening to it again!

One of those drum machines I would love to own but they just get more and more expensive. great demo Alex

With out a doubt. My favorite drum machine sound. Duchess was such a game changer

That's a cool tune you made at the end of the video Alex!

Finally! Love the CR-78! I'm gonna pick one of these up one day!

Excellent micro-documentary about a cool piece of kit. Thanks for another great presentation, Alex.

Thank you, Alex! It was brief but informative. All musical examples took me back to a pleasant past.

Great video! Thanks for putting this together... didn't know Phil used this on In The Air Tonight. Fun stuff!

thanx for the samples Alex

My favorite drum machine, very expressive sounds.

Very John Foxx ish track at the end there. Have Metamatic on original vinyl, cd and the later released 3CD set, great album and sounds why I've loved synthesizers since I first took note of them as a kid being used by ABBA. Great video as usual.

Amazing!!! I'd never heard of the CR-78 yet as soon as I heard it everything sounded so familiar - all those tracks that shaped my musical taste. Awesome stuff Alex.

Really enjoyed this. Great track at the end. ace vid. Thanks

Jesus that jam at the end was fucking SICK!

Great Video Alex :) So glad you showed Foxx... It's amazing that damn CR-78 is the drums for the whole album... I will never part with mine !!

Fantastic video as always!!! Thank you!

Thank you for the samples.

I had one when they were cheap.... awesome

Thx so much for these samples!

YOOOOO, Congrats on 100K fam!!!!

Thank you for the nostalgic sound of CR-78 !! !! You create an enjoyable track bro !! !!

CR-78 is kinda cool. Kinda wondering when Roland will shrink it into a boutique. ^^ And huge thanks for those samples! They're greatly appreciated!

1. The Cure - New Day [Ariel is also great but has no full version due to tape's run-out during live recording...] 2. The Glove - Looking-glass Girl [a rare case of using CR78's accent function] 3. Depeche Mode - In Chains [I would choose Barrel Of A Gun if I was certain it's CR78] 4. John Foxx - A New Kind Of Man [from the best album ever (eq aequo with Violator

Yes, I am so pleased you featured John Foxx’s amazing album!

Fantastic video and the track at the end amazing 🤩 defo a nod to the great man John Foxx , keep up the great work 😊👏👏

My friend Jeff was a drummer for a somewhat famous Texas band. His brother played that John Foxx album nonstop until Jeff turned “Underpass” into “Underpants” and his brother couldn’t listen to the song anymore. UNDERPANTS!

How interesting, Roland made and is still making wonderful things

I love my CR-78 (with Kenton MIDI)

I once read Warran Cann modded the crap out of his. I've a CR78 myself being Metamatic is prob my all time favorite album ..I send it through MXR 126 Flanger. .Sounds a bit gorgeous !!

It's my birthday today, and you've just given me a delightful present, made from your own love & effort :) God bless you, sir. May your rewards be mighty and often.

I still love the CR-78 after I got a CD with loops on in the 90's. A nice amount of gated reverb & compression and you could turn those little popcorn beats into monster beats. Thanks for the sample pack 👍

Your videos are like a trip down memory lane! I remember seeing this when it came out and I thought it was more of a toy. Little did know how iconic it would become. I love how you used your Mini Korg 700 in the track. Great video as usual and track.

Metamatic by John Foxx is one of the best synth albums of the 80s, highly recommended listening.

Thanks for your video on this Alex! And the sample pack is cool, it really adds something new to load this onto a TR-8S (which is probably way too digital for your studio, but it is a very versatile choice for limited space and budget).

Yes. The good old CR78 - everything I listened to in the late 70’s & early 80’s had this drum machine on it. Used to go to the local music shop which stocked Roland and play with it pretending to be Visage or Gary Numan.

Alex, Thank you for the sample pack! I look forward to having fun with them!

1998 for 500 DM gekauft . Metamatic ! Still working still the best still my love 🎶⚙️

....... Japan ...... still love that band, shame they didn't live out that long tbh 😔

How did I not know about Fade to Grey and this (and bearing in mind who was behind that track, of COURSE it is). Great video, and loved the outro piece.

Hall & Oates also used on Kiss on my list too, definitely Roland foundation for the TR-808. Great video and thanks to be so kind on sharing the samples, that takes time and effort, very grateful. Cheers! FYI: I got the sounds of the CR-78 on my Uno Drum, they have the Anthology Libraries with a lot of samples of old drums machines to load on the Uno Drum, is a cheap alternative in hardware mode.

Thank you for the samples

First time here. Thank you for this. It was fun to revisit some music history with you :) Thanks for the samples! Will load them in my MpC Live and see what transpires. Keep it up!

I usched thisch on Heart of Arsch.

I always liked the sound of this. Fun demo Alex! :)

Thank you for your gear history lesson. I don't think I've ever listened to any of the John Foxx's albums so I will educate myself immediately on this one

Another great video Alex, and thanks for the samples, much appreciated!

Brilliant!

Thank you for the brilliant video, and for the mention of one of the milestones in electronic new wave (yes I'm an old fan of John Foxx), and congrats for the foxxesque track in the video. Great!

Genesis was playing Japan in 1978, and as they were already using quite a lot of Roland gear, they got a free factory tour. At the end of the tour each of the three band members were courteously presented with a brand new drum box. The CR-78 was just about to be put on the market, and it was obviously something the folks at Roland were very proud of. But Phil Collins was almost offended, thinking to himself: "Why the hell would I want a drum box ? I'm a drummer!" I think it's a good thing he went along and accepted the gift, as he did put the CR-78 (and later other Roland drum machines) to good use.

Yes Dammit! Another Alex Ball video! Yay!

Like an animal by the glove with Robert Smith of the Cure and Steve Severin of Sousxie and the Banshees. Cr 78 is the intro to the track

Awesome track Alex. Very evocative of the whole vibe and using super cool vintage stuff.

Absolutely brilliant video as always, what a drum machine and love the track!! Thanks for the sample pack - a real bonus!

CR-78's are just great. They work on anything.

Oddly never had previously heard of Metamatic nor John Fox. To me, sounds like a precursor to DEVO. Excellent discovery; thank you! Also, thank you for the sample pack :) On 2/14, a well-known developer of digital instruments is releasing what many are expecting to be a CR-78 VST. Should prove interesting!

Props to you, Alex, for spotlighting John Foxx’s ‘Metamatic’ and mentioning that his song (and Virgin subsidiary label) “Metal Beat” was inspired by the “Metallic Beat” setting of the CR-78. I always thought it was his exact inspiration. He also used plenty of Arp Odyssey, so it was a perfect choice for your track. I’m a longtime fan of that album (and it’s accompanying singles and b-sides), so it’s pretty cool seeing it receive this kind of recognition.

Forgotten Keys did a brilliant emulation of this for Kontakt, including the sounds, the built in patterns and importantly being able to combine the different rhythm patterns (and much simpler programming than a WS-1 :) ) There were also presets, including the excellent “Gary Numan Live 79”…

Used one right at the start. Our trio became a duo when our drummer decided to quit so we carried on by using this box. A few venues complained that even though the floor was full of dancers it was wrong to have no drummer. In fact the manager at one place suggested we should at least get a cardboard cutout. No we didn’t change our name to clunk click. Amped through a big Vox bass cabinet and flared horn.

What a great track homage to John Foxx.

Nice To Hear That Again Had One off The Side Next To My CS60 & Roland SH5 Arrh The Good Old Day's No Midi

Thank you for mentioning John Foxx. Always thought that was such an under appreciated record.

It’s also one of the coolest looking drummachines 🙌

In the air tonight will always be sublimity personified.. Simple but perfect

I was just looking up this drum machine! It was used in the movie "Liquid Sky" for a scene where there is a live music performance.

My favorite analog "drum" machine. I know, the 606, the 808, the 909 and all the classics, but this one has such a unique sound! Instant John Foxx, Ultravox, Gary Numan...... Edit: I wrote this before you even mentioned Metamatic lol my man

The CR78 at the beginning of Genesis' Duchess is an absolute classic

Heck, I remember that. Another bit of gear I couldn't afford 😢 I had an electric organ with rhythms although not programmable but I had to make do with that. My first programmable was the TR-606. Also had Metamatic. Will have to listen to it again now 👍

The Roland CR-78 and the KORG Minipops are by far my favorite vintage drum machines. Sounds of the youth, I’d guess.

Awesome. Great sound design throughout the final track. That patch on the Korg700 is piercing my nape in such a pleasant way! :-)