The Wasp - WOD mix April 2025

Nasty Foo - Dream A80

GET TO WORK, LAZY EP

Dream 80

Lifestyle Choice

Neighbour

Sinkhole

This is really an unfair comparison, because the Novation does both 909 and 808 sounds, whereas the TR-09 only does 909. Also the Novation has no sequencer, whereas the TR-09 sequencer is a big part of its appeal. So the two machines are actually very different in use.

But in terms of the sound...

This track starts with a simple beat using the Novation Drumstation, tuned to give the best classic 909 style sound I could get out of it. Next, the same sequence is heard from the TR-09, set up to sound as close to the Drumstation as possible for comparison. I then tweaked the TR-09 to my taste - added some compression on the kick, a little bit of swing etc - and that can be heard in the third section. The three sections then repeat so you can compare the better - Drumstation, TR-09, and TR-09 tweaked.

The levels of all three sections are matched, and have no EQ or effects.

My verdict: There is a clear resemblance between the two machines, but the TR-09 has a rounder, warmer top end, and the kick has more weight. The Drumstation has more high end sparkle to the sound - a bit more modern. The TR-09 really comes into its own when the kick compressor is brought in, which gives it a lot more weight in the low end, straight out of the box. The third section is my favourite by some way. Of course, the recordings were made at 24/44.1 and SoundCloud streams MP3s, so what you'll hear isn't an ideal representation.

If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment.

Drumstation versus TR-09

Academic researcher interested in environmental sound and audio media. Background in human geography, childhood studies and education. I also make music.

Drumstation versus TR-09

Michael D Gallagher

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