Digital Drum Machine
This was my very first drum machine. It is a cute little noisemaker. Its sounds are somewhat reminiscent of the Roland TR-707, and are the typical “produced” 80s kinds of sounds.
The “A” is for “acoustic” – there’s also a DR-220E, “Electric”, with electronic, Simmons-like sounds.
Boss DR-220A audio demos
Let’s listen to the on-board demonstration song:
This demonstration song is a cleverly put together series of factory patterns. In fact, like in many other drum machines, songs are composed of series of patterns linked to each other.
And here below you can listen to the factory patterns – I recorded four measures for each pattern. I cut the .mp3 samples accurately in Sound Forge so they loop perfectly, in case you want to use them with your sequencer 🙂
The manual offers 32 more variations of these patterns, and it’s very easy to program them (and new ones) using Roland’s trademark “x0x-grid” layout. Some of these patterns are very good, and with a little compression, eq and effects will be perfect for those ’80s-inspired songs.
The “Electric Pop” is a great example of early eighties beat. The “Cuban” is downright ingenious in its programming. “Fill-in 8 Beat (2)” recalls “Rockit” by Herbie Hancock 🙂 and is a typical ’80s break.
And now for your sampling pleasures, here are the original drum samples sampled at 44.1kHz, normalized and trimmed in Sound Forge, in glorious mono directly from the drum machine. Assign them to your favorite hardware or software sampler, and you’ll have a virtual DR-220A at your disposal.
BOSS DR-220A manual
BOSS DR-220A specs
| Year of release | 1986 |
| Rhythm memory capacity | 32 preset, 32 user |
| Steps per measure | 16 steps / 12 steps |
| Songs | Max 128 bars x 8 (song chain: 256 bars) |
| Tempo | 40 bpm to 250 bpm |
| Display | yes |
| MIDI | no |
| Power | 6V (UM-3 x 4) / AC adapter PSA-120, 220 or 240 (9V) |
| Options | AC adapter BOSS PSA-120, 220 or 240 Connection cord PJ-1 |
| Dimensions | 239mm (W) x 75mm (D) x 31mm (H) 9-7/16″ x 2-15/16″ x 1-1/4″ |
| Weight | 350g / 12 oz (with batteries) |
BOSS DR-220A links