Roland TR-808 drum machine
E65326
The Roland TR-808 drum machine is a pioneering analog drum machine famed for its deep bass drum and distinctive synthetic percussion sounds that have profoundly shaped hip hop, electronic, and pop music.
All labels observed (8)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Roland TR-808 | 9 |
| Roland TR-808 drum machine canonical | 3 |
| Roland Cloud TR-808 | 1 |
| Roland TR-808 drum machine (samples) | 1 |
| Roland drum machine | 1 |
| Roland drum machines | 1 |
| TR-808 | 1 |
| TR-808 Rhythm Composer | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T523207 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Roland TR-808 drum machine Context triple: [808s & Heartbreak, hasInstrumentation, Roland TR-808 drum machine]
-
A.
Philortyx
Philortyx is a genus of New World quails known for their ground-dwelling habits and occurrence in scrub and grassland habitats of the Americas.
-
B.
Audion
Audion is an early triode vacuum tube invented by Lee de Forest that enabled the amplification of electrical signals and was crucial to the development of radio and electronics.
-
C.
Wurlitzer theatre organ
The Wurlitzer theatre organ is a large, pipe-based musical instrument designed in the early 20th century to provide dramatic sound effects and accompaniment for silent films and live performances in movie palaces and theatres.
-
D.
Commodore Amiga 500
The Commodore Amiga 500 is a late-1980s home computer known for its advanced graphics and sound capabilities, making it popular for gaming, multimedia, and creative applications.
-
E.
Claviere
Claviere is a small alpine village and ski resort in northwestern Italy, known for its mountain scenery and winter sports facilities.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Roland TR-808 drum machine Target entity description: The Roland TR-808 drum machine is a pioneering analog drum machine famed for its deep bass drum and distinctive synthetic percussion sounds that have profoundly shaped hip hop, electronic, and pop music.
-
A.
Philortyx
Philortyx is a genus of New World quails known for their ground-dwelling habits and occurrence in scrub and grassland habitats of the Americas.
-
B.
Audion
Audion is an early triode vacuum tube invented by Lee de Forest that enabled the amplification of electrical signals and was crucial to the development of radio and electronics.
-
C.
Wurlitzer theatre organ
The Wurlitzer theatre organ is a large, pipe-based musical instrument designed in the early 20th century to provide dramatic sound effects and accompaniment for silent films and live performances in movie palaces and theatres.
-
D.
Commodore Amiga 500
The Commodore Amiga 500 is a late-1980s home computer known for its advanced graphics and sound capabilities, making it popular for gaming, multimedia, and creative applications.
-
E.
Claviere
Claviere is a small alpine village and ski resort in northwestern Italy, known for its mountain scenery and winter sports facilities.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (60)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
drum machine
ⓘ
electronic musical instrument ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
808
ⓘ
TR-808 ⓘ
linked to:
Roland TR-808 drum machine
|
| controlInterface |
buttons
ⓘ
rotary knobs ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Japan ⓘ |
| culturalImpact |
icon of hip hop production
ⓘ
widely sampled in popular music ⓘ |
| designGoal | affordable rhythm accompaniment ⓘ |
| discontinued | 1983 ⓘ |
| featuredOn |
"808s & Heartbreak"
ⓘ
linked to:
808s & Heartbreak
"Planet Rock" ⓘ "Sexual Healing" ⓘ
linked to:
Sexual Healing
|
| hasComponent |
bass drum voice
ⓘ
clave voice ⓘ closed hi-hat voice ⓘ cowbell voice ⓘ cymbal voice ⓘ handclap voice ⓘ hi tom voice ⓘ low tom voice ⓘ maracas voice ⓘ mid tom voice ⓘ open hi-hat voice ⓘ rimshot voice ⓘ snare drum voice ⓘ |
| hasOutput |
stereo mix output
ⓘ
trigger outputs ⓘ |
| hasReissue |
Roland TR-08
ⓘ
Roland TR-8S ⓘ
linked to:
Roland TR-08
|
| hasSoftwareEmulation |
Roland Cloud TR-808
ⓘ
linked to:
Roland TR-808 drum machine
|
| influencedGenre |
electro
ⓘ
hip hop ⓘ house music ⓘ pop music ⓘ techno ⓘ trap music ⓘ |
| initialReception | mixed reviews ⓘ |
| laterReception | cult classic ⓘ |
| manufacturer | Roland Corporation ⓘ |
| notableFeature |
deep booming bass drum
ⓘ
distinctive cowbell sound ⓘ synthetic handclap sound ⓘ |
| numberOfStepsPerPattern | 16 ⓘ |
| releaseDate | 1980 ⓘ |
| sequencerType | step sequencer ⓘ |
| soundGeneration | analog circuitry ⓘ |
| storageType | internal memory for patterns ⓘ |
| supports |
accent control
ⓘ
individual outputs ⓘ pattern chaining ⓘ shuffle ⓘ |
| synthesisType | analog drum synthesis ⓘ |
| technology | analog synthesis ⓘ |
| tempoRange | approximately 40–240 BPM ⓘ |
| usedBy |
Afrika Bambaataa
ⓘ
Beastie Boys ⓘ Kanye West ⓘ Marvin Gaye ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Roland TR-808 drum machine Description of subject: The Roland TR-808 drum machine is a pioneering analog drum machine famed for its deep bass drum and distinctive synthetic percussion sounds that have profoundly shaped hip hop, electronic, and pop music.
Referenced by (18)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
subject linked to:
Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
subject linked to:
808
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
subject linked to:
"Planet Rock"
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
subject linked to:
new jack swing
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine
linked to: Roland TR-808 drum machine