Super Time Ultra

When an 808 kick becomes a bass line

Hear one 808-style phrase at a fixed pitch, then let the same hits carry a short melody.

A low drum sound can do more than mark the rhythm. When it sustains a recognizable pitch, changing the pitch of successive hits gives it another job. The rhythm starts carrying a bass line. This example uses Super Time’s synthesized 808-style voice. It is an original demonstration, not a sample from a record or a circuit-accurate model of a particular machine. First hear all four hits at one pitch. Then choose A pitched phrase without changing the rhythm.

What this tool includes

Hear the note after the attack

Each hit begins with a short fall in pitch. Listen past that opening movement to the lower note that follows it. In the fixed-pitch example, that note returns to the same place each time. In the pitched phrase, the same four hit positions remain. Their pitches change. The example uses a starting note, a whole-step rise, a rise of about a perfect fourth above the start, and a return to the second note. You are hearing a change in the pitched material rather than a busier drum pattern.

Do not turn it up to find the bass

Begin at a comfortable volume. A small speaker may reproduce the upper part of the sound more clearly than the lowest part. Headphones or speakers with useful bass response can make the sustained pitch easier to hear, but the volume does not need to be high. The site’s voice includes both a cleaner low tone and a more harmonically rich path. This lets the demonstration retain some audible shape when the fundamental is hard to reproduce. It does not make every phone speaker behave like a subwoofer.

Take the idea into a phrase of your own

Listen to the fixed-pitch version until its rhythm is familiar. Switch to the pitched phrase and hum the note that follows each attack. Then return to the fixed version. The comparison is more useful once you can follow both the timing and the change of pitch. For the wider story, read the drum-machine history. To experiment with your own material, open Sampler Studio or the browser synth. Keep the phrase short enough that you can hear which change made it better. A low end with more notes is not automatically a low end with a clearer musical purpose.

Practice tips

  • The pitch sequence and synthesis described here are the settings of this demonstration. They are not claims about the tuning or production of a named recording.