Summary

Developed with guidance and design assistance from musician Randy Piscione, this is a set of PCBs and a Eurorack panel to build a single-panel drum machine module that’s inspired by the Roland TR-808.

There are 14 sub modules that comprise the completed drum machine that plug into a common bus PCB. The ER-808 is driven by a PIC microcontroller which is pre-programmed and included with the PCB set. There are two versions of this project. One uses push buttons to program the steps and the other introduces capacitive touch pads directly on the front panel to modernize the TR-808 experience.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1

This is a PCB and Panel set only. A set of 15 high quality PCBs, a programmed PIC microcontroller and 1 front panel ONLY are included. You will need to purchase your own components and build your own modules. Comprehensive build instructions and BOMs are provided to help you source the components needed. Some product photos above show COMPLETED build.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2

Due to the number of PCBs involved, THIS IS CONSIDERED AN ADVANCED BUILD. Very limited support will be available for trouble-shooting. Please consider your skill and trouble-shooting levels before purchasing this set. If you feel you need some practice first, consider purchasing and building one or two (or more) of the standalone versions of PM Foundations modules before attempting the entire panel.

How it works

The number one benefit over individual Eurorack drum modules is that 99% of the standard patching that is required to create a usable drum machine is built in.

Each “module” can be built and tested and when they are all complete they come together behind the ER-808 panel. There is no point-to-point wiring. All connections are made on a single bus board.

What's included

Fifteen (15) PCBs and one 60HP screen printed front panel and one PIC24 programmed with firmware.

Demos

The following videos, courtesy of Randy Piscione, show the ER-808 in action:

A demo of the pattern mode - see and hear the module's many capabilities

Track prgramming

Prototype build

Retrospective

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation and parts lists are provided in the documentation link for building, testing and calibrating the modules.

The documentation is organized so that each sub-module can be built independently.

Power supply peak load: +12V is 149mA and -12V is 127mA.

And here is the main demo: