Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8

Whether you’re new to drum programming or a seasoned pro looking to upgrade your setup, the Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 has everything you need to step up to the big time.

Masterpiece Rejuvenated

Great care has been taken in designing the Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 to achieve new possibilities in beat creation by reviving a timeless analog design from one of the most-classic drum machines of yesteryear. By taking a fresh and modern approach on a classic drum machine, the RD-8 gives you the power to harness the phenomenal sound of the 808 and tap into some new features as well. Colossal bass drums through to sizzling hi-hats can be manipulated to elevate your rhythm performance to the next level. This is an analog beat-making monster!

Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 Live Performance Beat Master

Built to enhance the way you perform, the RD-8 boasts all-new features for live use in each of the sequencer modes including step repeat, note repeat, real-time triggering and live step-overdubbing. This makes it easy to enable recording in pattern launch mode, so you can build song structures on-the-fly and switch back to manual mode at the touch of a button. Then you are free to add some excitement with the autofill feature and to introduce more variations. You can even cue up another song from memory without interrupting playback, allowing you to perform entire sets from start to finish – just using your RD-8!

Powerful & Feature-Rich Sequencer

The Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 features one of the most powerful step sequencers ever created, which provides much-improved workflows over the original. The 64-step sequencer also includes storage for up to 256 patterns and 16 songs, allowing the creation of song arrangements ranging from ultra-simple to incredibly complex.

Wave Designer & Dual-Mode Filter

The integrated Wave Designer has individual attack and sustain controls that can be applied to individual voices to bring another dimension to your drum beats. This provides yet another way to control sounds to build virtually unlimited – and awesome new tones. Additionally, RD-8’s highly-flexible dual-mode 12 dB filter button toggles between LPF and HPF, allowing you to experiment with the cutoff frequency and resonance controls to create out of this world beats. And those fluid sweeps can be recorded straight into the sequencer and further tweaked using the step editor.

Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 Parameter Chaining

RD-8’s robust encoder lets you set separate chain preferences for each of your parameters, allowing them to function globally or to switch on when a song or pattern changes. Parameters include tempo, swing, flam, probability, independent track mutes/solos, FX bus assignments, filter modes and sweeps for enhanced real-time control. Patterns can be changed on-the-fly for further creative control when using the Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 as the heart of your live setup.

USB Control

To bring the RD-8 into the modern age, USB connectivity has been added for sync and MIDI triggering. This enables the RD-8 to be controlled by your DAW if desired, allowing songs and patterns to be swapped or individual sounds to be triggered.

The Numbers

The Behringer RHYTHM DESIGNER RD-8 has 29 knobs, 5 switches and 59 buttons, all laid out in a highly-intuitive format that puts the fun back into your beat creation. Input and output connections include: Phones; Mono audio; MIDI In, Out and Thru over USB and 5 pin MIDI ports; and 11 independent analog outputs for external processing or recording your rhythms as multitrack audio. With its 3 trigger outs, the RD-8 lets you control external synths and hardware sequencers to create songs without a digital audio workstation (DAW) in sight. The RD-8 can also send and receive clock information with highly-accurate timing to sync it to the outside world.

A Brief History of Drum Machines

From its humble beginnings as rhythmic support to organists, to later setting dance floors ablaze with unrelenting and hypnotic beats, the drum machine has been one of the most unappreciated of all musical inventions. Uncompromising in its metronomic precision, the drum machine provides a flawless rhythm section that never tires of playing the same four-bar loop. However, when put into the right hands and proper musical context, they can be finessed to create awe-inspiring rhythmic artistry.

First Drum Machine – The Rhythmicon

The ground-breaking Rhythmicon was created by Russian inventor Léon Theremin in 1931. The machine was a collaboration with American composer Henry Cowell and can produce up to 16 different rhythms with a strikingly bleepy sound.

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