The trademarks are set to see the layouts, designs and colour schemes of Roland’s seminal electronic instruments protected in Germany, a move which likely comes in response to the impending release of the Behringer RD-808, an affordable clone of the classic drum machine.
While it’s unknown whether or not this will stop Behringer and their knack for creating affordable vintage hardware clones, it’s certainly an interesting development in Roland’s relationship with their classic machines from the ’80s. Both the TB-303 and TR-808 were reissued in a smaller form by Roland in 2017, and the company still continues to produce their modern versions of these instruments with the AIRA TB-3 and TR-8S Rhythm Performer.
Check out Behringer’s offical RD-808 demonstration below, and keep your eyes peeled on Mixdown for any other news on its release.
Revisit the impact of these seminal machines in our Musicology column about the birth of Acid House.
