Roland CR-78
The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine released by Roland Corporation in 1978. It was adopted by new wave musicians and by acts including Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, OMD, Tears for Fears, Blondie and Radiohead.
Also recorded as Roland CompuRhythm CR-78
Roland CR-78
- Field
- drum machine.
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wikidata · Q2162697 · wikipedia · Roland CR-78
In this article
Development
Development
In the 1960s, drum machines were most often used to accompany home organs. They did not allow users to program rhythms, but instead offered preset patterns such as bossa nova. By the late 1970s, microprocessors were appearing in instruments such as the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer. The Roland founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, realized they could be used to program drum machines.
Features
Features
The CR-78 was the first drum machine to use a microprocessor. It was also the first drum machine with which users could write, save and replay their own patterns. It came with 17 preset patterns, including bossa nova, samba, mambo, beguine, rhumba and waltz, each with two variations. Pressing two buttons simultaneously plays a combination of the two patterns. Fills and breaks can also be added. The CR-78 offers 14 sounds, with four-note polyphony (meaning it can produce up to four sounds at the same time). The sounds are generated with analog synthesis, meaning they do not use samples (prerecorded sounds). They include a kick, snare, rimshot, hi-hat, cymbal, and high and low congas and bongos. Roland also released a smaller unit, the CR-68, which could not be programmed.
Legacy
The CR-78 was released in 1978 and initially received little attention. According to Gordon Reid of Sound on Sound, it initially seemed similar to other drum machines and its presets made it resemble those built into home organs. The CR-78 has been used in songs including "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates, "Enola Gay" by OMD, "Mad World" by Tears for Fears, "Heart of Glass" by Blondie, and in live performances by Radiohead. It became popular with new wave musicians in the late 1970s and early 1980s. MusicRadar wrote in 2021 that while the CR-78 did not offer the "floor-shaking rumble" of Roland's later machine, the TR-808, it "pumps and percolates, ticks and snaps in its own special way. The raw analogue drum tones are bursting with character and it can add instant atmosphere to a mix."
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Roland CR-78, revision 1367156330 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Wolbe, Trent. How the 808 drum machine got its cymbal, and other tales from music's geeky underbelly. The Verge. 30 January 2013.
- 2.Beaumont-Thomas, Ben. The Roland TR-808: the drum machine that revolutionised music. The Guardian. 6 March 2014. 0261-3077.
- 3.Anderson, Jason. Slaves to the rhythm. CBC News. 27 November 2008.
- 4.Reid, Gordon. The history of Roland: part 1. Sound on Sound. November 2004.
- 5.Kirn, Peter. Keyboard Presents the Evolution of Electronic Dance Music. Backbeat Books. 2011. 978-1-61713-446-3.
- 6.Vintage music tech icons: Roland CompuRhythm CR-78. Music Radar. 28 October 2021.
- 7.Phil Collins. Not Dead Yet. Century Books. 168–173. 2016. 978-1780-89513-0.
- 8.Simpson, Dave. Hall and Oates: how we made I Can't Go for That (No Can Do). The Guardian. 2018-04-02.
- 9.Jones, Andy. 'I was always uneasy about the fact that it was a bright, perky pop song about a nuclear holocaust, but it was insanely catchy': How OMD recorded one of the best anti-war songs ever made. MusicRadar. 15 April 2026.
- 10.Simpson, Dave. Tears For Fears: how we made Mad World. The Guardian. 10 December 2013.
- 11.Simpson, Dave. How we made: Heart of Glass. The Guardian. 2013-04-29. 0261-3077.
- 12.Strauss, Matthew. Radiohead share new 'Present Tense' video, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Pitchfork. 15 September 2016.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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