Owner's Manual

Two Editions

The FRAM Edition runs on the SuperOS CPU board v1.3, which stores patterns in FRAM memory. The Standard Edition runs on other compatible CPU boards and stores patterns in the processor's own flash memory. Both editions play and edit identically; the only difference is where your data is kept (see Pattern Storage).

How Controls Are Written

Keys appear as they are printed on the panel: the sixteen STEP keys (numbered 1 to 16 from the left), START/STOP, TAP and CLEAR (the key marked Pattern Clear / Track Clear / Step Number). CLEAR + STEP 4 means: hold CLEAR, then press STEP 4. A tap is a short press and release.

Mode Dial

Turning the Mode Dial always returns you to that position's normal function and closes any open tool.

Instrument Select

Twelve positions: the accent track and the eleven voices. In PLAY and COMPOSE the same dial picks rhythm track 1–12.

Other Dials

• Basic Variation (A, AB, B): which memory of the pattern plays. AB alternates A and B every measure.
• Intro/Fill Variation (A, B): which memory of the intro or fill plays.
• Auto Fill In (Manual, 16, 12, 8, 4, 2): plays a fill automatically every so many measures.
• Pre-Scale (1–4): how many steps make a beat.
• Tempo: the internal tempo, unless MIDI clock or DIN sync is driving.

Mode Dial at MANUAL PLAY

There are sixteen pattern slots, one per STEP key. STEP 1–12 are the basic rhythms and STEP 13–16 are the intro / fill in patterns. Every slot has two memories, A and B, so there are 32 patterns in all.

1. Press a STEP key from 1 to 12 to select a basic rhythm.
2. Set Basic Variation to A, B or AB.
3. Press START/STOP. The selected slot's LED flashes on the beat.

Selecting another rhythm while running changes it at the end of the measure. If you press during the first beat of a measure, the change happens in that measure, heard from the second beat. The pattern you select here is also the one you edit in 1ST PART and 2ND PART.

The selected rhythm plays and loops until you stop it.

Mode Dial at 1ST PART or 2ND PART, running or stopped

In the write positions the STEP keys enter hits for the instrument on Instrument Select. A lit LED is a hit. 1ST PART shows steps 1–16 and 2ND PART shows steps 17–32. With Basic Variation on A or B you choose which memory you are writing.

One complete pattern is now written.

• Steps past the part's step number stay dark and do not respond.
• Steps past the selected voice's own length (see Length and Sections) stay dark and do not respond.
• If the part you are looking at does not exist yet (a new pattern has only its 1st Part), the first STEP press creates it at 16 steps and enters the hit. This is how a pattern grows to 32 steps.
• For accents, set Instrument Select to AC and write them like any voice.
• Patterns are saved when you stop and when you turn the Mode Dial.

Mode Dial at 1ST PART or 2ND PART

Step Number

Each part plays from 1 to 16 steps. The 1st Part and 2nd Part play one after the other, so a 12-step 1st Part and an 8-step 2nd Part make a 20-step measure. Set the step number with the LENGTH tool:

1. Hold CLEAR and press STEP 1 (LENGTH). Release CLEAR.
2. Press the STEP key for the number of steps you want. Its LED lights.
3. Tap CLEAR to close the tool.

Pre-Scale

Pre-Scale sets how many steps make one beat. The value is stored in the pattern, so the dial only changes a pattern when you commit it: turn the dial, then tap CLEAR. A CLEAR tap only commits if the dial has moved since the last commit, so a stray tap cannot change the timing.

Mode Dial at 1ST PART or 2ND PART, running

While the pattern runs, press TAP to put the selected instrument on the step that is playing. Play a part in by hand instead of placing it.

Mode Dial at MANUAL PLAY

Press STEP 13, 14, 15 or 16 to choose which intro / fill in pattern TAP uses. This does not change the rhythm that is playing.

Intro/Fill Variation chooses memory A or B of the intro / fill pattern. With Basic Variation on AB the rhythm alternates A and B every measure and keeps alternating through fills.

Panel Lamps

The Basic Variation lamp shows the memory that is actually playing, so it changes with the sound at the measure line, not when you turn the dial. While running, the 1st / 2nd Part lamp shows the part that is playing; while stopped it shows the part you are editing.

Mode Dial at PATTERN CLEAR

Erase a Whole Pattern

The LEDs show which slots hold data, with the selected slot shown inverted. With the machine stopped, press the STEP key of the slot, then tap CLEAR. Basic Variation decides what is erased: A or B erases that memory, AB erases both. This cannot be undone.

Chase Delete

While running, hold CLEAR: the selected instrument's hits are erased as the playhead passes them. Release CLEAR to stop erasing.

Mode Dial at 1ST PART, 2ND PART or MANUAL PLAY

Press and hold CLEAR: the step LEDs show the tool map straight away. Press a STEP key to open that tool, then release CLEAR. STEP 16 opens the config menu. Step 15 is unused and stays dark.

• While a tool is open, the STEP keys and TAP belong to it only, and the LEDs show its current setting. The FILL IN pedal still plays fills.
• Hold CLEAR again to see the map: the open tool's LED blinks.
• Tap CLEAR (or press and release it without a step) to close the tool. Turning the Mode Dial also closes it.
• TAP is the second key inside some tools and never needs holding. In Length, Polymeter and Direction one press switches the tool's mode, and the LEDs blink in time while the second mode is on. In Probability and Ratchet it clears settings.
• Unless a tool says otherwise, it works on the instrument on Instrument Select, in the 16 steps on display.

CLEAR + STEP 1 (Length), CLEAR + STEP 14 (Section)

Four Sections, up to 64 Steps

A pattern has four sections of up to 16 steps. Sections 1 and 2 are the 1st Part and 2nd Part; sections 3 and 4 extend the pattern to 64 steps. The sections play in order and any section of length 0 is skipped. New patterns have only section 1.

Length Tool

The Length tool has two modes, switched with TAP.

A voice with its own length loops on its own cycle against the rest of the pattern. Steps beyond it go dark in the write display. Whether that loop restarts with each measure or runs freely is set in the Polymeter tool.

Pre-Scale from the Length tool

With Length open, hold CLEAR and turn the Pre-Scale dial. In section length mode the new value is committed to the pattern. In voice length mode it gives the selected instrument its own pre-scale, so that voice plays at its own rate between the pattern's steps; turning to the value the voice already has removes it.

Section Tool

STEP 1–4 choose which section the STEP keys and LEDs show. While the tool is open, the Pre-Scale dial also selects the section. The section you choose stays on display after you close the tool, so you can go back to normal writing in section 3 or 4. Turning the Mode Dial returns to section 1 (1ST PART) or 2 (2ND PART). Pressing a step in a section that does not exist yet creates it at 16 steps.

CLEAR + STEP 2 (Swing), CLEAR + STEP 11 (Direction)

Swing

STEP 1–16 set the pattern's swing. STEP 1 is none and STEP 16 is the most, a little under half a step. Swing lengthens each odd step and shortens the next by the same amount, so the tempo does not change. Saved with the pattern.

Direction

With STEP 16 lit, STEP 1–4 set the direction of the whole pattern. Press TAP and the LEDs blink: now STEP 1–4 set the selected instrument's own direction. Pressing the direction it already has returns it to the pattern direction. Both are saved with the pattern.

CLEAR + STEP 5 (Probability), CLEAR + STEP 6 (Ratchet)

Both tools work in two stages. First the LEDs show the instrument's hits, and the steps that already carry a setting blink. Press a step to pick it. The LEDs then show that step's value as a bar; press a STEP key to set it, and the tool goes back to the first stage.

Probability

Gives a hit a chance of playing. After picking the step, STEP n makes it play n out of 16 times; STEP 16 makes it play every time again. Works on the accent track too.

Ratchet

Repeats a hit inside its step. After picking the step, the STEP number is the number of hits: STEP 1 is a single hit (no ratchet), STEP 2, 3 and 4 give 2, 3 or 4 evenly spaced hits; higher keys also give 4.

TAP in Both Tools

• First stage: TAP removes every probability (or ratchet) from the selected instrument.
• Second stage: TAP resets the picked step only.

CLEAR + STEP 7 (Polymeter)

Polymeter decides what a voice with its own length does at the end of each measure.

Copy / Paste (STEP 3)

The copy is kept until power-off, so you can paste it into another slot or memory.

Transform (STEP 4)

Works on the selected instrument's 16 steps in the displayed section. Probabilities and ratchets move with their hits.

Generate (STEP 12)

STEP 1–4 fill the selected instrument's 16 steps in the displayed section with random hits, from sparse (STEP 1, about one step in six) to dense (STEP 4, about three in four). This replaces the hits and removes their probabilities and ratchets, so copy first if you want to go back.

Save (STEP 13)

STEP 1 saves all changes now. It only works while stopped, and its LED is lit only then. You rarely need it: patterns are also saved when you stop and when you turn the Mode Dial.

Mute (STEP 8)

STEP 1–12 mute and unmute the instruments in Instrument Select order (STEP 1 is accent). Lit means muted. STEP 15 mutes every voice and leaves accent on; STEP 16 unmutes everything. Mutes are not saved with the pattern.

Reslice (STEP 9)

Hold a STEP key to loop that many steps from where the pattern is: hold STEP 4 for a four-step stutter, STEP 1 to repeat one step. Release and the pattern carries on where it would have been.

Arp (STEP 10)

Replaces the pattern with a sequence of single hits, one per step. Press STEP 2–12 to add instruments in the order you want them (STEP 1 adds a rest), up to 16 entries. STEP 16 clears the sequence. The sequence is also cleared when you close the tool or stop, so the pattern always comes back.

Chaining Patterns

Mode Dial at MANUAL PLAY

Hold one basic rhythm key (1–12) and press another: the slots from the first to the second play in order and loop, up to four slots. Chained and queued slots are lit; the playing one flashes. While running, a new chain starts at the end of the current one. Selecting a single rhythm ends the chain.

Mode Dial at PLAY

A rhythm track is a list of patterns, one per measure. There are 12 tracks of up to 64 measures. A track stores the slot of each measure, not the memory, so the Basic Variation dial still applies when it plays.

1. Turn Instrument Select to the track number (1–12).
2. Press START/STOP. The track plays from measure 1 and loops.

• A STEP key changes the next measure, for one pass only. The track is not changed.
• TAP or the FILL IN pedal during the first beat of a measure plays the fill in that measure. Auto Fill In and the intro are ignored, since the track already holds its fills.
• Moving Instrument Select while the track runs switches tracks at the end of the current track.
• A track recorded past 64 measures continues into the next track number, and plays on through it.

Mode Dial at COMPOSE, stopped

Tracks are recorded in real time: everything you play in MANUAL PLAY style is stored measure by measure.

The track is recorded. Turn to PLAY to hear it.

Editing a Track

In COMPOSE, press START/STOP without arming record. The track plays, and each STEP key you press replaces the measure it lands in (the next measure, or the current one during its first beat). The track keeps its length.

CLEAR + STEP 16, from 1ST PART, 2ND PART or MANUAL PLAY

The sequencer keeps running while the menu is open. Tap CLEAR to leave; that is the only way out. Settings are saved when the menu closes, or at the next stop if the machine is running.

MIDI works over the MIDI IN and OUT jacks and over USB-C, where the 808 appears as “SuperOS-808”. Everything the 808 sends goes out on both.

Notes

Incoming Note On plays the voices. A velocity of 100 or more adds accent. The 808 sends its own hits on channel 1, at velocity 127 when accented and 96 otherwise.

Pattern Select

Program Change 0–15 selects slots 1–16 in memory A, and 16–31 selects them in memory B. If Bank Select LSB (CC 32) has been sent as 0 or 1, it chooses A or B instead. The change follows the same timing as a STEP key. After a Program Change the Basic Variation dial is ignored until you move it.

Clock and Transport

With the clock source on MIDI, the 808 follows incoming MIDI clock and Start, Continue and Stop. If the clock stops for about a third of a second, the panel tempo and START/STOP take over again. Clock is taken from one input at a time, so a source sending to both USB and the MIDI jack does not double the tempo. Incoming clock is smoothed against timing jitter.

When running on its own tempo the 808 sends MIDI clock, Start and Stop. In OUT mode incoming clock is also passed on to MIDI OUT.

Channel and Switches

The MIDI channel (config menu step 1 and 2) applies to incoming notes, program change and bank select. SysEx has no channel. Notes and SysEx can each be switched off in each direction from the config menu or the web editor's device settings.

The editor is at superos303.com/editor/808. It needs a desktop browser with Web MIDI. Connect over USB-C, or connect both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT, choose the ports and press Connect.

• The pattern grid shows all twelve instrument rows. Edits go both ways at once: click a cell and the step changes on the 808; press a step on the panel and the grid updates. The playing step is highlighted.
• Probability, ratchet, per-voice length and polymeter can be edited per step and per row.
• Patterns and tracks can be backed up to and loaded from files.
• Device settings, panel calibration and firmware updates are run from here too.

The 32 patterns, 12 tracks, settings and the panel calibration are stored on the CPU board. No battery is needed. Changes are saved when the sequencer stops, when you turn the Mode Dial, with the Save tool, and from the web editor. Nothing is written while the sequencer runs, so saving never interrupts playback. Switch off only while stopped, or recent edits may be lost.

FRAM Storage FRAM Edition

The 808's dials reach the CPU as coded values, and those codes can vary between machines. The firmware ships with a table measured on a real machine. If a dial selects the wrong thing on yours, calibrate it:

1. Open the web editor and connect.
2. Start Panel calibration in the editor, or press step 8 in the config menu.
3. Follow the prompts: set each dial position and press each key as asked.
4. Save. The table is stored on the board and used at every power-on.

Calibration only needs the STEP keys, CLEAR, START/STOP and the tempo, so it works even when the dials are reading wrongly.

Some builds of the firmware can also run the original 1981 TR-808 program, so the machine behaves exactly as it did from the factory, with MIDI clock sync added. The original program is not included with superOS-808; this mode is only present on a build that was made with an image of the original program.

In stock mode, STEP entry lands the moment a key goes down, at any speed, and also works while stopped. Only the clock source and SysEx in settings apply in this mode. The web editor cannot edit patterns in stock mode.

Updates are sent over MIDI or USB-C. The machine does not need to be opened.

• Patterns32 (16 slots × memories A and B), up to 64 steps each in four sections of up to 16
• Rhythm tracks12, up to 64 measures each
• Instruments11 voices and the accent track
• Saved per patternstep number per section, pre-scale, swing, pattern direction, per-voice length, polymeter, direction and pre-scale, step probability (up to 40 steps), ratchets of 2 to 4 hits (up to 16 steps)
• Performancemutes, reslice, arpeggiator, chains of up to four slots
• Timinginternal tempo, rear DIN sync, or MIDI clock (24 per quarter note)
• MIDIMIDI IN and OUT jacks and USB-C; notes in and out, program change and bank select, clock and transport, SysEx for the web editor and firmware updates
• StorageFRAM on the SuperOS CPU board v1.3 (FRAM Edition), internal flash on other boards (Standard Edition); no battery
• Updateover MIDI or USB-C