Before we go into the details of Kikumoto-san’s career and his personal description of how both the TR-808 (the drum machine that has defined the sound of HipHop) and MIDI came about, we wanted to share the background of what happened when we first contacted him about a MIDI Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
We had written an article about a year ago about how MIDI is about collaboration, not competition.
But Kikumoto-san’s response to our suggestion that he be awarded a MIDI Lifetime Achievement Award went beyond that and reflected a deeper bond between the people who worked together to create MIDI.
With the help of MIDI Association Executive Board member Paul McCabe who is the Senior Vice President of Research & Innovation for Roland Japan, we reached out to Kikumoto-san and through a translator (Taro Araki) and received this reply.
He is humbly accepting the MIDI Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you so much.
At the same time, he strongly recommends to have Mr Tetsuo Nishimoto (西元哲夫) from Yamaha receive this same award.
Nishimoto-san is a brilliant engineer who was the workhorse of creating MIDI from Yamaha’s side. He checked every single detail of the proposals from Roland and others. He also introduced Active Sensing. He designed the photo isolation of the MIDI terminal, which happened to be very much similar with Roland’s idea.
Kikumoto-san very much respects Nishimoto-san as an engineer, a friend, a technological rival, and the most important of all, the true unsung hero of the industry.
If Nishimoto-san is not receiving this Award, then Kikumoto-san cannot bear receiving this Award without him.
Taro Araki
(On Behalf of Tadao Kikumoto)Here is our article about Kikumoto-san’s friend and technology rival and fellow 2025 MLTA recipient Tetsuo Nishimoto (西元哲夫).
Kikumoto-san provided us with material for article (in both Japanese and English) detailing his thoughts on MIDI and we are providing it. Then we will dig in to the history of “The Analog Mafia” that developed some of the most influential drum machines every made.
Kikumoto-san’s English Comments
Happy Accidents
In 1979, when Kakehashi-san returned from the NAMM Show in the United States, he consulted me with the question, “Realistic drum machines are desired in American music studios. If it’s under $1,000, it could be a new market. Could it be developed?”
Although it didn’t sound realistic and turned out to be a failed product at first, it later became a happy accident that triggered hip-hop and techno music, the birth of TR-808.
In 1980, when Kakehashi-san returned from the NAMM Show in the United States, he consulted me with the question, “The synthesizer market is in disarray with Volt/Octave, Volt/Hz, etc. I want to propose a unified standard for the upcoming digital age.”
At that time, many proposals were scattered among domestic and international manufacturers and academic societies, so I didn’t think it would be easy to gain support and integration, but I started working on the design. Let alone, I never expected that it would eventually evolve to be my second happy accident.
By the way, the development of DCB, a dedicated communication system for the existing JUPITER and JUNO models, also started at this same timing.
On the other hand, as I was in charge of the drum machine section at that time, synchronizing it with the sequencer was also a challenge. Therefore, the basic idea of Roland’s proposal, which later became the original plan for MIDI, was as follows:
1. To enable synchronization playback with multiple sequencers or computers. Incorporate Start, Stop, Continue, and a system clock for synchronization.
2. If an 8-bit/1-byte MSB was “1” then it indicates status, while a “0” indicates a Note Number. Key velocity was always a point of contention. But it was defined as 7 bits, because that is a truncated simple dataset of 127 steps of a logarithm.
3. The Monophonic/Channel specification, which was common in analog at that time, was expanded to Mono-Polyphonic/Channel, which enables Multi Timbral operation.
4. In the MIDI stream, if the Channel does not change, the Status is omitted to improve transmission speed. This technique is known as Running Status.
5. System Exclusive to define maker-specific messages.
I designed and proposed a simple and efficient coding protocol.
At the NAMM Show held in Chicago in June 1981, Kakehashi-san talked to Tom Oberheim about an industry-wide communication protocol. Oberheim Electronics had already developed its own parallel communication standard. Tom-san introduced Kakehashi-san to Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits. Further, Dave-san was inspired by his conversation with Kakehashi-san and announced the first draft of the Universal Serial Interface at the AES Show in October that year.
This initial draft was created by Chet Wood of Sequential Circuits. From this point, conferences were held repeatedly by Sequential, Yamaha, Kawai, Korg, and Roland to formulate MIDI.
Yamaha’s proposal turned out to be very similar to Roland’s, especially in the most innovative Mono-Polyphony/Channel Multi Timbral concept, which assigns incoming Note Messages to multiple Voice Units through Voice Allocation system, like ours.
Sequential Circuits’ proposal had various ingenious coding methods, but like Roland’s DCB communication system, a Channel specified a Voice Unit of the sound source, which means Monophonic/Channel specification.
After evaluating the three proposals, Roland’s proposal was chosen.
Yamaha provided further rigorous coding verification by Mr. Nishimoto, along with the addition of Active Sensing and Photo Coupling Transmission design.
It was thanks to the cooperation of companies including Korg, Kawai, and Casio that an agreement was quickly reached in Japan in 1983.
In the United States, there were criticisms about the resolution of Velocity, the transmission speed of 31.25 kbaud, and the inexpensive DIN connector, but thanks to the implementation by Sequential Circuits and Oberheim, it became a de facto global standard.
MIDI was a great achievement led by Kakehashi-san, but being given the opportunity to assist him was a happy accident.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this Award, which is a result of the support and cooperation of all the above-mentioned people.
Kikumoto-san’s Japanese Comments
Happy Accidents
1979年、梯さんが米国のNAMMショーから帰ってこられ、私への相談は
「米国の音楽スタジオでリアルな音のドラムマシンが望まれている。千ドル以下なら新たなマーケットになる。開発可能だろうか.
それはリアルな音にならず、当初、失敗作だったが、その後ヒップホップ、テクノミュージックを生み出すTR-808というHAPPY ACCIDENTとなった。
1980年、梯さんが米国のNAMMショーから帰ってこられ、私への相談は
「シンセサイザ―市場はVolt/Octave、Volt/Hzなどで混乱している。デジタル時代に向けて統一規格を提案したい」
ということであった。
当時は、国内外のメーカ、学会などでは多数の案が乱立していたのでとても賛同、統合が得られると思えなかったが設計に取り掛かった。ましてやこれが第二のHAPPY ACCIDENTになるなどとは予想もしなかった。
ちなみにこの時、発売済みのJUPITERやJUNOへ適用される専用通信システムであるDCBの開発も同時にスタートしている。
一方、当時私はドラムマシンセクションを担当していたのでシーケンサーとの同期運転も課題であった。そこで後のMIDIの原案となるローランド社案の骨子は
1 複数のシーケンサーやコンピュータと同期演奏を可能にする。Start, Stop, Continue, そして同期用システムクロックを取り入れる。
2 8Bit/1BYTEのMSBが1ならステータス、0ならNote Number。そしていつも争点になっていたVelocityも7bit、つまり127step logarithmに丸め込んだ (truncated) シンプルなデータセット。
3 当時、アナログで一般的だったMonophonic/ChannelをMono-Polyphonic/Channel Multi Timberに拡大した。
4 MIDIストリームの中でChannelが変化しない場合はStatusを省略して転送速度を改善する Running Status。
5 Maker独自のメッセ―ジを定義するSystem Exclusive。
として、シンプルで効率的なCodingのプロトコルを設計し提案した。
翌1981年６月シカゴで開催されたNAMMショーにて、梯さんはTom Oberheimさんに業界共通通信プロトコルについて話をもちかけた。Oberheim社は既に独自のパラレル通信規格を開発していたからである。トムさんは梯さんにSequential Circuits社のDave Smithさんを紹介し、さらにデイヴさんはこの時の梯さんとの会話に触発されて、同年10月のAESショーにてUniversal Serial Interfaceの最初のドラフトを発表した。
この素案はシーケンシャル社のChet Woodさんの手になるものである。そしてここからシーケンシャル，ヤマハ、カワイ、コルグ、ローランドの５社によるMIDI策定への会議が繰り返されることになった。
ヤマハ案はローランド案と非常に類似していて特に最も革新的な Mono-Polyphony/Channel Multi timbre つまり当社同様に音源側が送信されてくるNote Messageを複数のVoice Unitに割り当てるVoice Allocationになっていた。
シーケンシャル・サーキット社の案はコーディングに種々、工夫が凝らされていたが当時先行していたローランドの通信システムDCBと同じくChannelが音源側のVoice Unitを指定するという、Monophonic/Channel仕様であった。
以上の３社の案で評決した結果、ローランド案が選択された。
ヤマハからは西元さんによる更なる厳密なコーディングの検証と新たにActive Sensing、及び Photo Coupling Transmissionが追加された。
そしてデイヴさんからのChannel数を8から16への拡張、MIDI名称、提案を受けて全社完全に合意することができた。1983年日本で速やかに合意に達したのはコルグ社、カワイ社、カシオ社など含め全社の協力の賜物であった。
一方、米国では上記Velocityの分解能、転送速度31.25kbaud、安価なDINコネクターへの批判があったがシーケンシャル・サーキット社、オーバハイム社の率先実装によって事実上、世界基準となった。
MIDIは梯さんのイニシアティブで達成された偉業であったが私にそのお手伝いの機会を頂けたのはHAPPY ACCIDENTであった。
この度のAward受賞には上記関係各者の皆さんのご支援ご協力の賜である。
こころから感謝の誠を捧げたい。
The TR-808
Not Just A Drum Machine, A Cultural Phenomenon
It is hard to know where to start when describing the impact of the TR-808 on modern music. It has certainly reached a cult status and is more like a cultural phenomenon than just a drum machine.
Just like in sports, you know you’ve made it when you’ve got your own shoe. The New Balance Tiago Lemos was launched on August 8th (808 Day), 2024.
Songs that used the TR-808
The list of all the songs that have featured the TR-808 is too long for this article, but here are a few.
Marvin Gaye- “Sexual Healing”
Afrika Bambaataa- “Party Rock” and “Planet Rock”
Egyptian Lover- “Egypt, Egypt”
Whitney Houston- “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”
Run DMC- “It’s Tricky”
Outkast- “The Way You Move”
Kanye West- “Love Lockdown”
Charanjit Singh – “Raga Bhairav”
Lil Louis – “French Kiss”
Drexciya – “Andreaen Sand Dunes”
Kanye West “808s & Heartbreak“
If that isn’t enough to get your groove on, Roland created a list of songs that you might not be familiar with.
Legendary TR-808 Tracks
The following Youtube video from Roland’s 40th Anniversary celebration goes inside those tracks with the producers and artists who fell in love with the distinctive sound of this classic drum machine.
Yuri Suzuki and The MIDI 2.0 Logo and The Roland50 Studio
Yuri Suzuki was a member of the Japanese performance art group Maywa Denki which makes the Otamatone.
Susuki-san went to work for Pentagram, a design firm in London that had down the logo designs for Mastercard, Waze and others. The MIDI Association engaged Yuri to design the MIDI 2.0 logo.
Taking centre stage in the identity, the trademark is inspired by musical forms, such as the Stuttgart pitch, which is an oscilloscope reading of sine waves at a frequency of 440 Hz. The Stuttgart pitch serves as a tuning standard for the musical note of A above middle C, or A4 in scientific pitch notation. A440 has been widely adopted as a reference frequency to calibrate acoustic equipment and to tune various musical instruments.
The wordmarque design also references the shape of Lissajous curves, which are graphs of a system of parametric equations used to describe complex harmonic motion. The finalised design represents a modulation shape between 440 Hz – 880 Hz which is globally recognised as a tone for tuning instruments.
The sonic logo complements the wordmarque design, creating a mirror between sound and vision. The pitch starts out at 440 Hz and then rises to 880 Hz, with subtle wave shape and stereo modulation. There is an anticipatory feeling to the sonic identity, similar to that of an orchestra tuning to 440 Hz or Strauss’ ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’. The simplicity and power of these pitches can create a Pavlovian response. Minimal orchestral strings complement the sine waves.
Yuri Suzuki and The Roland 50 Studio
In 2020, Roland engaged Yuri to design the 808303 Studio so people could experience the TR-808 and TB-303 online.
Roland’s 40th Anniversary
For their 40th Anniversary in 2022, Roland updated the website to https://roland50.studio/ and included other instruments from Roland including the SH-101, TB-303, SP-404, TR-606, TR-707, TR808 and TR-909.
We encourage everyone to go to https://roland50.studio/ and experience the happay accident of the Roland TR-808.
You can clearly see in the following links the respect that Roland and musicians all over the world have for Tadao Kikumoto-san (菊本忠男) and we happy to present him (and his Yamaha friend Nishimoto-san) with a MIDI Association Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 NAMM show.
Links
Roland 40th Anniversary Celebration of The TR-808