Behringer RD-8 Quickstart Guide and Tutorial

A short guide to the main functions of the Behringer RD-8

If you're thinking of buying and wondering how easy it is to use... take a look
If you've got one and the manual isn't helping .. take a look.

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0:00 Intro
1:07 The Basics
2:35 Programming a Pattern
5:00 Pattern length
7:35 Intro/Fills
8:30 Programming Songs
13:08 Step and Note Repeat
14:18 Mute and Solo
14:50 Waver Designer and Filter
18:17 Swing, Flam and Probability
21:16 Fiddling with the Sounds

[ianpullman]

Absolutely fantastic, Behringer should be paying you for doing this.

[ecowden]

Thank you! Thought my unit was DOA. It only arrives with a "Quick Start" that just describes the connections. Thanks to you I got some sound out of it! :-)

[dvuemedia]

I got one this week, I have been watching this vid to get started, Thanks.
I have the v2/Mark2 version with first black keys instead the white ones. In this version, looks like the probability is off by default and it shows in different led color which step the probability is enabled. Nice.

[maccagrabme]

Didn't even bother with the manual and probably wouldn't have worked it out in a hurry as its not obvious, so thanks for your excellent tutorial. I had no intentions of buying this as I was happy with cloud and Tr8 but saw it for £220 new and couldnt resist. I must admit when I first used it I wasnt blown away as maybe I was expecting more due to the legendary status of the 808. I even tried the cloud alongside it and that sounded nicer to begin with, very punchy and detailed whereas the RD8 was more subdued. It wasn't until I used it in the context of a recording alongside the TD3 that it all made sense. The RD8 has that magical 80s sound whereas the cloud version doesn't. I could easily recreate all those famous 80s electro and house tracks with the RD8 and they felt much the same whereas I couldnt recreate the same with the plugin, it sounded good but was missing something and didn't balance too well in the mix. I only intended to test it out and put it back in the box until later but had to be dragged off it 5 hours later as I was having so much fun, this machine is highly addictive and I haven't experienced this in any plugin emulation so far or even the Tr8. Very pleased with this, yet another Behringer classic at an unbelieveable price.

[ogasi]

One of my fave uses for the WD is about 8pm attack and full sustain on a cymbal with full decay, set up some kicks and hit the lo toms through it too and watch what happens to the cymbal being sucked and pushed, almost lfo like, very nice tool.

[afreezaphorogiancossack]

Okay, I've watched you through now and have found this very useful. I'm going to have to look around at other videos about this piece as well. This has been far more informative for a n00b like me though than many videos with much more elaborate production, I think this is the kind of video you want to learn from.

[danf]

Excellent tutorial, got me up and running in like 5 minutes. Thanks for making this!

[apislapis]

I have read on countless occasions that no two TR-808s sound the same, so who is to say that it doesn't sound like one of the originals? I have the poor man's 808 a 606. I wasn't interested in purchasing an RD-8, because I have the 606 and samples of an 808 that can be triggered on my Akai MPX8, until you sold it to me (Behringer take note, sign up Starsky now). I can overlook it's quirks/foibles because at £299 it's a bl00dy bargain. Great video as always Starsky. Keep churnin' 'em out la'.

[joemillo]

Starksy for THE WIN!!!! Thank you so much for making this easy. Was having a hard time getting into the RD-8 until I saw your video. As always, you are my Sensei Of Sound!

[honderdzeventien]

Aight!!! Thanx man, this vid does what the manual could never make clear to me, the unlit pattern/song was the point I got stuck, and really _frustrated._ Your vid's info isn't even made clear on behringer's own

[kristian]

Thanks! I was really annoyed by the Flam affecting all the voices (wtf?) but thanks to this video I figured out how to solve this. Thnx a lot!!

[afreezaphorogiancossack]

Excellent video! Been thinking about this one and the Crave lately, I just bought them and your videos have been REALLY helpful! Something about the cryptic character of interfaces from these glory days of electronic dance music, really reminds me of computers from those days too. Your video is dense with information that I need to learn my way around and it is presented in the order, roughly, that other n00bs to this hardware will encounter it as well. Or that's how it's been for me. This is from the older days of interfaces, you have to do a little searching to find those sweet spots sometimes.

Not going to go on about how lovely the machine is because I just wanted to comment on your video. I like the fact that you didn't have to add a lot of bling, you got right to the point and it worked well, for me. Subscribed.

[Pandangus]

Thanks for the video! I can learn in a day what would have taken me months to figure out, as well as some stuff I would probably have never figured out with how I was getting on with the manual.

[MrFunktone]

Nice! The sound is awesome, I mean so close to the original I'm really blown away tbh. Top vid

[theaudioeng]

Only just got mine after a 2 year wait (for all of us, right?), so this is helpful as in the box the Quick Start manual just told me what the buttons do, NOT how to programme up the beast! Now DL'd the User Manual off Behringer's website Music Tribe. More UL's please!! Cheers 😎🎶👍

[PanCakeMixer]

Just got it and having a blast with it. What I need to do now is synching it's midi clock with a synthesiser (Roland Gaia or Behringer Monopoly)

[cpwn]

they should write a program, like a wrapper; for all the Behringer drum machine like models someone would use for electronic music. rd-8, 9, td-3, etc. as "modular" software devices. perfect tutorial. thanks again :)

[marsmediapro]

I have recently acquired an RD-8, and just now powered it on- this video is a great help- I have watched it multiple times... btw- your facebook link is a dead end... and, I wish that you'd consider publishing an "RD-8 For Dummies" guide book- ha ha; but, seriously- would you, please?

[luapworrag]

Excellent video. Was wondering where I was going wrong with a few areas. Hadn’t had a chance to read the manual

[liamconner]

Great video. Particularly helpful for programming songs.