MR-808

MR-808 is a drum robot installation featuring an oversized robotic drum machine which is programmed live by the spectators!

The audience can program the drum robot in a collaborative process and listen to the emerging of the sound. At the exhibition site, the crowd can stand in front of the robot, composing the music in realtime.

The drum robot installation MR-808 Interactive (2013) is intended for a collaborative music creation process which turn the listener from a passive spectator to an active player, visualizing the ongoing bond of mobile digital interfaces and physical actions.

The original installation MR-808 was developed in 2013 by the collective Sonic Robots under the direction of Moritz Simon Geist. It got an upgrade with the interactive part in 2015 / 2016. The drum robot has so far been presented on various events, from techno club nights to media and hacking congresses. The robot installation is a replica of the famous 1980s electronic drum machine TR-808 with robots playing the drum sounds. For the installation eleven sounds of the 80s drum computer TR-808 are replaced by mechanical actuators and physical tone-makers. You can read more about the technique and background here.