This page is read from MIDI Instrument Definitions, a Python library used in the author's other projects, in which every number is traced to a document its maker published. Its source is on GitHub.

Roland TR-8S MIDI implementation

The MIDI implementation of the Roland TR-8S: what it answers to, and the 55 controls it offers, on firmware 3.00.

At a glance

Firmware: This page describes firmware 3.00.
MIDI channel: Any one of 1 to 16.
MIDI mode: 4: omni off, mono.
Voices: Not recorded.
Notes: Each note plays a drum of its own, assigned by the player; the factory notes are listed below.
Note range: Not recorded.
Velocity: Received.
Aftertouch: None, sent or answered.
Pitch bend: Not recorded.
Program change: Received and sent, with 128 presets.
MIDI clock: Sent and received.
Start and stop: Sent and received.
Control change: 55 controls, in the tables below.
NRPN: None.
System exclusive: Not recorded.

Drum notes

Each drum's note is assigned by the player, and these are the notes it has from the factory.

Drum	Note
`bd`	36, C2
`sd`	38, D2
`lt`	43, G2
`mt`	47, B2
`ht`	50, D3
`rs`	37, C#2
`hc`	39, D#2
`ch`	42, F#2
`oh`	46, A#2
`cc`	49, C#3
`rc`	51, D#3

Controls

In the order the definition gives them, by group. Under each control is the name a program calls it by, once pymidiinstrumentdefs.load("roland/tr8s") has loaded them.

Kit and pattern

Control	CC	Values
Shuffle `shuffle`	9	0-127
External In Level `external_in_level`	12	0-127
Master FX [On] `master_fx_on`	15	0-127
Delay Level `delay_level`	16	0-127
Delay Time `delay_time`	17	0-127
Delay Feedback `delay_feedback`	18	0-127
Master FX Ctrl `master_fx_ctrl`	19	0-127
Accent `accent`	71	0-127
Reverb Level `reverb_level`	91	0-127
Auto Fill In [On] `auto_fill_in`	14	0-127 Sent, never received
Auto Fill In [Manual Trig] `auto_fill_in_manual`	70	0-127 Sent, never received

BD

Control	CC	Values
BD Tune `bd_tune`	20	0-127
BD Decay `bd_decay`	23	0-127
BD Level `bd_level`	24	0-127
BD Ctrl `bd_ctrl`	96	0-127

SD

Control	CC	Values
SD Tune `sd_tune`	25	0-127
SD Decay `sd_decay`	28	0-127
SD Level `sd_level`	29	0-127
SD Ctrl `sd_ctrl`	97	0-127

LT

Control	CC	Values
LT Tune `lt_tune`	46	0-127
LT Decay `lt_decay`	47	0-127
LT Level `lt_level`	48	0-127
LT Ctrl `lt_ctrl`	102	0-127

MT

Control	CC	Values
MT Tune `mt_tune`	49	0-127
MT Decay `mt_decay`	50	0-127
MT Level `mt_level`	51	0-127
MT Ctrl `mt_ctrl`	103	0-127

HT

Control	CC	Values
HT Tune `ht_tune`	52	0-127
HT Decay `ht_decay`	53	0-127
HT Level `ht_level`	54	0-127
HT Ctrl `ht_ctrl`	104	0-127

RS

Control	CC	Values
RS Tune `rs_tune`	55	0-127
RS Decay `rs_decay`	56	0-127
RS Level `rs_level`	57	0-127
RS Ctrl `rs_ctrl`	105	0-127

HC

Control	CC	Values
HC Tune `hc_tune`	58	0-127
HC Decay `hc_decay`	59	0-127
HC Level `hc_level`	60	0-127
HC Ctrl `hc_ctrl`	106	0-127

CH

Control	CC	Values
CH Tune `ch_tune`	61	0-127
CH Decay `ch_decay`	62	0-127
CH Level `ch_level`	63	0-127
CH Ctrl `ch_ctrl`	107	0-127

OH

Control	CC	Values
OH Tune `oh_tune`	80	0-127
OH Decay `oh_decay`	81	0-127
OH Level `oh_level`	82	0-127
OH Ctrl `oh_ctrl`	108	0-127

CC

Control	CC	Values
CC Tune `cc_tune`	83	0-127
CC Decay `cc_decay`	84	0-127
CC Level `cc_level`	85	0-127
CC Ctrl `cc_ctrl`	109	0-127

RC

Control	CC	Values
RC Tune `rc_tune`	86	0-127
RC Decay `rc_decay`	87	0-127
RC Level `rc_level`	88	0-127
RC Ctrl `rc_ctrl`	110	0-127

Where these facts come from

Source documents

TR-8S MIDI Implementation Chart, Version 1.10, dated 4 October 2018, its MIDI implementation, read on 13 September 2026 (the file read).
TR-8S Reference Manual, eng05, its user manual.
Roland - Support - TR-8S - Updates & Drivers, Ver.3.00, dated September 2023, its release notes, read on 30 September 2026 (the file read).

How they were read

MIDI Implementation Chart, Version 1.10, dated 4 October 2018: a single page (p. 1), and every row of it is below. Its 55 control numbers and 11 note numbers agree exactly with a working Subsequence map of the same machine, whose names these follow.

NOT RECORDED: values, bands and defaults for any control, none of which the chart gives. The firmware this covers is not in the chart either: it comes from Roland's update history, saved the same way, which shows no release changing the MIDI implementation.

THE GROUP LABELS ARE THE CHART'S OWN WORDS. Its note table heads the eleven drum voices INST and names each of them by two letters, BD to RC, and Roland expands none of them anywhere: its reference manual (56pp) and its owner's manual (24pp) were both searched for Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Low Tom, Rim Shot, Hand Clap, Closed Hi, Crash Cymbal and Ride Cymbal, and neither document contains one of them. So the two-letter names are what the maker calls these, and the expansions everybody knows are nobody's to add here.

THE REFERENCE MANUAL IS CITED FOR TWO THINGS. The first is that the eleven controls which belong to no drum voice are kit and pattern parameters rather than the instrument's own, which is where that group's label comes from, and nothing below depends on it: its KIT: MASTER FX is at p. 26 and its KIT: EXT IN at p. 29, and the shuffle is a pattern setting at p. 17. The second is the system exclusive conflict, which is the next paragraph.

THE CHART AND THE REFERENCE MANUAL CONTRADICT EACH OTHER ABOUT SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE, so sysex is not recorded. The chart marks System Exclusive "x" in both columns. The manual gives a parameter for it on its MIDI settings page, whose range is 17 to 32: "When transmitting and receiving system exclusive messages, the device ID numbers of both devices must match" (p. 46). Two documents of different vintages, and nothing here chooses between them.

THIS FILE SAID sysex: false UNTIL THE TR-6S MET THE SAME CONFLICT, and that was the chart read correctly rather than a misreading. It was changed because of what the claim does to a reader: false says this instrument has no system exclusive in either direction, so a panel would hide every sysex feature of a machine whose maker documents a device ID for matching sysex messages. A chart's "x" on that row is read here as no published system exclusive implementation, which is a weaker thing to say and is consistent with both documents. The two Rolands are recorded the same way for the same reason.