

Even if you're only encountering an 808 pattern when it's already been bounced as a continuous audio track for mixdown, that doesn't mean you can't still tailor the drum's length to your needs. Gating frequently provides a very simple solution, because the lack of level variation in most programmed 808 parts makes it child's play to achieve consistent triggering. My main advice here, though, would be to use a gate plugin with a Hold time setting in addition to the more common Attack and Release time controls, because this gives extra flexibility when it comes to defining the mixed kick sound's exact release envelope. (If your DAW's bundled gate doesn't offer this facility, try Bob Perry Audio's freeware plugin instead.)

The length of the 808 isn't just a technical mixdown question, though, because its endpoint can also fulfill an integral role within the rhythmic groove. For example, you can give a snare sound more subjective power and momentum by having it cut off the kick's sustain tail, so that it's almost as if the kick 'carries' you over from its downbeat all the way to the snare's backbeat. Shortening the sustain of subsidiary off-beat kick hits within a pattern is also a neat way to reduce their rhythmic stress, whether you do this by making adjustments in the sampler or by multing the subsidiary hits to a different audio track for tweaked gate settings.