JoMoX’s XBASE 888 emerged in the late 2000s as a Berlin-built performance machine where analogue drums, short digital samples and a sequencer meet in one tough, hands-on box.
The machine in the record
Anthony Rother / “Hot Chocolate In the Milkyway”.
Anthony Rother says he used a JoMoX XBase 888 on the Telekraft single “Hot Chocolate In the Milkyway”. The testimony names the machine on the record without pretending to isolate every programmed voice, which is enough to put the XBase in the song’s hard electronic orbit.
Read Artist Tips: Anthony Rother ↗More records in the archive
The machine keeps turning up.
Reported association
Martin Müller / youANDme / Behind
A report of Müller’s Ibiza Voice interview lists the JoMoX XBase 888 among the machines used to make Behind.
Read YouAND:THEMACHINES — Behind ↗Reported association
Martin Gore / Depeche Mode / Artist-use association; no named recording
JoMoX’s user gallery recounts Martin Gore saying that he used the XBASE 888 a lot.
Read JoMoX Famous Users — Martin Gore / Depeche Mode ↗The bigger Berlin XBASE
Jürgen Michaelis founded JoMoX in 1995 from the X-Tended repair world. The XBASE 888 followed the AirBase99 and XBase09 as a larger, more elaborate groovebox: an instrument for players who want to reach into a running rhythm rather than merely start it.
Analogue drums with digital shadows
Its architecture joins four analogue instruments—bass drum, snare and two toms—to five groups of short eight-bit sample voices shaped by analogue VCA envelopes. The 888’s character lives in that combination: physical drum synthesis beside sharper digital punctuation.
Write the sound into the sequence
In Pattern Mode, sound settings can change on individual steps and sample voices can select different samples from step to step. Four additional MIDI tracks carry the sequence outward. On an 888, rhythm and timbre are written together.
A working operating system
The surviving OS history records changes to booting, muting, MIDI-clock display, step editing, program change and velocity behaviour. Firmware was part of the instrument’s life, refining the way a player met its substantial panel.
Built for a committed performer
Reviews admired the bass drum, analogue voices, step sequencer and live potential while recognising that the machine took attention. That is the 888’s compact bargain: depth enough to make a rhythm personal, and enough control to keep discovering new corners of it.
In the market
- 12 February 2008: EUR 1099 — German review-period price. XBASE 888; list/street basis and included options unspecified Source ↗
- 24 August 2011: EUR 1099 — German recommended retail price reported in review. XBASE 888; UVP in closing article price list; modern affiliate widget excluded Source ↗
On record
- Martin Gore / Depeche Mode — Artist-use association; no named recording. JoMoX’s user gallery recounts Martin Gore saying that he used the XBASE 888 a lot. Source ↗
- Anthony Rother / Telekraft — Hot Chocolate In the Milkyway. Rother says he used a JoMoX XBase 888 on the Telekraft/Anthony Rother single Hot Chocolate In the Milkyway. Source ↗
- Martin Müller / youANDme — Behind. A report of Müller’s Ibiza Voice interview lists the JoMoX XBase 888 among the machines used to make Behind. Source ↗
Sources
The visual archive
Further visual evidence.
Sources for images shown earlier (2)
Additional visual sources (3)
Original publications and related image sources.
- Bonedo XBASE 888 gallery ↗
24 August 2011 · Bonedo · Article gallery: overall view, rear connections and controls - JoMoX XBASE 888 product page ↗
Undated · JoMoX · Pictures, embedded video and Audio Demos - XBASE 888 OS history through 1.12 ↗
Undated · JoMoX · Entire bilingual text file