[2] The chief Roland engineer, Makoto Muroi, credited the software design to Atsushi Hoshiai and the analog and pulse-code modulation voice circuits to "Mr Ou".

[10] In its review, Electronics & Music Maker found the 909 easier to use than the 808 and felt it offered the best analog drum sounds on the market.

It concluded that it offered a good combination of analog and sampled sounds and that the addition of MIDI brought the 909 "as up to date as it needs to be".

[9] Whereas the TR-808 was important in the development of hip hop, the 909, alongside the 303 synthesizer, influenced dance music such as techno, house and acid.

[5][13] In the late 1980s, the 909 was popularized by Chicago house and Detroit techno producers such as Derrick May, Frankie Knuckles and Jeff Mills, who bought second-hand units.

[14] The 909 was used on hip-hop records by acts including Boogie Down Productions, Ultramagnetic MCs, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and Public Enemy.

[13] In the early 1990s, the Japanese composer Yuzo Koshiro incorporated samples of the 909 in his soundtracks for the Streets of Rage games.

Mark Bell used it to create "militaristic" percussion for Björk's 1997 song "Hunter",[16][17] and Radiohead used it on "Videotape", from their 2007 album In Rainbows.

[18] Electronic artists such as Kirk Degiorgio and Cristian Vogel created sample libraries by recording their friends' machines.