The 808's limited pattern storage encouraged artists to push its limits; according to "Slate", "those eight-bar units became veritable playgrounds for invention and creativity". Artists manipulated the bass drum to produce new sounds, such as on the 1984 single "Set it Off", in which producer Strafe used it to imitate the sound of an underground nuclear test. Producer Rick Rubin popularized the technique of lengthening the bass drum decay and tuning it to different pitches to create basslines. On their 1986 track "Paul Revere", the Beastie Boys reversed a recording of an 808 to produce backwards-sounding percussion.