{"id":3029,"date":"2013-03-28T12:54:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T19:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rolandus.com\/blog\/?p=3029"},"modified":"2013-11-12T12:21:13","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T20:21:13","slug":"tb-303-acid-flashback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rolandus.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/28\/tb-303-acid-flashback\/","title":{"rendered":"TB-303 Acid Flashback"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fall and Rise of the TB-303<\/h2>\n

Author: Oz Owen<\/p>\n

\"Roland<\/a>

Image from ‘Forward to the Past 2’ on PokerFlat Recordings. www.pokerflat-recordings.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The machine that put a smile on the faces of party people all over the world, without even realizing\u2014the incomparable TB-303 Bass Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Roland<\/a>It’s hard to make a definitive statement these days without kicking off an almighty flame war, but we’re going to make one anyway: the TB-303 is the greatest single-oscillator monosynth\u00a0of all time, bar none. There, we said it. And you know what? We’re right. Argue all you want. Go on, see where it gets you!<\/p>\n

What other monosynth,\u00a0and single oscillator monosynth\u00a0at that, has carved such a prominent niche for itself throughout the contemporary landscape of electronic music? What other synth\u00a0could claim to have such a unique and distinctive feel, capable of creating sound like no other? No one could argue that the electronic music scene would be markedly different today without that little silver box.<\/p>\n

The TB-303 <\/a>(TB standing for “Transistorized Bass”) proudly left the Roland stable in 1981, originally designed to play bass accompaniment for solo guitarists. But notoriously difficult to program and producing a less-than-authentic acoustic\u00a0sound, the 303 was swiftly relegated to a curiosity in second-hand music stores, where it languished for years\u2014right up until Phuture, a trio of under-funded Chicago musicians, picked one up for a giveaway price and set about experimenting.<\/p>\n

What the TB-303 lacked in user-friendliness and authentic bass tones it more than made up for with its quirky idiosyncrasies and insanely over-engineered tweaking potential via the half-dozen, front-panel rotaries. In 1987, Phuture released Acid Trax, a 10-minute squelch-fest that helped define the Acid sound, a sound that would quickly cross the Atlantic to become a pivotal component of 1988’s nascent rave culture that would come to be known as the UK’s very own “Summer of Love.”<\/p>\n

See our list of 10 iconic songs made with the TB-303 on POWERON<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

There are many monosynths,\u00a0so just what is it that makes the sound of the TB-303 so unique? In many ways, it’s a simple sound that emanates from that mono output; a single oscillator can be switched between a square and saw wave before sculpting with the 24 dB low-pass filter (often misquoted as 18 dB, 3-pole) that can’t even ascend into self-oscillation. For the truly authentic grind that the 303 is capable of, you’ll need one other element\u2014overdrive or distortion. If you have nothing at hand, then overdrive a channel on your desk to add some crunch.<\/p>\n