Roland TB-303 Bass Line | |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Roland |
Dates | 1981-1984 |
Price | £238 UK, $395 US |
Technical specifications | |
Polyphony | monophonic |
Timbrality | monotimbral |
Oscillator | Sawtooth and square wave |
LFO | none |
Synthesis type | |
Filter | 24dB low pass resonant filter, non self oscillating |
Aftertouch expression | No |
Velocity expression | No |
Storage memory | 64 patterns, 7 songs, 1 track |
Effects | No internal effects. |
Input/output | |
Keyboard | No |
The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were adopted by electronic musicians, and its 'squelching' or 'chirping' sound became a foundation of electronic dance music genres such as house and techno. It has inspired numerous clones.
Roland’s TB-303 is one of these influential instruments, but it wasn’t always seen that way. When Roland released the TB-303 Bass Line in 1981 it was marketed as a computerized bass machine to simulate a traditional bass guitar. However, as its unique history has shown, inventive electronic musicians soon discovered the 303.
Design and features[edit]
The TB-303 was designed by Tadao Kikumoto, who also designed the Roland TR-909 drum machine.[1] It was marketed as a 'computerised bass machine' to replace the bass guitar.[2] However, according to Forbes, it instead produces a 'squelchy tone more reminiscent of a psychedelic mouth harp than a stringed instrument'.[3]
The TB-303 has a single oscillator, which produces either a 'buzzy' sawtooth wave or a 'hollow-sounding' square wave.[3] This is fed into a 24dB[4]low-pass filter, which is manipulated by an envelope generator.[2] Users program notes and slides using a basic sequencer.[3]
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Impact and legacy[edit]
The 303's unrealistic sound made it unpopular with its target audience, those who wanted to replace bass guitars. It was discontinued in 1984,[5] and Roland sold off remaining units cheaply.[3]
'Rip It Up', by the Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice, which reached #8 in the UK singles chart in February 1983, was the first UK top 10 hit to feature the 303.[6]
Another early use of a TB-303 (in conjunction with a TR-808 drum machine) is Indian musician Charanjit Singh's 1982 album Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat. It remained obscure until the early 21st century, and is now recognized as a precursor to acid.[7]
The Chicago group Phuture bought a cheap 303 and began experimenting.[3][4] By manipulating the synthesizer as it played, they created a unique 'squelching, resonant and liquid sound'.[3] This became the foundation of 'Acid Tracks', which was released in 1987 and created the acid genre.[3] Acid, with the 303 as a staple sound, became popular worldwide, particularly as part of the UK's emerging rave culture known as the second summer of love.[3][4]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as new acid styles emerged, the TB-303 was often overdriven, producing a harsher sound, such as on Hardfloor's 1992 EP 'Acperience' and Interlect 3000's 1993 EP 'Volcano'.[8] In other instances the TB-303 was distorted and processed, such as on Josh Wink's 1995 hit 'Higher State of Consciousness'.[4][9]
As only 10,000 units were manufactured, the popularity of acid caused a dramatic increase in the price of used 303 units.[3] According to the Guardian, as of 2014, units sold for over £1,000.[10] In 2011, the Guardian listed the release of the TB-303 as one of the 50 key events in the history of dance music.[5] It has inspired numerous clones.[11]
References[edit]
- ^Hsieh, Christine. 'Electronic Musician: Tadao Kikumoto'. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
- ^ ab'The History Of Roland: Part 2'. www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
- ^ abcdefghiHamill, Jasper. 'The world's most famous electronic instrument is back. Will anyone buy the reissued TB-303?'. Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
- ^ abcd'The Fall and Rise of the TB-303'. Roland US.
- ^ abVine, Richard (2011-06-14). 'Tadao Kikumoto invents the Roland TB-303'. the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
- ^'Buzzcocks: Boredom / Orange Juice: Rip It Up - Seconds - Stylus Magazine'. 2015-06-10. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-26.Cite uses deprecated parameter
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(help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) - ^Stuart Aitken (10 May 2011). 'Charanjit Singh on how he invented acid house ... by mistake'. The Guardian.
- ^Church, Terry (Feb 9, 2010). 'Black History Month: Jesse Saunders and house music'. beat portal. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^'30 Years of Acid'. Attack Magazine.
- ^Reidy, Tess (2014-02-15). 'Retro electronics still popular – but why not just use modern software?'. the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
- ^Warwick, Oli (8 April 2017). 'Attack of the clones: Is Behringer's Minimoog a synth replica too far?'. Fact. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
Further reading[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roland TB-303. |
- 'Roland TB-303 Bass Line'. Electronics & Music Maker. April 1982. p. 20. OCLC317187644.
- 'Knowledge Base: The History of the Roland TB-303'. Future Music. No. 262. February 2013. pp. 52–3. ISSN0967-0378. OCLC1032779031.
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