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Information about Roland Tb 303

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Roland TB-303 Bass Line by Roland
Synthesis type: Analog Subtractive
Polyphony: monophonic (4 octaves in the track writing mode)
Timbrality: none
Velocity sensitive: No
Aftertouch: No
Memory: 64 Patterns, ? Songs, 7 Tracks
Onboard effects: Individual level, tuning, attack,
decay, and tone controls for some
sounds
Produced: 1982-198?
Original price: $300 - $1200 (Currently)


The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation in 1982 and 1983 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music.

The TB-303 (named for "Transistor Bass") was originally marketed to guitarists for bass accompaniment while practicing alone. Production lasted approximately 18 months, resulting in only 10,000 units. It was not until the mid- to late-1980s that DJs and electronic musicians in Chicago found a use for the machine in the context of the newly developing house music genre. At the time they were very cheap, which helped to contribute to their popularity. The TB-303 is considered a collector's item today, often valued at US $1000 to $3000. An example recently sold on eBay for US $2,275.00.

Phuture's "Acid Tracks" is widely acknowledged to have been the first Acid House recording to incorporate prototypical TB-303 sounds. Earlier recordings featuring the TB-303 can be traced back as far as the early Electro scene, including artists such as Ice T, Newcleus, and Mantronix, as well as pop musicians such as Heaven 17 and Section 25.

In the early 90's, as new Acid styles emerged, the 303 was often overdriven, producing a harsher sound. Examples of this technique include Hardfloor's 1992 EP "Acperience", and Interlect 3000's 1993 EP "Volcano".

The well-known "acid" sound is typically produced by playing a repeating note pattern on the TB-303, while altering the filter's cutoff frequency, resonance, and envelope modulation. The TB-303's accent control modifies a note's volume, filter resonance, and envelope modulation, allowing further variations in timbre. A distortion effect, either by using a guitar effects pedal or overdriving the input of an audio mixer, is commonly used to give the TB-303 a denser, noisier timbre--as the resulting sound is much richer in harmonics.

The head designer of the TB-303, Tadao Kikumoto, was also responsible for leading design of the TR-909 drum machine.

Features

The TB-303 has a single audio oscillator, which may be configured to produce either a sawtooth wave or a square wave. The square wave is in fact created by flipping every other cycle of the sawtooth wave upside down, giving it a specific, more hollow, sound a bit different from regular square waves. It also includes a simple envelope generator, with a decay control only. A lowpass filter is also included, with -18 dB per octave attenuation, and controls for cutoff frequency, resonance, and envelope modulation parameters. Whilst not unique, the choice of a 3 pole design for the filter is somewhat uncommon, the standard configuration in analog synthesizers is almost always a 2 or 4 pole design. This, coupled with the way the filter modulations are bipolar, make the 303 sound difficult to exactly clone on hardware not specifically designed for that purpose.

The TB-303 has some unique features that contribute to its characteristic sound. During the programming of a sequence, the user can determine whether a note should be accented, and whether it should employ portamento, a smooth transition to the following note. The portamento circuitry employs a fixed slide time, meaning that whatever the interval between notes, the time taken to reach the correct pitch is always the same. The accent circuitry, as well as increasing the amplitude of a note, also emphasizes the filter's cutoff and resonance, resulting in a distinctive, hollow "wow" sound at higher resonance settings. Roland referred to this as "gimmick" circuitry.

The instrument also features a 'simple' step-time method for entering note data into the 16-step programmable sequencer. This was notoriously difficult to use, and would often result in entering a different sequence than the one that had been intended. Some users also take advantage of a low voltage failure mode, wherein patterns that are programmed in memory get completely scrambled if the batteries are removed for a time.

There have been many modifications designed for the TB-303 such as the "Devilfish", "Acidlab" and "Borg" modifications. These generally provide additional parameters to the player, or offer alterations to the overall timbre.

Clones

Around the middle of the 1990s, demand for the TB-303 surged within the electronic dance music scene. As there were never many TB-303s to begin with, many small synthesizer companies cropped up and started to develop their own TB-303 hardware clones. This new wave of TB-303 clones began with a company called Novation Electronic Music Systems, who released their portable Bass Station keyboard in 1994. Many other TB-303 "clones" followed, including Future Retro's 777, Syntecno's TeeBee, Doepfer's MS-404, and MAM's Freebass FB-383. As the popularity of these new TB-303 clones grew, Roland, the original TB-303 manufacturer, finally took notice and released their own TB-303 "clone" in 1996, the MC-303 Groovebox. Despite Roland's efforts, their new "303 clone" was an entirely new product that had almost nothing to do with the original TB-303, with the exception of a few bass samples and the familiar interface design. The most obvious difference was the inclusion of an inexpensive digital synthesizer, rather than the analog circuitry of the TB-303.

By 1997, software synthesizers were beginning to take hold among electronic musicians. One notable package was made by Propellerhead Software's emulator package entitled ReBirth. The software became very popular, providing a cheap and easy way for musicians to reproduce the classic 303, 808, and later 909 sounds, without the need for any synthesis hardware. Roland contacted propellerheads to give them an unofficial "thumbs up" which Propellerhead considered as the "Roland Seal of Approval" [1]. As of September 2005, support for ReBirth has been discontinued by Propellerhead software, and the software is now available online as a free download.

Another notable clone is the "Bass Line" plugin from AudioRealism. It supports both the VST and AU standards. A "pro" version adds a number of features that go beyond those of the original TB-303.

The most recent clone is an open source do-it-yourself hardware solution called the x0xb0x, using most of the original components in the synthesizer section for a very authentic sound. The sequencer section differs from the original 303, adding support for MIDI and USB interfaces as well as an alternate event entry interface.

FL Studio also has a realistic simulation of the TB-303, with many effects and an intuitive interface.

Media

Typical 303-like sound
Software emulated 303 "acid" sound created with Rebirth, with a distortion effect halfway
Problems listening to the file? See media help

References

1. ^ Propellerheads (2005). "The Debut". The Rebirth Museum. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.

External links

Emulations in Software

  • Rebirth - The Original 2 303s/808/909. Now discontinued and free to download.
  • AudioRealism Bassline - A TB-303 VST Plug-In complete with sequencer and 303-like sound.
  • - A TB-303 DSSI plugin for Linux (GPL licence)
  • Muon Tau Bassline - Another well received plug-in emulator minus the built-in sequencer.
  • D16 Physcyon - VSTi plugin for Windows and Mac.

Hardware synthesizers inspired by the TB-303

  • Acidlab - Makers of the Bassline, similar in look & sound to a tb 303.
  • Future Retro - The Revolution synthesizer, a popular acid synth
  • Roland Mc09 - rolands mc09 has a 303 emulation mode with 1 to 1 parameter correspondence. Select bass then hold shift & pad 16 to turn vintage mode on.
  • x0xb0x - An open source DIY project
  • TB-303 Clones Contest - Audio comparison test between Future Retro Revolution, 777, Syntecno TeeBee MK III, Acidlab Bassline, Acidcode ML303, MAM MB33II, x0xb0x, Oakley TM3030 and Analogue Solution TB-X TB 303 Bassline Project.
Roland Corporation

Public corporation
(TYO: 7944 , Osaka)
Founded April 18, 1972
Headquarters Hamamatsu, Japan

Key people Ikutaro Kakehashi
Industry Electronics
Products Musical instruments, Audio/Video, Electronics, Computer related products
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Synthesis (from the ancient Greek σύνθεσις σύν (with) and θεσις
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An analog synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically.

Analog synthesizer circuit composition


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Subtractive synthesis is a method of subtracting harmonic content from a sound via sound synthesis, characterised by the application of an audio filter to an audio signal. For example, taking the output of a sawtooth generator and using a low-pass filter to dampen its higher
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Polyphony is the property of an electronic musical instrument which describes how many notes it can sound at one time. An instrument which can produce multiple notes at a time is said to be polyphonic.
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An electronic musical instrument may be multitimbral, which means it can produce two or more timbres (also called sounds or patches) at the same time. Instruments which may be multitimbral include synthesizers, samplers, and music workstations.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1979 1980 1981 - 1982 - 1983 1984 1985

Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII
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Synthesizer is generally any kind of electronic musical instrument, or electronic device capable of producing or manipulating audio tones, such as musical notes, through audio signal processing.
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A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage electronic music.

Originally, music sequencers did not include the ability to record audio.
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Roland Corporation

Public corporation
(TYO: 7944 , Osaka)
Founded April 18, 1972
Headquarters Hamamatsu, Japan

Key people Ikutaro Kakehashi
Industry Electronics
Products Musical instruments, Audio/Video, Electronics, Computer related products
..... Click the link for more information.
19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1979 1980 1981 - 1982 - 1983 1984 1985

Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII
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1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1980 1981 1982 - 1983 - 1984 1985 1986

Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII
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Electronic music refers to music that emphasizes the use of electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology as a central aspect of the sound of the music. [1]
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A transistor is a semiconductor device, commonly used as an amplifier or an electrically controlled switch. The transistor is the fundamental building block of the circuitry in computers, cellular phones, and all other modern electronic devices.
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Bass (IPA: [beɪs], rhyming with "face"), when used as an adjective, describes tones of low frequency or range. Played in an ensemble/orchestra, such notes are frequently used to provide a counterpoint or counter-melody, in
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accompaniment is the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner as well as the music thus played. An accompaniment figure is a gesture used repeatedly in an accompaniment, such as:

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disc jockey or DJ is a person who selects and plays prerecorded music for an audience.

There are several types of disc jockeys. Radio DJs introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, shortwave or digital radio stations.
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House music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by dance club DJs in Chicago in the early to mid-1980s. House music is strongly influenced by elements of the late 1970s soul- and funk-infused dance music style of disco.
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Phuture (nowadays called Phuture 303) is a Chicago-based acid house group founded in 1985 by DJ Pierre, Spanky, and Herb J. Their 12-minute track Acid Tracks (1987) is one of several recordings that lay claim to being the first-ever acid house record.
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B-side(s) Phuture Jacks, Your Only Friend
Released 1987
Format 12-inch vinyl
Recorded Chicago, Illinois, USA
Genre Acid house
Length 22:16
Label Trax Records
TX142
Writer(s) Herb J
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Acid house is an electronic music-oriented subgenre of house music, which emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics.
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This article is about the genre known as simply electro, not to be confused with electro house, electroclash, electropop or electro-industrial, which are also often referred to as "electro" for short. See Electro for other meanings of the term "electro".

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Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating in Sheffield in the early 1980s.

Biography

Taking their name from a fictional pop group mentioned in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange
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Section 25 are an English post-punk band.

Section 25 were formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, UK in November 1977. Initially they were a duo, consisting of brothers Larry Cassidy (bass, vocals) and Vincent Cassidy (drums).
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A distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted.
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Hardfloor is a German techno duo, consisting of Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker. Their most famous track is "Acperience 1" (titled simply "Acperience" on many compilations).
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Acid house is an electronic music-oriented subgenre of house music, which emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics.
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