09/08/2021
Let’s talk about ACID.
Since the day I first touched a Roland TB-303 I knew it was the machine for me. It wasn’t just the sound that emerged from the little silver box, but also the way you interacted with it. The internal sequencer added to the sound with its own very particular timing nuances while the tiny dials pushed you to interact with the parameters with careful precision. It really has been my on-going exploration and challenge for the past thirty years, continually searching for ways to re-approach the sound and come up with new ideas that continued to excite me. Honestly, sometimes I’d get a little bit bored and put it to one side for a few months (or years), like when I took an entire year off to develop the Concept series. But at some point, I would always come back to it.
I’m not only speaking about the original Roland TB-303, but also all the other clones that have emerged over the years, both hardware and software. Throughout the years I’ve tested many different versions to understand how they differ and what they may add to the incredible acid frequency that we’ve all come to know and love.
TB-3, Roland TB-3, TD-3, Cyclone Bassbot, Abstrakt Avalon, Ladyada x0xb0x, Acidlabs Bassline 3, original TB-303 modifications like the Devil Fish or Quicksilver OS upgrade and software plugins like the Bassline, Phoscyon & Roland virtual TB-303.
As you can see, there’s a lot of love for the sound of the 303!
Which 303 is your favorite?
#303