Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) 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 acid house, Chicago house and techno. It has inspired numerous clones.

Roland TB-303 Bass Line
TB-303 front panel
ManufacturerRoland
Dates1981-1984
PriceUK £238 (£970 in 2021), US $395 ($1271 in 2022)
Technical specifications
Polyphonymonophonic
Timbralitymonotimbral
OscillatorSawtooth and square wave
LFOnone
Synthesis typeAnalog Subtractive
Filter24dB/oct low pass resonant filter, non self oscillating
Aftertouch expressionNo
Velocity expressionNo
Storage memory64 patterns, 7 songs, 1 track
EffectsNo internal effects.
Input/output
KeyboardNo

Design and features

The TB-303 was manufactured by the Japanese company Roland. It 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/octave[4] low-pass filter, which is manipulated by an envelope generator.[2] Users program notes and slides using the internal sequencer.[3]

Legacy

The TB-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. 10,000 units were manufactured.[3]

The first track to use the TB-303 and enter the top ten of the UK Singles Chart was "Rip It Up" (1983), by the Scottish band Orange Juice.[6] Charanjit Singh's 1982 album Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat was another early use of a TB-303, alongside another Roland device, the TR-808 drum machine. The album remained obscure until the early 21st century, and is now recognized as a precursor to acid house.[7]

The Chicago group Phuture bought a cheap TB-303 and began experimenting. By manipulating the synthesizer as it played, they created a unique "squelching, resonant and liquid sound". This became the foundation of the single "Acid Tracks", which was released in 1987 and created the acid genre. Acid, with the TB-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]

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 1995, the TB-303 was distorted and processed on Josh Wink hit "Higher State of Consciousness"[4][9] and on Daft Punk's "Da Funk".[10]

In 2011, the Guardian named the release of the TB-303 one of the 50 key events in the history of dance music.[5] The popularity of acid caused a dramatic increase in the price of used 303 units.[3] As of 2014, units sold for over £1,000.[11]

Successors

The TB-303 has inspired numerous software emulations and clones,[12] such as the TD-3 by Behringer, released in 2019.[13] In 2014, Roland released the TB-3 Touch Bassline, with a touchpad interface and MIDI and USB connections.[14] In 2017, Roland released the TB-03, a miniaturized model featuring an LED display and delay and overdrive effects.[15]

References
  1. Hsieh, Christine. "Electronic Musician: Tadao Kikumoto". Emusician.com. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. Reid, Gordon (December 2004). "The History Of Roland: Part 2". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  3. Hamill, Jasper. "The world's most famous electronic instrument is back. Will anyone buy the reissued TB-303?". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  4. "The Fall and Rise of the TB-303". Roland US. 28 March 2013.
  5. Vine, Richard (14 June 2011). "Tadao Kikumoto invents the Roland TB-303". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  6. "Buzzcocks: Boredom / Orange Juice: Rip It Up - Seconds". Stylus Magazine. 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  7. Stuart Aitken (10 May 2011). "Charanjit Singh on how he invented acid house ... by mistake". The Guardian.
  8. Church, Terry (9 February 2010). "Black History Month: Jesse Saunders and house music". Beatortal.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  9. "30 Years of Acid". Attack Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  10. Brewster, Will (3 March 2021). "The 13 most iconic TB-303 basslines of all time". Mixdown. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  11. Reidy, Tess (15 February 2014). "Retro electronics still popular – but why not just use modern software?". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  12. Warwick, Oli (8 April 2017). "Attack of the clones: Is Behringer's Minimoog a synth replica too far?". Fact. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  13. "Behringer unveils a Roland TB-303 clone". Engadget. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  14. Nagle, Paul (April 2014). "Roland TB3 Touch Bassline". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. Bruce Aisher (14 March 2017). "Roland TB-03 Bass Line review". MusicRadar. Retrieved 3 January 2022.

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