Roland TB-303

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Roland TB-303 Bass Line
Roland TB-303 Panel.jpg
TB-303 front panel
Manufacturer Roland
Dates1981–1984
PriceUK £238 (£1152 in 2023), US $395 ($1324 in 2023)
Technical specifications
Polyphony monophonic
Timbrality monotimbral
Oscillator Sawtooth and square wave
LFO none
Synthesis type Analog subtractive
Filter 24 dB/oct low-pass resonant filter, non-self-oscillating
Aftertouch expression No
Velocity expressionNo
Storage memory64 patterns, 7 songs, 1 track
Effects No internal effects.
Input/output
Keyboard 16 pattern keys

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.

Contents

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 24  dB/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, musicians 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]

Indian musician Charanjit Singh's 1982 album Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat featured an early use of a TB-303, alongside the TR-808. The album remained obscure until the early 21st century, when it was reissued and recognized as a precursor to acid house. [6] Singh had an influence on Bollywood music producer Bappi Lahiri, who experimented with tweaked TB-303 basslines for several Indian disco film songs released in 1983: "Koi Lutera" in Wanted: Dead or Alive , "Aah Ha Oonh Hun" in Do Gulaab, and "Tum Tum Tumba" in Karate . [7] The first song using the TB-303 to enter the top ten of the UK Singles Chart was "Rip It Up" (1983) by Scottish band Orange Juice. [8] The same year, Japanese musician Ryo Kawasaki used the TB-303 with a TR-808 and synth guitar in his electronic jazz album Lucky Lady (1983). [9] [10]

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" (1987), often credited as the first acid house track. With the TB-303 as a staple sound, acid 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". [11] In 1995, the TB-303 was distorted and processed on Josh Wink's hit "Higher State of Consciousness" [4] [12] and on Daft Punk's "Da Funk". [13]

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. [14]

Successors

The TB-303 has inspired numerous software emulations and clones, [15] such as the TD-3 by Behringer, released in 2019. [16] In 2014, Roland released the TB-3 Touch Bassline, with a touchpad interface and MIDI and USB connections. [17] In 2017, Roland released the TB-03, a miniaturized model featuring an LED display and delay and overdrive effects. [18]

References

  1. ↑ Hsieh, Christine. "Electronic Musician: Tadao Kikumoto". Emusician.com. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 Reid, Gordon (December 2004). "The History Of Roland: Part 2". Sound on Sound . Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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.[ better source needed ]
  4. 1 2 "The Fall and Rise of the TB-303". Roland US. 28 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 Vine, Richard (14 June 2011). "Tadao Kikumoto invents the Roland TB-303". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Stuart Aitken (10 May 2011). "Charanjit Singh on how he invented acid house ... by mistake". The Guardian .
  7. ↑ Pandey, Himanshu (22 May 2019). "Bollywood synth pioneer Bappi Lahiri's 303 experiments". Red Bull Music Academy . Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Andy (22 April 2021). "A Look Back at Fusion Legend Ryo Kawasaki, Who Pioneered the Synth Guitar". Bandcamp Daily . Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  10. ↑ "8 Tracks: Of 80s Japanese Funky Synth Fusion W/ Kay Suzuki". Ransom Note. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "30 Years of Acid". Attack Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  13. ↑ Brewster, Will (3 March 2021). "The 13 most iconic TB-303 basslines of all time". Mixdown. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  14. ↑ Reidy, Tess (15 February 2014). "Retro electronics still popular – but why not just use modern software?". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  15. ↑ Warwick, Oli (8 April 2017). "Attack of the clones: Is Behringer's Minimoog a synth replica too far?". Fact . Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "Behringer unveils a Roland TB-303 clone". Engadget. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  17. ↑ Nagle, Paul (April 2014). "Roland TB3 Touch Bassline". Sound on Sound . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  18. ↑ Bruce Aisher (14 March 2017). "Roland TB-03 Bass Line review". MusicRadar . Retrieved 3 January 2022.

Further reading

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