Roland TB-303

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 built-in sequencer.[3]

The 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.[3]

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]

"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 kind of proto-acid, though the originators of acid-house had never heard it..[7]

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 10,000 303 units were manufactured, the popularity of acid caused a dramatic increase in the price of used 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] In 2014, Roland released the TB-3, a synthesizer emulating TB-303 circuitry.[12]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roland TB-303.

• "Roland TB-303 Bass Line". Electronics & Music Maker. April 1982. p. 20. OCLC 317187644.
• "Knowledge Base: The History of the Roland TB-303". Future Music. No. 262. February 2013. pp. 52–3. ISSN 0967-0378. OCLC 1032779031.