Roland TB-303

https://www.roland.com/global/promos/303day/

U

La Roland TB-303 est une machine à nulle autre pareille. Avec une signature sonore incomparable débordant de chaleur, d’énergie et de caractère, la boîte argentée emblématique définit le mouvement de la maison acide de la fin des années 1980. Largement incompris lors de son lancement en 1981, la véritable révolution a commencé plusieurs années plus tard, lorsque les producteurs de musique électronique ont redécouvert la boîte originale, déclenchant le son hypnotique et liquide qui a captivé une génération. Bien que nous ne puissions jamais vraiment comprendre pourquoi le son 303 donne envie aux gens de danser, on ne peut nier son pouvoir, son influence et sa capacité inébranlable à organiser une fête. Cela fonctionne, même après tout ce temps.

Et à tous ceux qui gardent l’esprit vivant - 303 jours heureux.

'ET TRENTE CINQ ANS PLUS TARD ICI NOUS SOMMES'

DJ Pierre sur le son persistant de Acid House et du Roland TB-303.

PART 1

THE

ORIGIN

OSAKA, JAPAN

1981

Back in 1981, the tools used to create electronic music were fewer, and less evolved, than those used today. The technologies used in electronic musical instruments were primarily analog circuits that generated its sound. Digital technology was just starting to make an appearance in instrument design which sparked the beginning of a new era of innovation and experimentation. At the time, Roland was less than 10 years old, and still based in Osaka, Japan.

TADAO

KIKUMOTO

Un ingénieur du nom de Tadao Kikumoto a travaillé dur sur un nouveau produit destiné à accompagner la boîte à rythmes Roland Roland TR-606. Le plan de M. Kikumoto était de développer une machine pour recréer le son d'une guitare basse électrique, afin que les interprètes solos puissent s'entraîner et même assister à des concerts. Les deux machines se lieraient et joueraient au même tempo via la technologie DIN Sync, fournissant ainsi une «bande de support» programmable et très portable.

LE

SON

The TB-303 Bassline Synthesizer was the result—the TB standing for Transistor Bass. It was a monosynth: meaning that it only made one sound at a time, compared to a piano which plays several notes simultaneously if you press several keys at once. The TB-303 used analog components to produce the sound with the digital revolution still a few years away. Using the best technology available at the time, the development team worked hard to recreate a typical bass guitar sound.

THE

KEYBOARD

The 303 included a mini one-octave ‘piano’ keyboard; a series of button switches that could either be on or off, each key complete with a little red light. The arrangement of these buttons in a format that resembles a piano (seven white keys and five black keys) gave a familiar musical interface for the musician.

THE

SEQUENCER

De la même manière qu'une boîte à rythmes joue des motifs de sons différents, la 303 devait faire la même chose, mais avec des lignes de basse. En utilisant le clavier pour entrer la note correcte et sa longueur, l’utilisateur peut programmer une note de basse sur une note à la fois, qui sera ensuite jouée en même temps que le battement de batterie. Ceci est connu comme un séquenceur pas à pas et fournit un moyen innovant de créer des patterns de mélodie ou de lignes de basse où lier des patterns ensemble pourrait constituer un accompagnement pour une chanson entière.

Les

contrôles

Six cadrans rotatifs permettent à l'utilisateur de manipuler le timbre du TB-303 afin de pouvoir ajuster le son à son goût. Bien qu’ils semblent offrir une quantité excessive de contrôle pour l’époque, ces cadrans, notamment les boutons de coupure et de résonance, deviendraient très importants une demi-décennie plus tard, de l’autre côté du monde.

Même s’il s’agissait d’une vaillante tentative de capture du timbre d’une guitare basse, le TB-303 n’en a pas vraiment le son. Ce n'est que des années plus tard, avec l'avènement de la technologie basée sur des échantillons, que les instruments électroniques ont pu reproduire de manière convaincante leurs frères acoustiques. Ainsi, après son lancement en 1981, le TB-303 a été arrêté moins de deux ans plus tard, avec environ 10 000 unités fabriquées. Et d'habitude, ce serait la fin de l'histoire ... mais alors quelque chose d'incroyable s'est passé.

PARTIE 2

LA

RENAISSANCE

CHICAGO, USA

1985

Nathaniel Jones, known on Chicago’s club scene as DJ Pierre, had a problem. Along with partners Spanky and Herb J, the trio wanted to get into music production and had formed a group called Phuture but they needed an angle. They scoured the local stores looking for interesting pieces of music equipment, figuring out how to get the best from their limited studio and eventually release a record. One fortuitous day, they found a cut-price TB-303. They bought it, took it back to the studio and started learning how it worked and what it could do.

PHUTURE

EXPLORE

THE 303

While trying to figure out how the 303 worked (the one they bought came with Japanese instructions), they hooked it up to a drum machine and started playing with the patterns. One particular pattern stuck in their minds and Pierre started tweaking the control knobs to radically change the sound. It sounded so strange, but also very cool, and they decided to record the resulting jam session onto tape.

RON HARDY

@ MUSICBOX

After recording the track to tape, Phuture took it down to Chicago’s legendary Music Box club, and gave it to the resident DJ, Ron Hardy. He played it four times that night, the first few plays left the crowd bemused, as they didn’t know how to dance to such a strange sound. But by the fourth play, it clicked, and the buzz started to build about the tune everyone started calling ‘Ron Hardy’s Acid Track’.

Image © Reggie Corner

ACID TRACKS

RELEASED

The record known as ‘Acid Tracks’ took a long-awaited two years to be released and it’s remarkable to think that for many people hearing it back in 1987, the track was already two years old. Coming out on Chicago’s Trax Records, Acid Tracks quickly inspired a host of similar productions—all featuring the 303—and the acid house genre was born. But things were only just getting started, especially a few thousand miles east of Chicago.

PART 3

THE

CULTURE

UK/EUROPE

1987

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how the TB-303 sound crossed over and became a cultural movement... but everyone agrees when it happened. By the summer of 1987, house music had made its way across the Atlantic and one sound attracted a lot of attention. While house music often included vocals, traditional basslines and piano, the acid house sound was a mutation and sounded like nothing else before or since. The slippery, hypnotic tone was naturally subversive, with an underground feel that made people want to dance. It was the perfect soundtrack to the excitement of the illegal warehouse parties of ’88: the second summer of love was underway.

Exploded 303:

Sergei Smirnov

‘ACID HOUSE LOVE’ PRINT AVAILABLE TO BUY FROM DOROTHY

SHOOM:

SECOND

PHASE

Acid House Ground Zero took the form as Shoom—a 300-capacity club held at a South London gym in 1987. Danny Rampling decided to create Shoom as a place that embraced the ‘anything goes’ musical ethos that he’d experienced during a trip to Ibiza. From the open-minded DJ playlists, the frenetic 303-tinged acid house vibe started to emerge as the sound that got people moving. The tunes kept coming, the door queues lengthened, and word started to spread.

Image © Dave Swindells

ACID

HOUSE

CULTURE

Before long, a full-on cultural revolution was underway... the type that only happens every few generations. Rejecting the mainstream clubbing scene of the day, young people flocked to illegal all-night parties that quickly became a way of life for many. And through it all, the squelch of the TB-303 was the musical Morse Code that signaled that something exciting was underway.

MEDIA

COVERAGE

When there’s a boom, the bust isn’t far behind. With media and government rightly concerned about unregulated raves, the scene faced a crackdown driven back into licensed venues and large-scale, legal festivals. Despite this, the spirit of acid house survived intact and can still be found at small parties everywhere with the sound of the ubiquitous magical silver box providing the pulse that drives the night.

PART 4

THE

LEGACY

WORLDWIDE

Although the mayhem of the late 80s is a distant memory, the music and the machine that inspired it is very much alive and kicking. The TB-303 sound still has the power to demolish a dancefloor like nothing else, and at a club or party, you’re never far away from that alien, liquid squelch. It is unusual for a sound to stay around for so long, especially in electronic music where 12 months feels like an eternity. This is a testament to the artists and producers who love the sound and help to keep it current. And it’s definitely a salute to the spirit of forward-looking party people all over the world—the soundtrack of good times gone by, and also yet to come.

ARTISTS WHO ARE KEEPING THE ACID HOUSE SOUND ALIVE

THE 303 SOUND TODAY

There are several ways to attain the classic Roland TB-303 sound. If you can find one—and afford one—an original issue, early-eighties 303 will do just fine. But there are also three other current options which are more affordable and surpass the capabilities of the original.

ORIGINAL

TB-303

With only 10,000 ever made, units from the original production run are becoming increasingly rare and sought after. Bear in mind the original 303 on its own doesn’t sound like you’d expect it to—many producers connect it to a distortion unit for that aggressive growl, or delay unit for the spacy effect. But if you want ultimate bragging rights then an original 303 could be the way to go. Just keep it locked up in a safe and don’t tell anybody you have one.

AIRA

TB-3

Le TB-3 a réinventé le son d'un 303 s'il était développé aujourd'hui. Bien sûr, il y a le son 303 classique, mais beaucoup d'autres sons vont des sons de basse aux sons de synthé ... tous contrôlables via le pavé tactile qui s'allume. La TB-3 fait partie de la gamme de produits de production et de performances AIRA de Roland.

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ROLAND

BOUTIQUE

TB-03

Le très convoité TB-03 recrée l'expérience matérielle authentique TB-303. Il existe la même interface utilisateur (bien qu’il soit beaucoup plus simple de programmer et de construire des modèles à présent), mais vous obtenez également des effets intégrés tels que la distorsion et les retards, ainsi qu’un écran à LED à quatre chiffres pour une utilisation simplifiée.

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TB-303 LIGNE

LOGICIELLE

BASSE

La TB-303 Software Bass Line est la dernière version de la suite d'instruments à la demande Roland Cloud, déployée directement dans votre logiciel de travail audio-numérique. Grâce à diverses améliorations et à la possibilité d'utiliser plusieurs instruments simultanément, le 303 basé sur le cloud constitue un puissant ajout à la plate-forme toujours croissante de Roland Cloud.

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REJOIGNEZ LA CÉLÉBRATION DES 303

Publiez vos 303 histoires et souvenirs avec le hashtag # 303day et nous en présenterons le meilleur ci-dessous.