Roland TB-303

Deadmau5 talks about the Roland 303 at 9:30 in this studio session video.

Posted by his Label "Acid Test" John Frusciante names various Instruments he used over time. One of those is the

Calvin Harris posted a photo on Instagram of his Roland TB-303.

This thread contains an old article from technorama that explains all the gear Daft Punk's old live setup, including the TB-303.

In this Instagram video clip captioned "Let the 303 be free!!!", Dada Life can be seen tweaking the cutoff frequency knob on the Roland TB-303.

"303 anyone?"

In an interview with Future Music Magazine in 1993, Aphex Twin used a TB-303 in his London studio.

In this photo of a Plastikman performance, Richie Hawtin can be seen using two Roland TB-303's, a [Roland MC-202](https://equipboard.com/items/roland-mc-202-microcomposer), and a [Roland TR-909](https://equipboard.com/items/roland-tr-909-rhythm-composer).

at 0:23 of the "Audio, Video, Disco" music video.

Boys Noize talks about that despite being able to make the "acid" sound with plugins, the original TB-303 has a character that cannot quite be replicated. "You can make acid with a lot of plugins too. I think the filters of the 303 are what really make it special. I haven't heard any one going as soft. And then what I like to do is put the 303 through a distortion pedal, which in this case is an OTO pedal."

"Basically from my first trip to Japan I bought myself a 303, 909 and 808."

This Chemical Brothers Facebook post reads, "Jamming with my legendary Roland's Tb 303 and Tr 606 and making music while bored of driving. This one is triggered with low Tom."

"New toy in the studio what do you know about Acid? #tb303"

3:39 into his YouTube video, Ferry pulls out his TB-303 in the twenty-seventh episode of his WKNDR series. He refers to it as an "Acid Bass-liner".

Play It Again For Moby, selecting a piano sound is also an intuitive process, and he is reluctant to offer any reasons why he might have chosen one sound source rather than any other. "Sometimes I use acoustic piano Everything Is Right As I browsed through the sleeve notes on Moby's albums I noticed that the gear lists documented in the 1995 release Everything Is Wrong are almost identical to his current setup. Could it really be possible that this successful musician had no spare cash to spend on new studio gear during the last four years? "From Everything Is Wrong until now I've bought a vocoder and a new sampler and that's about it. On the one hand I'd love to get a bunch of new equipment, but on the other hand there's something to be said for working with equipment with which I'm comfortable. I'm thinking that at some point I will actually switch over and get a full Pro Tools setup and start doing things more in the computer, but for this record I didn't feel compelled to do that." MOBY GEAR Apple Mac running Steinberg Cubase sequencer. Soundcraft Spirit 24:8:2 desk. Alesis ADAT digital multitracks. SAMPLERS Akai S950. Akai S1000. Akai S3000. Akai S3200. SYNTHS/KEYBOARDS Casio CZ101. Emu Proformance piano module. Oberheim Matrix 1000. Roland Juno 106. Roland Jupiter 6. Serge Modular Synth. Waldorf Pulse Plus. Yamaha SY22. Yamaha SY35. Yamaha SY85. PROCESSORS Dbx 160XT Compressor. Eventide DSP4000. Soundlab Vocoder. Yamaha SPX900. SEQUENCERS & DRUM MACHINES Roland TB303. Roland TR606. Roland TR909. Roland TR808. OTHER EQUIPMENT Hafler Pro 5000 Power Amp. Technics 1200 turntables. Ibanez Electric Guitar. Fender Precision Bass. , sometimes I use the Pro Piano -- it doesn't really matter to me where I get the sounds from. The main piano on this song I think was the Emu Proformance piano module, but there are two pianos on there and the other one, I think, is off an old Yamaha synth." Following the piano chords, Moby introduced the main drum part, programmed on a Roland TR909. To complement the drums a sampled breakbeat taken from a hip-hop record was laid on top, with its tempo adjusted to suit the song's rhythm. Moby: "I never time-stretch really. I don't care about changing the pitch. If I have a drum sample and want it to be a little bit faster, I just speed it up and sacrifice the original pitch. I've never understood why people worry so much about maintaining the original pitch. If you slow it down the pitch gets lower, if you speed it up the pitch gets higher -- big deal!" Surprisingly, all the string pad parts of 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?', which can be heard washing into the first verse behind the vocal, were played on Moby's ageing Yamaha SY22 and SY85 synths. Moby's basic, yet effective approach to his string arrangement is mirrored by his minimal use of effects on the track. "The only effects I use are an SPX900 reverb on the piano and the vocals, and a little bit of delay when the verse comes back in and after the first chorus." A second vocal line used in a 'question and answer' style (repeating 'Why does my heart...' after the main line) is introduced after the first chorus, with a grungy sound achieved by resampling the main line at a lower bandwidth before passing it through a high-pass filter. This work was done when Moby made the original sample several years before. The part was finally treated to some delay and heavy EQ during the mix. The last main element to be added to the composition was the simple sub-bass line which underpins the track. This part was also played by Moby, this time using a Roland Juno 106 synth. Arrangement Having assembled the basic elements of 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?', Moby's next move was to concentrate on the song's arrangement. "Compositionally it's quite a simple song. The verses are four chords -- A minor, E minor, G major, D major -- then the chorus is C major to A minor and then F major to C major, and that's pretty much the whole song. So once I had the basics written it was just a matter of arranging it and adding little elements, like in the second verse a ride cymbal is introduced and there's the second call-and-response vocal." Through the process of working by himself in just one location, Moby could switch back and forth between writing, arranging and mixing without worrying about studio time or the schedules of producers, musicians and engineers. Moby explains the method. "The subtle arrangement stuff tends to take me a long time until I'm really happy with it. In most cases on this record I would work on something and develop it as an idea and then work on it over the next couple of months -- just fine-tuning it. The difference between the finished version of a song and the original version of the song can be really marginal. 'Natural Blues' took me about a year to work on but the finished version sounds almost identical to the original." It may seem strange that songs which have so few basic elements and a minimal production require such a long period of arrangement time, but Moby's reasons for taking his time have developed from 15 years of working almost exclusively by himself. "I recognise that my perspective on a piece of music will change drastically over time. Sometimes I'll work on a piece and think it's the greatest thing I've ever done then go back to it a week later and think it's terrible -- and vice versa. In terms of evaluating my work, I have to build in quite a lot of time, because my objectivity can be compromised quite easily. If I give myself a couple of months after everything's done that's enough to figure out whether things are as good or as bad as I imagined them to be."

Cant get enough of it, even though we don't use that much anymore

"To me, bits of gear like the Atari, the [S950](https://equipboard.com/items/akai-s950-midi-digital-sampler) and the (TB-)303 are just as ground breaking and important as the [Telecaster](https://equipboard.com/items/fender-telecaster) and the [Vox](https://equipboard.com/items/vox-ac30-guitar-combo-amp) amp." - [Fat Boy Slim](http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/interview-fatboy-slim-on-going-digital-as-a-dj-and-as-a-producer-546858).

"As well as unusual and custom?built gear, Tom Jenkinson retains some of the staple instruments of '90s dance music, among them a Roland TB303," reads the caption to this photo, in [this article](http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may11/articles/sqpshr.htm).

You can clearly see a TB-303 in Orbital's live setup in this 2019 interview.

"On the last tour, along with the keyboards, and modulars, I had an [Elektron] Octatrack, a TB303, a Nagra tape machine, an old four track… it was fucking crazy [laughs]."

Roland TB-303 Bass Line About: Liam Howlett have had several of these over the years. There has been at least two competitions with Liams 303 as a prize for winner. I bet he still has at least one. He has it connected to the Kenton MIDI Box which converts the CV signal into MIDI. Links: Roland TB-303 Bassline - Exclusive pictures, patterns, free e-mail aliasing, tuning and modifications, emulators, samples, midi sequences, links. World Of The TB-303 - Includes reviews, articles, advice, patches, links; details on the new MC-303. Acid.ch- TB-303 modification page, TB-303 link list, aluminium cases for the TB-303. Bass Line Land- A site dedicated to the famous Roland TB-303 including sounds, manual, schematics, original sales brochure, emulators, and more. The Creators of Electronic Dance Music! - TB-303 TR-909, the tools for Dance Music! Devil Fish- Modifications for the TB-303 Kristofers TB-303 - page - Explanation of what a TB-303 is Realm of TB303- A personal page about the BassLine with some pictures. Review Page: Roland TB-303 - ROLAND TB-303 BassLine The TB-303 Operation Manual - Full manual online (also downloadable in ZIP format). Liam: "I like the 303, but so many people used it in the acid house days. When I use it, I really overload the mixer so I get a distorted bass line instead. Usually when you program the 303 you've got things like Slide and Accent. Well, you don't get that with MIDI, you just get the basic sound. Sometimes I'd prefer to get an old sequencer box instead of using MIDI so I could get the true synth sound." Release Date:1982 Price: $1200 (about) Gear info: This is the most famous acid machine! 303 is a little silver box. It looks very simply and weak, but you can do so damn cool acid sounds with it! If there is a tune with lots of wicked resonations you can definitely hear 303! In fact this is nowadays pretty expensive machine, but if you wanted to make some good acid resonations this is the right machine for you! Used: Claustrophobic Sting Firestarter Funky Shit Used in many live tracks (Lose Your Mind, Acid Break and Lyrical Terrorists) Stand Up

In this photo, there is tb-303 in his studio.

Sebastian points out Marcus' 303 at 15:12 in this video.

In this [article from *Trash Audio*](http://trashaudio.com/2013/06/workspace-environment-venetian-snares/), Venetian describes his ideal work station: "A big perfect room with maybe a [Funktion-One](https://equipboard.com/items/funktion-one-ff6000-dj-mixer) system for mains, or something clear and bangin. An old building with loads of empty rooms to use as reverbs. For about a year I had a good setup at an ex girlfriend’s place at her kitchen table. A laptop and a few little synths like an [SE-1](https://equipboard.com/items/studio-electronics-se-1), a 303, one of those little original Evolvers and a [Sid Station](https://equipboard.com/items/sid-station). I liked that setup, was mobile."

The pictures featured in this article show a rack inside Subconscious Studios, with a modded TB-303 sitting in its center.

Nina Kraviz has used the TB-303 in her studio sessions.

In the background right next to the head a Roland TB-303 can been seen.

The TB-303 is visible in Mathew Jonson's studio tour [feature](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8s_xtDv4D0) for Fact Magazine at 0:36.

At around 2:00 in this video, Robert talks about the 303. In [this interview](http://change-underground.com/robert-babicz-we-are-all-human), for change-underground.com, it reads: "Robert, there aren’t many people whose careers can be so closely linked to a specific piece of hardware, but there is no doubt the Roland TB-303 is intrinsically aligned to your music. How did this love affair start? And will this be a love that lasts forever? This love affair started when I first listen to phuture-acid trax, because I was crying, I thought this is intergalactic super dance. So this special sound got deep into my own music, even after 25 years… I still love that sound and use it my babiczstyle."

this artist have an tb-303!

"Drop Acid Not Bombs"

"I love the Roland 101 and 303 for synths."

The Only One !

Scooter uses Roland TB 303

Item canbe seen 0:41 into this video

In his studio during a XLR8R interview.

Nick Taylor asks Ceephax in this [article from *Smart Shanghai*](http://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/nightlife/inside-the-dayglo-mind-of-ceephax-acid) “OK some nerdy gear questions. How much kit you bringing over to Shanghai? Is it not a huge pain in the arse to travel with all that stuff?” To which Ceephax replies “I'm bringing my flotilla of Roland hardware [TR-707](https://equipboard.com/items/roland-tr-707-rhythm-composer), [TR-909](https://equipboard.com/items/roland-tr-909-rhythm-composer), [SH-101](https://equipboard.com/items/roland-sh-101-synthesizer), TB-303, and my [Ensoniq SQ-80](https://equipboard.com/items/ensoniq-sq-80).”

use this in your STUDIO

Mentioned in a "studio gear" list in a 2001 interview with Rocket Baby.

Neawww-ne-neaw-neaawww addition to the gang.

"Current Mood... #acid"

As we promised, Ellen Allien is back. The BPitch Control boss' latest instalment is the Turn Off Your Mind EP, comprising of two raw, unpolished tracks of pure techno magic produced on a Roland Aira TR-8, TVB 303 and a Jupiter Synth in Ellen's living room.

"Been getting into Ableton’s Push Controller, my 808, 909 and 303’s."

4:46 - Seen in the video

Gerald is shown programming a TB-303 at 1:24

Sébastien Léger - In The Studio With Future Music

'The bass on the second half of Queen Of All Everything is the 303 but sequenced from an Analog Systems TH-48.'

Etienne de Crécy - We, Computers Live Studio Session

Marshall Jefferson uses tb 303 in this photo

Used in live and on his albums Music Components and Someone Give Me A Religion

You can see him happily holding his Roland.

A Roland TB-303 was used on the album *Small Moon*, according to the liner notes.

According to the "equipment list" found on Church Studios, owned by Epworth, one of the things listed is the Roland TB-303.

"So in taking the Jacques Greene project live you’ve expanded the music out over hardware equipment, with two people performing it. Can you run us through the equipment you are using? We’re running an AKAI MPC as the main clock for our drum machines and sequencers, as well as a sampler/MIDI sequencer. We have this modern analog clone of the Roland TR-808 called the Acidlab Miami as well as a TR-909 running the bulk of the drums during the show. Andrew plays a lot of the main chords and melodies on his Akai Miniak, and we also have a Dave Smith Tetra, two racks of analog modular synthesizer and a Roland TB-303. The entire rig runs through a board and a bunch of effect pedals. Yes it’s as complicated and as occasionally frustrating as it sounds."

http://iwashisstudioneighbourforthreeyears.com

in this photo we can see his tb 303 in his hands..

During a studio tour with Future Music Magazine, Steve Mac says [@ 10:30] about his Roland TB-303: “My battered TB-303. I recently had some of the buttons replaced on it, they were double triggering. We still use it every now and then. I did a couple of tracks recently with it. That's why the sit in the corner, you pull them out every now and again."

can be seen in Jamies hands in his LA studio.

The Roland TB-303 can be seen in the foreground of this photo posted to Twitter by DJ Pierre, where he tweets: "@Roland_AUS: .@djpierre @WeArePhuture tore the roof off of the SOH last night for @ROLANDCANADA #VividLIVE Party! "

On Jody's [official website](http://jodywisternoff.com/the-studio), a Roland T-303 is listed and pictured among his gear.

In this interview from 2014, Benn says : *"There’s stuff that I will always love because I’m so comfortable with it, like the JX-305 or **TB-303**"*

I've used a Roland 303 to its full effect on my new track "4th Dimension"... Can't remember the last time a 303 was used in a dnb track?

Included in this list of Martyn's Roland gear.

in this photo we can see his tb-303..

The Roland TB-303 can be seen behind the Electro-Harmonix 8 Step Program sequencer in this Vine loop posted by Paul Birken.

in this photo we can see his tb 303..

At 7:13 in this video, Danny brings in the 303, and at 7:25, there is a good shot of the synthesizer.

You can see his Roland TB-303 sitting on his desk at 0:23 during this interview.

We'd love to try a real 303, but they're way too expensive for us. If we had that much money to spend on equipment, I think I'd rather invest it into other things for the studio.

DMX shows TB-303 with Roland TR-606 and Roland TR-808 at 2:22 in this video.

Roland TB-303 is included in the list of Gareth Jones' gear.

Visible at 1:12 in his live at MC2 Grenoble

"My beloved Roland TB-303, which I use a lot"

The TB-303 is to the right of the TR-606 beneath the Prophet VS.

According to a list of equipment which is used in his studio, Crowdspacer, Joakim is also a user of Roland TB-303.

Can be seen in the video @4:31

uses in the video

Spectrasonics Studio List The equipment list for the Spectrasonics studio reads like a gear-head's dream. Favourites amongst Eric's sizeable synthesizer collection include the Access Virus, the Prophet VS, his collection of Waldorf synthesizers, and a 1976 Yamaha CS80. "It's my favourite axe to play, because of the awesome polyphonic aftertouch and that sensuous ribbon," explains Eric. For effects processing Eric is a fan of the Roland SRV330 reverb, an item that "gets missed by most people, mainly because it doesn't say Lexicon on the front panel." For distortion tricks Eric often uses a rare Boss GL100 guitar preamp: "It's basically the history of Boss pedals in one rack space." Mixing, until recently, was done on some "very odd, custom-made analogue mixers made by a guy named Mo West," reveals Eric. He recently purchased a Roland VM 7000-series mixer, however, taking him one step closer to an all-digital setup. SAMPLERS • Roland S760 and S770 • Kurzweill K2000 • Bitheadz Unity DS1 (running on an Apple Macintosh G4) SYNTHESIZERS/DRUM BOXES • Access Virus • Clavia Nord Lead • Doepfer modular synth • Emu modular synth • Moog Minimoog (modified by Studio Electronics) • Oberheim SEMs • Polyfusion modular synth • Roland JP8000 prototypes & production units • Roland JP8080 • Roland JD800/990 • Roland Jupiter 8 • Roland JV1080 and 2080 • Roland MKS50 Alpha Juno • Roland MKS80 Super Jupiter • Roland System 700 and 100m modular synths • Roland MC303 • Roland MC505 • Roland TB303 • Roland TR808 • Roland TR909 • Korg EX8000 • Korg M1R • Korg Mono/Poly • Sequential Circuits Prophet VS • Waldorf Wave, Microwave, Microwave XT • Yamaha CS80 SOFTWARE • Alchemy • Arboretum HyperEngine • Arboretum Hyperprism plug-in pack • Arboretum Ionizer • Arboretum Raygun noise-reduction plug-in • Antares Infinity • BIAS Peak audio editor • BIAS SFX machine effects • Emagic Logic Audio Platinum • Emagic Sound Diver synth editor/librarian • Fireball • GRM Tools plug-in pack • Metasynth • Opcode Vinyl, Vocode & Filter plug-ins • Propellerheadz Rebirth soft synth • Prosoniq SonicWorx Artist effects • Steinberg Magneto tape-saturation emulator • Steinberg ReCycle sample editor • Thonk soft synth • RAIFF • Region Munger • Transfer Station • Samplifier sample transfer software • Saturator • Sound Morph • Sound Hack audio editor • Unisyn synth editor • Waveboy Voder SIGNAL PROCESSORS • AMS RMX reverb • API 5502 equaliser • Boss GL100 guitar driver • Boss SE70 multi-effects • Dimension beam controller • Euphonics mixing console • Eventide DSP4000 & H3500 harmonizers • GML stereo parametric EQ • Innovonics compressors • Langevin passive equalisers • Lexicon PCM70/80/480 reverbs • MXR Distortion Plus • Quest custom mixers • Roland Dimension D & C processors • Roland RSP550 multi-effects • Roland RSS10 3-dimensional effects • Roland SDE330 delay • Roland SDX330 chorus • Roland SRV330 reverb • Roland SVC330 vocoder • TC Electronics Fireworx multi-effects • Summit tube mic preamps

"On top of these racks I have placed a few smaller synths, like the Roland SH101, the TB303"

"zweitgrößte Maschine aller Zeiten"

selling one of his along with other gear and known for great acid lines

"On most of the tunes, the [Roland TB]303 and the bass line were the only things that were actually played in a traditional way. The rest of it was gross manipulation of samples.”

If you read in the 3rd paragraph 6th line you will see that the tb 303 is mentioned as some of chris and coseys gear.

In this Instagram post TB 303 can be seen with other synths

sharooz takes future music on a studio tour

in this photo we can see his tb 303..

"Graham Massey infamously named his band ‘808 State’ after the famous Roland TR-808 drum machine, which – along with the TB-303 – was an essential component to the way the band produced their music."

It can be seen at the recording session.

"I can use up to five machines, basically. So like the DMX, the 606 and the 303 are all connected to that. "

In this live video you can clearly spot the 303. Particularly at 7:15 minutes

According to a [blog post](http://www.rolandus.com/blog/2013/03/28/tb-303-acid-flashback/) on Roland's site: "...notoriously difficult to program and producing a less-than-authentic acoustic sound, the 303 was swiftly relegated to a curiosity in second-hand music stores, where it languished for years—right up until Phuture, a trio of under-funded Chicago musicians, picked one up for a giveaway price and set about experimenting." This instrument eventually gave them the "303" addition to their name.

In this page, there is in his euipment list.

You can see the Roland TB 303 just in the upper left hand corner of the screen at the 2:32 minute mark of the attached video tour of his studio.

It's on the table in this video!

"Analogue synthesizers have a big advantage: you can drill them open. (...) You can't do that with prefabricated software synthesizers." — DUB TAYLOR TECH TALK feature, taken from Slices Issue 1-09

Photos taken by Hypnos Studio of Seismal D

Monika's home page, there is tb-303 photo.

The instrument appears on the list of instruments on official artist's website (http://olszak.pl/).

Item can be seen 3:15 into this video.

Although Tom owns an SBX80, swears by an RE501 Chorus Echo and is recording much of his current song with a Juno 106, it's the Drumatix and TB303 Bassline which he finds indispensable.

Uses in the studio

"...The item can be seen 1:04 into this video..."

303 was used at rez

Roland TB-303 on his desk

The TB-303 is one of the few vintage pieces in my studio that I acquired in recent years, so no bargain mid-90s rate on this one! I came from a synthpop/industrial/experimental music background, and I was pretty anti-dance music, so I didn’t appreciate the 303 for a long time.

A TB303 sitting in the Faders studio.