{"id":75822,"date":"2020-02-20T12:23:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T11:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.attackmagazine.com\/?p=75822"},"modified":"2020-07-10T09:10:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T08:10:57","slug":"roland-tb-303","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.attackmagazine.com\/technique\/hardware-focus\/roland-tb-303\/","title":{"rendered":"Roland TB-303: Not a Real Bass Guitar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the latest instalment of Hardware Focus, we take a look at a cult classic: the Roland TB-303. A small unit with a big history, Roland had no intentions on making this sound like a real bass guitar. That is the misconception that many people have about the TB-303.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With great hope and promise, in 1982 Roland released the TB-303 Bassline synthesizer. A machine designed by Tadao Kikumoto<\/a> who also designed the TR-909<\/a>, Roland ceased production of the device in 1984 due to poor sales and a disappointing response from both the public and critics. Despite the grand ambitions Roland had for the unit, it failed to connect with its intended audience and users quickly dismissed the bass emulator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequently, it should have been confined to the bargain bins of music stores with not much more to say on the matter. Suprisingly, this would be just the start of its momentous journey as many years later it would become one of the most sought after synthesizers of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most successful failure in tech history?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Once described as \u201cone of the most successful failures in tech history\u201d the silver box changed the course of musical history and inadvertently helped cause a shift in the law regarding music events. It caused a political storm in the UK and was responsible for one of the most important youth movements since Rock and Roll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst there have been no other notable incidents of synthesizers climbing back from such a tumultuous launch there have however been a few other interesting moments in history where something has been designed for one use and later applied to something entirely different. The record player, for example, designed by Thomas Edison. It is incredible to think that it was never designed for music! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edison saw no benefit in his invention being used for the pleasure of listening to music and in fact was averse to the idea. The original intention for his recorded discs was the spoken word to be used for transcribing letters in the office. Rumour has it, he rapidly changed his tune when he saw the potential financial benefits the sales of musical recordings brought in. At the time, with the recorded disc still in its patent period, he gained a small cut of every sale, which quickly amounted to a hefty sum once the publics insatiable appetite for music took hold. He could never have predicted the impact his invention would ultimately have on popular culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The humble post-it note too was never intended to take the path that it did. The designer originally wanted to create a very strong glue but ironically did the exact opposite by creating a very weak glue that lent itself perfectly to a removable piece of sticky paper for office use and the Post-It was born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the 303. On first listen, you\u2019d be forgiven for dismissing the Transistorized Bass (TB) as nothing more than a one-trick monosynth but the seismic shift in music culture this machine would later cause would result in ripples the music industry had seldom seen before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costing \u00a3234 or $395 at the time of release, Roland announced the TB-303 at the same time as the excellently named Drumatix TR-606<\/a> drum machine under the \u201cPro-Form\u201d banner (meaning PROfessional perFORMance) which may suggest that if it hadn\u2019t failed there may have been other machines in the range to follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The layout is now the mainstay for the majority of monosynths and bass emulators today. The plastic silver box consisted of 6 knobs at the top which were largely responsible for shaping the sound with a 24db low-pass filter with a number of envelope modulators and an accent knob, all of which contributed to the unique sound the 303 offered.  You have the option of 2 waveforms, square-wave or sawtooth and it contained a built-in sequencer which allowed you to create 64 one bar patterns and 7 songs. A fairly comprehensive storage system in its day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a Real Bass Sound<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A little known fact, Roland pinned their hopes on rivalling guitar manufacturer Fender by entering the lucrative bass market. Fender was the number one manufacturers of bass guitars at the time. Their aim was for guitarists to use the TB-303 instead of a traditional bass guitar in conjunction with their TR-606 drum machine. But, from the outset, the odds were against them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Roland TB-303 enamel pin badge<\/a> – Available in the Attack store<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

They made the catastrophic mistake of supplying only a Japanese manual to the US market. The Roland TB-303 was already notoriously difficult to program but without an English manual, it would be near-impossible to figure out. Many of the lucky few who were fortunate enough to get a sound out of it were disillusioned for it didn\u2019t sound anything like a bass guitar. Let\u2019s get one thing straight. Roland had no intentions on making this sound like a real bass guitar. That is the misconception that many people have about the TB-303.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roland was fully aware of its quirky voice and unique characteristics but for them, that was the point. To do something different. To provide the musician with a bottom end to their compositions that was synthetic and distinctive. Roland\u2019s engineers referred to the acidic characteristics as \u201cwacky sounds\u201d on its release. They could have omitted the acidic squelches and bleats of the 303 but they made a conscious decision to give the user the option to use them or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On its release, the majority of users chose not to. For most users it was simply too laborious to program and far too bizarre-sounding so after 2 years, Roland sold them off as cheaply as possible with existing users ditching their units to second-hand music stores. That is how so many of them ended up in the bargain bins of music stores all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

However, there were some commercial successes which used the TB-303, notably Orange Juice\u2019s Rip It Up which peaked at number 8 in the UK charts. Heaven 17’s Let Me Go<\/a> and Shannon’s Let the Music Play<\/a>, all of whom successfully deployed the TB-303 for their basslines but as far as commercial success for the device goes, it was a failure for Roland and a decision was made to discontinue production of the units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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