User:FluffyDunlop/MO

Roland tb-303 [Steve suggests: 1) hook up with Joseph 2) Why does this interest you?] Redifine the chapters / find examples and quotes form exsisting essays.

Next week trough group session, edit the stuff thats not important and mix the chapters in logical order.

What makes this subject so important to me is the fact that a machine was created with a certain purpose. The machine in question failed in the way it was meant to work. This machine was given a second chance. People started using the machine in ways it was not meant for, and thus creating a whole new musical genre. From here on people start imitating and reproducing the way the machine sounded and worked. The fascinating thing for me is that something is build and people find their own place for it.

Introduction (synopsis):

In 1982 The Roland Corporation made a bass guitar simulation synth, the tb-303. The machine sparked an unpredicted wave of music and has a long history of being used / misused and reinvented. Within the evolution of the machine towards the current status in 2014 with the official release of a new version by Roland, the tb-303 has been the focal point of big following in the electronic music scene. It is important to understand what kind of influences the machine has and has had within this period. So this media object is dedicated to the history and future of the machine. With examples of how the machine was used / copied / emulated and involved in current music environments, the wiki will show an in dept story about the machine and its history future.

The Beginning: It was 1982 and the digital era of music production was in its infancy. Protocols like MIDI where on the verge of being implemented by instrument makers and the digital revolution had a connection protocol to connect various machines and computers. Electric analog instruments where still being made but where soon to be "caught up" by its digital counterparts. At this time The Roland Corporation (japan) released a new series of instruments the tr-808, tr-909, tr-707, tb-303 and sh-101. The tr-808 and tr-909 are synthesized drumcomputers the tr-707 is a sample based drumcomputer to complete the full "band" is complemented by a bass, the tb-303 and synthesizer the sh-101. Together these instruments make up a "real music band". The main goal set by Roland was to cater to small bands and singer songwriters to have a backup instrument that could play parts with them. Either drums, synth lines or bass lines. Unfortunately some of these instruments were hard to program and didn't quite sound like the real thing. One of these instruments that missed the mark was the tb-303, loathed for its unprogrammable character and far from real bass sound the tb-303 was also expensive.

It was advertised by Roland as offering ‘true bass technique capabilities’ (Keyboard Magazine, 1992), however due to its difficult method of programming and because the sound was too dissimilar to a real bass guitar, it failed to sell to its target market. Its was withdrawn from the market in 1984, however this would be just the start of an incredible rise to iconic status within ‘house music’. (Graft, 2014)

The Revelation:

During the times that digital instruments became interesting to producers and artist, the tb-303 was quickly discarted. Few have actually used the tb-303 for what it was made to do. It was however still utilized by artists such as Imagination, Paul Haig and Newcleus in the early to mid 80s. (Cenac, 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEmg5GaAHbk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLj_p22tqLk#t=50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_IjvPxbeGc#t=118 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wZ5mB-Ndpw#t=53

So what changed the way we looked at this machine? Maybe the best answer comes in the form of the music made by a music group from Chicago, Phuture. The group formed by Earl Smith, Nathaniel Pierre Jones and Herbert Jackson were the first to actually manipulate the machine wile recording, thus producing the famous “squelchy” bass lines with a steady 4/4 kick drum beat. “Suddenly ‘Acid House Parties’ arrived, scaring parents and inciting the press due to its links with the newly arrived drug on the dance scene ‘Ecstasy’. Huge raves (mostly unlicensed and therefore illegal) popped up all over the country, often lasting days. The dance music scene was alive again following the demise of disco and this ‘rave scene’ still continues (albeit smaller) to the present day” (Anthony, 1998).

Attack of the Clones: With the popularity and the discontinuation of the tb-303 the prices of the machine raised to ridiculous heights. People reached out on a different level and started making copies and software emulations of the 303. First just the sound and soon after by adding new features and the sequencer “About the clones and software emulations, I think than we reached the goal to make similar sounds…maybe not the perfection but enough to do the acid job…XoxBox, the bass bot TT 303…and others are good machines. The one who made clones without the sequencer missed the real spirit of 303.” (Lig,2013).

Roland by now realized the power of the machine and created the mc-303, a digitally sampled 303 with workstation capabilities. It didn’t take long for people to notice the flaws and the lack of analogue sound generating in this new machine. The mc-303 was soon dubbed a cheap attempt by Roland to ride the new acid wave.

“Gerald and I got together to revisit our Acid set up in 2006 as REBUILD and then again in 2012 . For which I purchased an xoxox 303 emulation box, which I’m very happy with It cost under £300 instead of £3000 or what ever 303′s go for. plus its a lot easier to program, and has some nice features for doing things on the fly when jamming , such as changing the start points, reversing sequences, easy transposing, Swing on the fly.” (Massey, 2012)

Full Circle: The part where roland accepts the new use of its machines and builds new one (tb-3 / tr-8)

Research stufffffffffff FFF! Bassline Baseline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUR3R0Qqw http://www.traxx24.com/how-did-the-roland-tb-303-change-dance-music-and-influence-current-music-technology