User:FluffyDunlop/MO
Personal: 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 analogue 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 drum computers the tr-707 is a sample based drum computer 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 discarded. 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)
NEWCLEUS - JAM ON IT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEmg5GaAHbk
LIKE A TIM WITH GINA V. D´ORIO where did our love go (The Supremes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLj_p22tqLk#t=50
Klein & M.B.O. " The M.B.O. Theme " 1983 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_IjvPxbeGc#t=118
Charanjit Singh - Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat (1982) 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, and thus producing the famous “squelchy” bass lines with a steady 4/4 kick drum beat. Chicago artists and producers quickly picked up this type of music, also crossed the Pacific Ocean and arrived in England, where they adopted this new wave of sound as the new punk movement.
“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 adding the sequencer and new features “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 the 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 a 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: With Roland swearing to never go back to analogue techniques and only producing digital equipment, the faith of the tb-303 was sealed. Only to be made by 3e parties with no ties to the Roland Corporation. Until the end of 2010 when another music instrument producer made the announcement to go analogue again. Korg, also a Japanese based electronic instrument producer, famous for they synths and digital workstations, announced the Volca series. An analogue series based on the Roland classics. At this point the crowd got wild. The insult that went with this statement was immeasurable and Roland was put in his place again for not embracing analogue sound and not giving costumers what they wanted. One year later, the rumours of Roland returning with analogue products where in high gear. The insult by Korg probably made some kind of impact. One and a half year later after the Volca launch Roland returned with new machines. In honour of their old machines they named them tb-3 for the new tb-303 and the tr-8 for the new tr-808. With the new machines launched the hype continued, but one question still remained. What is in the box and is it analogue? Roland couldn’t be Roland and they stick to their original plan, digital. Just for their new machines, they developed a new technology, ACB (analogue circuit behaviour) a hundred per cent digital simulated copy of the original hardware. With this statement it seems Roland really stick with their old school inventive ways. But does the industry still care? It seems not, because right after launch the systems where sold out and the machines where received with great enthusiasm. What makes the machines great is the inventive way of putting interactivity and the quality of sound together. And with this we can clear state Acid never dies, just like punk!
References:
Bassline Baseline Documentary by Nate Harrison
How did the roland tb-303 change dance music and influenced current music technology