23/08/2023
French software plug-in and hardware synth manufacturer, Arturia, yesterday released a $99 Roland TB-303 software synth clone, Acid V, that claims to take the headache out of programming the initial Roland 1980's product failure 303 hardware, battery-powered, analog bass player replacement mono synth.
The 303 is especially notorious for its non-self-oscillating resonant ladder filter, the sound of which can be heard on hundreds of recordings, but especially in the 1990's and onwards. The unique sound as the resonance, or cutoff emphasis increases is known as "the acid" sound and has been used on hundreds of electronic music productions since its rediscovery in the late 1908's/early 1990's.
Original Roland analog 303 hardware units are worth upwards of $3K in mint condition, and Roland, noted synth cloner Behringer and many other companies, in years past, have made clones of the original, including special modded versions like the Devilfish mod, and Behringer's attempt at a similar offering with their modded version of the hardware.
The hardware interface for creating patterns is a bit obtuse and somewhat daunting to program, for anyone attempting to create a baseline pattern, or series of bassline patterns, with accents, rests and the famously awesome slide feature, using the front panel.
Arturia's Acid V strives to simplify the harder 303's pattern creation process by adding some additional UI elements, views and layout extensions that supplement the original hardware design controls and methods for pattern creation.
Shut up and take my money!:
An Arturia emulation of the classic Roland TB-303 was all but inevitable. But with plenty of bassline plug-ins out there, can this one bring something new to the table? Let's get our hands on the new Arturia Acid V.
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