Just a correction the synth used for the Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up is using a Korg Prophecy rather than a 303, although the preset used is called "303 Growler". It was also used in a lot of other places on that album.
What an awesome little doco! Thanks for the video mate. You had my absolute full attention for the entirety. Would love to see a 909 doco of a similar nature. Great work!
ten years later (altho i think i first saw this in 2014) it becomes apparent why I loved JCS so much. The words of this documentary are presented so flatly, so "as they are" and there is so much mental space for the salience of the point being made to finally come thru. Its a real documentary!!! Perhaps JCS is indicative of how this aesthetic is inherently scary, but idk i really do find it to be much more than a tool for building suspense. It gives me space to think abt what the fuck I am actually watching. It feels bold n confident. 10/10 doc thank u Nate Harrison
Despite the monotone narrating, I found this to be quite informative and somewhat inspiring. At least for the artists who took a machine intended to record electric bass guitar notes and spawned an entire subgenre with it through unconventional means. Sometimes, one achieves greatness through an unintentional approach.
I came here, cause the narrative on that ‘Roland 303 documentary vid’ sounded wuss. Irritating. This voice doesn’t bother me, yet. I never had problem with narrative before TH-cam.
Behringer has released a great reissue of the TB-303, that is very affordable. I myself have a Korg Volca NuBass, that gets a very satisfying "Acid bass" sound, with a much more user friendly interface, and motion recording.
The waveform switches between sawtooth and "square", not sine. The square wave is sloppy and underdriven, so it's not a true square, which is where some of the weird amazing sound comes from. Happy 303 day!!!
oh it's underdriven? I was under the impression it was actually a very slightly widened pulse width waveform. I think we can all agree it doesn't quite sound like a true square wave though.
@@xsm5525 I thiinnnnk it's the saw wave through one CMOS inverter gate (open loop).I haven't looked at that part of the schema... Okay I just looked. The square is just the triangle switching an NPN transistor on and off haha
That is interesting ....i wonder if the implementation or otherwise of other functions on the 303 can affect the power going to waveform circuit and alter it further seeing as its hold on being a 'square' is so tenuous? It does feel like it has ' life ' A haunted box of switches
thank you for agreeing. There was a ribbon controller on Prophecy, so I assume that Liam modulated "303 Growler" patch by rubbing with his finger. I mean wow-like effect.
If I had one of these, I'd probably solidify my bass segments on a different instrument and then transfer them to the Roland TB-303. I think it has somewhat of a distinct texture.
thank you for this. i missed out on one of these in 97' in Osaka Japan by one day! he sold it. I had gone to the Osaka Castle and decided to go to the store the following. whoops! lol Great vid. :)
Im missing one of the "303"-Stars: Vortecs!!!! The sound of this guys was the ultimate tune of the TB 303. You can find an example in my channel. The song is named Forget Rebirth
@5.01 INCORRECT. There is no such sine wave anywhere nor on the original TB-303 nor on ANY OTHER CLONES OF IT! The TB-303 only has either a Sawtooth wave or a SQUARE wave!
I hd the groovebox, it was my first piece of gear. It was crap. Although, Peaches and MIA managed to squeeze something out of it that sounded great, but that was because the vocals and lyrics were solid.
There are some factual mistakes. In tb-303 there are saw wave and square wave. Not sine wave. Also there is no sine wave in Rebirth which was modeled before tb-303.
Sine wave basses generally aren't a good idea anyway, when using a similar sound for a bassline it's best to use a Triangle wave. The NES used a triangle wave that was shaped slightly towards a saw wave.
Il y a aussi le mythique Acid Eifeil de CHOICE en 1993, un monument de la french touch! Ou bien aussi Modus vivendi "Modus vivendi vers 1992/92 ou la TB 303 semble pleuré...très émotif
..then there was the 303 'devilfish' modulation that was done by an australian guy in the 90's. people from all over the globe sent 303's to him to be tweaked. i wont tell u who, but some of em were in the video!
I knew that Jam On It 09:40 wasn't using a typical bass guitar to keep it's baseline a buddy of mine kept saying that they did but you can clearly hear the difference in sound I my self kept thinking they were using a keyboard to produce that awesome baseline I never thought that it was a TB 303.In the video of Jam On It it shows that they are using a typical bass guitar....
Now where would the world be if documentary makers encouraged and enabled people to make their own, and learn how simple and cheap it actually is to do so? all these ripoff electronics companies would be out of business.
True, it was the "303 Growler" preset on the Korg Prophecy. The same, sexy synth was also used for "Firestarter" and "Breathe". I remember playing on this at the Brighton Guitar, Keyboard and Amp Centre when it first came out, then being really disappointed that Liam Howlett used basic presets in "Firestarter". th-cam.com/video/PzbQyitSLv4/w-d-xo.html
This is positively the most boring documentary i have ever stumbled upon. All due respect to this iconic instrument but the narration and setup of this documentary seems to be attempting to quite literally bore to death.
Proudly narrated by a Roland TB-303.
+Fumi Himu Very robotic
Fumi Himu hahahaha
huh vines
lol
lol right?? wtf is wrong with this guy
so glad no over emotional somebody is hype-screamin on this. just down to earth narration. I like the narration.
The stark emotionless narration is so perfect for this.
Fascinating! The 303 is the seed that spawned multiple forms of dance music as we know it. Iconic like nothing else in the culture.
The documentary that deserves at least 60 minutes.
Just a correction the synth used for the Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up is using a Korg Prophecy rather than a 303, although the preset used is called "303 Growler". It was also used in a lot of other places on that album.
What an awesome little doco! Thanks for the video mate. You had my absolute full attention for the entirety. Would love to see a 909 doco of a similar nature. Great work!
At 5:07 it should be sawtooth and square wave, not sine wave.
Scrolled down to make sure someone pointed that out so I didn't have to, lol
Yeah sine waves suck anyway.
@@SailfishSoundSystem really ??? what about tr 808 kick mate?:)
@@SailfishSoundSystem WTF?!
technically it's not a square wave either, it's a pulse wave that is very slightly widened.
ten years later (altho i think i first saw this in 2014) it becomes apparent why I loved JCS so much. The words of this documentary are presented so flatly, so "as they are" and there is so much mental space for the salience of the point being made to finally come thru. Its a real documentary!!! Perhaps JCS is indicative of how this aesthetic is inherently scary, but idk i really do find it to be much more than a tool for building suspense. It gives me space to think abt what the fuck I am actually watching. It feels bold n confident. 10/10 doc thank u Nate Harrison
the way he says 'unquote' makes me feel the inexorable loneliness of humankind
finally something worth watching on youtube
Despite the monotone narrating, I found this to be quite informative and somewhat inspiring. At least for the artists who took a machine intended to record electric bass guitar notes and spawned an entire subgenre with it through unconventional means. Sometimes, one achieves greatness through an unintentional approach.
I came here, cause the narrative on that ‘Roland 303 documentary vid’ sounded wuss. Irritating. This voice doesn’t bother me, yet. I never had problem with narrative before TH-cam.
Awesome doc. Learned allot didn't think I could know anymore about the ole303... Thanks!
People need to preserve their 303s, it's a true piece of music history.
I loved the narration. Perfect !
what? narration total failure i would say
It’s the year 2020: Behringer has brought us the TD-3. It was the last amazing piece of gear to hit the market before the corona virus hit.
MPC One? MC-707?
What a nice, enjoyable documentary. I enjoyed that. 8o)
I found the video very interesting and rich. Learned a lot with it, thanks!
Behringer has released a great reissue of the TB-303, that is very affordable.
I myself have a Korg Volca NuBass, that gets a very satisfying "Acid bass" sound, with a much more user friendly interface, and motion recording.
Would that korg be intuitive enough for a guitarist to pick up pretty quickly?
Great documentary.
Thanks a lot.
Excellent. Thank you for a very interesting and informative piece.
The waveform switches between sawtooth and "square", not sine. The square wave is sloppy and underdriven, so it's not a true square, which is where some of the weird amazing sound comes from.
Happy 303 day!!!
oh it's underdriven? I was under the impression it was actually a very slightly widened pulse width waveform. I think we can all agree it doesn't quite sound like a true square wave though.
@@xsm5525 I thiinnnnk it's the saw wave through one CMOS inverter gate (open loop).I haven't looked at that part of the schema... Okay I just looked. The square is just the triangle switching an NPN transistor on and off haha
@@ozerik interesting. that makes me wonder if behringer saw that before designing their clone.
That is interesting ....i wonder if the implementation or otherwise of other functions on the 303 can affect the power going to waveform circuit and alter it further seeing as its hold on being a 'square' is so tenuous?
It does feel like it has ' life '
A haunted box of switches
Anybody here from Full Sail? 👀👀
😂😂😂
I honestly can't tell if a human or computer is narrating this video.
compression artifacts are horrible on this, is there a better version on youtube somewhere?
5:06 "saw tooth, or sine wave"
that's clearly a square wave
Nice work!
How am I just now discovering this short documentary???🙀
Everybody does need a 303!!!!
Sine wave? It's square wave dude
Just noticed that, I was like did he just say Sine Wave? Wow, he did Haha. Oh well, other then that hiccup I love this docu, and love the 303!
Sawtooth or Square Wave (not Sine) at 5:07
no mention of hardfloor ???
Les papes de la 303
Extrmely informative
Yes but there is also some mistakes too
thank you for agreeing. There was a ribbon controller on Prophecy, so I assume that Liam modulated "303 Growler" patch by rubbing with his finger. I mean wow-like effect.
just THANKS! Great!
@subglitch Given the slope of that specific filter, is not possible to do what you suggest.
If I had one of these, I'd probably solidify my bass segments on a different instrument and then transfer them to the Roland TB-303. I think it has somewhat of a distinct texture.
Fantastic doco!
filter cutoff does not change tune and the 303 does not produce sine waves?
I want to hear the tb303 used as designed, just a bass accompaniment synth.
Very interesting facts. Thank you!
Also so much on Oldschool Acid Techno, Trance and Hard Trance and today also in Tech and Psy/Goa Trance :)
Very good documentary.
My lawd this guy either puts me to sleep or in a deep depression .. Or both. Dude get u some coffee! Wow
Great doco
thank you for this. i missed out on one of these in 97' in Osaka Japan by one day! he sold it. I had gone to the Osaka Castle and decided to go to the store the following. whoops! lol Great vid. :)
Fascinating !!
Im missing one of the "303"-Stars: Vortecs!!!! The sound of this guys was the ultimate tune of the TB 303. You can find an example in my channel. The song is named Forget Rebirth
It's sawtooth and square wave not sine wave by the way, you could achieve a sine wave by turning the filter cutoff all the way down probably.
Only 360p ?????
Thats not a sine wave, thats a pulse wave (or square)
The narrators voice or the 303?
DEEEF=Pi a sign function would make a very useless audio signal, but i suspect you know this =p
Hey Robot guy! Where is “set you free” by Planet Soul??? It’s definitely worthy!!
I love narration that does not get in the way of the subject or the information.
Fantastic info............
@5.01 INCORRECT. There is no such sine wave anywhere nor on the original TB-303 nor on ANY OTHER CLONES OF IT! The TB-303 only has either a Sawtooth wave or a SQUARE wave!
I hd the groovebox, it was my first piece of gear. It was crap. Although, Peaches and MIA managed to squeeze something out of it that sounded great, but that was because the vocals and lyrics were solid.
5:06 sine wave ?!?
You made a mistake. In the Prodigy's track it wasn't a 303. It was a Korg Prophecy
Good speech synthesis. The narration sounds almost like a real human.
I love this thing.. it is insanely good.
There are some factual mistakes. In tb-303 there are saw wave and square wave. Not sine wave. Also there is no sine wave in Rebirth which was modeled before tb-303.
Sine wave basses generally aren't a good idea anyway, when using a similar sound for a bassline it's best to use a Triangle wave. The NES used a triangle wave that was shaped slightly towards a saw wave.
And now we have the Boutique version
better then the original Behringer TD-3.
and:
i have both of them......no question
I have a homework on this 😭
Same. Full Sail?
What about dj Pierre
This video is so BOAAARRRING. Better than reading though!
Oh, it's the Amen Break Dubplate guy.
I rather liked the monotone narration, so there.
matt holland Haha yeah, it's perfect for sampling and using in tracks because the monotone makes it easy to pitch-shift without it sounding weird.
lol
Il y a aussi le mythique Acid Eifeil de CHOICE en 1993, un monument de la french touch! Ou bien aussi Modus vivendi "Modus vivendi vers 1992/92 ou la TB 303 semble pleuré...très émotif
the wave forms shown are saw and square, not sine...
This is fucking hilarious. I admire your sticktoitiveness.
..then there was the 303 'devilfish' modulation that was done by an australian guy in the 90's. people from all over the globe sent 303's to him to be tweaked. i wont tell u who, but some of em were in the video!
*sawtooth & square
used tb-303 selling for "upwards of $1000" sounds like a steal in 2022... ($3K is not unseen now)
I knew that Jam On It 09:40 wasn't using a typical bass guitar to keep it's baseline a buddy of mine kept saying that they did but you can clearly hear the difference in sound I my self kept thinking they were using a keyboard to produce that awesome baseline I never thought that it was a TB 303.In the video of Jam On It it shows that they are using a typical bass guitar....
🎶💥😎💥🎶
happy 303 day every1
flow coma is a perfect acid track
Can not read any text in beginning...
see the original here: nkhstudio.com
Happy 303 day all!
best synthesizer of all time...
I’d say it’s more of a greatest groove box of all time.
Acid will never die
I came here to read the comments.
voiceover man er he sounds automated like when you ring up to pay your electric bill over the phone
all this and nothing about hardware clones?
Now where would the world be if documentary makers encouraged and enabled people to make their own, and learn how simple and cheap it actually is to do so?
all these ripoff electronics companies would be out of business.
I happen to know that madonna's ray of light is an ms-20 not tb 303
True, it was the "303 Growler" preset on the Korg Prophecy.
The same, sexy synth was also used for "Firestarter" and "Breathe".
I remember playing on this at the Brighton Guitar, Keyboard and Amp Centre when it first came out, then being really disappointed that Liam Howlett used basic presets in "Firestarter".
th-cam.com/video/PzbQyitSLv4/w-d-xo.html
The original mix of KLF what time is love doesn't either. What time is love is based on a song in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar too.
well dont sound so thrilled about it Mr Narrator. :)
over 6 minutes in, as good as no sound from the tb-303 - im logging out
11:33
17:55 So Today... Instruception
narrated. by. a. robot.
or someone who hated his job
prodigy - smack my bitch up seems to be pwm sync sound - and not an unmodded 303
Acidhouse!
decent until The Prodigy was mentioned. Smack my Bitch Up was a Korg. The real 303 album would be Music For the Jilted Generation.
You can get desired effect using a 303 run though a pedal. with a sharp n shaped eq curve going into it.
Say Superman he came to town, to see who he could rock...
This is positively the most boring documentary i have ever stumbled upon. All due respect to this iconic instrument but the narration and setup of this documentary seems to be attempting to quite literally bore to death.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Though it's very informative, the narrator can be a bit more enthusiastic. No one wants to listen to a drone :/
20 years from now, poor ravers will find this narration in a pawn shop for cheap and use it to create a new genre of EDM ....
No, no real 303 was used on 'Smack My Bitch Up' track.
Johnny Christopher Depp is the best father #JusticeForJohnnyDepp