Berlin School 303 (Disquiet0303) by ikjoyce

This week's 303rd junto challenge was to create a track using a TB303 (or equivalent) to create music in a way that the 303 was never intended to be used. Well, given the 303 started life as a means for guitarists to have simple basslines without the need for a bass player, pretty much everything it has ever been used for meets this criteria :-)
I have a FAT FB-383 which is a fully analog TB303 "clone" which I haven't used in ages. So, I dug this out, dusted it off, and set to work. Initially, I thought about playing folk tunes on it live, but it didn't quite work out, so I took my Dark Time sequencer and created a 15-note sequence, which I could then use with panned echo for creating space. I wanted to start out not sounding like the classic 303 acid sound, but I did want that sound to make an appearance at least. I set the notes of the sequence quite high, so not using it for basslines. I also took the output and ran it through a filter (Ripples - which is a Roland filter clone, quite good for squelchy acid basslines, though not used that way here) and an echo (Disting) before running that into Clouds for glitchy sampling. To this, I added a BS2 on a sound that uses the 303 style 'Acid' filter, using a very slow arpeggio - this is added to the mix entirely wet with reverb - no original signal is included. I also added three Doepfer oscillators - one static, one gently moving, and the other with a fast sequence. These were put through a single filter (uVCF) and again all reverb and no signal into the mix. I added a bit of echo as I faded the signals in and out, which brings a little of the original signal in as the track progresses. I then set about live tweaking all of this to create something a bit Berlin School - certainly not what the original TB303 was intended for. This is a single live take - no overdubbing, all manual tweaking of sounds and levels.

More on this 303rd weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Out of Sequence: Pay tribute to the Roland 303 by doing something that is apart from how you think it was intended to be utilized) at:

https://disquiet.com/0303/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0303-out-of-sequence/

There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.