How To Program A TB-303

[DJCJ999]

.... Have you compared this to a mc-09,and a xoxobox? ..... I know some people will not entertain " anything " sounding as good as a 303 but they are over a grand to buy!!! Poopins!

[praevius]

@DJCJ999 I don't know the MC-09 but isn't that sample based? De xoxbox is very good and if I didn't have a 303 already, I'd seriously think about the Acidlab Bassline 3. I'm not a 303 snob (if it sounds good, it sounds good) but I'm not a fan of samples or digital emulation. It just doesn't get that dog whistle high I love. ;)

[DJCJ999]

@praevius The mc-09 is a sampler " and " a analoge synth, said by Roland to be " like " a 303... apparently the fact it has a step sequencer makes it easy'er to program... I have just bought one of ebay for $100. I agree with you if it sounds good it is good, i'm sure it won't sound exactly like a 303 but with a the use of effects i'm sure it will rock! when it arrives i'll post a vid...

[praevius]

@DJCJ999 Cool! Sounds like an interesting machine! Looking forward to your video, the quirky sequencer is about half the fun of a 303, so that MC-09 could be great to play around with. Can't beat 100 bucks either!

[rizdraver]

Kind of a bummer when people make tutorials but are too embarrassed to even talk. Some useful info; but thanks for making the lesson as disassociative, impersonal and disconnnected as humanly possible.

[praevius]

@rizdraver Actually, I get a lot of compliments on my voice, but I had planned to do a combination of voice-over and captions. It turned out too much of a hassle, so I couldn't be bothered with adding voice-overs. I now since got a different HD capable camera and will make a new video in a bit. Will make it commented, just for you.

[rizdraver]

@praevius

: ) Wow, seriously thanks for all your effort.

[micropod]

I love the way that most if not all tb-303's have ware marks around the most important pots! lol

[d3mrp0]

good instruction and good music = rare! thanks for doing this

[VinceVega303]

Best video for learning to program a 303! thank you.

[kautle]

that looks fun

!!!!!!!!

[cjbonecollecter]

nice one gez!!a video thats actually educational in terms of this amazing instrument!!keep it up!! (:

[PorcelainAbortion]

How do I switch to other patterns?

[freedomremixers]

Good job!!!

[jayshiz]

I love that on youtube videos that people are afraid to talk.

The cat must many tongues.

[MegaPardonMeSirMam]

/watch?v=3wddXWKhIxI

[HelloNewYorkCity]

i really hope people that own a tb303 don't have to watch videos on how to program it. otherwise luke vibert should jump out of nowwhere and snatch it lol

[pomfrit93]

the 303 is a gem from heaven!

[Ninja6485]

i just got my 303 in the mail, and it came with no manual and no power adaptor. this video has been VERY helpful!!! thx!

[TheAnanda9]

Haha, well done! I guess UNDERWORLD will like that PATTERN. Try to contact them, and you´ll see what´ll HAPPEN to you! 9 Steps is a special kind of groove, that I like , or 12 Steps mixed with 4/4. Always LIGHT and POWER to you! ;-)

[bucktoofus]

somebody please repeatedly fuck this guy for osting this rad vid!

[Max16032]

IMHO:

Every single sound that come out from this little box is amazing....

[Vipmaxp]

do the notes on the 303 not correspond to the notes on a keyboard...or is this just out of tune

[praevius]

It has a seperate tuning knob. I can't remember how it was set, though. So the 303 does have a normal octave range and is in tune all by itself - but not necessarily with other instruments.

[mantisman96]

Me too.

Hopefully ReBirth will cut it as soon as I get a computer fast enough to do music recording.

[gregordavis]

The beat is way off the acid track.

[mantisman96]

Think thats the idea.

[jettero1]

Im having my TB 303 serviced next week.

All 24 buttons replaced with new ones.

The DC 9v socked replaced.

New battery springs + a factury frequency tuneup (variable resistor tuneup). Costing

£64.60p including labour and vat. I still have the origional box with the polystyrene and carring case for it but no instruction manual :( . ile be putting it on Ebay around November time this year ;) Fell free to IM me if ur interested.

[Mescalino74]

i envy you i wish i owned a TB303

[gunergundog]

The BMP is NOT synchronic with the acidtune asshole!

[dj2bklyn]

what a moron he wasn't allowed to speak to us on th vid

[Realtablist]

Thank you Praevius.

It would've taken me weeks to find out how to program the TB-303 without your help.

[esuterik2]

fuck yeh cunt

this is off the hook mate

fucking oath

best tb 303 vid ive seen yet man

keep it up seriously

[bakshishiy]

i very good !

We want more videos ...

thanks

[cmacmanus]

i just bought a TR808 and cant wait till i get a TB303 I still have to learn about DINSync and Midi. will i be able to hook it up thru midi into my djm800 mixer?

[flidsticks]

Only via a MIDI to DIN SYNC converter. The 303 can only receive DIN SYNC so unless you get it modded, it has to slave to the 808. The CV/GATE are OUT only, so you can only control other synths, not drum machines. It's a bit of a pain but worth it.

[XHALE303]

a BIT of reverb and distortion hahaha...

its drowning in the effect :D

goeie zaak ;)

TB303 4life

[jeremeohmy]

Great work! My friend and I wouldn't have ever figured out how to program a pattern without this vid! The manual is less then great at giving instructions.....

[f115Recs]

Who cares about the patterns. Thanks for the tutorial! That was great! Want to do a prt 2 that covers other features? Cheers man.

[praevius]

My studio is nearly ready again (a kitchen refurb took a lot of time from me) and I'll dive into other parts of the 303.

I don't have the camera with which I made this video anymore - I'll get a new one, higher res. ;)

[gatorio]

actually the first pattern was dope but the one you made sucked :))) but anyway you did them all probably, good stuff! :)))

[basicsys]

at 5:39 the 303 sound changes without you touching it.....

[praevius]

I run the 303 through an ESP1010 so that I can add effects in real time to it. At that point I switched off the channel with all the effects (the huge ass reverb and distortion) and dropped back to the more or less 'naked' 303 sound.

[culturatrance]

The distortion effect that you added was good but not the reverb

[praevius]

You are so right. I tend to go a bit overboard with the effects sometimes.

[klausnikski]

I think I prefered the pattern you erased.

[praevius]

It's just an example. If this is the stuff I erase, you should hear what I keep! ;)

[Polyfusia]

Do I hear a sample from Phaedra in there near the end? (the vocal sounding effect)

[praevius]

No, I'm not sure where that came from: I think it's from Monotron (the Mellotron vst).

[Envergure]

Yuck! No wonder these were a commercial failure.

[f115Recs]

Relative to '82, sure. Relative to music history, hell no! You couldn't be more wrong.

[f115Recs]

@ Envergure:

>> Yuck! No wonder these were a commercial failure.

[MickLionheart]

Hey would you mind giving me that 303 so I could try that out for myself ;)

[rianmil04]

Great!!!

[Navigator1337]

the 303 is so awesome! Nice Video! I Love Acid-Tech!

[fiilthy]

good movie man. what else are you using?

[praevius]

I also have a 101 and a 202. I trigger my machines from the TR-707 drum machine. My computer (Ableton) is the slave to that as well.

I moved in january and my studio has been boxed up for months. Together with a friend I reconnected it last weekend. Yay! I'll make a new video soon. :)

[bluesparklejet]

Excellent! got it! all i need now is a 303..

[WiggleOn]

tah v much like :-)

[rondroyd]

okdan

its bin very hard evrey time i forget the perticulair order of doing thingies and from frusta...ahbgfdshgfsgkjegkj,..­.tion i was going on whit the older pattern ..notes wrondg whoe cares its 303030303

thanx

for the step ahead !! greets ollanda

rondroyd

and now im going to do the mc202 trick

[beatmania3rdmix]

I need this song!!!

[nathanjh13]

Thanks, but I can't work out why you don't just talk us through it... we'd hear you.

[praevius]

I know, it's kinda stupid, in hindsight. I had originally intended to make this video more compact with lots of arrows, pauses and texts. But since I hadn't used iMovie before it turned out to be too difficult ;)

The next one I will narrate! I was thinking to include a little tour of my setup - and how I hooked up the TB-303 to Ableton.

[mdjice]

thanks a lot !!!

[gagarin1234]

a bit chaos at 4:46 but nice one, very nice

[shagghie]

Sorted! That is SO much better than what I've seen/found elsewhere. No WONDER I wasn't getting it right, I was going in the wrong order of doing things and my patterns were getting hosed before I was done. Too many years with the Future Retro sequencers, I think I got plain spoiled! Thanks again, and yeah... keep em commin'!

[zenderwahit]

Good job.

[mallorcalee]

brilliant mate

[tr80808]

Nice work. I've never entered the note spaces though, that was new to me. I've always just entered pitch first, then the timing, and I'm an old veteran! It was nice to see a proper tutorial on programming the machine, not just another random rock out. Show the folks how to chain patterns in your next video - very useful. I loved your wear rings around reso and cutoff.. mine looks the same!

[praevius]

I've just moved, but when I have unpacked and setup my studio I will make a new video, with a better angle and I'll show the chaining action - good idea!

[LyndonTCorbett]

Be sure to turn off the auto focus.

[FrozenExplosion]

very helpful, the manual is a nightmare!!!

[beatmania3rdmix]

I want one of those!!! Nice Video!!

[1Jinxed1]

nice video,

but why did u enter 9 note spaces, shouldnt u have entered 4/8/12 or 16?

[8iamretarded8]

So as not to become repetitious when divided into 8/12/16 of course!

[gameshowkid222]

i want to learn how to program on a computer

[xskaterbrox16]

idk why people thumbs down you, cuz sso do i

[neutron7]

i had one i bought when they nwere new for $260CDN

someone stole it at a party when it was considered a useless POS.

[happygameshow]

Arg I want a 303 so bad. But It's so hard to find and when you do see them on ebay people want $2000 for them. I can't justify that when you can get a korg electribe for $300. I know it's vintage... but still.

[AppA]

x0xb0x bebe!

[morkmies]

TOP!! HINT!! TIP!!!

[seblaplage]

great groove mr ! the Hi hat sounds great ! What drum Machine do you use please ???

thank you !

[jimladsnoop]

i know how to program but i need a new 303 as my son dropped it," felt like dropping him" anywho any1 selling 1? please reply

[mattd28]

might sell mine i have some old studio gear and the tb-303 is one i might part with ;)

[Elektrik303]

cool, i like what uve done, i luv 303 :) realy

[dieper2dieper]

damn, your beats are out of sinc with the rest dude !!

[thedefog]

No they aren't, the melody is just not in 4/4 retard.

[armando303]

Yes! the pattern you have erased was 10x better than the next you have programmed!

[subby33]

Everytime I hear a TB 303 I just think of the irony , how this synthesizer was made for something completely different and failed miserably . . . yet became a staple in modern electronic music. I dunno, just how things worked out makes me kind of laugh.

[tagdamoon]

heheheh

youre quite right

tb303 was supposed to be used by guitar players to have a bassline to play over it at home but it was a complete failure commercially.

who would have guessed that it would become the pillarof the electronic music composed on the next 20 years after its birth

but this resonance---

scalpel

[xylic]

programming the 303 isn't that difficult, especially if you know how to program the steps in real time.

[johannesauvinem]

It is helpful to know that the slide occurs STARTING from the notes with slide entered and continues until a note with no slide. Also, you can apply your triplet-ish idea of 3/16 6/16 9/16 by rather associating you slides and accents with those times. ie have a 16/16 pattern and accent every third note or put a slide on each note before each third note

[chinkogakusaizo]

Actually that pattern that you had at the begining that you've erased was far more interesting than the one you've programmed to show us how to use it but still it was worth watching!.

[thevco]

you forgot one thing accent nob!!!

very important

but good on you bro

[mrbadger1979]

nice 1 dude. im not as scared of them now, ha! i always wanted one but had a fear of getting it and it being a waste of money cause i'd not be able to work it.

cheers

[mossadon]

has anyone ever tried programing a 303 from the original manual?

What the book says and what the machine does is, well, not on the same planet =D

No wonder everyone was confused with it when it came out!

[tombizzurt]

its because the manual was translated from japanese to english, which is basically impossible to do in the way we understand language.

[longhairedfreakz]

ok lets switch to record mode... your hand is in the way... kinda makes the rest of instructions redundant...

[praevius]

When I have time I'll make a new one, filmed from above. My hand's not in the way all of the time. I'll ditch the cards in between and just narrate it.

[rtb909]

Very good instruction. Tb303 makes a unique sound which can't be produced with Rebirth and the like. Best acid results with a analog mixing console to keep the "warmth". If you consider to buy one, make sure it is modied so that it can be at least synchronized with midi. For people new to acid: listen to the (classic) songs of Emmanuel Top - not matched by newer tracks.

[electrokinesis]

That first pattern was actually really cool; it's not crap at all!

[Dervi5h]

what are u using for the drums? I am just trying to understand what I would need to get besides a 303.

thanks

[danilouvalin]

wow man that was awesome.This helps a better then 100 manuals.

[Andybaby]

y didnt you just talk dood!?

[fadookie]

Rad! I never could figure out how to program the 303 in ReBirth.

[Cuning66]

Where can you get one of these?

[Outgunned]

nice beat,but to much taste of goa^^

[rockhills]

How do you extend the notes? Can the note last a whole 16beats?

[praevius]

Yeah, you can stretch a note over all 16 steps by using the slide, for instance.

[rockhills]

Hey yo this video and that tiny bit of help has finally helped me figure out Rebirth. Really it all makes sense now and it's really not as complicated as I made it out to be! Thanks...

[Intosia]

Omg i want one! (or a clone i dont care :P)

For ppl that want to make the same sounds, google on RUBBERDUCK, its music program that imitates the 303

[wyllytesla]

nice vid. I would like to add something to your tutorial. For people with Tb's that have bad buttons : when you have entered the 9 note pattern, you can make sure you did by pushing the 'time mode' button once , and then tap 9 times on the 'tap' button.

If you did enter 9 notes initially , it will exit 'time mode' after the 9th tap. You can check this whenever you want, without destroying the sequence. It also shows note-on /off info when you tap :)

[TVTuna]

That was very informative, thank you!

more would be good..

[ItsMedicationTime]

Cool video...you made it look simple dude!

[HLSDK]

Man, you can never go too fast! great vid!

[praevius]

Hm, it doesn't have to be, as far as I'm concerned. When I'm up for it, I'll make another video for sixteenth notes fans. Maybe I can spleen in some close-ups of the process then. I never used iMovie before so the video is kinda static.

[Adam8ken]

man, that would be great.with use of the "back" button as well. ;)

[synthfreek]

The problem is placing 9 sixteenth notes looping over a 4/4 beat. It'll like never be in time.

[Adam8ken]

Great Stuff!

[JAMESJW2006]

is it only acid type noises or can u make soft stuff etc

[praevius]

Syncopation, read up on it. Besides, the main purpose is to show the manner in which you program a TB-303, not to produce a perfect riff.

[praevius]

The manual is no help (I keep it around for sentimental reasons) ;) When I bought my TB-303 around eight years ago, the guy I got it from gave me a crash course 303 programming in his kitchen.

Positive thing though: you never quite know what you're going to end up with.

[guyvf]

how confusing...

[KitsuneDarkStalker]

That was insane, I learned a hell of a lot! Thank you! ^_^