Rolands TB-303 is becoming increasingly rare to find in good working order, and at a price that doesn’t involve a bank loan. Luckily most vst instruments can do a convincing job of re-creating the classic sound. And every producer should know how to create this patch – from scratch – for themselves. Check-out my beginners guide using Propellerhead’s REASON, or go straight to my video tutorial below.
How to Create Old-Skool 303 Acid sounds in Reason’s Subtractor Synth
Reason 303 Demo Audio Preview
1. Insert SubTractor and Matrix
Insert SubTractor and then a Matrix – Reason’s step-sequencer to trigger the sound in the SubTractor.
2. Create a Sequence
Create a basic sequence in Matrix – don’t worry too much at this point about this. This is just so you can hear the affect these settings make to the sound of the SubTractor as you tweak.
3. Oscilliator Settings
The original TB-303 used a single audio oscillator with subtractive Synthesis, offering just two waveforms; sawtooth wave or a square wave. So in SubTractor make the following settings to give you a close approximation of the classic 303 sound:
Set Oscillator 1 to a Sawtooth Waveform and select Mode ‘–‘ (minus). You can experiment by switching between square and Sawtooth later. Set Octave to ‘2’ and Osc Mix to ‘0’. Change Osc Phase to 81 which will beef-up your sound.
4. Frequency Settings
Set Filter 1 Frequency to a level between ’32-40’ (lower levels = more bass), and Resonance to ‘45-55’ (higher levels = more screech). These are base settings which will be modulated later. Select LP 24 in Filter 1 – although the original TB-303 featured an LP 18 filter which you’ll find on Thor, most agree the SubTractor gives a more authentic sound with LP 24.
5. Trigger Settings
Set trigger mode to Legato and Portamento to around 20 as desired which gives that glide effect – a great parameter to automate later.
6. Filter & Amp Envelope Settings
The TB-303 had far fewer options than SubTractor, and included only a simple envelope generator and decay control. The following settings are a good place to start – ready to be tweaked later.
Filter Envelope: Attack = 0, Decay = 45, Sustain = 20, Release = 45 and Amt = 14
Amplitude Envelope: to Attack = 4,¬ Decay = 46, Sustain = 15, Release = 12.
7. ‘Mod Wheel’ Modulation
Set the Filter frequency Mod Wheel amount = 20 and the Filter Resonance Mod wheel to full (63). Now twiddle with the Mod Wheel to hear how the Filter is affected – sounds like aciiid!
These are base settings which will be modulated later and our patch is now starting to resemble the classic 303 sound.
8. Recording Modulation with the ‘Mod Wheel’
Now sculpt the sound by recording automation with the Mod Wheel.
Right click on the ‘Mod Wheel’ itself and select ‘Edit Modulation’. Set a loop in the play pane to 16 bars. Click ‘Play’ and ‘Record’ and start twiddling with the Mod Wheel. When you‘re done, replay your recording and choose the best 4 bar, or 8 bar section and loop it. This section of automation could be copy and pasted across your whole track length, to form your baseline groove – with certain sections being tweaked again to add more movement and excitement to your track.
9. Add Reverb
The sound is a tad dry so add some reverb with the RV7000 using a subtle preset to start with – a Small Room patch should work, but still needs edits. In the video I set:
Decay=6, HF Damp=20, HI EQ to-46 and Dry/Wet knob to around 40-50.
I also used the ‘Remote Programmer’ in the RV7000 and activated EQ to remove some of the unwanted reverb noise – giving a sharper, clearer sound.
Frequency= 1,000hz & Level= -15 db
10. Create a basic drum loop using ReDrum
11. Create New Matrix Patterns
Creating new patterns in Matrix is easy and a lot fun with the edit options (right-click on the Matrix module). First remember to copy your original pattern to a new slot by right clicking, select ‘Copy Pattern’ then paste into a new memory slot. Now make variations using ‘Move-up’ or ‘Move Down’ or left and right…or you can Randomize your pattern into oblivion (I believe the same could be accidently achieved on the TB-303 by quickly removing the battery). Of course, if you do use ‘randomize’ be sure to make a few edits to the pattern so you can take the credit – not Reason’s processors. Switch between these patterns (and record your switches) during play-back, and you’re in acid heaven.