Making a Roland Groove box 303

Hi guys,

OK please dont take this a stupid question but before i bought my MPC 1000 I wanted a 2nd hand Roland 303 groove box because i love the sounds it emmits. When i went to my local music shop the guy said but and mpc 1000 and you can turn it into a 303 style synth. Now Since March Ive been getting my head roud the MPC and havent had chance to go down this route but now am at the stage where I want to create so old school acid style tunes. But am struggling to understand where i would get the sounds from. Does anyone have any ideas on this or do i still need to buy a 303 off of ebay. Plus has anyone any expereince of syncing an mpc to a 303, i also see on ebay electribes etc. can anyone share there knowedge on what best to do in my predicament.

Cheers people!

Download the sounds here:

http://machines.hyperreal.org/manufacturers/Roland/MC-303/samples/

Happy acid!

Cheers man. May i ask are they all the sounds found on the 303 as im sure ive heard some more synth style acid sounds. Also what about the MPC used in conjunction with a Korg Es1 Electribe as ive watched a few you tube vids and this is the sound im looking for. The download you suggested really was more drums rather than Elctro style acid sounds? Cheers for yuor help people!

good ish eimer

Sorry whats thats Pound?

good ish = good s h i t = thanks

I was thanking eimer for that link.

Ahhhh Good ish back to you! thanks for the help mate. I had a listen to your tunes on Myspace theyre Good ish too man!

Peace

thanks homie. Peace

I'm presuming you're talking about the TB303 and not the the MC303? Hard to tell cause you mention the term 'Groovebox' which would make it the MC, but i'm kinda thinking you mean the TB!!

Anyway, you're not going to get the full benefit of sampling the sounds of the TB303 as the main acid sound is created by tweaking the filters on the original unit. Tht said, the original silver box is quite difficult to program and also pricey...

There's some very nice software emulations about if you have a pc for producing? You could create your own patterns, filter them and then sample them into your 1k. There's plenty of top 303 heads who grew up with the original, but now use these emulations, which means they probably pass the test very nicely.

Thanks for the heads up ill have a dig about! Just want to start getting really electo sounding as ive been sampling lots of soul and 80s stuff and i want to get bac to what i began this quest for! Heavy Acid beats! Cheers people. as ever good advice! Nice!

if you wanna tweak a 303 but can't afford one... just download that old program REBIRTH. i believe propellerheads even ended up making it shareware a couple years ago.

Ah, the mighty old TB-303. The one and only transistor bass!

Here are some decent clones:

http://www.ladyada.net/make/x0xb0x/

http://www.future-retro.com/revolutionoverview.html

http://www.future-retro.com/777overview.html

And here you can hear which is the best:

http://www.acidvoice.com/#acidlab

Coz wrote:There's plenty of top 303 heads who grew up with the original, but now use these emulations, which means they probably pass the test very nicely.

Nah, they didn't pass mine

Wow, my first drum machine was a mc- 303 groovebox and it was cool at the time, but when I figured out that the pads weren't sensitive and couldn't be controlled by a velosity sensitive keyboard, I saw not much use for it and it ended up in my garage and got broken by accident. I see them on ebay from time to time. I never thought of its synth sounds to be anything special. I learned alot about sequencing on it though, and sometimes wish I still had it to mess around on. Some of the drums were nice.

Nah, they didn't pass mine

Given a choice of either sounding somewhere close to a 303 for free, or having to spend CRAZY money to buy the original then there is no contest!

Wow, my first drum machine was a mc- 303 groovebox and it was cool at the time, but when I figured out that the pads weren't sensitive and couldn't be controlled by a velosity sensitive keyboard, I saw not much use for it and it ended up in my garage and got broken by accident. I see them on ebay from time to time. I never thought of its synth sounds to be anything special. I learned alot about sequencing on it though, and sometimes wish I still had it to mess around on. Some of the drums were nice.

I still have mine although it hasn't been used for years. I think i'd rather get it framed and hang it on the wall than sell it for peanuts on ebay though!