Virus for acid?
 

Would the Virus ever be capable of making these sorts of gutsy, really fat acid lines?

Asys1
Asys2
303-esque

Why does the basic 303 type sound sound so great, being just a monophonic, single-oscillator? Pitch-accents and programming aside, are the Virus filters just not fat enough?

In addition, what sort of distortion boxes (hardware or software) are good to use to get the above types of sounds?

the TB filter has a unique color i belive,the virus cant emulate it so accuratly not because its not fat enough but because its just not a tb.

Those clips dont sound like there coming from a real tb303 to me....that sounds distinctly VA

DS

1 analog oscilator sounds fatter and more 'alive' than a digitally created virtual oscilator...

The TB303 apparently has a shitty analog filter on it (possibly one of the worst ever designed) yet it is adored by alot of people.

DS

Slides.

Hey Timo, if you have'nt seen this thread at HC check this out. It even has a video about the history of 303

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...hreadid=990268

Well, I have the roland MC307 and it does GREAT 303 emulations, the thing about the 303 is mostly its very aggressive resonance on the filters (not shitty as stated above, just aggressive instead of smooth). Most roland filters (excluding 8000. 8080) still have these filters. You should check out MC series (wouldn't go with mc303 since that didn't sound good to my ears).

Good luck, and btw nice acid clips!

-VR

The MC series is sampled based (except the little mc202 beast),
That might be the reason for the tb like sound your talking about.
your should try Audiorealism's Bassline vsti plugin.

Which is probably what those acid samples came from

no ... you can't really believe that, can you ?

MC307 is a good groovebox, a nice small sequencer - but no good 303 emulation, NEVER !

back to topic:

we are using a real analog TB303, with additional sub-basses from the Virus ... with amazing results, sounds evil, great in one word acidciting - i'll drop you some samples in some days :wink:

If I were the only one thinking that, I would reconsider it, but I think its even in the SOS review ;)

Well if a reviewer getting large backhanders from Roland says so, then it must be true :roll:

303 + Amen break History MPG
 

Also check here if you have some time to kill.

http://www.nkhstudio.com/pages/popup_bassline.html

http://www.nkhstudio.com/pages/popup_amen.html

A little wordy but good histories, about these two classic sounds.

Hehe, i think you're thinking of Future Music or Computer Music. ;)

SOS tend to be discerning as ever, pulling no punches. Reviews get thumbs up from SOS because manufacturers don't send them half finished products, as manufacturers know they'll be publicly taken through the mill in their review otherwise. However, SOS tends not to understand dance music as much as it could do. I get the feeling they are much more biased towards live and more traditional types of music, including pop music too. Certainly not dance.

I have an MC505 (ROMpler), though, and that has the midi-stepping when you sweep through the freqs with high resonance, so I would still say the 505 will sound nothing like a proper 303. The 505 filter wouldn't compare, and it doesn't have saturation, not to mention it also uses just samples instead of a real analogue oscillator, etc.

I just found the SOS article

MC307

and can't see a mention of a TB303 vs MC307 comparison? The MC303, however, was the father of the MC505 - both are digtal and sampled based machines.

The MC505 has a low boost + extra low octave control, which is pretty decent. And when high resonances are used in the filter, the technical short-comings of the audible, obvious midi-stepping cut-off filter control creates a very nice effect in its own right when whacked through distortion while sweeping the filter very, very slowly in the audible mid-to-high frequency range.

The only thing hooked up to my 505 is a midi cable.

I have a JX groovesynth (same as the 505, but with a few extra sounds) and it only gets used as a controller - sometimes a hardware sequencer when starting off tracks too. The sounds are very static. Nothing that I'd compare to a TB, or any other half decent synth for that matter. There are a couple of alright strings sounds though.

Bottom line, can't emulate a TB with samples.

Re: Virus for acid?
 

All 3 of them samples are real TB303 BTW. Sounds like liberator crew and 303 lorry immersion. I have a 303 and I can tell you they are all 303's 100%. A lot of the magic of the 303 is in its internal sequencer and its slide accent.

There is a clone made by Analogue Solutions that uses the same electronic parts as the original 303 but I forget the name of it now. I was lent one by the guy at analog solutions when my 303 broke down, he's nice guy. We needed a replacement for a gig. It?s got the same sound as the 303 but without the sequencer. It's got more range on the filter as i remember hehe
:twisted:

Re: Virus for acid?
 

Thought so. The acid in the Asys2 demo sounds exactly the same as Fat Boy Slim's "Everyone Needs a 303".

I heard that the 303 sounds weak on its own, so I guess outboard/external distortion is the biggy, which enhances the 303's own filter at the same time.

Yeah, there are definate problems imitating the 303 on the Virus. Understandably so, obviously, as the Virus has completely different implementations of filters of course - each tool to its own, and all that - just in the same way that a 303 wont sound like a Virus - but purely for the heck of it and the sake of an inquiring mind the Virus' own saturation sucks the life out of everything, and the distortion tends to make stuff sound more fizzy than "lead-like".

Re: Virus for acid?
 

DUDE, YOU HEARD WRONG! :P

Re: Virus for acid?
 

really? for example the asys2 file sounds as if there's an external distortion/saturation effect, don't you think so?

Think its running through the desk hot in the red with a TR909.

what does that mean?

Driving the desk hard enough to clip.

i dont think all analog desks give a nice distortion\channel overdrive sound.

by the way, you acid freaks, have a look at this: http://www.audiorealism.se/abl_pro_cookin.htm

You're right, but still every analogue desk will give something more usuable than a digital one in this regard. It's surpising how much more presense you can give a part in the mix when pushing the desk over the top (slightly).

Yeah we talked about that on another thread somewhere Dr.O. Cool idea.

Re: Virus for acid?
 

That sounds proper nifty. I love the 303 sound but would never get one because of the crappy internal sequencer. I don't know how you even write with it. Does it just sync to clock?!

I got Rebirth a few years ago and liked the sound but stopped using it for the same reason. I mean it's all good being authentic and stuff but producing any product in the late 90s without basic MIDI implementation is just stupid.

Bloody hell mate (Dovdimus Prime) don't over do it with the old webdesign :wink: http://www.dovdimusprime.com

Re: Virus for acid?
 

The sequencer is not crap its wicked, "he says with big smile" You sync it with sync 24 din sync cable. Syncs this way strait from the TR909 or run it from a converter like me with control in cubase! It's piss easy to program BTW the slide accent in the sequencer makes people :)

Re: Virus for acid?
 

:roll:

back to the original question though.. how good is the acid that the virus can create?

and whats the best way to go about making acid sounds?

I know sawtooth, high resonance, lp filter, distortion.. but anything else?

a 16 step analog style sequencer is what does the magic,
not the filter nor distortion unit X or distortion unit Y... :)

as in a built in sequencer?

Or just my cubase sequencer in 16th quantize?

Speaking of built in sequencers, I also use Audiorealism Bassline, but sequence in cubase. Should i be using the internal sequencer to get better results?