Equipment
Liam Howlett’s synths and gear in studio and live.
Roland TB-303 Bass Line
Release Date:1982
Price: $1200 (about)
Gear info:
This is the most famous acid machine! 303 is a little silver box. It looks very simply and weak, but you can do so damn cool acid sounds with it! If there is a tune with lots of wicked resonations you can definitely hear 303! In fact this is nowadays pretty expensive machine, but if you wanted to make some good acid resonations this is the right machine for you!
About:
Liam Howlett have had several of these over the years. There has been at least two competitions with Liams 303 as a prize for winner. I bet he still has at least one. He has it connected to the Kenton MIDI Box which converts the CV signal into MIDI.
Links:
- Acid.ch- TB-303 modification page, TB-303 link list, aluminium cases for the TB-303.
- Devil Fish- Modifications for the TB-303
- The TB-303 Operation Manual - Full manual online (also downloadable in ZIP format).
I like the 303, but so many people used it in the acid house days. When I use it, I really overload the mixer so I get a distorted bass line instead. Usually when you program the 303 you've got things like Slide and Accent. Well, you don't get that with MIDI, you just get the basic sound. Sometimes I'd prefer to get an old sequencer box instead of using MIDI so I could get the true synth sound. Liam
Used:
Claustrophobic Sting
Firestarter
Funky Shit
Used in many live tracks
(Lose Your Mind, Acid Break and Lyrical Terrorists)
Stand Up
Liam at studio August 2017. "I never programme the 303 like an accountant pressing buttons, fuk that... , i play the shit live onto the tracks".
(He is actually using a Roland TB-03 here)
Other Roland products that has been in use
Roland related articles
The Music Technology Magazine - 1st May 1992 The Lone Raver
Future Music - 1st February 1993 Prodigious talent
Sound On Sound - 1st October 1996 Liam Howlett • The Prodigy & Firestarter
Power On - 1st January 1999 Catching Up With The Prodigy
Future Music - 1st December 2000 DIY Prodigy
Sound On Sound - 1st October 2004 Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned
Korg magazine - 29th November 2004 Never Outgunned: Liam Howlett
Keyboard Magazine - 1st February 2005 Trim the Fat
Sound On Sound - 1st October 2010 Jon Burton: Mixing & Recording The Prodigy Live
MusicTech magazine - 18th May 2015 Landmark Productions: The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land
MusicTech magazine - 30th July 2019 Prodigy engineer/co-producer Neil Mclellan remembers the Jilted Generation sessions
Read more at the articles gallery
If you know something else about this piece of gear, please mail to me or contact me via feedback form.
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