The Behringer TD-3 SR at a glance
The Behringer TD-3 SR is a clone of the famous Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer, whose bubbling and screaming sound has captivated generations of musicians, DJs and audiences. Probably the most widely used sound in electronic music, it gets by with surprisingly few controls and really comes alive with its internal sequencer. An oscillator with two waveforms, the legendary acid filter, a decay envelope and the accent parameter; that's all it takes to shape the legendary sound. Compared to the original from 1982, a distortion effect for the analog tone generation and, among other things, a directly accessible randomize function for the sequencer have been added to the Behringer TD-3 SR.
Originally, the TB-303, along with the TR-606 drum machine (both made by Roland), was intended to replace drums and bass in a solo entertainer context, allowing musicians to practice without band members present. However, this target group did not feel addressed and thus the TB-303 ended up with disco house DJs and producers, who linked the bass machine with a drum machine and thus created countless tracks that are legendary then and now.
In the 90s, with the emerging techno wave, many producers wanted to call a "303" their own, which was unfortunately reserved for only a few due to the then already increased second-hand market prices and the low availability. So numerous manufacturers took up the cause and released a good number of clones in software and hardware. Sometimes the sequencer was successful, sometimes the sound generation, but many times the result was so different that it was many things, just not a 303.
As Fatboy Slim put it so simply and aptly: "Everybody needs a 303!"
The iconic sequencer gives access to 64 patterns, each of which can be up to 16 steps long, plus Song Mode. The indispensable and characteristic Accent and Slide commands are of course on board. In addition, there is the possibility to transpose patterns. Thanks to the Randomize function, the Behringer TD-3 SR lets you throw together new patterns at the touch of a button, providing a constant source of inspiration and variation.
Distortion!
What would the most famous bass sound in the world be without the pithy addition of a distortion?! Behringer has given the TD-3 SR an extensively adjustable distortion effect, which will definitely please especially friends of the somewhat harder tones.
Does a great job at recreating this classic little box. And even if it didn't, a synth with these features at that price is hard to beat.
Getting your head around the sequencer may take a little, but after referring to the manual and watching a few online videos it's easy to figure it out.
Looking forward to hours of fun with this machine