Behringer TD-3 TG

The Behringer TD-3 is a clone of the famous Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer, whose bubbling and screaming sound has captivated generations of musicians, DJs and revellers. 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 create the legendary sound. Compared to the original from 1982, the TD-3 has a distortion effect for the analogue tone generation and, among other things, a directly accessible randomize function for the sequencer.

History & Hype

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, since this target group did not feel addressed, the TB-303 ended up with disco houses, DJs and producers, who linked this bass machine with a drum computer 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 published a considerable number of clones in soft- and Hardware. Sometimes the sequencer was successful, sometimes the sound generation. But many times the result was so unique that it was a lot of things, just not a 303.

As Fatboy Slim put it so simply and aptly: "Everybody needs a 303!