#Phoscyon patterns software
This is practically impossible to emulate directly in the digital realm because you have a hard limit of 0db, but I've been astonished at how closely they've managed to get it emulated in the last generation of software versions.īut the 303 on its own, while producing a lovely bassy sound, and clearly producing the roots of the lovely squishy noises we all know and love, it won't do what later became known as its signature sound on its own. What I noticed about a real 303 compared to the emulations is that because it was designed not as a top-line or even an entry-level synth, but as a substitute for a bass player for gigging solo musicans or bands, the amp on it tends to distort ever so slightly and the output is quite "hot" due to the cheap components used - this is where the much-vaunted "warmth" comes from. I've only had the opportunity to play with a real 303 a couple of times, once before I knew the first thing about production and again much later. This is where Phoscyon scores over AudioRealism Bassline, because it takes this into account and provides a lot of the basic processing features out of the box giving an instant hit of "the 303 sound", whereas AudioRealism goes for out-and-out 303 emulation and leaves the rest to post-processing with insert and send effects at the user's discretion - less initial "wow factor", but the quality of the emulation is too close to call IMO. One example that is definitely a 303 (in fact 3 of them multitracked IIRC, along with an 808 and an Akai sampler) is Hardfloor's "Acperience 1" which is easily my favourite of the pioneering tracks.īut going back to the processing, in the early days it was a case of putting the 303's signal through a guitar distortion pedal (like a Boss DS-1 for example) and obviously later as these tracks moved out of bedroom and project studios and into the mainstream, a whole plethora of hardware and software studio gear.
Wink's "Higher State Of Consciousness" is allegedly an MC-202 and many tracks are SH-101s. There is nothing quite like tweaking an acid line using real analogue pots, something 127 step value midi can't do so well :irazz:Īs usual, the advice here is impeccable - I think the only thing I'd add here is (and this is something I only learned over time since I started doing this stuff) is that what is frequently regarded as "the 303 sound" has as much to do with the processing the 303 is put through as the 303 itself, and in many cases isn't a 303 at all.
The guy has gone to extraordinary lengths to get it to sound "just right" and sound comparisons I've heard bear witness to his efforts. If you want the real thing on the cheap (say £150), someone else mentioned the x0xb0x which is detailed on the link following. waiting patiently for Logic compatible AU release. it's a seriously awesome and very authentic sounding 303 style "analogue" squelch monster! One of the most analogue sounding soft synths I have heard (. The Sylenth1 from Lennar Digital does all this amazingly well in one box. I didn't know a distortion plugin could be so detailed, but this one is. The D16 Devastator plugin (from the same company that does the Phoscyon mentioned above) is a fantastic distortion unit.
No fancy polyphony allowed!! but maybe run at least a couple of saw waves in unison mode with detune if you can for a wetter sound. You want the synth to be in single voice mode too i.e. high) and tracking the filter envelope via pitch, jumping +/- 1 octave with just the right portamento setting and a few tied notes is very helpful. and anyway these fancy have-as-many-as-you-like-plugins stay in tune waaaaaaay too much for a real analogue soundįor the essential acid squeal, setting resonance to self oscillation (i.e. usually the filters / oscillators just are not "wet" enough to sound authentic. I've been trying to get a good 303 out of a few soft synths recently (mainly, Albino and FabFilter Twin) with reasonable success.