Ronan Fed releases RF-AB303, a free virtual instrument inspired by the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer.
Ronan Fed’s line of synths, pads, and drums makes it easier for bedroom producers to reproduce the magic of electronic music at home without spending lots of money trying to buy every instrument. The developer recently pulled all of his plugins offline (including the excellent RF-DSP), but thankfully they’re now back online, along with a new addition.
This time the RF team delivers a powerful oscillator monophonic synth that emulates an acid bass worthy of its name. The RF-AB303.
This free VST plugin is easily programmed with any DAW available and simulates the Roland TB-303 vintage analog bass synthesizer with a very satisfying exactitude. It comes with different filters and a variety of effects such as Parametric Equalization, Reverb, Delay, Distortion, and Compression, enabling the production of intricate acid patterns typical of Acid House, Techno, and Trance music.
The interface has three main sections; on the far left, you’ll find the oscillator board, where you can switch waveforms and define pulse width. At its right sits the filters board where you can have fun defining the wave’s velocity and its decay, and where you can apply cutoffs, add some resonance, and define the envelope mod.
Then on the far right, you have the master board where you can fix the overall volume, slide, gate, tunning, phase, and panning.
The RF-AB303 synth has a crisp sound and nicely penetrates the mix. The envelopes are very much analog in the sense that slight adjustments can significantly alter the shape’s character and can make you stumble upon many happy accidents.
It also offers you the ability to loop a bassline you composed on the piano roll, while on the RF-PAD you could be drumming or designing a pattern. Something that can come in handy in live performances.
If you like RF-AB303, be sure to check out the RF-Drums drum sampler plugin from the same developer.
This monophonic synth bass is compatible with Windows 8, 10, and 11, and needs Visual C++ Redistributable Package to run.
RF-AB303 is available in VST and VST3 plugin formats for 64-bit digital audio workstations on Windows.
UPDATE: Ronan Fed’s plugins are no longer available.
Download: RF-AB303
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Last Updated on March 19, 2024 by Tomislav Zlatic.
