The BL-303 by Yooz Music was recently updated to 3.0 and comes with a few enticing features.
We talked a bit about the legendary TB-303, and it seems like everyone and their uncle is trying to recreate one of the most well-known synths in history.
If you’re looking for a free acid line generator, this might be just the synth for you.
Compared to more expanded 303 clones, BL-303 doesn’t really waste time on extra features. You’ve got a pair of waveforms, a tuning knob, and all the requisite controls to shape your sound that you can think of.
BL-303’s envelope has a pair of parameters, covering the decay and accent. If you’re looking to adjust the sustain or attack, you’re fresh out of luck.
One of the more notable things I can see is the lack of the sequencer. Now, part of the unique part of the 303’s sound ties into how the sequencer handles things like slides, accents, and the like during playback.
Instead, BL-303 opts to let you use your DAW’s sequencer. By setting the length of the note, you’re adjusting the gate.
Accents, slides, and so forth are handled by the velocity found in your piano roll. As such, if you want to coax out those nuances, you’ll have to do some fine-tuning of your MIDI by hand.
The full range at 127 gives you the accent with the slide on. Thankfully, you can click on the plugin itself to see the other parameters. I can’t really think of much that the BL-303 needs.
A distortion or delay would be welcome, but you’ve likely got plugins that more than handle the job. The synth’s core sound is close enough for government work to my ears. It won’t have the nuance of hardware, but it does a fair job when stacked against other free 303 emulations.
I also wish there was a sequencer, mostly because I dislike defining velocity after playing something. That said, it is a novel way of getting the acid sound without learning an archaic Roland interface.
Download: BL-303 (FREE)
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Last Updated on April 9, 2024 by Tomislav Zlatic.
