It’s 303 Day. The Internet, for its part, will make you feel like you’re actually on acid. Let’s go.
Roland 303 software giveaway
If you act fast, you can grab a free lifetime license of the Roland Cloud software version of the TB-303. (A close investigation of the URI reveals that Roland’s official model designation for the plug-in is RC-303.) They’re gone. That 3030 copy limit was harsh.
That’s worth claiming; Roland’s emulation is solid and accurate, even if it lacks some of the details and extras of third-party competition. The big advantage of the Roland Cloud version is really the artist content Roland has lined up, from the likes of DJ Pierre, Josh Wink, and Rob Acid – so it’s worth keeping around for that reason if no other. The trick here is Roland says they’ve limited the giveaway to just 3,030 licenses. It’s active as I write this, but those may not last.
The now-inactive claim page is still live, and comes with their annual update to the 303 story:
https://www.roland.com/global/promos/rc_303_offer
The older version of this page is a fun read on the history, too.
303 in your browser
Caught at “work”? (Yes, finally your innie can experience acid production.) Don’t forget the lovely Web rendition, debuted for Roland’s 50th but expanded a lot since then:
303 plug-in deals
Well since by now you probably missed Roland’s freebie – other great plug-ins are on sale:
If you buy something from a CDM link, we may earn a commission.
Imaginando’s TV3 you might have free if you caught the free launch offer on CDM, but if not – it costs about the same as a fancy sandwich for the next 24 hours.
The awesome D16 Phosycon is steeply discounted – I’m in love with this one, and it’s a good chance to pick it up:
D16 Phosycon @ Plugin Boutique
Audiorealism has gotten a lot of updates lately, including drag-and-drop MIDI support (bringing that element in line with its competitors) – and still sounds great. It’s 30% off with code ACID2025.
ABL3x doing that HSOC thing. Two instances of ADM1x (our 909 emulation drum machine), Snare from @joshwink1 loaded into ADM1x as a sample, and additional drums from Visco @forever89studio (an amazing drum resynthesis machine) #abl3 #hsoc #909 #acid
— audiorealism (@audiorealism.bsky.social) February 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
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Arturia’s surprisingly deep ACID V is on sale for 50% off; you can check my review. Available via Plugin Boutique:
Celebrating together – so. much. freaky. stuff.
Worldwide – though especially from our friends in Japan – there is some crazy 303 action popping up today.
This HYP3 project looks fascinating – a deep new modeling core, like someone going out and DIYing their own Boutique Series:
Always up for some distortion tests, too:
GameSynth deserves its own post – it’s a powerful modular generative sound and music environment that you can integrate with middleware and production pipelines across any game engine. But of course they’re doing wild 303 stuff with it, too! Watch:
3月03日は、ローランドのベースシンセTB-303を祝う日🎛🎹🎶
— tsugi (@tsugistudioJP) March 3, 2025
GameSynthも、パッチング環境を使ってアシッドを彷彿させるベースラインを設計できます。https://t.co/NwahjHbRc2#プロシージャル #gamesynth #tb303 #303day #作曲 #DTM #EDM pic.twitter.com/YhD8jKoFvx
There are absolutely too many 303 plug-ins, but if you wanted one that was more Japanese – more Japanese than even Roland, actually – have at it:
#303day
— DOTEC-AUDIOドーテック・オーディオ (@DotecAudio) March 3, 2025
DeeACIDの無料デモで遊んでみましょう！
インストールしたDeeACIDをDAWで立ち上げたら
①GENERATEボタンを押す
②RUN/STOPを押す(ここで音が鳴ります！)
③CUTOFFをグリグリ回す(マウスで上下にドラッグ)
GENERATEを押すたびにフレーズを自動生成します！https://t.co/Z9eVwqfcNE pic.twitter.com/SNTLYWmzHm
And please, consider a decentralized service other than X – I’ll be talking about that more soon, but there is even a dedicated acid Starter Pack for BlueSky!
The 303 Day is a perfect opportunity to remind everybody of my "Squelchy 303 Acid Starter Pack" with selected accounts related to 303 driven Acid music, comprising artists, labels, emulations, clones and more. #303day #TB303day #Happy303Day #RolandTB303 #RolandTB303day #TB-303 #TB303
— Engineeer (@engineeermusic.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 5:51 PM
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Artemiy’s got some hot examples here, and yeah, Sinevibes’ plug-ins are a perfect match for any 303 plug-in (including the excellent audiorealism here, as well as the Roland Cloud rendition if you do score the giveaway):
That cat has one hot 303 track, available on Bandcamp:
From James Bernard, we get a little EP of “mid-life” acid:
Fast Ghost has this wonderful track, which comes with a trippy meat video (sorry, AI-generated, but if you’re not feeling the video I think you’ll definitely still feel the sounds – and gen AI does really seem to trip like it’s on acid so it fits):
Free on Bandcamp, but he says he’ll match any money to Medical Aid for Palestinians:
And more goodness from some friends and strangers:
Bonus points to someone repping a modded AIRA TB-3; hell yeah:
A lot of you are using the now-discontinued Propellerhead ReBirth for iPad. Now might be a good time to say to anyone at Roland reading this, can you please work on a collaboration with Reason Studios to bring back ReBirth? How about an iPad/Nintendo Switch release?
Search your feelings. You know it to be true. It is your destiny. 私たちは永遠に感謝し続けます。
Rebirth for iPad + UA Silo via AudioBus3 #303day pic.twitter.com/fWHKrBUZjw
— A Smooth Architect (@asmootharchitec) March 3, 2025
OMG yes –
TemperaのLive inputで303をいい感じにしました #303day pic.twitter.com/33VQ1zrgWB
— Yebisu303 / Masaki Takada (@ybs303) March 3, 2025
Some of the best music I see on Mastodon, like this hip-hop take from Mantronix, via @dequalsrxt@mas.to:
tsrono put out this really beautiful acid-style album:
And I love these experimental releases that push acid in other directions:
Plus one proposal to make this the “national anthem” of 303 Day (damn this holds up):
“303 Day” to hardcore MC fans means the feast day of MC-303, of course – and sure enough, I think some of my favorite music comes from total insanity on this MC-303. (They offer a sample pack via links which is great, though what I love about this is really the programming, meaning you need the hardware!)
But who wins 303 Day? Not Roland. Not the above. I say it’s this person mangling “Acperience 5” by feeding it into vocal AI. This is exactly the kind of “oops, this is accidentally awesome” experiment that’s where the 303 got its start, after all!
【3日】ファイルの日付つけてて3月3日だったので思い出しました。SoundID VoiceAIを通してみました。#303day pic.twitter.com/JCyJf7HqEQ
— ジャーマン公子ちゃんねる (@german_kimiko) March 2, 2025
And, bonus, someone fed the 303’s design into an Ableton Live MIDI clip because why wouldn’t you want to do that?
#303day pic.twitter.com/lNKJv1KuHt
— Yusuie ao / Fendoap (@seitokisoukari) March 3, 2024
I have no idea what’s going on here, but I approve. (If you think your bpm is fast, you may be in Europe, not Japan.)
猫耳ACID🐱 #303day pic.twitter.com/bF0fo8HDUx
— imai (@et_imai) March 3, 2024
Roland reading materials
Roland Articles has done a ton of editorial work in recent years – which I’ve even occasionally been a part of. For more Roland reading to kick back with on your 303:
And two I wrote for Roland, first on the stuff DJ Pierre did:
And a reminder that the companion to the 303 was the TR-606. It’s great to put those two together, even if a proper 606 Day celebration should technically wait until June. I think the two devices make a lot of sense when viewed as a pair:
Featured image:
“Old Roland TB-303” by Alexandre Dulaunoy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.