User manual

What Does it Sound Like?

Sound samples are available at the web site’s sounds/ directory.

The musical implications of all the above changes are diverse and extreme. If you are

interested in solid, heavy bass sounds, idiosyncratic synthesis or weird-and-wonderful

sounds you have never heard before, then I promise you that you will really enjoy the

Devil Fish. The expressiveness and pushiness of the Accent system – especially with the

Filter FM which is boosted by the higher VCA output on accented notes – gives a unique

range of dynamics. The Devil Fish can produce extreme output levels. Caution and/or a

limiter should be used during live performance.

The TB-303 has five pots (not counting the tuning pot and the square/sawtooth switch)

which define its sound – so there is a five dimensional space of sonic possibilities. In the

Devil Fish, the range of four of these is expanded, and in addition, six new pots (not

counting the Slide Time pot) and three new switches are added, so the sonic possibilities

inhabit a 14 dimensional space, not counting the external inputs for audio into the filter

and audio Filter FM.

I have discovered all sorts of exciting musical possibilities within this space – which is of

course entirely dependent on the notes and accents the machine is playing. You will

discover some of these and many that I have not yet found. If you have an exploratory

nature, the Devil Fish will enable you to prowl powerful, exquisite, grungy and bizarre

musical hunting grounds. All normal TB-303 operations are still possible, including

“acid” type filter sweeps. Only minute details such as the delay in the start of the note and

the lag at the end are not possible with the Devil Fish, but these delays would generally

be regarded as problems rather than a part of the TB-303 sound.

You don’t really need documentation to get great sounds from the Devil Fish. Just treat it

like a child’s activity set – play with the knobs and switches and you will find some good

settings. I recommend that you write them down because it is impossible to remember the

positions of 13 knobs and three switches. I recommend you roll tape (or hard disc or

FLASH memory . . .) and make music directly as you explore it. Don’t try to make

yourself an expert before you start recording.

Safety and Reliability

Devil Fish sounds may be seductive and powerful. Minor safety problems include the

phenomenon of small household items being vibrated so as to fall from shelves. More

serious a problem is the level of sound you can subject your ears to without realising it.

Late at night, my ears become fatigued and I get low frequency tinnitus – I hear tones

constantly droning. Please use this machine with caution!

Live sound with the Devil Fish could be problematic, since some sounds are extremely

loud and contain large bass transients. I try not to leave mine sequencing away to itself

audibly for no good purpose – it does something unpleasant to my brain. The long-term

effects of Devil Fish exposure have not been properly researched, so caution is indicated.

The person who first took possession of a Devil Fish (actually, its the other way round . .

. one places oneself in the care of the Devil Fish) in 1993, emailed me in 1997 – four

years after writing something like “We were jumping up and down, literally bouncing off

the walls, shouting This is what we want! This is what we want!” The time had come, he

wrote, to pass the Devil Fish to someone else. He was talking about settling down,