Sounds: Drums

They sound great. The Kick, Snare and Hi-Hat sections are made up of modeled waves,
while the Percussion section is full of 128 samples, including many samples of the
modeled wave sections (e.g., 808 and 909 kicks and hi-hats). These four sections
take up 16-voices of the 17-voice polyphony (1 for the kick, 1 for the snare, 2
for the hi-hat and 12 for the percussion; the synth section is the remaining voice).
The 309 has a full complement of 808 and 909 sounds as well as some 606 and lots of
percussion. The only X0X machine I have any experience with is a 606 and that was for
three months in 1984, so I can't vouch for their authenticity, but all the drum sounds
are full and can be tweaked to your heart's content. Parameters that are not controlled
by knobs are accessed easily through menus or by holding down the Select button for the
desired section and using the Bass/Lead knobs. You can even come up with some cool
synthlike sounds if you go crazy with the filters. There's a new expansion that adds
more drum and percussion sounds, as well as more memory slots, but I have not tried it out.
 

Sounds: Bass/Lead Synth

I've been recording over the last several months using a Nord Lead and the 309's waves
compare favorably. The 309 has more aggressive modeled waves than the Nord and through
tweaking, the possibilities are endless. Even though the Nord is four-voice synth, the
309 is more fun. Also, the knob movements seem less sensitive than the Nord's, which is
actually better IMHO. You can get some great squelchy sounds using the knobs as well as
solid thumping basses and ripping leads. There are only 28 modeled waves for this section,
but the new synth expansion board adds more as well as two more synth voices; but be aware
that you need the input/output expansion to get another synth voice. Also note that these
additional voices can not be processed with the internal effects. You also get a new
operating system chip that you is user-installable.
 

Sequencer/Patterns

The 309 uses the Roland-style drum grid programming, which I like.
There are many onboard patterns and room for your own. I do more ambient stuff so I can't
tell if the patterns are typical techno/rave etc. or just plain cliches, but they sound
good and surprisingly full, even with just the one synth voice. The seq. can synch to an
external seq. and this seems to work. However, the manual states under the synching with
an external seq. section that I should be able to turn patterns on and off with the 309,
but I can only get it to start from my external seq. at the beginning of a sequence. If I
turn the external seq. on in the middle the 309 will not respond. There's also quantizing,
but as the manual states "Quantizing won't help you if you do not use a reference clock, or
if you have no talent."
 

Conclusions

What surprises me most about the 309 is the full-sounding arrangements with only one
synth voice, but it works best as part of a larger set-up. As I mentioned before, I do
more ambient stuff and this box will fill my drum needs as well as giving me an analogish
bass or lead voice. The manual is a bit vague in areas. Finally, the unit is well-built.
You really can't compare it to a Roland MC-303; altho the inspiration and idea is the same,
the 309 is more professional in execution. Perhaps the new MC-505 is more of a competitor.

Jonathan Block, March 1998

This page hosted by  Get your own Free Home Page