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F7 – Taurus Bass Pedal 1
Question - how was Rush's Geddy Lee able to sing and play
keyboards AND bass at the same time live? Answer - he used (at
least in the 70's and early 80's) a set of Bass pedals marketed by
Moog. The Moog Taurus bass pedals looked like a set of organ
pedals, placed on the floor at the player's feet. The typical Taurus
Bass pedal sound - long and droning, detuned, with some resonance
- is represented here.
Taurus Bass Pedals
F8 – TB-303 Bassline
The Roland TB303 Bassline is well- known for its characteristic
spiky or pointed tone. Poor tone, as measured against most other
synths. Actually it really wasn't playable in any sense of the word,
even though it had tiny little "chicklet" keys. Difficult to use, too – one
entered notes in a step fashion, inserting rests and slurs (usually by
trial-and-error) and the TB-303 supposedly replaced your bass
player. It was a disaster for Roland. So how did it end up with such a
significant place in synth history? Well, two things. One, a lot of
young musos bought used TB-303's in junk and pawn shops for
something less than a song, took them home, and decided that the
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