Acid

Acid on vinyl: the sound of the TB-303

In short: Acid is electronic dance music built on the chirping, squelching sound of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer. Acid house emerged in Chicago in the mid-eighties, for example with Phuture’s “Acid Tracks” (1987); soon afterwards the sound reached Britain and later techno across Europe. The Vinyl Room currently has 21 acid records.

What is acid?

One machine, one sound: the TB-303 was originally meant as a bass accompaniment – with its filter and resonance knobs turned, it became a sound of its own. Here you can hear it on records by Plastikman (“Sheet One”, “Krakpot / Elektrostatik”), Hardfloor and Emmanuel Top (“Turkish Bazar”).

A remarkable prehistory: as early as 1982 Charanjit Singh recorded “Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat” in India with the TB-303 – years before acid house. From Japan comes Susumu Yokota with “Acid Mt. Fuji”, from Detroit UR with “Acid Rain III - Meteor Shower”; under this style tag we also have New Order’s “Get Ready”.

What to look for

Many acid tracks came out as 12-inch singles for DJs and were later reissued; label, catalogue number and year of release help you tell which edition you have – it’s noted with each copy.

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FAQ

What is acid? Electronic dance music built around the sound of the Roland TB-303.

Where does acid house come from? From Chicago, in the mid-eighties.

What is a TB-303? A small Roland bass synthesizer from the early eighties whose sound defined acid.

Which acid records do you have? Here, for example, Plastikman’s “Sheet One” and Charanjit Singh’s “Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat”.