Check Keiren Hebden talking about his main instrument - the 303 - and how and why he uses it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCE02hdV ... ed&search=


also check out some of the live vids of Keiren playing with a gang of 303's

http://www.kieranhebdenandstevereid.com has some mad inspirational videos as well.

Why do so many "name" producers use the 303 over the 404? For some, they have been using the 303 from before the 404 was available... but I could swear I see some relatively known producers choosing the 303 over the 404.

Also, on ebay...the 303 will go for close to $300 at times... when I bought my two 404s for $329 new.

Why is this?

Ive actually been wondering the same thing.

It's called gear snobbery;"I'm keeping it real I use a 303 whereas the 404 is just available to any noob out there." On top of that as you guys know as well there are cats who make shady unfounded claims about the 303 having superior features over the 404 on *cough*stonesthrow message board*cough*.

hahaha i noticed that on the ST boards..

Yeah, I figured it was the madlib effect.

FourTet has been on the 303 for years, so he has a good excuse.

A class musician like Keiran Hebden does not need to apalogize for the gear he uses.

Not that many years at all... it wasn't long ago that he was only using laptops. Plus, noone needs an excuse to use a piece of gear...but it is weird when someone seemingly chooses a 303 over a 404... which I am not saying he did. The way he plays his 303 is like playing a keyboard... he uses all his fingers to trigger notes live on more than one unit at a time...its a very unique way of using these. For that reason, he may just like the 8 pads better than the 12 pads.

well I have an interview from MusicTech in 2004 where he waxes lyrical about it, so it's a while ago now....and yes it does sometimes seem weird that people choose a seemingly underpowered machine doesn't it. It usually means that we are not really taking in to account the way that other people make music.

Yeah, you are probably right... I was listening to Rounds last night (from 2003) and there is clearly the SP-303s compression and reverb on that CD. I guess that interview with the laptop was from longer back than I thought.

Though this interview from 2003 makes no mention of the SP-303:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul03/a ... ourtet.asp


Nor does this one from 2005:

http://remixmag.com/artists/remix_audio_anarchy/

actually it says in that remixmag article:

To satisfy his inner rock star, Hebden connects a Boss SP-303 Dr. Sample to the mixer. “It's got rubber pads on them that have lots of sounds and drum hits on there, so I can play along on percussion,� he says. “That's quite good for having sounds you can use in a more physical way.�

Jesus, my eyes must have been on the fritz. Like I said though... I believed you anyway since I hear the SP-303's effects on Rounds from 2003.