Crow Hill Opens the Vault

Music-making community tools-maker The Crow Hill Company has announced VAULTS – ACID SYNTH as the latest entry into its lengthening line of free and accessible virtual instruments arising from company co-founder and composer Christian Henson effectively opening his ‘vaults’ for everyone to enjoy — this time creating an homage to the revered Roland TB-303 Bass Line, launched with high hopes in 1981 as a so-called Computer Controlled bass synth by the Japanese giant of electronic musical instrument manufacturing responsible for its creation before being deemed a commercial failure and discontinued quite quickly thereafter, though it was later instrumental in driving Acid House into the musical mainstream as a whole new EDM (Electronic Dance Music) genre and associated cultural movement, the popularity of which triggered a dramatic rise in the price of used units.

Helpfully, for the benefit of anyone not already in the know, The Crow Hill Company’s Theo Le Derf picks up what is an incredible story in itself: “DJ Pierre and his band called Phuture found a used TB-303 in a music shop in Chicago for a bargain price. They started experimenting with the bass sequencer and a drum machine while playing about randomly with the filter and resonance knobs. The sound they produced was so unique and, frankly, weird that they decided to commit the jam session to tape. With the release of this experiment on Trax Records in 1987, they unwittingly birthed a new genre: Acid House. This slimy, hypnotic, subversive sound subsequently built a cultural movement and was the soundtrack to many illegal warehouse parties of the late Eighties — all of this from a tiny synth that was used ‘incorrectly’.”

Thanks to VAULTS – ACID SYNTH there’s no need to risk dropping a bank-balance-busting four-figure sum on a decades-old Roland TB-303 Bass Line when The Crow Hill Company’s ‘tribute’ truly captures the essence of its distinctive sound for all to enjoy for literally nothing. Notes Theo Le Derf, ending on a high note: “The story arc of this synth is so amazing — from its unpromising beginning to completely defining a genre and an era, it’s so exciting to have this celebrated instrument at my fingertips for free.”

VAULTS – ACID SYNTH is free for everyone — as are all VAULTS… releases from The Crow Hill Company — from here: https://thecrowhillcompany.com/vaults/

VAULTS – ACID SYNTH installation and activation requires installation of The Crow Hill App — an easy-to-use app designed by the best in the business to provide seamless download, installation, integration, calibration, and organisation of The Crow Hill Company tools — available for free from here: https://thecrowhillcompany.com/crow-hill-app/

It is worth noting that each VAULTS… release will not be available to add to an account forever, however, since once a new ‘vault’ is ‘opened’ and goes live, another one is ‘closed’ and no longer available, meaning only six such instruments are available at any given time on The Crow Hill Company website.

Access an ever-growing collection of free, professional tools and resources by simply signing up to become a Crow Hill member here: https://thecrowhillcompany.com/join-crow-hill/