Acidic 80s squelch from the newest addition to Arturia’s V collection
Arturia has long had a vision to use technology to improve the access of amazing sounds and music creation to everyone. They have a successful history in the world of software and hardware, with a particular focus on creating a harmony between the two.
The Acid V is the latest addition to Arturia’s esteemed V collection. It is a virtual software instrument that reproduces the squelching sequences and basslines of the Roland TB-303 which when paired with pumping four on the floor kick drum grooves birthed the genre of acid house in the 1980s.
It could even be argued that the TB-303 also gave birth to the juggernauts of electronic music, Daft Punk, whose first commercial success ‘Da Funk’ featured some dirty 303 bass lines. And its history still continues, making a surprise appearance in Tame Impala’s Like a Version performance of ‘Breathe Deeper.’
The Acid V runs on a dual waveform oscillator based on the TB-303. This oscillator features a main waveform and a sub waveform which can be manipulated by an envelope filter control panel, vibrato control panel and a distortion panel which features Arturia’s homegrown algorithms from their FX Collection.
I can’t help but commend Arturia on their distortion panel, it’s full of cool sounds and I love that it gain compensates so you can really crank it up without worrying about blowing your ears out
Acid V offers a plethora of features, but it ensures that all of these features remain approachable. You’re not presented with an incredibly dense GUI that frightens you into simply hiding behind the presets (though the presets that they provide are a hell of a lot of fun).
You can really feel the accessibility in Arturia’s mission statement when you sit down to have a play with this VST.
When you do feel like you’re ready to get stuck into a bit more of the ins and outs of the Acid V, you can open up the advanced view and the advanced voice parameters giving you total control over the sequencer, modulators and effects that really allow you to create your own sound, sequence or arpeggio.
The advanced voice parameters in particular are worth spending some time with, whilst unassuming at first they can really help you in fine tuning your sound.
I love the pitch tracking which acts like a condition knob and affects the tuning accuracy of the plugin and the addition of the clipper knob is awesome for some extra grit and loudness.
It’s great to see Arturia remain faithful to the original unit but also add some modern touches to really allow you to get the most out of the Acid V.
I found that my favourite way to get started was to pick a preset and start to run with it a little; for example, I loved the sound of turning down the envelope modulation and cranking the accent knob, to create some unique, groovy syncopated rhythms.
Pair this with the countless different pre-programmed sequence patterns – the original TB-303 patterns as well as a number of new ones courtesy of the devs at Arturia – and you’ll have the bones of your track up and running in no time at all.
I’m not going to claim to be the resident acid house enthusiast here at the office, but getting the chance to sit down and have a play with this makes me want to go and find a top hits playlist.
Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be lining up to empty my bank account for a vintage TB-303, and if I do, I’ve got the Acid V to blame.
Acid V is available for 199 USD but if you get in quick they are currently running an introductory offer for 50% off at 99 USD. Or of course you can grab it as a part of the V-collection bundle.
To find out more and get your 80s squelch on head on over to: https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/acid-v/overview
