This week I show how to add more oscillator outputs to your MC-202. These include, Square, Saw and Sub Osc. I also show the possibilites of this and the previous mods with and without an external modular.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
How to add raw oscillator outputs to a Roland MC-202 and what you can do with them.
This week I show how to add more oscillator outputs to your MC-202. These include, Square, Saw and Sub Osc. I also show the possibilites of this and the previous mods with and without an external modular.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
A close up look at the Roland SH-101
Here's a close up look at the Roland SH-101, it's features and how to program it's internal sequencer. I also show how I use it with my Roland TR-606 and Doepfer A100 modular synthesizer.
How to add CV outputs for LFO Sine/Triangle and Envelope Generator on a Roland MC-202
This time I show how to add some more CV outputs to a Roland MC-202. It's relatively simple, all you need is three 3.5mm jacks and some shielded wire. Schematics are below.
Friday, February 19, 2010
A close up look at the TR-909
Here's a two part video showing many of the features of the TR-909, including some information on the various serial number revisions. How to copy and paste patterns and also how to use it as a midi sequencer to trigger an external midi instrument. The diode mentioned that should be replaced in early versions is D701 which should be changed to a 5.6v zenner for stable operation. More details of this can be found in the service notes
Monday, February 15, 2010
The mystery deepens
"Just to add to this, I have an original 303 with a different part used: C1685" ... "the solder joints look original and the same part is used throughout the machine."
This is very intriguing indeed.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Adding CV inputs to a Roland MC-202 and what you can do with them.
Here's a follow up video to the one I posted last week. This time I'll show you how to add two CV inputs, one for VCF Frequency control and the other for PWM amount. You can use these with external modulation sources. If you don't have any modulation sources then don't worry, I also show how you can use the second channel in the MC-202 as a time synced LFO.
Here's the schematics for the mods.
Bath time
So the modified TR-606 is on it's way to a new home, I ended up doing a straight swap for a working 606 and a non working one with some serious gating problems. Both units appear to have been victims of some slight battery leakage at some point, so it was time to give the working unit a bath.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Definitive Roland TB-303 vs Adafruit x0xb0x shootout
I hope you have your flame resistant suits on because here we have it, the definitive Roland TB-303 vs Adafruit x0xb0x shootout.
Is there a difference? yes.
Is it really noticable? no.
To be quite frank, if the x0xb0x is built well with the right components then the differences are subtle. In my ears it's something to do with the resonance, the 303 seems to be a little more squelchy and dare I say it a bit warmer, with a little more groove. The x0xb0x gets 99% of the way there and overall feels a little more stiff.
But don't take my word for it, check out the video, decide for yourself and leave a comment with your opinion. But don't forget, no two 303's sound exactly the same, so stands to reason my 303 will sound different to my x0xb0x.
Perhaps this will end the debate?
unlikely...
Let the flames begin.
Friday, February 12, 2010
TB-303 reference recordings for x0xb0x builders
When I built my first x0xb0x I didn't have the tb-303, and what I really missed was a set of recordings I could use to reference my build.
So now that I have a 303 I thought it might be a nice idea to record some knob positions so that any future builders or current x0xb0x owners could use these as reference when tweaking the internals in order to get a more faithful sound.
So here you have it, a large collection of knob positions so you can reference to your hearts content. Some of the recordings are a little quiet. This was done on purpose, since I didn't want to adjust levels between non accented and accented sounds. So you get the full dymanic range from soft to loud. You can always normalise the files if you need them louder.
DOWNLOAD 73mb
Here's a chart showing the knob positions for the sets.
Each position has 4 notes to it and the notes are all C, thats the low C on the keypad without any transpose shifts.
Each set has 16 notes recorded. So on the chart position 1 relates to notes 1-4, position 2 to notes 5-8, position 3 to notes 9-12 and position 4 to notes 13-16.
For example:
position 1:
1st note: C unaccented saw
2nd note: C accented saw
3rd note: C unaccented square
4th note: C accented sqaure
position2:
5tht note: C unaccented saw
6th note: C accented saw
7th note: C unaccented square
8thnote: C accented sqaure
position3:
9th note: C unaccented saw
10th note: C accented saw
11th note: C unaccented square
12th note: C accented sqaure
position4:
13th note: C unaccented saw
14th note: C accented saw
15th note: C unaccented square
16th note: C accented sqaure
so the 12th note (position 3) heard in SET-A1 would be an accented square with these knob positions,
CUTOFF: 75%
RESONANCE: 0%
ENV MOD: 0%
DECAY: 0%
ACCENT: 0%
All the knob positions are aproximate (hey these are analog knobs not digital after all).
SET-A1.wav
position 1 25% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 2 50% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 3 75% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 4 100% 0% 0% 0% 0%
SET-A2.wav
position 1 0% 25% 0% 0% 0%
position 2 0% 50% 0% 0% 0%
position 3 0% 75% 0% 0% 0%
position 4 0% 100% 0% 0% 0%
SET-A3.wav
position 1 0% 0% 25% 0% 0%
position 2 0% 0% 50% 0% 0%
position 3 0% 0% 75% 0% 0%
position 4 0% 0% 100% 0% 0%
SET-A4.wav
position 1 0% 0% 0% 25% 0%
position 2 0% 0% 0% 50% 0%
position 3 0% 0% 0% 75% 0%
position 4 0% 0% 0% 100% 0%
SET-A5.wav
position 1 0% 0% 0% 0% 25%
position 2 0% 0% 0% 0% 50%
position 3 0% 0% 0% 0% 75%
position 4 0% 0% 0% 0% 100%
SET-B1.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 50% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 3 75% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 4 100% 25% 25% 25% 25%
SET-B2.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 50% 25% 25% 25%
position 3 25% 75% 25% 25% 25%
position 4 25% 100% 25% 25% 25%
SET-B3.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 50% 25% 25%
position 3 25% 25% 75% 25% 25%
position 4 25% 25% 100% 25% 25%
SET-B4.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 25% 50% 25%
position 3 25% 25% 25% 75% 25%
position 4 25% 25% 25% 100% 25%
SET-B5.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 25% 25% 50%
position 3 25% 25% 25% 25% 75%
position 4 25% 25% 25% 25% 100%
SET-C1.wav
position 1 25% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 75% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 4 100% 50% 50% 50% 50%
SET-C2.wav
position 1 50% 25% 50% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 75% 50% 50% 50%
position 4 50% 100% 50% 50% 50%
SET-C3.wav
position 1 50% 50% 25% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 75% 50% 50%
position 4 50% 50% 100% 50% 50%
SET-C4.wav
position 1 50% 50% 50% 25% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 50% 75% 50%
position 4 50% 50% 50% 100% 50%
SET-C5.wav
position 1 50% 50% 50% 50% 25%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 50% 50% 75%
position 4 50% 50% 50% 50% 100%
SET-D1.wav
position 1 25% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 2 50% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 100% 75% 75% 75% 75%
SET-D2.wav
position 1 75% 25% 75% 75% 75%
position 2 75% 50% 75% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 100% 75% 75% 75%
SET-D3.wav
position 1 75% 75% 25% 75% 75%
position 2 75% 75% 50% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 100% 75% 75%
SET-D4.wav
position 1 75% 75% 75% 25% 75%
position 2 75% 75% 75% 50% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 75% 100% 75%
SET-D5.wav
position 1 75% 75% 75% 75% 25%
position 2 75% 75% 75% 75% 50%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 75% 75% 100%
SET-E1.wav
position 1 25% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 2 50% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 3 75% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E2.wav
position 1 100% 25% 100% 100% 100%
position 2 100% 50% 100% 100% 100%
position 3 100% 75% 100% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E3.wav
position 1 100% 100% 25% 100% 100%
position 2 100% 100% 50% 100% 100%
position 3 100% 100% 75% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E4.wav
position 1 100% 100% 100% 25% 100%
position 2 100% 100% 100% 50% 100%
position 3 100% 100% 100% 75% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E5.wav
position 1 100% 100% 100% 100% 25%
position 2 100% 100% 100% 100% 50%
position 3 100% 100% 100% 100% 75%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
So now that I have a 303 I thought it might be a nice idea to record some knob positions so that any future builders or current x0xb0x owners could use these as reference when tweaking the internals in order to get a more faithful sound.
So here you have it, a large collection of knob positions so you can reference to your hearts content. Some of the recordings are a little quiet. This was done on purpose, since I didn't want to adjust levels between non accented and accented sounds. So you get the full dymanic range from soft to loud. You can always normalise the files if you need them louder.
DOWNLOAD 73mb
Here's a chart showing the knob positions for the sets.
Each position has 4 notes to it and the notes are all C, thats the low C on the keypad without any transpose shifts.
Each set has 16 notes recorded. So on the chart position 1 relates to notes 1-4, position 2 to notes 5-8, position 3 to notes 9-12 and position 4 to notes 13-16.
For example:
position 1:
1st note: C unaccented saw
2nd note: C accented saw
3rd note: C unaccented square
4th note: C accented sqaure
position2:
5tht note: C unaccented saw
6th note: C accented saw
7th note: C unaccented square
8thnote: C accented sqaure
position3:
9th note: C unaccented saw
10th note: C accented saw
11th note: C unaccented square
12th note: C accented sqaure
position4:
13th note: C unaccented saw
14th note: C accented saw
15th note: C unaccented square
16th note: C accented sqaure
so the 12th note (position 3) heard in SET-A1 would be an accented square with these knob positions,
CUTOFF: 75%
RESONANCE: 0%
ENV MOD: 0%
DECAY: 0%
ACCENT: 0%
All the knob positions are aproximate (hey these are analog knobs not digital after all).
SET-A1.wav
position 1 25% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 2 50% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 3 75% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 4 100% 0% 0% 0% 0%
SET-A2.wav
position 1 0% 25% 0% 0% 0%
position 2 0% 50% 0% 0% 0%
position 3 0% 75% 0% 0% 0%
position 4 0% 100% 0% 0% 0%
SET-A3.wav
position 1 0% 0% 25% 0% 0%
position 2 0% 0% 50% 0% 0%
position 3 0% 0% 75% 0% 0%
position 4 0% 0% 100% 0% 0%
SET-A4.wav
position 1 0% 0% 0% 25% 0%
position 2 0% 0% 0% 50% 0%
position 3 0% 0% 0% 75% 0%
position 4 0% 0% 0% 100% 0%
SET-A5.wav
position 1 0% 0% 0% 0% 25%
position 2 0% 0% 0% 0% 50%
position 3 0% 0% 0% 0% 75%
position 4 0% 0% 0% 0% 100%
SET-B1.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 50% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 3 75% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 4 100% 25% 25% 25% 25%
SET-B2.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 50% 25% 25% 25%
position 3 25% 75% 25% 25% 25%
position 4 25% 100% 25% 25% 25%
SET-B3.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 50% 25% 25%
position 3 25% 25% 75% 25% 25%
position 4 25% 25% 100% 25% 25%
SET-B4.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 25% 50% 25%
position 3 25% 25% 25% 75% 25%
position 4 25% 25% 25% 100% 25%
SET-B5.wav
position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 25% 25% 50%
position 3 25% 25% 25% 25% 75%
position 4 25% 25% 25% 25% 100%
SET-C1.wav
position 1 25% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 75% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 4 100% 50% 50% 50% 50%
SET-C2.wav
position 1 50% 25% 50% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 75% 50% 50% 50%
position 4 50% 100% 50% 50% 50%
SET-C3.wav
position 1 50% 50% 25% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 75% 50% 50%
position 4 50% 50% 100% 50% 50%
SET-C4.wav
position 1 50% 50% 50% 25% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 50% 75% 50%
position 4 50% 50% 50% 100% 50%
SET-C5.wav
position 1 50% 50% 50% 50% 25%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 50% 50% 75%
position 4 50% 50% 50% 50% 100%
SET-D1.wav
position 1 25% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 2 50% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 100% 75% 75% 75% 75%
SET-D2.wav
position 1 75% 25% 75% 75% 75%
position 2 75% 50% 75% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 100% 75% 75% 75%
SET-D3.wav
position 1 75% 75% 25% 75% 75%
position 2 75% 75% 50% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 100% 75% 75%
SET-D4.wav
position 1 75% 75% 75% 25% 75%
position 2 75% 75% 75% 50% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 75% 100% 75%
SET-D5.wav
position 1 75% 75% 75% 75% 25%
position 2 75% 75% 75% 75% 50%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 75% 75% 100%
SET-E1.wav
position 1 25% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 2 50% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 3 75% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E2.wav
position 1 100% 25% 100% 100% 100%
position 2 100% 50% 100% 100% 100%
position 3 100% 75% 100% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E3.wav
position 1 100% 100% 25% 100% 100%
position 2 100% 100% 50% 100% 100%
position 3 100% 100% 75% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E4.wav
position 1 100% 100% 100% 25% 100%
position 2 100% 100% 100% 50% 100%
position 3 100% 100% 100% 75% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SET-E5.wav
position 1 100% 100% 100% 100% 25%
position 2 100% 100% 100% 100% 50%
position 3 100% 100% 100% 100% 75%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Invasion of the 606's
Doing a mod for a friend, suddenly I'm surrounded by 606's, if only they were all 303's ;-)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Demonstration of my highly modifed Roland TR-606
Here's a close up look at the mods I did for my Roland TR-606.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Roland MC-202 Triangle Output Modification
How to tap into an extra waveform on the Roland MC-202 and what you can do with it once you've done so.
Friday, February 5, 2010
How to copy and paste patterns on a Roland TB-303
A tutorial video on how to copy and paste patterns on a Roland TB-303. This isn't a documented feature, rather its a "bug" of sorts
Roland TR-909 Service Manual
Here's the service notes for the Roland TR-909. To download the pdf just click the image above. The scan quality of the pdf isn't the best, if someone has a better quality version please get in touch so I can post it up here.
Roland TR-606 Service Manual
Here's the service notes for the Roland TR-606, this one is a really nice scanned version provided by Steven at Pilfer Music.
Roland TB-303 Service Manual
Here's the service notes for the Roland TB-303. To download the pdf just click the image above. The scan quality of the pdf isn't the best, if someone has a better quality version please get in touch so I can post it up here.
Roland MC-202 Service Manual
Here's the service notes for the Roland MC-202. To download the pdf just click the image above. The scan quality of the pdf isn't the best, if someone has a better quality version please get in touch so I can post it up here.
Roland SH-101 Service Manual
Here's the service notes for the Roland SH-101. To download the pdf just click the image above.edit: a new decent quality version has been added thanks to tmacbeth.
Rolands Random Adventures in D# Minor part 3
Live acid written completely on the fly. Using an SH-101, MC-202, TB-303, TR-606 and TR-909. Just a bit of fun.
The MC-202 runs the show as Roland originally intended. The TR-606 is silent but controlling the SH-101 filter with triggers.
Sorry about the 303 being a tad too loud, i added a tube pre-amp and forgot to adjust the level, whoops :-O
Everything is random including the camera angle :-)
Rolands Random Adventures in D# Minor part 2
Live acid written completely on the fly. Using an SH-101, MC-202, TB-303, TR-606 and TR-909. Just a bit of fun.
The MC-202 runs the show as Roland originally intended. The TR-606 is silent but controlling the SH-101 filter with triggers.
Everything is random including the camera angle :-)
Rolands Random Adventures in D# Minor part 1
Live acid written completely on the fly. Using an SH-101, MC-202, TB-303, TR-606 and TR-909. Just a bit of fun.
The MC-202 runs the show as Roland originally intended. The TR-606 is silent but controlling the SH-101 filter with triggers.
Everything is random including the camera angle :-)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
"Acid Tracks" in 5 mins
A quick cover of Phuture's Acid Tracks. The original was around 120bpm and used a TR-707 . This quick cover is at 138bpm uses a highly modifed TR-606. I think my pattern is close but possibly missing an accent ;-)
Roland TB-303
A quick demonstration of my Roland TB-303. Distortion is a Paia tube head fitted with Electro Harmonix 12AX7 tubes.
Roland TB-303... no not really, Adafruit x0xb0x 733, power supply tweaked and custom TB-x0x overlay
A quick demo of one of my custom x0xb0x's. Distortion is a Paia Tubehead with Electro Harmonix 12Xa7 tubes.
Modified Roland MC-202
Another quick demo of my modifed MC-202, here i just enter a pattern and bulld the patch from scratch. Also using my Doepfer A-100 system and my highly modifed TR-606. The Camera shots could have been better :-P
Roland MC-202 Semi Modular Mod
A quick demonstration drone from my latest project. A semi modular modification for my Roland MC-202. The mod includes CV inputs for pitch/gate (bypassing the internal sequencer) VCF frequency and pulsewidth. CV outputs for LFO sine, LFO triangle and adsr ENV. Raw oscillator outputs for Square, Saw, Triangle, Sub mix (whatever the sub switch is set to) and all three Sub types. Audio input to VCF and VCA.
The drone patch is made by outputting the raw square and saw into a Doepfer A-106-1 Extreme filter, cv and gate outs from the MC-202 also trigger an A-111-5 Mini Synth module (A-100 Module version of Doepfers new desktop synth Dark Energy). Two LFO's (one inverted) are modulating the A-106-1 .The MC-202 LFO is modulating pulsewidth on the A-111-5. The A-106-1 outputs to the MC-202 VCF input, whch then goes into a stereo delay. I think thats all..i may have missed something ;-)
What's that sound?
A TB-303 video with a difference, the beats were programmed in "tap" mode on the fly.
2Cv - What is Art (one hand one loop mix)
Just a little acid jam with the boxes, sorry about the bad camera.
"No Way Back" in 5 mins
Quick cover of Addonis's classic chicago house tune "No Way Back". Done with a x0xb0x and a Roland TR-808. I pushed the tempo up a little bit.
Sorry about the video/sound quality, i used my mobile phone.
x0xb0x vs TR-606
A quick jam with the x0xb0x (a full kit form reproduction of the Roland TB-303) along with its cousin the Roland TR-606.
Visit http://www.myspace.com/2cvacid to hear more of them in action.
Roland TR-606
A quick demo of my Roland TR-606. There's some noise from my usb soundcard due to the camera on the hub, sorry about that.
Roland MC-202
A quick demo of my Roland MC-202. There's some noise from my usb soundcard due to the camera on the hub, sorry about that.
And so it begins...
For those that don't know me, I'm a complete x0x fanatic. If you already know what x0x is then you are in the right place already, if you don't then I suppose a brief explanation is in order. x0x refers to a range of synthesizers and drum machines produced in the 80's by the Roland Corperation of Japan. The range of these machines uses a three digit numbering scale with the first and last digit the same and the second digit a 0. Hence the term "x0x" is used to refer to them.
So what makes these machines so special? well that's what this blog is all about. Over the course of things I expect I'll post up all sorts of videos and tips about the x0x's. This is also my first personal blog. I'm involved with a blog at my workplace, but this one will be created in my own time. It'll be interesting to see how far this gets.
So what makes these machines so special? well that's what this blog is all about. Over the course of things I expect I'll post up all sorts of videos and tips about the x0x's. This is also my first personal blog. I'm involved with a blog at my workplace, but this one will be created in my own time. It'll be interesting to see how far this gets.
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