Audiopilz: *slaps roof of YT channel* Full Tracks, Extended Jams, Sample Packs: www.patreon.com/audiopilz Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/audio.pilz/
The MC505 allowed me to play live without a band. I programmed my own patterns and riffs and used them live. Thank you, from Canada, for your MC505 episode
hi, is there any document or video that you use to help you on that ? i got mine 5 month ago and i would like to know better the machine. tyvm in advance !
Grooveboxes were designed to be used (and abused ) on live situations. Thats why the sturdy construction,controls and connections. Serious piece of hardware.
@@MoraFermi It's actually because the attention span of people buying gear has greatly diminished over the years. Nowadays people are looping the same 16 steps for eternity, when back in the day people at least had the decency to stretch those 16 steps to 32 bars. I'm mostly joking, but it does seem like people aren't really learning their instruments anymore and as such instant-gratification becomes more sellable (onto which you can then bake on some proper features).
The big brother of my beloved first drum machine/synthesizer, the mc-303. I got a good decade of production and live performance out of the 303, and always coveted the 505... And it sent me on a 20-year journey of GAS and Grooveboxes.
The MC-808 is still my fav of the 90s/00s Roland boxes, but there's something quite refreshing about the workflow on the 505 (and even more so on the JX-305) that always makes you smile.
I had a 505 shortly after they came out. I got it to replace my 303 that I liked a lot. Mostly made hip hop tracks but the 505 was the center piece of my studio for several years. This video was nostalgia!
I bought one in 2000, it was ahead of its time. Wish I would have never sold it. But the MC-707 is a true successor to it. Thanks for the awesome video!
I got this thing when it first came out and I was so happy at first. I had it for a year and never successfully made anything I was happy with. It was a total cheese box.
It is hard to believe that you got such great sounds out of that thing. This was honestly one of the most awkward pieces of gear I have had the pleasure of seeing on this channel. Rock on!
The whole series of MC-x0x groove boxes is amazing. The same with 505 - real classic with (still) very serious possibilities of producing interesting sounds. Good review.
That vocal sample in Jam 2 sounds SO MUCH like the weird little yells at the beginning of Sympathy For The Devil that I had to do a double take. Fun video as always, keep up the good work!
Still have my original 505 I purchased in 1999. I've put out numerous albums, ep's and singles over the years using only the 505 and some waves gold post production. As mentioned, if you take the time to learn it, it pays off, I've done everything from acid jazz to doom metal on this thing. Thankfully I had the forsight to buy 10 of the 5 volt smart media cards before they stopped production and became collector items. I've been playing underground parties in Detroit several times a year for 2 decades and the the 505 is always a crowd pleaser, usually as the sun is rising. Liked and subscribed.
I remember clearly the day before Christmas in 2001. my dad bought a 505 for my brother, after he ask for it for almost a year. When I first saw the MC I was blown away by it! I tried to switch it on but unfortunately it fell off the table and broke my big toe.
Legendary piece of kit and certainly very capable, especially in the song mode! This would have been mind blowing when it arrived! HAPPY FIRDAY EVERYONE!!!
I love all workstations or synths with sequencers that have a sound library that spans from Final Fantasy bell pads to jazzy saxophones, or b3 organs to jupiter 8 pads. Then you end up with some super catchy rompler electronic pop that starts to tickle my nostalgic sense.
I remember this being the first piece of hardware i ever tried after using Scream Tracker, Reason and Fruity Loops 1. I wanted it really badly. Instead i got a Yamaha RM1x. Also cool, but to this day i long for a MC-505. Might buy one someday, just for nostalgic sake.
I bought one on ebay about 10 years ago and it seemed like it'd been through some wars. The lower right side looked like it had been in a fight with an angle grinder, including some of the "keys". After a few emails, it tuns out Roland were (and probably are) still selling the parts :)
I mean Cibo Matto's Album "At Home With the Groovebox" used only an MC-505 for all the instrumentation....this thing is more than capable if you have the memory cards to hold the note data or something to dump MIDI data into for recall.
My first piece of pro equipment ! It had an excellent comunity of people sharing tips and advice over the internet, and several of them have remained friends over the years. A true classic.
The highlight of my week! If you truly want to complete your collection of Bad Gear Roland’s, might I suggest the Alpha Juno! Readily available, need for an external controller, weakish filter and some other late 80s/early 90s quirks make it a prime candidate. Also, are you still planning on doing a 100k jam/liveset?
Haha this was a fun video, thank you! Fun fact - I have a MC505 from DJ Paul of the Memphis rap group “Three Six Mafia”. He made the “tear da club up” album on.
This is one of these roland boxes i always extra never looked at. Now that i see it in action it is pretty impressive. Especially considering when it comes from. This was a bit ahead of its time. having said that, man you are seriously skilled and blessed. Keep em coming
I had one in 1999 and i never saw it crash once, mostly used it to sequence other synths. By 2001 i had moved over to using a computer for sequencing and dsp, could still throw midi into the mc505 though via computer and that was great fun too.
Now i remember it did crash but only when i overloaded it with several drum patterns being fed into one midi channel via a pc. Things i remember most about the machine was that the drums could use the resonance filter and had a fully functioning ADSR filter not hidden away in a menu (and pitch knob), meaning you could play with drum patterns quite well compared to other machines of the time.
That last line is the coup de grace - the 505's DNA is ALL OVER the MC 707. The 4 partials architecture, the JV1080 sound palette, the unerasable presets that are not destined to age well. The only thing that is missing is the D-Beam (which honestly would have been awesome).
Cheereo, my 45th bad gear gets introduced. My Roland MC 505 is like a relative who always comes to family celebrations, usually badly dressed and smelling bad, but he is tolerated and apologized to others: „He was pretty big in the nineties“ - or so he says…
Mine was also given to my older brother by my paternal uncle as an xmas present in 1999 but sometimes I borrowed it from time to time. Then in January 2007 my brother let me keep it and it's been in my stack ever since.
If I tried to sequence on another device and just midi out to the 505 it always had issues. Like it was slow / leggy. But it was fun. The 307 has all the same sounds plus a few extras if you can't get a 505.
my fave groovebox, its got a lot going for it and the preset patch sounds can all have the rom waveform samples edited , you can get some nice pad and bass sounds out of the box and the drums are still usable and can edit those , good video. 505 love
Excellent Show mate. I have a mint condition MC 505, the screen is perfect, I also have the memory card. I bought it 10 years ago for 200 Euros from a chap from your neck of the woods. Blessings from a Brit in Berlin. ❤️
@@jimbotron70 some time ago there was a mention about somebody creating an alternative storage method but I never really followed its progression. Roland used a different voltage card to the other manufacturers so that made matters even more fluffed up. Typical Roland. With the memory card the machine is a lot more stable for some reason.. They are like rocking horse shit to find. I guess that demand for such a specialised hack for the MC 505 is quite low compared to a vintage SP, MPC etc. Its a shame because it is a good instrument for live set. The remix function is really good to take your jams to another level.
There is an extremely good (quite recent) editor for it, based on ctrlr. It opens up the sound editing capabilities. I have this one in my studio since it came out and still use the great arpegiator, some sounds and the lousy (but in my music useful) LoFi filter. How did these old things have more sequencing, arpeggiating, microtonality options than most of recent gear?
@6:52 apart from this being my favorite killer jam in this episode...we can even see mirror image Florian jamm'in in the 505 display 😄...loved the Bach watch 😂
Impressive. I didn't know about this thing, so I learned a thing or two today. I luuuuurve the abundance of knobs and sliders. Still, not my cup of tea, but it's a big world with room for all kinds. Thanks, Florian!
I like how all the samples for each drum patch are in the same spot..so you can just change patches to see what drum kit sounds best over your song..and its really fun to play it with a midi keyboard
Amazing video, been waiting for this one! Im an absolutely massive fan of the MC-909, and its the centrepiece of my setup. Hoping you cover that one day!
had the mc-303 little brotehr. hated how so many of the editing functions required you to hold Function, Shift and iirc sometimes another button before pressing the function... ick.
Surprisingly capable box in the right hands. Not sure about the left hands. It's one of those now vintage devices that makes me as an old 80s electronics former repair tech repeat the old mantra, remember - this is OLD electronics, not silverware, veteran cars or inheritable furniture. These only hold value because someone thinks they're an investment, they're not! They go bad, you need to maintain them a lot, this fall appart (literally) and components from that era is getting increasingly scarce.
I had an MC-303 in the 90s and sold it in college. I missed it, got nostalgic, and found a good deal on an MC-505 in 2020. It even had a Smart Media card, even though it doesn't come out of the slot, but it still reads and writes fine. I did stumble upon a TH-cam user Isobutane, who does some really good jams on his 505 and Yamaha RM1X. Makes me want to dig deeper and really milk the sounds on them. Thanks for this. Enjoyed your tunes!
My man! ...always killing it!..as a 90's producer my buddy had one and we called him a cheater!..Roland really knew how to bring the FOMO in those days!
Oh the grooveboxes... The promise of a plastic-top-chart hit were strong on this one 😅 it was like an interactive instrumental MP3 of ‘no limits’ (and derivates). Amazing what you squeezed out on it in such a short time 👏
I have the MC307 and used it for a live show recently and retired it after because it was starting to go. Replaced it with a 707 because, like you said, pretty much the same sounds lol
I just filled out a Roland survey that asked for my fave TH-camrs/influencers, and I listed you first...LOL! (Maybe they'll finally add you to their merch list.)
I loved this machine. I had this and the MC-909, what was really cool about the MC-505 is that you were able to control temperament, like Arabian and Tonic. I want one of these right now. If I had the knowledge, I would like to make a huge tabletop version of a groove box with triple the knobs (for filter, amp and pitch) multiple filter knobs, multiple LFOs. 16 sliders, etc. Great machine! Thanks!
Yep - way too many parameters. I'm planning on programming a RemoteZero to help look after the more interesting menu-hidden parameters (now just to get both back off my mate I lent it to).
I thought you already reviewed this thing like 3 years ago. Wish I could find somebody to fix mine. I used to play with that thing for hours. My buddy used to put it on a channel in his mixer and crossfade between the tracks I made and trance vinyls during live dj sets at parties. Now it’s just collecting dust because the screen’s toast and some of the knobs are shot. Tried the screen fix tricks, it didn’t really work. I would totally still mess around with that thing. I brings back so many memories. It was totally cheesy but loved it.
This was an uneventful purchase for me a while back. I did sell it. Very interesting all the layers of the JV sounds however by the time I figured out how to program it because it's really deep but you are left scratching your head. I didn't think it sounded too good because of the way the sound engine was tuned. I wish they would put a modern MC 707 into the chassis of the metal boxes with multi outputs. Remember the MC 505 came out after a bunch of plastic drum machines and groove boxes have been on the market for a decade. Point in case: any manufacturer can move from cheap plastic to something a little more substantial and metal with a better looking layout at any time in the lifecycle of making products. Once you go full plastic, you don't have to stay there. Can we stop going full plastic!
This will forever be the best piece of gear (lets not mention that it can crash, corrupt your save card thing, max out and glitch the cpu, hang randomly, get stuck on midi data, fall out of sync randomly, etc
The trade off in many of these all-in-one, late 90s grooveboxes (and many current ones) is the anemic sound. Routing all your parts to other fuller synths solves that, but then you have to deal with more equipment. Regardless, it all sounds better right out of a component than a mixdown to me. I love the grooveboxes, so this was an exceptionally good show for me! One day I aspire to get a Syntakt or an MPC One.
@@AudioPilz & everyone else who replied: Yeah, I should have been clear the MC505 is very different to the MC303, they just look similar and it reminded me of that silver box I bought off a guy who worked on the same production line as me in a factory in Cork city back in 2003. I knew it was shit when I bought it, but I just wanted something that would look cool, sat on my desk in-between some guitar pedals and stubbed out cigarettes . I've never used an MC505, but I think that was what M.I.A. used to make Paper Planes - which would be a pretty cool fact if it turns out to be true.
Making the infotext like “This Webpage Is Still Online” @9:00 seem like part of the original Roland stock footage, was a stroke of genius. Applaus from Copenhagen! 🙌🏻
The best thing about early Grooveboxes was definitely the idea of sticking everything under one knob covered lid. However, learning how to use one of these little beauties is just...😭
YES! YES! YES! My dream has come true and you finally got your hands on a 505! Haven't even watched the video yet and hope you did it justice! I got one in 1998 when they came out and it was a fortune for me at the time. I then was in a electronic/metal band and it was the centerpiece of my rig. Such a powerful sequencer and synth, once you get your head around programming it.
I started making Music 24 years ago on a MC-303. Then upgraded to a MC-505 and in the end had the MC-909 which was a Pleasure as Center Piece for our/my Hardware based Live Acts back in the Days. Ahhh, Nostalgia....
Just sold my MC-505 two months ago for an analog drum machine. Had a "fun" few years with it attempting to write songs on it every now and then, but I always felt like it was missing oomf (even with the boost cranked up) both on stage and in the studio. Plus, trying to change presets automatically via MIDI (for live performances) was a gamble.
ahhh my first love.. my intro to creating electronic music, my first live set up was two 505s and an sp303 set up like two turntables and a mixer.. and i rocked out with multimix mode, classic
That song "Glamour Girl" by Chicks on Speed, is actually just one of the presets on the mc505.. was really suprised when i went through the presets and found it
Audiopilz: *slaps roof of YT channel*
Full Tracks, Extended Jams, Sample Packs: www.patreon.com/audiopilz
Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/audio.pilz/
Do you play on the roof so the whole neighborhood can hear? Do you get noise complaints? lol
"Copyright strike for Roland ads"
The day has finally come... the greatest Roland instrument of all time is on Bad Gear
It was about time!!!
If that is their greatest instrument of all time we're really deep trouble
@@TheTerracide😅
The MC505 allowed me to play live without a band. I programmed my own patterns and riffs and used them live. Thank you, from Canada, for your MC505 episode
I had this thing squeal with the radio tuning unbelievable mine got stolen and I found the same one in a pawnshop in Vancouver
Nice!!!
hi, is there any document or video that you use to help you on that ? i got mine 5 month ago and i would like to know better the machine. tyvm in advance !
Grooveboxes were designed to be used (and abused ) on live situations. Thats why the sturdy construction,controls and connections. Serious piece of hardware.
True that!
What pisses me off is this ancient groovebox can have up to 32 bars, and the majority of modern gear is limited to 64-128 steps.
True that!
I've noticed that too. Why?? That level of memory is so cheap. This is why I love the Pyramid. 64 tracks up to 300-something bars apiece
I suspect it's a "creative limitation" rather than actual limitation.
Or they'd rather have you upgrade to one of those "workstation" type synths.
@@MoraFermi even the Squarp Hapax has less you can do with it than its predecessor. I don't get it
@@MoraFermi It's actually because the attention span of people buying gear has greatly diminished over the years. Nowadays people are looping the same 16 steps for eternity, when back in the day people at least had the decency to stretch those 16 steps to 32 bars.
I'm mostly joking, but it does seem like people aren't really learning their instruments anymore and as such instant-gratification becomes more sellable (onto which you can then bake on some proper features).
The 505 is a beast. Nice mix between the MC-303 & MC-909. Know a few house heads still making tunes with just this unit. Awesome jams & overview!
Thank you so much!!!
We are Roland, we are Legion, join ussssssss.....
😂😂😂😂
I'm in awe of how many bangers you make every week, great work as always!
Thank you so much!!!
I immediately thought of B Fleischmann when I saw this episode, I can't believe it was his 505 you were using! He mastered that thing!
Agreed, big fan here!!!
yea my friend gave me pop loops back in the day, im grateful bc id have not heard it probably
The big brother of my beloved first drum machine/synthesizer, the mc-303. I got a good decade of production and live performance out of the 303, and always coveted the 505... And it sent me on a 20-year journey of GAS and Grooveboxes.
The 303 is super quirky!!! Classic!!!
I bought my MC 505 2 years ago, still having loads of fun with it. Great piece of gear. I'm certainly keeping it. Great one, Mr Pilz!
Thank you!!!
Wow that final demo is proper oldschool goa !! Respect.. That’s exactly the sound which defined 90’s goa !!
Thank you so much!!!
same opinion !! is posible download this track or buy?
The MC-808 is still my fav of the 90s/00s Roland boxes, but there's something quite refreshing about the workflow on the 505 (and even more so on the JX-305) that always makes you smile.
Agreed!!!
Was it the one with motorized faders? I had the largest GAS for that one 🤯
i found one of these in the GARBAGE few years ago. it worked just fine. crazy to think someone thew it out.
Great find!!!
200@@AudioPilz💯
I had a 505 shortly after they came out. I got it to replace my 303 that I liked a lot. Mostly made hip hop tracks but the 505 was the center piece of my studio for several years. This video was nostalgia!
Some great hip hop sounds on this one!!!
I bought one in 2000, it was ahead of its time. Wish I would have never sold it. But the MC-707 is a true successor to it. Thanks for the awesome video!
Thanks for watching!!!
I had one in 1999 with my Rm1x yamaha groovebox n me juno 106 but had to sell them all to move back to hudds from Galway. in 2006.
I got this thing when it first came out and I was so happy at first. I had it for a year and never successfully made anything I was happy with. It was a total cheese box.
Cheese for days!!!
Haha that's the same story for me!
It is hard to believe that you got such great sounds out of that thing. This was honestly one of the most awkward pieces of gear I have had the pleasure of seeing on this channel. Rock on!
Thank you so much!!!
The whole series of MC-x0x groove boxes is amazing. The same with 505 - real classic with (still) very serious possibilities of producing interesting sounds. Good review.
Thank you!!! Agreed!!!
That vocal sample in Jam 2 sounds SO MUCH like the weird little yells at the beginning of Sympathy For The Devil that I had to do a double take.
Fun video as always, keep up the good work!
Thank you!!!
I own the 505 ! 1st and only hardware I got. Thanks to being inspired by M.I.A. amazing debut record Arular released in 2005 ❤
Nice!!! Love MIA!!!
@@AudioPilz she’s a legend ❤
As a mc707 owner, that last comment made me spit out my drink a little. Touche.
😀😀😀
Still have my original 505 I purchased in 1999. I've put out numerous albums, ep's and singles over the years using only the 505 and some waves gold post production. As mentioned, if you take the time to learn it, it pays off, I've done everything from acid jazz to doom metal on this thing. Thankfully I had the forsight to buy 10 of the 5 volt smart media cards before they stopped production and became collector items. I've been playing underground parties in Detroit several times a year for 2 decades and the the 505 is always a crowd pleaser, usually as the sun is rising. Liked and subscribed.
Any sets recorded? You don't have any on your channel. Please post!
I remember clearly the day before Christmas in 2001. my dad bought a 505 for my brother, after he ask for it for almost a year. When I first saw the MC I was blown away by it! I tried to switch it on but unfortunately it fell off the table and broke my big toe.
That's tough!!! Do you still hold it against the groovebox?
Oh God. I had this and when you played that pattern at 1:27 my body actually shivered.
So much nostalgia!!!❤️❤️❤️
Legendary piece of kit and certainly very capable, especially in the song mode! This would have been mind blowing when it arrived! HAPPY FIRDAY EVERYONE!!!
Have a nice weekend!!!
It was very mind blowing, got one in fall of 98'... had it for about 5 years and miss it every time I write something new.
Truly ahead of it's time, I would love to see a refresh.
True! Isn't that the 707?
I love all workstations or synths with sequencers that have a sound library that spans from Final Fantasy bell pads to jazzy saxophones, or b3 organs to jupiter 8 pads. Then you end up with some super catchy rompler electronic pop that starts to tickle my nostalgic sense.
Same here!!! Team ROMpler!!!
I remember this being the first piece of hardware i ever tried after using Scream Tracker, Reason and Fruity Loops 1. I wanted it really badly.
Instead i got a Yamaha RM1x. Also cool, but to this day i long for a MC-505. Might buy one someday, just for nostalgic sake.
I like both but I'm definitely Team 505.
I rented one of these to babysit the “chill out room” at a miniature Vancouver warehouse party and somehow pulled it off.
Cool idea!!!
I bought one on ebay about 10 years ago and it seemed like it'd been through some wars. The lower right side looked like it had been in a fight with an angle grinder, including some of the "keys". After a few emails, it tuns out Roland were (and probably are) still selling the parts :)
Postapocalyptic gear;)
I mean Cibo Matto's Album "At Home With the Groovebox" used only an MC-505 for all the instrumentation....this thing is more than capable if you have the memory cards to hold the note data or something to dump MIDI data into for recall.
Legendary album!!!
My first piece of pro equipment ! It had an excellent comunity of people sharing tips and advice over the internet, and several of them have remained friends over the years. A true classic.
Agreed!!!
The highlight of my week! If you truly want to complete your collection of Bad Gear Roland’s, might I suggest the Alpha Juno! Readily available, need for an external controller, weakish filter and some other late 80s/early 90s quirks make it a prime candidate. Also, are you still planning on doing a 100k jam/liveset?
Thank you so much!!! 100K was the roast episode, let's see when I can squeeze in another jam
I have the 307 and you would have to pry it from my cold dead fingers, but I only use it to make loops and samples.
Love that one!!!
Oh no, I want one now! 10/10 music and review
Thank you!!!
Haha this was a fun video, thank you! Fun fact - I have a MC505 from DJ Paul of the Memphis rap group “Three Six Mafia”. He made the “tear da club up” album on.
Nice!!! Thank you!!!
This is one of these roland boxes i always extra never looked at. Now that i see it in action it is pretty impressive. Especially considering when it comes from. This was a bit ahead of its time.
having said that, man you are seriously skilled and blessed. Keep em coming
Yeah, this one is a classic
I had one in 1999 and i never saw it crash once, mostly used it to sequence other synths. By 2001 i had moved over to using a computer for sequencing and dsp, could still throw midi into the mc505 though via computer and that was great fun too.
Now i remember it did crash but only when i overloaded it with several drum patterns being fed into one midi channel via a pc. Things i remember most about the machine was that the drums could use the resonance filter and had a fully functioning ADSR filter not hidden away in a menu (and pitch knob), meaning you could play with drum patterns quite well compared to other machines of the time.
Yeah, it's mostly stable but I have a very special talent for that;)
That last line is the coup de grace - the 505's DNA is ALL OVER the MC 707. The 4 partials architecture, the JV1080 sound palette, the unerasable presets that are not destined to age well. The only thing that is missing is the D-Beam (which honestly would have been awesome).
So similar, agreed!!!
if only the MC707 had the SH4d's D-Motion thing... ;-)
Cheereo, my 45th bad gear gets introduced. My Roland MC 505 is like a relative who always comes to family celebrations, usually badly dressed and smelling bad, but he is tolerated and apologized to others: „He was pretty big in the nineties“ - or so he says…
Congratulations!!!
Just in time to catch this on my lunch break!
Cheers!!!
I got one of these for xmas when I was a teen and it was actually awesome
Mine was also given to my older brother by my paternal uncle as an xmas present in 1999 but
sometimes I borrowed it from time to time. Then in January 2007 my brother let me keep it and it's
been in my stack ever since.
Nice!!!
Eagerly awaiting the Teenage Engineering EP-133 video
So do I;)
If I tried to sequence on another device and just midi out to the 505 it always had issues. Like it was slow / leggy. But it was fun. The 307 has all the same sounds plus a few extras if you can't get a 505.
Midi is not the tightest indeed
my fave groovebox, its got a lot going for it and the preset patch sounds can all have the rom waveform samples edited , you can get some nice pad and bass sounds out of the box and the drums are still usable and can edit those , good video. 505 love
Thank you!!!
MEGAMIX is the best feature on the MC505, its endless fun swapping parts between various patterns from different genres!
Agreed!!!
Excellent Show mate. I have a mint condition MC 505, the screen is perfect, I also have the memory card. I bought it 10 years ago for 200 Euros from a chap from your neck of the woods. Blessings from a Brit in Berlin. ❤️
Thank you so much!!! Nice one!!!
Aren't there adapters for SD cards?
@@jimbotron70 some time ago there was a mention about somebody creating an alternative storage method but I never really followed its progression. Roland used a different voltage card to the other manufacturers so that made matters even more fluffed up. Typical Roland. With the memory card the machine is a lot more stable for some reason.. They are like rocking horse shit to find. I guess that demand for such a specialised hack for the MC 505 is quite low compared to a vintage SP, MPC etc. Its a shame because it is a good instrument for live set. The remix function is really good to take your jams to another level.
9:18
That pic, on so many levels, is fairdikum GOLD!~
Thank you!!!
There is an extremely good (quite recent) editor for it, based on ctrlr. It opens up the sound editing capabilities.
I have this one in my studio since it came out and still use the great arpegiator, some sounds and the lousy (but in my music useful) LoFi filter.
How did these old things have more sequencing, arpeggiating, microtonality options than most of recent gear?
Thanks for the heads up!!!
@6:52 apart from this being my favorite killer jam in this episode...we can even see mirror image Florian jamm'in in the 505 display 😄...loved the Bach watch 😂
Thank you!!!
Impressive. I didn't know about this thing, so I learned a thing or two today. I luuuuurve the abundance of knobs and sliders. Still, not my cup of tea, but it's a big world with room for all kinds. Thanks, Florian!
Thanks for watching!!!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the support!!!
Another great video, as usual. Would you consider doing maybe the omnichord in the future? Something like that would be ultra-dope.
Thank you!!! Great suggestion!!!
I like how all the samples for each drum patch are in the same spot..so you can just change patches to see what drum kit sounds best over your song..and its really fun to play it with a midi keyboard
True that!
All your GOA bad gear episode finishers are bangers!
Thank you so much!!!
@@AudioPilz I would go to an underground Florian GOA party!
I bought one when they came out, never got my head around it.
Yeah, there's some learning curve...
Amazing video, been waiting for this one! Im an absolutely massive fan of the MC-909, and its the centrepiece of my setup. Hoping you cover that one day!
Thank you so much!!! I really have to get hold of one of these!!!
had the mc-303 little brotehr. hated how so many of the editing functions required you to hold Function, Shift and iirc sometimes another button before pressing the function... ick.
303 is quite an abomination!!!
Surprisingly capable box in the right hands. Not sure about the left hands. It's one of those now vintage devices that makes me as an old 80s electronics former repair tech repeat the old mantra, remember - this is OLD electronics, not silverware, veteran cars or inheritable furniture. These only hold value because someone thinks they're an investment, they're not! They go bad, you need to maintain them a lot, this fall appart (literally) and components from that era is getting increasingly scarce.
I wouldn't call them an investment but these are pretty robust and servicable
I had an MC-303 in the 90s and sold it in college. I missed it, got nostalgic, and found a good deal on an MC-505 in 2020. It even had a Smart Media card, even though it doesn't come out of the slot, but it still reads and writes fine. I did stumble upon a TH-cam user Isobutane, who does some really good jams on his 505 and Yamaha RM1X. Makes me want to dig deeper and really milk the sounds on them. Thanks for this. Enjoyed your tunes!
Thank you!!! The SM card is something for the pension fund;)
wow this thing is gnarly, awesome stuff as always!
Thank you so much!!!
My man! ...always killing it!..as a 90's producer my buddy had one and we called him a cheater!..Roland really knew how to bring the FOMO in those days!
Yeah, so powerful for the time!!! Thanks!
Oh the grooveboxes... The promise of a plastic-top-chart hit were strong on this one 😅 it was like an interactive instrumental MP3 of ‘no limits’ (and derivates). Amazing what you squeezed out on it in such a short time 👏
Thank you!!!
I find that taking a hot steam iron to ALL my mid and late 90's synths and grooveboxes fixes everything!
Gear manufacturers hate that trick;)
I have the MC307 and used it for a live show recently and retired it after because it was starting to go. Replaced it with a 707 because, like you said, pretty much the same sounds lol
Really like the 307 tho!!!
@@AudioPilz They 307 is awesome. I love that thing. :)
wow, I watch you tweak all of these machines, I sit in awe , well done sir,
Thank you so much!!!
What a great presentation. I really love your videos! -ah yes and the music you make is fantastic always!
Thank you so much!!!
I just filled out a Roland survey that asked for my fave TH-camrs/influencers, and I listed you first...LOL! (Maybe they'll finally add you to their merch list.)
Thank you so much!!! We really have to get that going!!!
I loved this machine. I had this and the MC-909, what was really cool about the MC-505 is that you were able to control temperament, like Arabian and Tonic. I want one of these right now. If I had the knowledge, I would like to make a huge tabletop version of a groove box with triple the knobs (for filter, amp and pitch) multiple filter knobs, multiple LFOs. 16 sliders, etc. Great machine! Thanks!
Non-western scales are awesome!!!
Yep - way too many parameters. I'm planning on programming a RemoteZero to help look after the more interesting menu-hidden parameters (now just to get both back off my mate I lent it to).
Feels extra special this week watching Austria 🇦🇹. Amazing content as always!
Thank you!!!
Mc909 and mc808: I’m a joke to you.
BadGear: Of course not, Roland is.
Already had the MC-808 on the show and it's not so funny;)
@@AudioPilz but what “the last”? Mc909 should be… since 808 it’s half software based!
I thought you already reviewed this thing like 3 years ago. Wish I could find somebody to fix mine. I used to play with that thing for hours. My buddy used to put it on a channel in his mixer and crossfade between the tracks I made and trance vinyls during live dj sets at parties. Now it’s just collecting dust because the screen’s toast and some of the knobs are shot. Tried the screen fix tricks, it didn’t really work. I would totally still mess around with that thing. I brings back so many memories. It was totally cheesy but loved it.
I think that was the 303
This was an uneventful purchase for me a while back. I did sell it. Very interesting all the layers of the JV sounds however by the time I figured out how to program it because it's really deep but you are left scratching your head.
I didn't think it sounded too good because of the way the sound engine was tuned.
I wish they would put a modern MC 707 into the chassis of the metal boxes with multi outputs.
Remember the MC 505 came out after a bunch of plastic drum machines and groove boxes have been on the market for a decade.
Point in case: any manufacturer can move from cheap plastic to something a little more substantial and metal with a better looking layout at any time in the lifecycle of making products.
Once you go full plastic, you don't have to stay there.
Can we stop going full plastic!
Full Metal MC-707!!!
Well made polymer enclosures can be tougher than a metal case fwiw (just most arent on the same planet as well made).
I bought mine in early 1999 and gigged it extensively in the 2000s. So much fun to use
Nice!!!
GALANG by M.I.A. + the rest of her Arular record ❤ 505 magic
Legendary!!!
This will forever be the best piece of gear (lets not mention that it can crash, corrupt your save card thing, max out and glitch the cpu, hang randomly, get stuck on midi data, fall out of sync randomly, etc
I'll keep my mouth shut;)
The trade off in many of these all-in-one, late 90s grooveboxes (and many current ones) is the anemic sound. Routing all your parts to other fuller synths solves that, but then you have to deal with more equipment. Regardless, it all sounds better right out of a component than a mixdown to me. I love the grooveboxes, so this was an exceptionally good show for me! One day I aspire to get a Syntakt or an MPC One.
Syntakt is much recommended!!!
I bought one about 4 years ago and I love it. I mainly use it as a synth module & edit it via my master keyboard.
Nice technique!!!
Back in the day I had an MC303. Real talk: it was shit, but it looked really cool.
I hear 505s are quite a bit nicer than the 303
Yep 307 n 505 were different
Definitely give the 505 a try!!!
I also had a MC-303 …. And buyer’s remorse.
@@AudioPilz & everyone else who replied: Yeah, I should have been clear the MC505 is very different to the MC303, they just look similar and it reminded me of that silver box I bought off a guy who worked on the same production line as me in a factory in Cork city back in 2003. I knew it was shit when I bought it, but I just wanted something that would look cool, sat on my desk in-between some guitar pedals and stubbed out cigarettes . I've never used an MC505, but I think that was what M.I.A. used to make Paper Planes - which would be a pretty cool fact if it turns out to be true.
Making the infotext like “This Webpage Is Still Online” @9:00 seem like part of the original Roland stock footage, was a stroke of genius. Applaus from Copenhagen! 🙌🏻
Thank you so much!!!
The best thing about early Grooveboxes was definitely the idea of sticking everything under one knob covered lid.
However, learning how to use one of these little beauties is just...😭
The learning curve of that one ain't so bad...
YES! YES! YES! My dream has come true and you finally got your hands on a 505! Haven't even watched the video yet and hope you did it justice! I got one in 1998 when they came out and it was a fortune for me at the time. I then was in a electronic/metal band and it was the centerpiece of my rig. Such a powerful sequencer and synth, once you get your head around programming it.
Happy to hear that!!! Thanks!!!
Biggest Roland fan indeed 😅😂
Hell yeah!!!
I started making Music 24 years ago on a MC-303. Then upgraded to a MC-505 and in the end had the MC-909 which was a Pleasure as Center Piece for our/my Hardware based Live Acts back in the Days. Ahhh, Nostalgia....
Nice!!!
At least faders are working on this one 😂
Totally!!!
Electronically these were identical to the roland D2, i made some crackin tunes on that orange beast.
Classic!!!
Wish I had never sold mine!
Selling Gear is only advised after it hikes in price
Only worth it with a working display!!!
@@AudioPilz Are you sure about that?
i think i alread asked about a year ago. please a video about the MC-909 !
This one is moving up my list!
@@AudioPilz juhuuuuu !!
Sacrilege!
Of course;)
D-Beam nuf said. Had one of these when it was new. Actually pretty awesome gear even if it was a bit of a pita to play with as a noob.
Legendary!!!
Better than MC Hammer- Hammer please don't hurt 'em (with your dreary, Christian soft rap crap!)
I wonder what happened to that sucker?!
😂😂😂😂
I've got a JX-305 that actually still works. I turn it on twice a year and play Psy-Trance 1, then turn it off again.
Nice!!! Great keyboard!
Just sold my MC-505 two months ago for an analog drum machine. Had a "fun" few years with it attempting to write songs on it every now and then, but I always felt like it was missing oomf (even with the boost cranked up) both on stage and in the studio. Plus, trying to change presets automatically via MIDI (for live performances) was a gamble.
A gamble indeed!!!
D Beam is one of my favorite controls on any hardware ever. I would pay good money for a dedicated d beam control module.
Same here!!!
ahhh my first love.. my intro to creating electronic music, my first live set up was two 505s and an sp303 set up like two turntables and a mixer.. and i rocked out with multimix mode, classic
Simpler times!!!
That song "Glamour Girl" by Chicks on Speed, is actually just one of the presets on the mc505.. was really suprised when i went through the presets and found it
Wow, didn't know. Thanks for posting!!!
Your videos light up my dark weeks
❤️❤️❤️
The interface has always looked perfect to me…a modern one of these would be amazing
True that!