The YMO Music Computer
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- A look at the revolutionary Roland MC-8 from 1977 which was one of the earliest microprocessor-controlled digital sequencers. Around 200 of these units were made and they were extremely expensive.
As I've covered the history of this unit several times, I thought it would be interesting to follow in the footsteps of a band that made significant use of the MC-8, which was Yellow Magic Orchestra.
In the video we look at how the MC-8 works and use it to compose a track in the style of YMO using the techniques and (where possible) instruments that they used in the late 70s.
Thank you to my Patrons for their support. The track, stems and MC-8 data are available there.
/ alexballmusic
You can buy the track on my Bandcamp: alexball.bandcamp.com/track/l...
0:00 Intro
0:47 YMO, Hideki Matsutake and the MC-8
2:25 The MC-8 Interface
5:12 Programming the MC-8
10:43 Transport and Saving
12:20 Overdub and Sync
13:15 MPX Programming
15:10 Summary
15:50 The Feature Track - Lovers in Tokyo - เพลง
![[TH] VCT Pacific - Playoffs Grand Final // PRX vs GEN](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/G345ud5yRGA/mqdefault.jpg)
The end track: alexball.bandcamp.com/track/lovers-in-tokyo
Thanks everyone!
fantastic Alex. I go to Tokyo all the time, and visit Five-G music shop when I go. I love YMO. May I ask what the name of the book is you recommended in this video - I've scanned it and can't find it in your video ... !
BJBooks is where it can be found 🙂
Love it! Spot on Alex! In an alternative universe this track is on Solid State Survivor.
@@technopop90 bjooks.com/products/inspire-the-music-50-years-of-roland-history
cool track!
Nah not falling for it, this is clearly a cash register
Worked for pink floyd lol.
The very groovy cash register.
I think that was the sequel to the Hungry Caterpillar.
@@nobodynoone2500Thank you that would have been my next question where was this amazing thing being used.
@@AlexBallMusicGroovy Indeed! 😃
These are not the notes you are looking for…
Man, RIP to Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto, thank you for this episode! That song was great
1 hour to record vocals. 1 hour to record live instruments. 17 years to programme MC-8. Great stuff :)
Then came the DX-7, and 40 years later nobody has finished learning to program it lol
"And that, kids, is why MIDI was a big deal."
Thank you Alex, amazing video as always!
Cheers!
I was thinking exactly the same thing watching this.
this should still be educated to music students today.
@@Elluvis72 In Japan, they have curriculum and even certification *just* on MIDI. I was stunned when I saw it.
Yes, the development in microprocessors and cheeper memory made all that possible.
It's really fantastic really, what we have been experiencing during our lifetime!
Home computers (VIC 64, Sinclair 81....), mobile phones, portable music (tape players, CD.-players and MP3-players), Internet, the whole digitization era really.
And now we are entering the development and testing of AI.
Hideki Matsutake was far too underappreciated, handling the two MC-8s during the live performances was crazy
AND modular synths. What a beast.
EVERYBODY, save this video! Any time you get frustrated with your DAW's limitations just open up the Tubes and play this back. Reset. Doesn't that make you feel better? I'm still marveling that you only fucked up once inputting that bass line, Alex. You're the man; and one helluva mimic. Long live Yellow Magic Orchestra!
Just say "time base, CV, step time, gate time", shudder and return to your computer.
I've used DAWs to make music a lot, but I really learned to make music on my MC-303 and, despite it being 1000x more powerful than this machine, I learned that those limitations make me write better music almost every time. DAWless is really just about cutting out the chaff and just focusing on the music. That is what is so wonderful about these old machines.
Edit: Not entirely true, I started with Mario Paint and then a cracked version of Fruity Loops someone gave me on a burned CD.
Tracker users: "First time?"
End track is an absolute banger!
I like what Tomita wrote about the MC-8 in 1978, on the sleeve notes for 'The Bermuda Triangle': "For the past year I have struggled with a computer - a micro computer. I say "struggled" because a computer is beautifully precise, but I wanted it to produce musical results - in other words, as a musical instrument. How could this keyboard of only ten keys compare with that of a grand piano? But I came to realize that those ten keys could produce an almost limitless number of combinations, each of which is a signal that could determine a characteristic of sound: pitch, texture, attack time, duration, loudness. And the computer can be programmed to change any or all of these features with incredible speed.
The computer thus produces a sequence of signals that control the sound production of a synthesizer. It is something like millions of little hands rapidly changing all the synthesizer connections to produce a vast variety of sounds. My musical images must be coded by numbers to direct those hands to manipulate the synthesizer.
I build layers of sound by programming the computer. These are recorded one by one on separate tracks of a tape machine and finally all mixed together for the end result. I consider myself a sound animator, much the same as an animator of film cartoons.
I have used my computer in creating practically all the pieces contained in this album. It is made in Japan by Roland - model MC-8 - and is perhaps the best in the world with regard to memory capacity and accuracy.
Although I cannot walk onto a stage and have the joy of struggling to perform my music before an audience, I struggle to select the right numbers on my computer to build a creative entity that displays my musical personality."
The YMO style track is great!
Cheers Marko!
Very YMoreish!
I once played a gig in 1988 where I had to load in drum samples to a Casio RZ1 (4 x 0.2 seconds) from a cassette. The gap was covered by a 2 minute “link” tune on tape. It took 2 minutes and had never failed in rehearsal… but on the gig night, I got a screen message “Load failed”. Panic. Sweat. I had to play all the tracks from the pre-recorded links tape to the end and try a reload. Fortunately the samples loaded a couple of seconds before there would have been total silence. Panic over and rewind the links tape back to its intended place. Primitive days indeed!
I’m never complaining about guitar pedals again hahah
I swapped my RZ1 for a TR909!!!
I still have nightmares of volatile memory 45 years later. Wrote my first soundtrack on a MC8 , System 700, Jupiter 8 , and an 808. Unbelievably stressful.
Wowsers, what a rig! Which soundtrack was that?
@@AlexBallMusic nothing special , student film. I was in tech school at the time and that was the synth lab.
Jupiter pre midi btw ..
Actually the mc8 we had was one of Ralph Dykes prototypes...no idea how many he had before Roland started selling them . Ours was a late model prototype as it had the roland case mostly as it appeared in the final version. No idea what happened to it, but after the school closed down my friend bought the Jupiter and the 700 ...and they are in his basement to this day.
@@NeilABlissOnly the biggest composers in the world could offer a score on that setup now. Funny to think.
Could I have the address of your friends basement? I'm just booking the hit team and we'll relieve him of the System 700.
I first discovered YMO when I was 16 and I'm now 61. Went to see them live in London in 1980. It was amazing. You could have made a video of how they folded their underpants and I would watch it. Thanks Alex for the tribute to such a fantastic band. RIP Ryuichi and Yukihiro.
YMO live at the Greek Theater is legit my favorite live performance ever. I love that they've been getting more attention lately and I love seeing this insight into their groundbreaking composition!
Agreed, their version of Cosmic Surfing at the Greek was the best version by far!
@@johnny.storm-wolf Oh absolutely, and that version of Thousand Knives is absolutely mind-melting!
I strongly suggest listening to their Faker Holic live album, banger versions!
Nothing but respect for those brilliant folks who actually made music with these things. I've never felt so dumb and bewildered watching someone make music with a num pad.
YES!
There isn't enough about YMO. I'm still waiting for someone to make a documentary about their influence on early electro and rap.
1000 Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto is also incredible.
1000 knives stands up even now. Amazing music, yes.
Have you checked out the B2 album by Sakamoto, some even nicer tracks like Riot in Lagos and Participation Mystique, incredible production!@@AlexBallMusic
Riot in Lagos still sounds like the future to my ears. Not sure to what extent tinnitus plays a part in that.
I saw the thumbnail and Rydeen just jumped into my head immediately... YMO is an amazing band :)
日本のYMOファン、シンセ好きには最高の動画です！ Great Video, thank you Alex ! !
The homage to YMO at the end was fantastic!
There is an old German documentary from the mid 1960s where they show how composers of modern classical avant-garde (then called "electronic music") used to put in pitch and gate information step-by-step on even more rudimentary, clunky semi-mechanical devices. This job would be carried out by an assistant following a written score. I wonder if Roland's device was informed by that older practice, and invented partially with those composers in mind. Perhaps that's what also inspired its "Composer" name. Also, it's fascinating how that type of "composing" got carried over to the 303.
I'd be interested to see that! The MC-8 was actually a more sophisticated, multi track version of a prototype built by Ralph Dyck. Ikutaro Kakehashi caught wind of its development and did a deal with him to make it a Roland project.
Perhaps Ralph knew of those earlier devices.
Found it: th-cam.com/video/4L4n7xN0mIs/w-d-xo.html
It's from Nineteen-Hundred and Sechsty-Sieben.
@@AlexBallMusic Also, "earlier device" undersells it a bit, I think. It was several rooms of devices, it seems.
@@vinylarchaeologist Holy hell, that looks like a space shuttle launch. That, or programming a CNC lathe. And they're god damn serious about it!
We still call it “electronic music” ?
Early Japanese synth pop and tech have contributed so much to my musical life. Thanks for covering YMO and their tech connections.
Nailed the YMO sound! Killer song.
“Hello my fellow dorks,” is a top-tier opening line that caught me by surprise. 😂 Synth dorks are the best dorks. Great film as usual….RIP Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi. (The closing track is such a great tribute to YMO too!)
I knew that would resonate.
Thousands of nods. "Yep, I'm a dork".
The YMO tribute was fantastic. Excellent stuff.
YMO has been a fave for over 30 years. Thanks, Alex!
Absolute bosses.
You sir, are a scholar and a wizard. If anything, this video makes me even more impressed by YMO, none of those songs could have come easy. Also, nobody can convince me that the end track isn't an unreleased YMO-track, it's absolutely bang on!
Thanks! Yeah, getting into just a small bit of the mechanics of their music reveals how impressive it was.
スウェーデンのYMOファン向けでもあります。 2からのご挨拶！Love your interpretation Alex🙂
You ll need to be a superman like the famous japanese trio to program it and get the wonderful tunes of the first YMO albums. Congrats to Alex ..nice effort and very nice YMO style tune!!
I was fortunate enough to work with the YMO in the early 80's. In addition to the musicians in the studio there were 3 or 4 engineers from Roland present who continually built, patched and tinkered with all kinds of wild & wonderful prototypes. They spoke no English, we spoke no Japanese so much hilarity ensued on a daily basis over decoding sign language!
I think it would definitely possible to convince someone that the song you made was a lost YMO composition, you really nailed their style!
YMO not to be underestimated! Great hommage to these masters.
YMO Computer Games bring me to my childhood, I used to have the 45 record also I remember hearing that song in the arcade room in my local shopping mall, that was around 78 or 79.
The MC-8 was also used by Martin Rushent in Human League Dare album with a System 700, the equipment is listed in the album.
And like always your videos and your tunes are outstanding, thanks Alex.
I heard Firecracker by YMO a few years ago and now is part of my regular song roster
your song perfectly captured the spirit of YMO
Cheers Tom. Still got yours?
@@AlexBallMusic yes. I bought a second mC4 also
YMO, Devo and the Buggles are the ones who inspired me to play keys. Great video Alex :)
A computer? That sequences music??? I never thought I'd see the day! (great-sounding track, BTW)
It'll never catch on.
Great homage Alex! Incredible YMO style end track!! Plus vrai que les vrais ! (vocoder + synth bells down and up at 17:01 are perfect!)
RIP Maestro Sakamoto and Takahashi Yukihiro 🙏
This makes trackers interfaces look positively heavenly.
Amazing, as a YMO fan and a fellow dork, I had no idea they used the MC-8. What a stunningly made video documentary - as always, Alex !
Hey Yotam. They did indeed! The early albums were all done with this mad computer.
Blimey, as musician myself, I take my hat off to you!!! YMO are a HUGE influence, so this stuff really resonates with me. Nice one.
What I think is great about this era of instruments is the user interface and physical package of the instrument. Solid buttons that make a confident click, lovely knobs, metal front panel and beautiful wood side panels.
It would be criminal for you not to make more YMO style music. Your YMO is as on point as the real thing, seriously, top notch Alex.
This gem will for sure soon replace all our DAWs , VST and all that software crap!! This is amazing!!! It's the future!!
This project is wonderful!
By the way, for my music, I operated the MC-4.
Hideki Matsutake (who was said to be the fourth YMO member)
I won the award for excellence in the show's contest.
Its spring, the cherry blossoms are flying in the air. Its time for the Lovers in Tokyo to type values into their mc-8!
There's no way that I'm typing out a melody like this. But it's mind blowing to see how far that music production has come since these were in use.
I did that entire end track with the MC-8 and I may never do it again. 😂
@AlexBallMusic 😮... 😆 🤣 🤣 .I hear you. I know that you like analog hardware and synths. Do you ever play with virtual synths? I'm curious about your thoughts about Uvi Falcon 3, and the Mpc Live 2. And my burning question is... how do you make pc instruments, a daw, and pc plugins sound comparable to hardware equipment on a sonic level? Can you do a video on that for us computer users? @AlexBallMusic
@AlexBallMusic that final track is awesome by the way. That composer made a good synth bass sound. And I love the sound of that prophet 6. Do the computer emulations of it sound accurate?I can't afford analog gear yet. I would love to have a mixing console if I could. On another note, do you have a favorite talkbox? I'm trying to get a Zapp and Roger sound. Thank you.
Have you checked out the Uvi Toy Suite?I haven't bought it yet, it's kind of expensive. But it has a 8 bit virtual synth in it for making video game type sounds. How does it sound to you?Zelda, well Nintendo and Sega level sounds from the 80's? Have a good day. You make great videos. Thank you.
NGL Alex, this is actually better than YMO who I love. Never mind the epochs of geological time spent programming the MC8. You're a compositional monster - the chord voicings and clever resolutions at the end of each section made me laugh out loud. Absolutely pitch perfect, and one of the best things ever on TH-cam, seriously.
Very kind, thank you!
@@AlexBallMusic I'm not kidding Alex, this is your finest moment yet. Apart from all the other ones.
The track you wrote with this relic is an absolute belter mate!!!
Wow pretty cool vintage piece of music equipment and history great tribute to YMO 🎶
Insane how well the 8th note bass ideas CARRY this tune, but ofcourse the harmonies - Argh, I just love it
Roland knew the MC8 would be ahead of its time, that's why the left hand section is labelled with the abbreviation for Laugh My Ass Off.
I think it means Input My Ass Off.
Literally *LMAO*
YMO is a legendary group!
Legendary! So incredible you are covering this Alex, thank you for all your hard work ❤
Cheers Jasper!
Man, complicated times back then. We are so spoiled now. Great track, love YMO!
Hey JP! Yeah, you had to work for your notes and rhythms back in the day.
Just wild that classics like Rydeen and Kimi ni Mune Kyun were put together this way!! Very informative and great song.
Thanks so much for showing current and future generations how much effort and planning it took back then to make electronic music.
And the YMO track really does sound like something our esteemed Japanese friends would have made back in 1978. Great work!
That song is really a "happy moment" song. Buying it promptly.
Round of applause for Jeff, Hillary and Susan for their valuable contribution!! Fantastic video Alex! 🙂
They were crucial.
What a delight! Thanks so much for making this video. Matsutake and YMO are legends :)
I’ll never moan about the Logic Pro edit page EVER again. Great vid!
Volatile memory, all that programming, dumping at least two versions to tape in case there was a dropout on 1st dump to my Fostex X-15. The joys of using the MC-202 post 1983 and its 2 tracks. I'm 'avin' an 'ot flush. Thanks for taking me back there...I think.
Damn. You are a treasure, Alex. It’s one thing to love these obscure and dorky devices like we do, and it’s another thing to make these wonderful demonstration/explanation videos but, my oh my, the demo music you make with them is absolutely stunning. If you were the only reason the internet/TH-cam were invented, it’s almost worth enduring all the other crap. Bravo!!!
This is so effing cool. I never knew anything but sequencing with the Mac (MasterTracks Pro!) when I started in 1990. It's amazing how music recording technology has gone from pressing vibrations into a foil cylinder into a a near-limitless DAW with emulations of every piece of gear ever... inside a laptop.
It's interesting how old synthesizers will maintain widespread allure for their sound characteristics, but old support devices like this sorta just become obsolete curiosities.
Yes, especially as devices like this actually had quite an effect on the way the music was made and how it sounded.
Makes you appreciate the lowly Keystep so much more.
Also, this makes me appreciate the fact that I learned how to sequence I. 1987 on an Ensoniq ESQ-1, which was a BREEZE! I wanted a Sequential Six Trak but had to wait until a friend bought the Ensoniq for me to borrow it. Life changing stuff.
Wow...Talk about nostalgia! I haven't listened to my YMO albums in *YEARS*! What a delight listening to you explain this really tedious method of sequencing! and your homage to YMO's music with your stylized composition was just toe-tapping! I do remember looking at the back of one of their albums and seeing the list of equipment that they used to record that album and thinking to myself that it must be so amazing to have access to all those wonderful machines and synths and wishing I had just one of those things! Today, I enjoy my Yamaha DX7 FDII that I've had for 20+ years and a whole host of Korg Volcas and my latest acquisition, a Deepmind 12. That and my birthday present to myself, the NDLR and I can get some pretty decent stuff out of it. Thanks for rekindling my enjoyment or YMO...now I gotta dig out their albums and relisten to them again!
Brilliant video (as always) and DAMN, the YMOesque song you did so lovingly on all the period gear is wonderfully spot on. Bravo!
Man, first the DAF sequencer, and now YMO's sequencer! ❤
2024 is turning out to be the year of the sequencer.
You are very talented and patient Alex. I am impressed. I had a step time sequencer once: Firstman and then Roland MC50. The song in the style of YMO you composed is also excellent.
You just gave me the most beautiful smile on my face !!
Thank you !! Love this so much !! ♥️
Of all the equipment YMO used, the MC-8 was definitely the one piece most responsible for their sound. Thanks for doing a YMO doc, Alex. I’d love to know more about the LMD-649 sampler they used, but I don’t know if it exists anymore!
Oh boy, yes! I'd love to do something on the LMD. Maybe I'll get a chance somehow.
I am one of the YMO maniacs in Japan. LMD649 was specially made by the staff for YMO and is not for sale. So there is only one in the world, and we do not know if it is still in existence. However, I remember that a long time ago, a Japanese synthesizer magazine introduced a method for its creation.
Always a pleasure to land on one of these videos early!
Just got my Siel Mono up and running again so I'm in a very synthy mood!
Excellent. Play along!
It's absolutely mind-blowing how good we have it these days. It seems so silly that we, as a community, tend to tear apart every new device that is announced because of some esoteric function that it doesn't have. Just imagine running a live show on something like this! I could never keep everything straight, punching in every little detail in this way. I'm so grateful for the handful of machines I have that make everything so easy.
Thanks for your video, always wondered how the hell you could program stuff into these boxes. That YMO-influenced song at the end was lovely !
Yep! I had to know how this thing worked and so I got one and learned. I'll now file that under the biggest folder in my brain: Useless things I didn't need to do.
The demo songs you do never cease to amaze me. You clearly have a ton of musical talent and a great production ability, and the fact you use them for tech demos just shows how much you love these instruments. Really captured the YMO vibe on this one!
Thank you! I do indeed love these instruments. :)
Such a great song and incredible detailed video about MC-8 and YMO!
Many thanks from Tokyo🗼
That’s just amazing and nuts at the same time. So happy we have computers nowadays. That’s said, super vidéo where we learn things and discover so much. Thank you Alex, you rock!
Really grateful for this video in helping to understand how this thing was used and how Ymo used it. Yes, it was time consuming compared to today, but I’m impressed with the Roland person’s well thought out design and usability (like hitting enter again instead of having to re-input the same number)
Indeed, that was way out for the late 70's
Great song !! Indeed YMO style 👍
In 1999 I purchased an Alesis MMT-8.
I hated it and blame my need for reading glasses on the four years I spent staring at that little screen.
This video made me remember these horrible days and the headache I would get behind my eyes. LOL
BUT, I can see why this method of working would be freeing to a composer. It's a step above notation and if you know what you are doing can deliver some amazing results.
I still would never, EVER want to return to this workflow.
Always love the songs you do on these videos, I don't know how you manage to find those interesting chords sequences, they are spot on 10/10!!!!!!!!!!
I love the music, I love the editing, this is an impressive work. Amazing quality.
Sweet! These beasts are pure synth exotica. Banger of a song too 😁
Wow another awesome track! the YMO colour is striking!
It's awesome to see this device in this condition.
That is pretty advanced for 1977. Definitely a small revolution in music production right there. It kinda reminds me of how you'd do music in tracker programs by programming each note. Or the apt comparison you brought up with the TB-303.
Roland is just amazing.
Yeah. The big advantage of trackers however was GUI - you can see more than one step at a time ;)
@@adamstan84also that the trackers gave you note names, rather than forcing the user to remember numbers!
Trackers were really all about the user interface, since the underlying method of producing a table of numbers for the sound chip had been going on for a while. Which is probably why as a sequencer interface they’re still going strong, ported to all sorts of different sound chips or even plain MIDI for controlling plugins!
@@kaitlyn__L That's right! I have some very fond memories of FastTracker II on my PC in late 90s.
Thank you! Enjoyed Lovers in Tokyo immensely!
liked the video and all, but maaaan... THE FEATURE TRACK ROCKS❤❤❤
Very impressive how much work goes into programming these first micro-composers. All I can say is thank God for Dave Smith and Chet Wood for developing the MIDI specifications.
Wonderful video as per, and the track at the end is superb 👌🏻
I am always taken aback by your talent with these machines and your inate musical abilities. And also your use of "crotchet" and "quaver" et al. As a yank I am so unaccustomed to the British way of describing subdivisions of the bar. It's pretty cool to have something so foreign to me yet be the same language. It's kinda like watching "are you being served" back in the day. 😂
Cheers
Ive always said tec gets in the way of inspiration & actually making music, just shows how YMO and alike pushed through and came up with some great music, whilst having to divert and learn the new tec. How easy we have it now, and i suppose thats why modern music sounds the same.Big fan of YMO since the late 70's. Good track you did here, Thank you.
Excellent. You are unique - - musician, tech guru, and top tier presenter
The b-roll of pressing the buttons in the "LOAD" section is a true delight.
ETA: All of this b-roll is a delight. Thank you, Mr. Ball.
Gotta have those cutaways!
Amazing stuff! 😃 Thank you for doing the step-by-step bit - it's really amazing to see how this indeed is the forefather of what we see and do in sequencing software nowadays. Amazing lineage 😃
YMO Hip Hop Breaks !!!!
Hi Alex, its no wonder we haven't seen many videos lately, you have been programming steps into an MC-8. I can't imagine how long this video took to make. You really are dedicated to your passion. I bought a CSQ-600 in 1980 and it was a breeze to program and make music. It obviously isn't as capable though. You made a good point about the MC-8 being the precursor to DAW transport controls.An amazing amount of work, a catchy song and enetertaining and informative video. Thanks so much!
LOVE the closing track!!!