Bad Gear - Roland PMA-5
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Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Roland PMA-5. Is this 90s touch screen sequencer and General Midi sound module the precursor of the iPad, Garage Band and every music production app in existence?
We all love Robin Rimbaud AKA Scanner:
scannerdot.com/
• Scanner & Stephen Viti... - เพลง
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Thanks for those sweet and generous words. The PMA-5 played a large part on my sonic arsenal back in the 1990s and early 2000s, and to think how many times people asked me what I was 'drawing' on stage 😀 Great to see you celebrate this little gem here! Congrats!
Hey Robin, as a long time fan I really appreciate your support!!!
cool to know you used this as a serious instrument Robin
I carried mine everywhere as a sketchpad when I had a free moment in the late 90s, then later used the QY-100 a bunch - now the iPad and iPhone are serious multitouch instruments, good times :-)
also I really enjoyed your "sonic dinner" performance with Hainbach last year :-)
You were drawin in notes!
@@AudioPilz And vice-versa. And people need to support one another more than ever these days too! Keep up the very entertaining work indeed!
@@SynthAddict Yes, as this channel suggests there's a lot hidden under the surface of even the poorest of instruments! That show with Hainbach was great fun. We wanted to replicate it in theatres too but of course that wasn't going to happen after all!
Never get tired of hearing, 'master wolume'.
Always a pleasure;)
@@AudioPilz Is it an Austrian accent thing? Because I would expect a German to say it like "folume", cause, you know, vier, Volkswagen, etc.
@@urfavoritehumanbean879 it's just confusion. German V can sound more like an F (Vogel, Vater) and like a softer V (Vase, Volumen). W most of the time sounds kinda like the english V (can also be silent). Then W in english exists and makes it all even more complicated. So most people think "there's something special to be remembered about these V and W sounds" but they keep getting confused and just use the English W pronounciation for everything. That is my theory.
@@mbbmbbmm interesting. Here in Norway we don't have the German V sounding like an F, we tend to use F for that. W is not a thing. But when some Norwegians learning English try to pronounce the V in words like Pivot, it can come out as sounding like we're pronouncing Piwot. I know I did these mistakes when we started to learn English back in the 4th grade.
Slave volume …..lick that boot NOW!
"It felt like answering emails"
Via midi.
Need email to midi adapter!!!
Still better than 2400 baud XD
@@mycosys Haha 31250 baud to be oddly specific!
“There’s a sysex for that.”
@@Roboprogs get a nice unconvincing general midi piano at the same time.
The man is absolutely Roland in it lately
They just released as many instruments as all other brands combined;) edit: damn, I didn't get the pun at first😂😂😂
Mijc - great pun! 😎
They see him Roland-in', they hatin'.
We’re knee-deep in Roland over here!!!
It might be neat for Roland to re-release this as an app for Android or iOS. This would fit nicely on an iPad or phone nowadays.
Absolutely!!! I'd get one of these!
@@AudioPilz They do have an app called Zenbeats that is pretty much the modern version of this.
Sad but true Roland is not so smart with re-releasing gear liike Yamaha and Korg. When tey reissue a piece of gear it is not so great in the digital age.
you shouldn't use apps at all.
Nothing says "the carefree spirit of rock n' roll" like holding a stylus pen.
Absolutely! Robin Rimbaud was always afraid that people might think he was smoking;)
😆
@@AudioPilz - jimcarrey_smokin.gif
Or nothing says badass musician like composing something at 30,000 feet in a jet.
You would drop that "spirit", if you made a Hit-song on it.!
Incredibly, this sounds better than that boutique device from the last video.
Shots fired!!!😅
actually i have to agree
Exactly. Is this just their implementation of the Sound Canvas / General MIDI on a PDA sequencer? Had trouble wrapping my mind around what this thing was.
But it sounded GREAT in the jam.
@@bwgti yes it is. Pure SC sound at its best.
I bought one about 10 years ago and although I am left handed it made me cry so I sold it six months later. I watched your video and realise I made a terrible mistake. I should have sold it earlier.
Lol😂
The PMA-5 was my first sequencer and was way ahead of its time. The sounds are still viable. I will always have love for my PMA-5.
Wow, that must be the largest Roland screen of all time!!
ROFL
Nukes fired
The LMNC reference was perfection
Love his stuff!
7:19 this sounds like it would fit perfect in blastcorps 64 or maybe even transport tycoon. That snare sample just sets the era so hard
80s Roland snares FTW!!!
Florian, you look like a smooth genius controlling that setup with those steady stylus skills 🏆
...and thank you for yet another world-class shout-out! 🤸♂️
Hey, thank you so much!!!
At first I wasn't sure if it would tickle all the foxes, but by the end I was convinced it does, indeed, pick all the lockses.
Seriously impressed at how you managed to make the PMA-5 seem like a viable instrument given its infamy.
Thanks! Nothing wrong with a good ole Sound Canvas;)
But does it pickle all the loxes?
Another great vid bro. It seems that PMA-5 was really ahead for sure. And the fact that they could pack all that into that box is more amazing. I can't see myself ever trying to use something like that then or now, but if you were in a plane crash in the Swiss alps and in-between eating the dead passengers to stay alive, you could make some beats for the arriving to late rescue team to enjoy when they found it in your frozen hands, and your family playing it at your memorial , and they would tell the guest "he would have wanted this played at his funeral"
Thanks! Story of my life;)
This was a great idea that transforms into a bad product in usability. The modern tablet "tickles all the foxes" of a similar kind these days.
I think it was quite appreciated back then
@@AudioPilz
I would've appreciated it back then because of its capabilities. My head wasn't in the musical space then that it is now. These days, it looks like a test of one's patience and perseverance. I have Cubasis on a tablet but rather use real hardware. The Roland is still hardware.
Actually working and pressi g / pushing with a pen is way more controllable, than accidently sliding over a non-resistive touchscreen. It's really a composing tool at it's best. You compose your music instead of playing it.
Well, questionable usability is still part of Roland's corporate identity.
Haha, I have (quite recently) bought this unit for its GS Sound Canvas sounds. Nice battery powered device to use with a laptop and old DOS games :)
Agreed!
'Roland should boutique this' - LOL
Absolutely!!!
Agreed, why not put it all in the pen ! Micro usb should fit for charging :)
Behringer should clone it
@@AudioPilz Man I'd love an app that was a copy of the PMA5
Incredible showing !!
The PMA in PMA-5 stands for the fact its designer was Probably Mad Annoyed !! I still kinda dig it though lol… and yes, more Bobby Prince Meets EBM Null-Modem Cable Deathmatch 80s Sample Funk Gothwave bro!! It has a slapstick / steampunk vibe to it #PARTICIPATION 😎💓✌🏼 PS: Extra props for that Jeff Goldblum still from The Fly 🪰 💚
Correct! Thanks!
Man this is such a cool channel. Thanks for all you do.
Thanks for watching!
I remember when I first met Adam from Le Car/ Adult., he had one of these to compose ideas while he worked at the local Museum in Detroit.
Nice!!!
I had one and used it on gigs for years.
i wanted one when it came out but the learning curve is too steep for me. it took me 5 years to master the MC303 and i think i’ll need another 6 just for the PMA-5 🤣
in other news, Bobby Prince Meets EBM Null-Modem Cable Deathmatch 80s Sample Funk Gothwave is exactly what late 90s Roland engineers imagined what this thing is for
The PMA-5 is not as frightening as you might think (MC303 is much worse IMHO)
Yep, the genre this week was legit as hell and it's definitely one of best!
@Chris Cheltenham that was a mistake, my friend, I made too, 20 years ago, now I'm here again in the market for a MC grooveboxes again.
So glad you found a PMA-5 and ran your magic over it. I will always fondly remember mine as more PITA-5 but I happily passed the time on it on many a long commute when I lived in Seoul, a city where nobody will think you are weird for using a PITA-5 out in public. I think I traded it in for a Roland Fantom FA76 (plus cash) obviously I couldn't get enough of the Roland sound back in the 00s, kinda wish I'd held onto it. Nice show as always, Fridays are officially my favourite day now :-)
Thanks! That's one of the great thing about Asian cities, stuff like that is completely normal.
Best name for a memejam yet?? Fantastic video as always, I loved the zoom-out to the m-audio keyboard controller, just great timing. It's the finer touches in your edits that complete the comedic & entertaining package 👏👏
Thank you!!!
These videos have become the highlight of my Fridays.
Thanks!!
Thank you so much!
HUGE part of my music career! I have to admit it did take a lot of work to master it but I think it'll always be here in my studio. I think Roland deserves big praise for being so innovative and it's a shame that the PMA5 wasn't a bigger success :)
Hey Glynn! I wholeheartedly agree!
Some of devices are to ahead of its time. If some device is using something unusual for unusual sake, it will not get popularity. You have some standards for something, if you go against the current, make sure your device is really revolutional. PMA-5 sounds good on paper, but it is not practical as today's Novation Circuit despite later don't have a screen. Just like synths of late 80's and onward, manufacturers decided to ditch controls on their digital and analogue synths (Moog Source from 80's), some had programmers like JX-8P, but still M1, DX7, Wavestation, D-50 all of them without additional knobs or sliders to control or create sounds, JD-800 from Roland was move in right direction but to late. Preset machines for the most of people, no matter how great or complex their architecture and sound was.
@@303machine Good insight, thanks 303M :)
This one got a bunch of much needed laughs out of me, I have to keep my cursor over the pause button so I don't miss any of the hilarity. Please keep up the great work!
Thanks!
Yes, you finally got one! I’ve hinted at this device a while ago. Thanks 🙏 my friend!
Thanks! It took me a little longer to find one for an affordable price
That outro was one of your best tracks yet! Beautiful really
Thank you!!!
Extra points for the Bud Spencer reference!
I don't think I'd have the patience for that bit of gear. I'd suggest doing a vid on one of the old early 90's Zoom effects units, but they are more of a guitar thing than for synths. I had a 9002, loved it.
Thanks! I have a 505 multi here. Great little box!
@@AudioPilz hah! Awesome!
@@AudioPilz Great show as always! Speaking of Zoom how about the R8? Showcasing it's much vaunted "sampler" credentials?
Man, the track and the silent film montage were great!
Thanks!!!
Thanks for introducing me to this piece of interesting gear. The interface brings me right back to the 90s.
It won't get any more 90s than that😅
I swear to god I'm not stalking you, I just came across your channel recently - I received my PMA-5 today, it sounds as good as I hoped .... great 808 kit and pads. Going to rule the underground scene with this bad boy!!!
Yeah, way to go!!!
dang i actually really like the way that thing sounds! would've blown my mind with music making fun if i had this as a kid.
Absolutely! Would have loved to have one of these as a teen!
This guy can make anything sound good.
Thank you so much!
Been waiting for this one! Very fun!
Happy to hear that! Thanks!
Tonnes of extra kudos points for the Bud Spencer reference. Now you're free to go jamming on the Donau Insel with your beloved PMA-5. Vienna won't be the same again... ;)
Thanks! Now as the rain set in🙁
@@AudioPilz Ach! Schade... :( 27 °C und sonnig hier in Triest. Viel Spass!
damnnn i had forgotten about the PMA-5 never expected it to appear on bad gear(not that i consider it good gear i just thought it would come much later) amazing video as always
Thanks!
Aha! I just thought " I wonder if Bad Gear has posted". And voilà. 😁🙏
Thank God it's Friday;)
@@AudioPilz Yay! 🤸
Definitely considering speedrun the entire library of videos from your channel! hahahaha
You always came up with amazing jams using these devices, specially the "Bobby Prince meets EBM Null-modem cable Deathmatch 80s sample funk gothwave" hits super great on my audio system.
As always, fridays became more special since AudioPilz showed up on TH-cam ♥
Lot's of love from Brazil 🇧🇷
Obrigado!!!
I love the bass tones! ...and yer right, that snare is amazing!
Agreed! Great drum machine!!!
7:15 man those drums really do sound good!
Totally blew my mind!!!
5:11 a moment of silence for those Americans who don't know who bud Spencer is
Mmmmh, beans...
Dude that jam at 6:14 ouf so good. Loving these vids as always 👍 looks like the groovebox of my nightmares, but you made it sound pretty damn good!
Thank you!!!
Back when I bought mine (late nineties? - used) I had high hopes of creating music on the go and using the PMA-5 as a sound canvas (Sound Canvas). I think I kept it only a few months. Back out on ebay it went (where it came from). Then I bought a couple of the Yamaha versions with their VHS tape shape (they also were bad gear, and I sold all but one).
Thanks for the very amusing reviews.
Thank you!!! Love the little Yamahas
You can always count on Roland for an over-complicated menu structure, which probably makes total sense to their engineers.
But at least this thing should be good as a Sound Canvas alternative for vintage PC gamers.
The menu structure of the PMA is surprisingly straight-forward (there are other quirks tho)
Have you ever used Yamaha gear ?
I remember seeing this for the first time in San Francisco in the late 90s. A Rhodes keyboardist/Singer had his entire album on it.
I was like.. "what the...???"
For the Neo-Soul/RnB he genre worked in it was perfect. Quite impressive at the time.
I always wondered what that little black music wallet thingy he used was. Thanks for the memories.
Yeah, I assume people like this guy were the main target group
@@AudioPilz Indeed. I could tell that it was his "weapon of choice" he was very comfortable with the interface and it seemed like an extension of his body. As we all ideally would have our favourite gear be for us.
Now only if I could remember his name and look him up.
Great episode. As usual my friend. Thank you very much for the "edutainment".
No one else on youtube can entertain me with so much eye and ear candy, and nowhere near as consistently.
Thank you!!!
Appreciate the Bobby Prince shoutout! One of the legends
Yeah, love his work!
That touch display from the days before real touch displays would turn me into Sauron in like 30 seconds flat. Thing is like a coconut... nice enough on the inside, but getting to it is a labour of Hercules.
Nice analogy!!!
That snippet from Sam’s vid tho lol
You can clearly hear the desperation;)
I LOVE Bebot!! I've been using it for years for all kinds of fills and things!
Classic app!
MY HOME MUSIC STUDIO in 1997:
MIDI Keyboard: ???
PC: Pentium I Windows 95, RAM: 12Mb, Soundblaster AWE32 from CREATIVE, General Midi Drums and 127 Voices + FM Synthesizer
Software: Micro LOGIC 5.0
I LOVE 80s and 90s
Nothing wrong with this setup, great stuff!
Just in time
None too soon;)
i love your show. it's my favourite show ever. The only little detail that's anoying is that i always have to keep changing my soundsystem's volume up and down all the time during each episode :( generally the presentation blow my ears out and then i can't listen very well what you say :/ i suspect recent episodes are more consistent (louding speaking :P) than early ones, but i still find that out. I'm telling you this because i care u_u
Thanks for the input!
I have been waiting for this....
Thanks! Hope it was worth the wait!
It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down with Bad Gear on Friday!!
Bad Gear Day!!!
a must have for the patrick bateman on the go.
I've got to return some video tapes
Let's hear Paul Allen's track
Underrated comment
Those drums sound perfect.
Yup, great kits!!!
Yeeeessssss! Thank you for picking up my suggestion!
Always a pleasure, thanks!!!
This is perfect. Only thing lacking is a simcard slot
Agreed!
"Aw mate, drive you mental, never stopped talking about money." I miss old, semi-legal, Scanner :)
The legend!
Did I miss the obvious "Kraftwerk- Pocket Calculator" joke? I mean, c'mon!
Great video as always, keep up the good work!
Thanks! Had the Kraftwerks in the last episode;)
That's reserved for the OP-1 / OP-Z
The editing was on point for the silent era music video!
Thanks!
The feature list at the end l notwithstanding; this is the perfect expression of this series' title. Cheers bro, good one.
Thanks!
Sounds like a 80s unit from the 90s, packed in a pocketline swing format from early 2000 😋
That sums it up pretty nicely!
Geile Jams
Danke!
I'm a fan of portable devices and it's nice to see a review yet another one I didn't even know existed.
Thanks again for sharing :-)
Thanks for watching!
"Today on Roland Gear!"
I had a Sound Canvas keyboard during the 90s and for when we played live I used black tape to cover the part of the R so it looked like "Poland."
I mostly used it as a big ole midi controller.
In German speaking regions we had a lot of fun with Marshall Amps and duct tape😂😂😂
Friday!
Weekend!!!
I have a Yamaha QY-10 and QY-70 and I love them both. This is even smaller and sounds fantastic! That UI, though. Is it harder to use than the QY series? That shouldn't be possible.
I found it much more convenient to use than the QY-10
I didn't realize you could buy replacements for the entire save battery structure. I just bought a watch battery from the drug store, yanked the old one out and soldered the new one in and it worked like a charm
Some devices make that easier than others!
After watching some of your videos, I though you were listing my old 90's tiny travel set-up: SU-10, QY10 (and qy20 later), Casio SK1 and PMA-5. So your rewiews pushed me to dive down in the geologic strates of my cave, found and old case labelled "obsolete", plug some cables and wow! resurrection!! they are still working, more than 30 years later!
Since these days, I buried for eternity 3 Ataris, 7 PC tower, 4laptops, 2 macs and 2 Ipad ...
Yeah, some of these devices are built to last!
Roland can't catch a break.
My favorite brand❤️❤️❤️
Why hasn't Roland given you a sponsorship yet 😆
A friend of a friend asked them and the answer was, erm, frosty;)
AudioPilz Roland: “Am I so out of touch? No, it’s AudioPilz who is wrong”
@@tdzucker I feel like roland is extremely out of touch
@@ProSimex84 not out of touch, but in their own lane
AudioPilz's a man of the people, with late nights programming that little PDA for content.
It's an honor and a privilege!!! Thanks!
That sound is giving me severe Command & Conquer flashbacks. I love it
Yeah, the 90s game soundtrack is strong with this one
There's barely any game that wasn't composed on an SC-55 in the 90s!
Now it's time for Yamaha QY10 ;-)
You can do it, I believe in you!
But...but...the fear...
Yes ! Any QY will do.
@Chris Cheltenham QY20 and QY10 are very different things, when it goes about being user friendly ;-)
@@AudioPilz Fear is only in your head. 12 bit sample based cheesy sounds and useless sequencer are for real!
Any music gear with a touch screen, even with my preferred style of touch screen that uses a stylus (I feel like a child finger painting using touch screen with a finger, I can work a pencil, dammit!) is a hard pass for me. I put up with it on modern tablets if I'm using something like Caustic, but in the end, touch screens are just...nope. Just from a logistics perspective, if it goes out of alignment/gets broken, you lose ALL interface. If a single button or knob goes bad on normal gear, you can work around it even if it's annoying and the repair will generally be easier to pull off than dealing with touch screen replacement.
That said, it looks like they made battery powered version of the SC-55 with on board sequencer...?
According to Sound on Sound the samples are supposedly taken from some SC based sound card
Usually I have a bit of a desire to own whatever "bad" piece of gear you show. However, in this case, my QY70 or QY100 from Yamaha trounces this thing in every way, shape and form!
Believe me, if you're used to the QYs, working with the PMA becomes really easy;)
It's always a good time when a new bad gear episode is out...
Thanks!
I recognise that GngRap-A pattern!
I guess Five Iron Frenzy had one of these back in the day and used it on their _most serious_ tracks: th-cam.com/video/CKHLwkf3vSY/w-d-xo.html
Did not expect that 🤯
Damn, there it is😂😂😂 Thanks for posting!!!
@@AudioPilz You're welcome. I'll gladly share my knowledge of weird silly B-Sides of old ska bands 😂
I'm not sure it reflects positively on me that I immediately recognised it. 🙈
I came here to comment the same thing lmao.
.0001 seconds into that sample I recognized it as rap pants. Now I have to wonder if all the pants songs used presets from this thing...
Dude, this last song of yours sounds frickin' epic!
Thank you!!!
So clean!
So fresh!
You have a true gift for GS arrangement. Bad Gear forever! Happy Friday :) Damn, I have always wished my PMA-5 had a phone book and a calendar 😅
...or at least a game of Snake (THX, btw;)
@@AudioPilz Truth! (🙏🤘👍)
I don't know why I would want one of these, but it's very clear that I need one.
Always a pleasure to make decisions easier;)
I love love love that snare and the bass
Agreed, nice TR kicks too!!!
@@AudioPilz yeah, those kicks and that snare would work well in a synthwave track. The snare sounds a bit like the one Metallica used during the black album
I chuckled at "option paralysis" and "Bebot" being the picture... that app is surprisingly deep but not what I'd call overwhelming 😂
The duality of Bad Gear;)
I still have mine! Reminds me me to take it out and play with it! Has some cool crystalline synth sounds that take me right back.
Nice! That one should be in every household!!!
Seriously, I've had at least half of your stuff on my table ... This too. It was fun small midi toy for a while...
Yeah, there's a hidden matrix of Bad Gear connecting people all around thr globe;)
the only channel i watch like its a real comedy tv show every week
Thank you!!!
I was fortunate to have used one of these back in the day. For the time, this was an amazing little gadget. It was quirky, but it honestly was way more capable than it gets credit for. Those preset styles were pretty good, and the style editor was decent. You could actually put a decent song together with it. We used it to make backing music for small media productions. One of its strengths was how portable it was.
Great for that application!
Endlich! Hast du doch noch einen bekommen. Nice!!!
Yup, die Suche war lang;)
Sounds cool that little thing, i like it.
Nice Sound Canvas library!!!
I used to have pma5, I used to sit on the backbench in my classroom and sequenced music
That's what school is for;)
I wish I knew this piece in my childhood ❤️
Of course as every week: have a nice weekend with bad gear❤️
Thanks❤️❤️❤️
why do i love these damn sounds
Sound Canvas tones are a cultural artefact;)
cannot imagine anymore a friday evening without bad gear, especially after an annoying week
Thank you so much!!!