The Roland CR 5000 came out in 1980/1981
It's very similar to the CR 8000. - the case is virtually identical. (The 8000 has twice the number of presets).
There are 9 sounds in the 5000 (BD, SD, Cy, HH, Toms, Rim shot, Congas, Claves, Cowbell)
and 24 presets.
The presets are arranged into 3 banks of 8. They include the Samba, rhumba,
mambo, merengue, waltz, foxtrot, Bossa Nova, as well as Rock 1,
2, 3,etc, and one disco pattern
The bass drum is
a lot like a 606 - short and boxy.
The 5 volume pots on the top are identical to those used on the Roland 808. and as in the 808 they also control individual voice levels.
There ia a Accent knob for volume variation within patterns
I really dig the control of the cymbals and hi-hats.
The five buttons under the "arranger" section make it easy to select various combinations (4ths and 8ths cymbal, 4ths
and 8ths hi-hat, open hi-hat).
The 6th button in the arranger group turns on & off the conga.
These can be used in any combination
with any of the 24 presets.
I really like the Shuffle mode too --It randomizes the patterns.
We also have a 'Register' button to switch quickly between the Arranger & Preset settings.
The Crash button enables/disables the end-of-bar Crash cymbal sound
Intro/Auto fill-in knobs give 8 settings.
There are 8 fill patterns that can be triggered every 2,4,8,12 or 16 bars
There is a manual fill button or you can use the knob to automatically place
the fills on the end of the 4, 8, 12th etc measure
It has a trigger out (8", 16", accent)
for
different speed arpeggios on Roland synths that accept EXT clock in.
But but sadly no trigger in .
There are 4 remote control inputs via a DP-2 footswitch.
The controls are start/stop, restart, intro/fill in & register.
Sadily there is just one audio output & no
din sync.
The DP-2 foot switch
Links:
1.
Estecho - adding individual outs
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For more info on the history of Roland Drum Machines
click here