Sunday, 15 February 2015

Ace Tone (Roland) FR-4

The MultiVox FR-4 is basically a Roland Rhythm Ace from 1967.
It's all very confusing at this period as Roland was yet to be born.


 The parent company was called AceTone and it was still licencing its products to companies around the world. In the USA, the FR-4 was sold under the name MultiVox.

There are 8 sounds available on the FR-4.

It looks very similar to the FR-6 which came out in 1972. I don't think there was ever a FR-5.
The FR-6 and FR 4 have the same patterns except for one.
The second last (from left to right) on the FR-4 is DISCO.
ON the FR-6 this is now SLOW ROCK



There are 20 Presets: waltz, disco, ballad, rock'n roll, rumba, beguine, mambo, bossa nova, cha-cha, tango, samba, fox trot 1, fox trot 2, swing 1, swing 2, swing 3, march, haba-nera, bass snare, bass.
 Pretty basic mixing of patterns. The preset rhythms include 2-beat and 4-beat variations with the sounds accented on certain beats. This helps to reinforce the rhythms.
You can play more than one preset pattern at once. Combining these with the two Beat buttons opens up lots of variation in pattern.



These old machines are beautifully constructed & rock solid pieces of hardware.
The balance control adjusts the balance between the base drum and cymbal sounds.

 The diode matrix for pattern generation ??? I don't have the schematics for this drum. If anyone out there does I'd be eternally grateful if you'd contact me.

As this is a very an early machine, inductor coils & tuned tanks are used to create the drum sounds.
Thus cloning would be very difficult. Some of the individual sounds can only be isolated by messing around inside the machine. I plan to try to get individual outs first, and maybe bypass the diode matrix rhythm selector and trigger the voices separately.

Sadly there is no way to sync this to external gear without moddification.

The plan is to mod this in the future. I love the old Roland drums. That's the voice board on the top.

This is the rear section of the faceplate with the red lamp in the centre. The voice board is in the foreground.


This is the power supply part of the drum. Do be careful ... 
high & lethal voltages that can kill are here

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For more info on the history of  Roland Drum Machines click here

Roland TR-606 Drum Machine

The Roland TR-606 Drum Machine, also known as the Drumatix was produced between 1981 - 1983/84.
It was designed to accompany the TB-303. This was the same year of production of the CR-5000 & CR-8000. The TR-909 would first appear in 1983.
Roland's main competitor, Korg, released the KR Rhythm 55 at this time.

This was one of the last drum machines produced by Roland that used analog synthesis to make its sounds. Sampling technology was getting cheaper and would soon make these old skool drums unfashionable.
As with all trends, the circle has turned and anything analog is valued again.


Programming the 606 can be a bit tricky and the sounds are artificial. The 80's was all about "realistic" sampled drums so these babies lost their appeal.

Today, they sell for upwards of $700 USD.


We have 7 sounds: BD, Smare, Low Tom, High Tom, Cymbal,  Open High Hat, Closed HH.
The 606 has a small mixer above, but no individual outs for the sounds. There are mods from Kenton & Analog solutions that will add these individual outs, along with lots of other things.

We have DIN sync in/out (no midi). Its easy to sync to your 303 or anything else that uses this Roland standard.

Programming is done via the Track/Instrument knob & the Mode Knob.
It can store up to 32 patterns & 8 songs. I really like how you can switch between Pattern Play and Write mode while the drum is running  This makes it easy to switch  & edit patterns during a live performance.

The run/stop button is there on the left.


There are two modes : Track & Pattern.
When writing new patterns you use the write/pattern mode - easy it's it !!!
You can link up to 4 connecting patterns in Pattern / Play mode.

From the left we have the 9V DC in, the mono audio out, headphone out, and trigger out.
The triggers are esp useful. They utilize the Low Tom, & High Tom to trigger external synths.
Trigger out  is +14 V, 20 ms pulse --- so it should trigger most modules.
I used to use these back in the day to sync my Korg SQ-10 sequencer with DIN Sync gear like a TB-303, and it works quite well.

On the left we have the 5 pin DIN Sync socket. That switch allowing you to choose between slaving it or using the 606 as master is a beautiful thing.

Synhouse MIDIJACK DINSYNC   & Analog Solutions can add a MIDI jack.

 And she also runs on batteries... making this very portable.

Links:

1. Kenton Mods.
2. Real World Interfaces (Devilfish)
3. How to program a 606 (video)
4. HyperReal
5. ExFade Mods
6. SynthMuseum
7. Analogue Solutions Mods
8. Burnkit2600
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For more info on the history of  Roland Drum Machines click here

Saturday, 14 February 2015

8000 Drums - Roland CR-8000, some Buchla & Euro

Paul A. (aka Cobramatic) has just finished modding his Roland CR-8000
and is justifiably proud. The drum sounds amazing and I want to do this
to mine too.  What better excuse for a jam.










Korg SQ-1 sequencing a MS-20 & MS-50

Just a few experiements, videos & pics of the new Korg SQ-1.
I really like this sequencer. Small but versatile & powerful.

 These demos all use old fashioned CV/triggers. No midi.

The pics are more a record of a patches for future rference. This one used the MS-20 sample & hold.
The MS-50 has just one VCO & LP filter. It's a expander for the MS-20




Friday, 13 February 2015

Korg WaveDrum - WD-1 - The Original 1994 version.

This was one of the first drums to use "true Physicial Modelling".
It seems that only 700 to 800 were manufactured back in 1994 and they sold for a wopping $3K.
On initial examination this looks pretty steep for a electronic drum ????
However, once you realise what this actually is the price is understandable.

What we have under the hood are separate head and rim pickups, an arrangement of sensors and microphones that are used to trigger synthesized waveforms. The sound to be generated is not a sample. It is computed using a mathematical model (equations and algorithms) which are based on parameters that describe the instrument to be played.

For example, a simple drum's mathematical model will consist of  the materials and dimensions of the instrument, it's mass & density, it's stiffness, the properties of the membrane and how it can be played, the  resonance of the cylindrical body of the drum. We also need to describe the player's interaction with it, his/her movement over time.

Stereo audio outs on two quarter‑inch jack sockets.
The midi jacks don't allow you to plug this into your midi sequencer, or fix up my crummy drumming. I will just have to practice more.

Although physical modelling was not a new concept back in 1994, it was not until the increase in DSP power which brought costs down and made such instruments feasible.

The Wave drum comes shipped with 100 factory patches which you can tweak & edit.
For this to be made easier, Korg produced the  RE-1 ---- The Remote Editor.

The factory patches alone are amazing sonically as their character alters drastically depending on how you play them. Damping, pressing the head, striking the rim, scratching, rubbing, etc all produce totally different sounds from the one patch.

It's steep initial price prevented it reaching a wider audience and samples just can't convey how it sounds when played by an experienced drummer. The head & rim are very sensitive and respond without having to select any special modes. It will respond naturally to sticks, fingers, brushes, etc.

The head can be 'tuned' by means of five tension lugs, to give the required playing feel.
The skin is a Remo Fibre and can be replaced with a natural skin if needed.

So does it look more like a toilet seat or the bridge of the starship Enterprise?


I like to think the latter, but no matter what you think about it's appearance, it's sonic capability makes up 1000 times.


Some useful Links:
1. SOS - 1994 article
2. Korg's official website (global edition of the WD).
3. Original Korg Wave Drum Demo (Video)
4. SOS - 2010 article on the new WD
5. Korg WAVEDRUM Demo Performance (Part 1) 
6. Korg Forum on the original WD
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For more info on the history of Korg Drum Machines Click Here

Jodpur Markets - Rajasthan, India

The central markets of downtown Jodpur are a colourful place to while away the hours if you enjoy people watching.
Jodpur markets with the medieval fortress of Mehrangarh in the background






These panoramas were all taken using a cheap galaxy phone.