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Roland MC-4 Owner`s manual

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1. You play the pads The pads send The sequencer and plays them The sound generator MIDI messages into captures into the sound produces the notes M the sequencer the messages generator maue 131415 Play this note Ooobdopgpofib opgi Stop playing this note Stop playing this note i Play that note Play that note ae Stop playing that note Play this note Stop playing that note Stop playing this note Play that note Stop playing that note Play this note TONE SWITCH TONE SELECT COAT 7 Ss A TP OT ET i 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide This all feels a lot like recording audio since you hit the REC for RECORD button play something and when you hit PLAY the MC 909 plays back your performance But what you re really recording is MIDI messages not the notes themselves What you re doing is called sequencing and what you re recording is called a sequence Each sequence lives inside enorer nre nr renom one of the MC 909 s patterns as you ll see in a few pages Sequencing lets you do some things that you can t do so easily with audio recordings e You can change the speed or tempo of a performance even after it s been sequenced e You can change the sound the performance plays For example you can easily change a piano performance into a string performance without re pe
2. UndosfRedo 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 3 Press ENTER to display the System Menu screen Press F1 F6 button to select system menu j ie ariel iri E Beam Sampling 5 Select the samples you d like the MC 909 to load at startup To load e the factory preset samples set Preset Default Load to On e _allofthe samples in user memory and on the currently installed SmartMedia card set Sample Default Load to On x 6 When you ve finished setting the desired parameters press F6 System Write to confirm your changes 7 Press EXIT to return to the Pattern Play screen 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Swapping Files with a Computer About the MC 909 s USB Connection The MC 909 s USB connector makes it easy to swap files with your personal computer In order to exchange data with the MC 909 your computer must have a USB jack In addition e Windows users must be running Windows ME 2000 XP or later Every USB plug and jack e Mac users must be running Mac OS 9 04 or higher is labeled with this symbol By connecting the MC 909 to your computer you can move samples and sequences back and forth between the two machines The computer sees the MC 909 as just another removable drive like a CD or a Zip disk Movable Sample Files As we mentioned earlier
3. Card to select the area of memory in which you want to temporarily hold the SMF for transfer x 6 Press F6 Save as SMF 7 When the MC 909 asks if you re sure press F6 Execute to finish exporting the sequence as an SMF Wiring and Activating the USB Connection Hook Up Before you can turn on USB communication you ve got to physically connect the MC 909 to your computer using an A B style USB cable 1 With the MC 909 powered off connect the squarer end of your USB cable to the MC 909 s USB jack and the other end to a USB jack on your computer 2 Power up the MC 909 Activating the Connection Here s how to establish USB communication between the MC 909 and your System computer lati MIDI 1 Press PATTERN to make sure you re on the Pattern Play screen File Utility 2 Press MENU 3 Select USB and press ENTER Undo Redo 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide The USB screen appears 4 Select the area of memory you want to connect to the computer To connect e your user memory to the computer press F3 Internal e your SmartMedia card to the computer press F4 Card In a few moments the MC 909 shows Connected to tell you that USB communication s been established with the computer Then on a Windows XP computer a window pops open showing you the contents of the area of memory your selected in
4. Simply erase the notes you don t want and then add in the ones you do want 1 Press F2 Erase the Realtime Erase window opens Realtine Erase 2 Turn VALUE to set Erase Type to NOTE NOTE 3 Just before an unwanted note plays hold down its pad for a moment and then let go The note doesn t play and it s erased from the sequence Erase 4 Repeat these steps for any notes you want to remove 5 Press F5 Close to close the Realtime Erase window 6 To add anew note or to replace one you ve just erased just play it where you want it to be Remember your re still recording VOLUME Recording Performance Controllers TAT Realtime recording also captures every knob twist and slider slide in the MC 909 s sound generator area as well as any D Beam moves Let s record some knob twists 1 Locate the FILTER CUTOFF and RESONANCE knobs on WAVE SELECT THI the MC 909 s panel Da 2 The next time the sequence gets back to the top ataa experiment with the two knobs together and listen to een ay alee Bile how they change the sound of the bass The MC 909 aw e Sas records your moves and plays them back the next time ce the sequence comes around mAn RANDOM 3 Keep playing with the knobs until you ve got something cy fe Qa oo you like ea TONE SWITCH TONE SELECT 2 3 2 3 4 1 4 4 Press STOP to finish recording 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 90
5. MIDI devices do e The VELOCITY PADS are the things you bang on with your fingers at the bottom edge of the MC 909 They don t make any sounds all by themselves they just produce MIDI messages e The sound generator is the part of the MC 909 that actually produces the notes you hear in fact it produces audio Each time you strike a pad on the MC 909 the pad sends a MIDI message to the sound generator If you hit a pad that plays Middle C for example the pad sends the sound generator a MIDI message that means Hey you play a Middle C The sound generator plays a Middle C When you let go of the pad the pad says in MIDI talk That s enough Stop playing Middle C and the sound generator stops playing Middle C MIDI is actually a very detailed language that allows all sorts of performance information to be passed from one MIDI device to another To you it just feels like a simple thing you hit a pad you hear a sound But under the hood it s really a team effort between multiple MIDI devices chatting in MIDI talk faithfully converting your playing into sound Sequencing Its possible to capture and record these MIDI messages and to play them back That s what the MC 909 s sequencer does The sequencer records MIDI messages you play into it remembering the order you played them in as well as your timing and plays them back at your command causing the sound generator to recreate your original performance
6. OUT to the first one s MIDI IN These cables carry MIDI messages not audio of course all they care about is the instructions from one box to another MIDI plug from the side and straight on lt a The MC 909 s rear panel MIDI jacks 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide And so 7 The important thing to remember is that audio is something you can hear while MIDI is merely messages passed between two MIDI devices in a language only MIDI devices can understand While these messages result in sound they re not the sound itself Now that we ve got that out of the way let s introduce some other important ideas Whatza Sample In many ways on the MC 909 it all starts with the sample A sample is simply a digital recording of a sound It can be a mono recording or a pair of recordings that make up the left and right sides of a stereo audio image A sample may be a recording of e something off of a CD e something sung or played into a microphone e an electric instrument such as an electric guitar or bass e the audio output of an electronic instrument such as a synthesizer a beat box or another sampler When you capture a sound as a sample you re sampling A sampler such as the MC 909 is a device that can record and play these digital recordings On the MIC 909 s screen here s what a stereo sample looks like O
7. Owner s Manual for further information Press F6 Write The MC 909 asks if you re sure you want to proceed Press F6 Execute to finish storing the sample in user memory 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Creating a Sample Playing Patch In order to use a sample you ve captured and saved you ve got to set up a patch that plays the sample As we mentioned earlier any MC 909 patch can play your samples all by themselves or along with PCM waveforms The quickest way to create a sample playing patch is to use the MC 909 s Create Patch feature this feature instantly sets up a patch that plays the currently selected sample Our sample TR 27 Sample is still selected so let s fire up the Create Patch feature 1 Rw SAMPLING CHOP EMPHASIS COMBINE Press the SAMPLING EDIT button to return to the main sample corr me editing page E Press F5 Create Patch The patch naming screen appears samne mixin SYNG Name the new patch TR 27 Patch n Press F6 Write the Patch Write window opens showing you a list of user and card patch memory locations Select the USER 001 memory location Press F6 Write The MC 909 asks if you re sure you want to finish saving the patch Message from Mc 989 Write Hew Patch If you want to write a new patch press CFG Execute j Press F6 Execute to proceed The MC 909 now thoughtfully of
8. Press ENTER to display the UTILITY menu Press F3 Import Wav AIF the Import WAV AIFF screen appears Select the sample the wav or aif file you want to import Press F6 Import Wav AIF the MC 909 asks if you re sure The sample is loaded into live sample memory and selected The MC 909 displays the Sample edit screen O oe oe YS 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Save the sample into user or card memory by e pressing WRITE e pressing ENTER e naming the sample e pressing F6 Write e selecting the desired memory location e pressing F6 Write e pressing F6 Execute Create a patch that plays the sample by pressing F5 Create Patch Save the new sample playing patch to the same memory area into which you saved the sample Importing an SMF a OY a ee E In you re not on the Pattern Play screen press PATTERN Press MENU and select UTILITY Press ENTER to display the UTILITY menu Press F1 Import SMF the Import SMF screen appears Select the SMF you want to import Press F6 Import SMF the MC 909 presents a destination pattern list Select the pattern into which you d like to import the SMF You can select a used pattern to replace its sequence or an empty pattern When the MC 909 asks if you re sure press F6 Execute Well that s it We ve explored some of the MC 909 s major features and covered quite a bit of
9. Rec Velocity As with TR Rec mode you ve got a variety of options that determine what happens when you start to record Here s what each Realtime mode parameters does Rec Beat sets the pattern s time signature You can change this setting only when you re recording a pattern s first part Once you ve recorded in a pattern this parameter can t be changed Since this is our second part 4 4 is what it is Rec Measure Length sets the length of the pattern Since our pattern already contains a four measure drum part this can t be set to less than four measures If you wanted to you could make this part longer thus lengthening the whole pattern For now leave it set to 4 for 4 measures Rec Mode sets your recording mode In Mix mode each time you begin recording or the pattern returns to the beginning what you play is combined with what s already been recorded In Replace mode your new performance replaces anything already recorded in the part For now leave this set to Mix Rec Count In determines how long a warning you ll have before recording actually starts Set this parameter to 1MEAS for 1 measure the good old 1 2 3 4 go Rec Loop Rest turns a silent measure at the end of the pattern on or off This is actually quite handy The MC 909 plays each pattern over and over again during recording allowing you to add more notes each time This is especially cool for quickly layering percussion parts Rec Lo
10. Rhythm Sets A normal patch plays its samples or PCM waveforms over a range of pads or keys on a connected MIDI keyboard There s a special kind of drum or percussion patch called a rhythm set in which every pad or key plays a different drum or percussion sound Etec A big factor in making the MC 909 s patches sound as great as they do is the MC 909 s effects An effect technically speaking is an audio process that changes the sound of a sample PCM waveform or an entire patch in some way Non technically speaking an effect adds interesting new personality traits to the basic sound of a patch Some of the more popular effects include e reverb Reverb makes a patch sound like it exists in a real world space such as a concert hall ora room of some kind e compression Compression takes control of volume changes to make a sound more punchy and tight e step filter A step filter makes the brightness of a sound change along with the beat as your music plays MFx1 M rece By Reverb Send Level Ky ee Output Assn ony i1 in a Step Filter settings E Filter Gain AEI ag Cor EG The MC 909 contains a full time reverb effect and a compressor and also offers two all purpose multi effect or MFX processors that can produce dozens and dozens of effects 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide gt Patt
11. Sample Each MB is a thousand KBs or one million bytes That means that even an unexpanded MC 909 straight from the factory has 11 000 000 yup that s 11 million bytes available for Sampling Yipes Forget to Remember to Forget Types of Sample Memory The MC 909 holds and stores samples using as many as three different types of sample memory This may sound scary but each one has its own job to perform and they all come in handy Let s talk a bit about what they are and how they get used This ll help you get the most from the MC 909 s sampling power It ll also help you avoid becoming confused as you start sampling on the MC 909 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Sample Storage Memory As you start digging into the MC 909 it s likely that you ll be building a library of your own samples to use whenever you want The MC 909 allows you to permanently store samples in two different places Each has its advantages and disadvantages and you can store samples in both places if you want It all depends on how you like to work You can permanently store samples e in the MC 909 s user memory Technically speaking user memory is a form of computer memory called flash memory Flash memory is very reliable so it s a great place to stash your samples for safekeeping The advantage of user memory is that it s built in so it s always there when you turn on
12. ground Of course the MC 909 is a feature packed box and we ve only scratched the surface Now that you know your way around go have some fun with the MC 909 As you work on your own music don t be afraid to dive into the MC 909 Owner s Manual You ll find procedures tips and at least a handful of eye popping things you didn t know the MC 909 could do For more MC 909 materials including demo videos and software updates visit us at the Roland US Web site www RolandUS com f you need help with your MC 909 give Roland s Product Support specialists a call at 323 890 3700 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide For the latest info on new products support documents upcoming Roland events and more visit our Website www RolandUS com 24 hours a day 7 days a week you can receive a library of support materials and product information on your fax machine and it s all FREE Just call 323 890 3780 If its a real live person you want we ve got a team of Product Specialists that can t be beat They re on call from 8 30am to 5 00pm PST Monday through Friday at 323 890 3740 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide
13. pair of analog INPUT jacks use two 1 4 cables We recommend sampling in stereo in the following sections e the MC 909 s stereo coaxial or optical S P DIF digital IN jack use a high quality RCA style coaxial cable or an optical cable respectively Connect your CD player to the MC 909 Before we begin press the round PART 16 button we ll put our sample on Part 16 in Get Started The Sampling Standby Setup Screen SAMPLING RESAMPLING 1 Press SAMPLING RESAMPLING on the MC 909 The Sampling Menu screen appears Sampling Menu SAMPLING MENU TIMB 73 1 Free T 16ME SORAM SMB C OIMMI 16MBEiTOtal i SE a 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 2 Press F1 Sampling to display the Sampling Standby screen Sampling Standby CLIF L ener aA l Input Select LINE IM L R rng a re Stereo Switch Pre Sample Time Stop Trisser Sampling Lensth oy A Suto Trigger Level Gar Time SS Input Auto Setting Trig _ The Sampling Standby screen offers a selection of options that allow you to set up your sampling session Here s what the parameters do e Input Select The setting for this parameter instructs the MC 909 to sample from a specific input You can choose LINE INL R When you ve connected your CD player or other line level device in stereo to the MC 909 s L MONO and R INPUT jacks choose this setting e
14. signal reaches the level specified by this parameter We ll be using Auto Trigger in our example and the default setting of 5 will be fine for us e Gap Time Though we won t be exploring this feature in this guide the MC 909 s Auto Divide Sampling feature automatically splits up a longer sample into smaller parts at silent spaces or gaps in the sample This parameter determines how long such a gap must be 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide VOLUME Setting the Sampling Level ee Pi a l a y f a fe e e MIN MAX MIN MAX We ll set the sampling level using the MC 909 s INPUT VOLUME knob 1 On the SAMPLE SHOW CD locate Track 27 and play it As you set the sampling level you can replay this selection or let the CD run most of its tracks are roughly the same volume 2 Adjust the INPUT VOLUME knob until the signal is as loud as possible without triggering the CLIP indicators in the onscreen meters If CLIP appears lower the input level until it no longer does lt a It s okay if the loud click at the end of the groove clips we ll be cutting that click off of our sample anyway Capturing the Sample Now we re ready to go 1 Cue up your CD player to Track 27 and hit its Pause button so Track 27 is ready to start when you press Play 2 Press F3 Trim Sw to checkmark
15. the MC 909 s samples are stored in its memory as industry standard WAV or AIFF format sound files Most audio programs can open and play these files so you can move samples from the MC 909 to a computer for more detailed editing or to process them with software plug ins before returning them to the MC 909 you can load samples into the MC 909 that you ve collected on your computer from any one of a variety or sources including sample CDs friends and so on Movable Sequences The MC 909 can export its sequences as Standard MIDI Files Standard MIDI Files or SMEs are sequences that are stored in the Standard MIDI File data format Whazzis mean It means this Most modern software sequencers can load and play SMFs and can export their own 16 track sequences as SMFs that the MC 909 can load Therefore e you can move sequences as SMFs you ve recorded on the MC 909 to a software sequencing program for further work or to add additional tracks you can export 16 track or less sequences you ve created on a software sequencing program to the MC 909 for more work or to use in performance 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Preparing to Move Data from the MC 909 to a Computer Getting Samples Ready Before you begin moving samples you ll need to be able to identify them WAV AIFF sample files are named on disk according to the user or card memory location
16. your MC 909 On the other hand the MC 909 s user memory is 16 MB in size which may not be large enough for your entire sample library e on 3 3V SmartMedia cards SmartMedia cards come in a variety of sizes from 4 MB all the way up to 128 MB There are two big advantages to SmartMedia cards First of all they can offer a lot of reliable storage space Second if you fill one up you can just pop another one into the MC 909 providing you an infinite amount of sample storage space On the other side of the coin you have to purchase SmartMedia cards separately although they are fairly inexpensive You also have to remember to take them along whenever you take your MC 909 somewhere The drawing on the face of the MC 909 below the SmartMedia slot shows how to install a card Speed Counts Although both user memory and SmartMedia memory provide secure places in which to store your stuff neither is especially fast It takes a few moments to write a sample to flash or SmartMedia and it takes a few moments to retrieve one too While this is fine for storage purposes the MC 909 needs a faster place to hold samples when it s time to actually work with them Live Sample Memory The MC 909 s live sample memory is just that place It uses a form of computer memory called SDRAM memory SDRAM stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory if you re curious SDRAM is lightning fast so it s the perfect type of m
17. 08 106 188 168 EE Though we ll only be adjusting volume here you can see that you can also set each part s stereo panning pitch and reverb from the Part Mixer screen The part mixer s eight physical faders can control the settings for eight of the current pattern s parts at a time To select the set of eight parts that the faders control you press the PART ASSIGN button so it s unlit or lit When it s e unlit the physical faders control Parts 1 8 e it the physical faders control Parts 9 16 Onscreen a box encloses the currently selected parts as shown in the illustration above 2 We want to adjust the level of Part 10 our drum part so press PART ASSIGN so it s lit You can see that the onscreen box now surrounds Parts 9 16 3 Using the second fader the one above Parts 2 and 10 set Part 10 s level to 55 Ah that s better Press STOP when you ve had enough Before moving on let s re save our pattern We ll need it in the next section 5 Press WRITE then ENTER Press F6 Write twice and then F6 Execute 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Resampling Once you ve created some big monstrous sound by recording a pattern or by playing or by adding some of the MC 909 s amazing effects you can resample the whole thing When you resample the MC 909 makes a new sample from the audio coming out of its own outputs Sinc
18. 4 For a rhythm set patch that s fine because that s where you ll find the rhythm sets sounds For a bass patch though this is too high up the keyboard bass notes are down low Not to worry When your re playing a pitched patch which is any patch other than drums percussion or sound effects you can lower or raise the pitch of the notes you play on the pads using the OCT buttons to the left of the pads Let s lower the VELOCITY PADS down to a more sensible bass range 1 Play any pad to hear how it sounds and then press OCT once A window pops open on the display briefly to show you that the pads are now shifted downward by one octave Middle C or MIDI Note C4 2 Play the pad again to hear how its pitch has dropped 3 Press OCT twice more to lower the pitch of the pads to 3 octaves Middle C or MIDI Note C4 4 Play the pads again now we re in bass territory 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Setting Up Realtime Recording The process starts with setting up the way in which you re going to record in realtime 1 Press REC to display the Recording Menu 2 Press F1 Realtime to display the Realtime Standby screen and to start the metronome Realtime Rec Standby Realtime Rec Standby Rec Beat d Rec Measure Lenath Rec Moge Rec Count In d Rec Loop Rest eal Quantize Resolution Quantize Timina
19. 9 Getting Started Guide Before We Continue Let s return the pads to their normal octave for the things we ll be doing later in the Getting Started Guide 1 Press OCT three times the display shows Octave Shift 0 Other Ways to Record The MC 909 offers two other recording modes Step mode e Tempo Mute mode Step Recording Step mode allows you to record by entering notes and chords beat by beat This is the slowest way to record for most people but does allow you to create parts that are just too complicated to play by hand It s described on Page 41 of the MC 909 Owner s Manual Tempo Mute Recording Tempo Mute recording is actually two types of recording rolled into one e Tempo recording allows you to record changes in a sequence s tempo locking in the ways in which you want it to speed up or slow down as it plays Tempo changes can make a song more exciting taking the listener through different grooves and moods e Mute recording allows you to record parts being turned on and or off Each time you turn off a part you re muting it This is a great way to build up and tear down dance tracks and remixes 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide First Some Things to Know About Sampling Before we actually start sampling here are a few things you ll need to know in order to master the MC 909 s sampling power Measuring Samp
20. 909 run for a bit to get our bearings Realtime Recording Realtime Recording PIP bef p LILLJ PLIL Each time the pattern reaches its end you hear an extra empty measure four beats of the lt a metronome This is the result of our turning on the Rec Loop Rest parameter It s like getting a fresh countoff each time the pattern plays through On the Realtime Recording screen there s a keyboard When you start recording you ll see that when you strike a pad its corresponding key lights onscreen You can also adjust your quantizing and velocity settings as you record though we won t need to do that 2 Press F4 Rehearsal so that it becomes checkmarked This turns on the MC 909 s Rehearsal mode where you can work out a part without actually recording it 3 Now that you re in Rehearsal mode play the pads to work out a bass part for the pattern Play whatever you like and take as long as you like we re not recording yet 4 Once you re ready to record press F4 Rehearsal again to un check it and leave Rehearsal mode 5 Wait until the top of the pattern comes around again and play your bass part 6 Let the MC 909 keep going you can hear your bass part play back as the sequence plays 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Erasing Notes and Adding Notes in Realtime You can easily fix any wrong notes you ve recorded without stopping the MC 909
21. EErEE Roland July 29 2003 j e 1 3 a a B 7 aei E e irate i Aai 7 j a i KAHI ts z FE se DW emia wa 2 a s A _ wees i i a i W mH 4 What s the Getting Started Guide Roland s MC 909 Sampling Groovebox is a hot new dance music workstation packed with exciting features If you re new to grooveboxes the MC 909 s many features may be a lot to take in at first what with all of the unfamiliar words and concepts you ve got to learn Don t worry we ve created this Getting Started Guide just for you We ll explain what you need to know to start having fun with this monster box We ll begin with some important words and concepts you may have heard about but don t yet fully understand Next we ll show you how to create your own music on the MC 909 We ll teach you how to sample Finally we ll talk about how to move stuff back and forth from the MC 909 to a computer something that lots of people like to do That said let s get this party started 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide In this section we ll explain some terms and concepts you really need to understand to get the most from your MC 909 Audio vs MIDI One of the things that groovebox beginners often find confusing is the difference between audio and MIDI Let s get this straight before we go on They re two completely different thi
22. LINE IN L With this setting the MC 909 samples a line level device in mono from the L MONO INPUT jack e DIGITAL OPT To sample from the stereo COAXIAL DIGITAL jack select this value DIGITAL CO AX To sample from the stereo OPTICAL DIGITAL jack select this value e MICROPHONE Use this when you want to sample from a mic or mic level device connected to the L MONO INPUT jack For our purposes select LINE IN L R DIGITAL OPT or DIGITAL CO AX depending on the type of connection you ve made between your CD player and the MC 909 e Stereo Switch This switch determines whether the MC 909 samples in stereo or mono We want to set the parameter to STEREO now e Pre Sample Time The MC 909 can add a little bit of time to the front of a sample to help ensure that the very beginning of your audio doesn t get chopped off For now leave this set to Oms 0 milliseconds Stop Trigger The MC 909 can stop sampling automatically after a specified number of beats or length of time In our example we ll stop sampling manually so set this to MANUAL e Sampling Length When Stop Trigger is set to BEAT or TIME Sampling Length allows you to specify the number of beats or duration after which sampling automatically stops This parameter can t be adjusted right now since we ve set Stop Trigger to MANUAL e Auto Trigger Level When the MC 909 s Auto Trigger feature is turned on it automatically starts sampling when the input
23. S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Let s trim the loud click off the back of the sample 1 Highlight the End Point parameter the display jumps to the back end of the sample The dotted line with the E flag at the top shows us the current End Point setting 2 Start turning the VALUE dial counter clockwise As you turn the dial the End Point line moves to the left 3 Keep turning the VALUE dial until the End Point line sits just to the left of the big jump in the sample s level at the end of the waveform that s the loud click gt The loud click 4 Press and hold down VELOCITY PAD 2 to hear your trimmed sample 5 Adjust the End Point line s position until the click is cleanly lopped off losing as little of the groove as possible You can audition it as many times as you need to by pressing and holding VELOCITY PAD 2 6 When youre satisfied press F4 Truncate the Truncate screen appears 7 Press F4 Overwrite to checkmark it so that the trimmed version of the sample replaces the Original version in the MC 909 s live sample memory 8 Press F6 Execute The MC 909 asks if you re sure you want to proceed Message from Mc 989 Sample Edit AN Are You Suret Fress F lEzecute to Edit 9 Press F6 Execute to finish truncating the sample 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Normalizi
24. Step 4 WC 909 USER I Fa Ede Vew Favorite Took Help Search gt Fokders onacomputer running a different version of Windows an MC 909 USER or MC 909 CARD volume depending on the area of memory you selected in Step 4 appears when you double click My Computer onaMac an MC 909 USER or MC 909 CARD volume appears on the desktop depending on the area of memory you selected in Step 4 MC S09_USER 5 Ona Mac and any PC computer other than one that s running Windows XP double click the volume to view its contents 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Moving Files From the MC 909 to the Computer Since the computer sees the MC 909 as just another disk drive all you need to do to move files is to drag them to the desired location on your computer such as its desktop or into a folder of your choosing To locate and move e asample file double click the ROLAND folder double click the SMPL folder locate the desired WAV or AIFF file and drag it to the desired location e an SMF look for the MID file that has the same name as the pattern from which the sequence was exported and drag it from the USER or CARD volume to the desired location on your computer Moving Files from the Computer to the MC 909 Once again the computer sees the MC 909 s USER or CARD volume as just another drive As a result all you have to do to move a sample or SMF fro
25. ameter Inside the SAMPLE SHOW CD we can learn that Track 27 s original tempo is 90 BPM 3 Hold down SHIFT and turn the VALUE dial to set BPM to 90 Press F5 Close to return to the Sample Edit screen A 1 S Truncating a Sample Here s what the parameters on the Sample Edit screen mean e Start Point The Start Point is the position within the sample from which the sample starts to play when you strike its pad The Trim Switch we turned on earlier automatically set this to the beginning of the sample e Loop Start When a sample loops so it plays over and over this parameter sets the location within the sample at which it repeats We won t be looping our sample here End Point The End Point is the position within the sample at which the sample stops playing when you hold down its pad The Trim Switch automatically set this to the end of the sample e Zoom Horz On this screen you can zoom in or out on the displayed waveform to show bigger or smaller chunks of time The smaller the view the greater the detail This readout shows the current time or horizontal magnification To learn about zooming in or out see Page 114 in the MC 909 Owner s Manual e Zoom Vert This readout shows the amount of level or vertical magnification See Page 114 in the MC 909 Owner s Manual for details e BPM This readout shows the sample s original tempo which we set in the last section 2003 Roland Corporation U
26. ameter Here s what the three parameters do e Rec Beat sets the time signature for the sequence Most dance and pop music uses a 4 4 time signature For our example this should be set to 4 4 e Rec Measure Length sets the length of the sequence in measures For now a 4 measure length is fine e Rec Velocity sets the velocity value assigned to each note you turn on in TR Rec mode You can set it to Real so that the force with which you hit a pad determines its recorded velocity or you can set it to some fixed velocity value The default setting of 100 means that every note you record will be recorded with a velocity value of 100 That s fine for now 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide What s velocity MIDI measures how hard you hit a VELOCITY PAD or key and calls that lt 4 measurement velocity Typically the greater the velocity the louder and brighter the resulting note Velocity can also cause other changes to a patch s sound depending on how it s programmed to respond to varying velocities as you play You don t need to do anything about this now but just so you know you can adjust the way the sequence s parts are mixed by pressing F3 Mixer and you can adjust the sequence s speed or tempo by pressing F6 BPM Click We ll discuss these options later For now if you can t resist pressing one of these buttons go ahead Just pre
27. e this is all done digitally you can sample and resample over and over and it can sound better and better and better This is a great way to build up insanely rich complex sounds You can also stretch a pattern way beyond its 16 parts by filling up all of the parts resampling and then creating a new pattern with the sample played by a single part this ll leave you 15 free parts for additional performances or even more resampled stuff Let s learn how to resample using Get Started 1 Press the round PART 8 button to select the unused Part 8 2 Press SAMPLING RESAMPLING to go back to the Sampling Menu 3 Press F2 Resampling The Sampling Standby screen appears Sampling Standby 45 CLIP rE l LIME IN Lek Input Select Stereo Switch Pre Sample Time ams Stop Trigser MANDAL Sampling Lensth a A Suto Trigger Level 5 1800m The parameters on this screen are pretty much the same ones we saw when we first sampled One difference though is that we can no longer change the Input Select parameter with resampling the MC 909 always listens to its own outputs There s also no level to be set turning the OUTPUT and INPUT knobs does nothing here the MC 909 automatically takes control of levels in resampling 4 Let s set the other resampling parameters as follows Stereo Switch We ll leave this one alone since we want to resample Get Started in stereo Pre Sample Time is f
28. e we plant our groove right on the beat Here s what s going to happen You ll play the loop twice once at the top of the pattern and again at Measure 3 if you re unsure of where Measure 3 starts you can watch the onscreen counter Pir pla bfi fish F STE LAKALAKA ALLA ALLAR PPE LEE Pee Each time you press VELOCITY PAD 2 you ll hold it down for two measures so the groove keeps playing Here we go 8 Press PLAY and after the countoff press VELOCITY PAD 2 at the very first beat and hold it down 9 At Measure 3 press and hold VELOCITY PAD 2 again 10 At the end of the pattern press STOP TOP and then PLAY to hear how the drum groove totally locks in 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide To hear the sampled groove you ve got to play the pattern from the top If you start playback lt a in the middle of the pattern you won t hear the sampled groove until the next time it starts playing at Beat 1 or 3 Tweaking the Mix Let s adjust the volume balance between our parts to make the mix a bit better sounding 1 Press MIXER ASSIGN the MC 909 presents its built in mixer MIXER ASSIGN Part Mixer eS ly ES GB 2 de Wt te 1S 14 15 16 rs a Gad o o a a o 9090909029902900000 520000000 00000000 8 468 46 0 68 8 8 8 8 8 8 46 8 8 8 Lita 1 Faders control the boxed parts ttttttttttttttti B 1 68 100186 1
29. efault the MC 909 shows you the factory patterns the preset patterns pre programmed by Roland CURREMT i Tai Piaei RSE 1 PF G Funk 1 Piees Euro Trance 1 F 0 4 Garage 1 Piaes MINIMAL 1 Piaeae Techno Bi PBT Techno 8 Piaes Techno B3 Pree Techno B4 FP 018 Techno BS hRERE OEE OO BBS hum Nae aa Ui8ed User UAZ Users U Bes Users U04 Uzer U 00S Users Ube Users Uae Users Uges Users Weed Usera U B04 Useri a GSaaeaqge amp of 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 4 Turn the VALUE dial to highlight User Pattern 1 or U 001 Empty Each unused pattern is named Empty by the MC 909 s software 5 Press F6 Select Pattern to select the highlighted pattern the MC 909 takes you back to the Pattern Play screen Select a Part for Recording The recording process always starts with the selection of the part you want to record If any of these buttons are lit press them once to turn off their indicators MIXER ASSIGN 1 PART ASSIGN PART PART o SELECT MIXER 3X MUTE ASSIGN z PART TEMPO MUTE CONTROL 16 ASSIGN 3 PART 9 16 2 Press PART Button 10 so it lights You ve now selected Part 10 for recording 1 PED 3Y CJ J LD RD a a a a a m J A AJ C CJ C C CJ Part 10 is set up to use a rhythm set called 909 TR 909 1 You can play the pads to check it out Since this is a rhyth
30. emory for capturing new samples editing samples and playing them The MC 909 comes with 16 MB of live sample memory and you can expand it to a honking 256 MB by installing additional DIMM for Dynamic In Line Memory Module chips that you ve purchased separately For more on expanding the MC 909 s live sample memory see Page 146 of the MC 909 Owner s Manual 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Here Today Gone Tomorrow The MC 909 s live sample memory holds onto its contents only until you turn off the MC 909 At that point the live sample memory is cleared out giving you a fresh start each time you power up This means that you ve got to save any samples you want to keep before you power down that s what user memory and SmartMedia cards are for Once your work is safely stashed in one of these two places you can reload it into live sample memory as you need it In fact the MC 909 offers some options for automatically re loading your samples the next time you turn it on We ll explain how to do this at the end of our sampling examples Capturing a Sample Getting Ready to Sample There are a few items you ll need for our example The SAMPLE SHOW CD that came with your MC 909 E ACD player SAMPLE e Cables required for connecting your CD player s output to the S H 0 W MC 909 s inputs If you re connecting the CD player to prs ee e the MC 909 s stereo
31. empo Let s make our pattern a bit more funky by slowing it down Right now its tempo is set to 138 1 Press PLAY to start playing the sequence 2 Press F6 BPM Click the BPM window opens o E 3 Hold down SHIFT and turn the VALUE dial to set the BPM to 100 q y 9 4 Press F6 Close to close the BPM window 5 Press STOP to stop playback Changing a Part s Sound One of the great things about MIDI sequencing is that you can change the instrument playing a performance even after you ve recorded it Let s check this out 1 Press PLAY 2 Press PATCH SAMPLE The Patch Play screen shows the setup of all of the sequence s parts PA TCH PLAY Ean k a ea Lev Fan Kes rev jo ut eq IPR DIGGS Dance Grand igaj aj 8 BIORY BOTH EFR aSr Dub Bass ieel ej a e DRY BOTH PEMPR Aloes JF OctAttack 108 el a e DRY BOTH PR A G8S Lonely Heart feaj aj 8 S ORY BOTH PR AlGGS Ut imateEuro iaj aj SB IORY BOTH PR A GG4 DatTESOR Atk i a aj SIORY BOTH PR O 8S1 StaseEP wrTe fiaj 8 8 SIORY BOTH 8 SOR BOTH 8 SOR BOTH al Hada EE E al Pe Alpee 909 TR ses l JF GE ee MPR Aleer 989 Techno 1 JPR A SS6 909 REB S P A 8 PRA ci ci E y k ma Al a Gy a a a a D G a G a p el foo 29 989 HiPHOrF 3 B45 969 keal 1 1 EMBPR Fliig Perc Menu 1 1 FR F 121 Perc Menu 3 188 i Effe ist Edit Mi 3 Part 10 should be selected If it s not p
32. er three measures remain silent since you haven t yet added hi hat notes there Let s replace one of these closed hi hat sounds with an open hi hat sound 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide de ing Started Gu 909 Gett Roland MMC E 5 Press VELOCITY PAD 15 to turn off its light The next time Measure 1 plays you can hear that Or rest at this 16th note we ve created a short space DOOO00000000 OUUUUUUUUC00 OUUUUUULUU00 6 Press twice to select the open hi hat sound 7 Press VELOCITY PAD 15 to turn on its light The next time Measure 1 plays you can hear the open hi hat play at this 16th note Let s add a bass drum or kick and snare 8 Press v 12 times to select the kick drum at C4 9 Press VELOCITY PADS 1 and 9 to light them and place kick drum notes at the start of Beats 1 and 3 in Measure 1 11 Press VELOCITY PADS 5 and 13 to light them and place snare drum notes at the start of Beats 2 and 4 in Measure 1 10 Press four times to select the splashy snare sound You ve just TR recorded a rhythm in Measure 1 Let s do Measure 2 now MC 909 Getting Started Guide v 2 Le fe o i e Oo x ko 2 f ee N Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 12 Press once the TOP POSITION readout shows that you re now POSITION looking at Measure 2 HO H1 HBB 13 Press to move t
33. ern One of the things you ll do most often on the MC 909 is select and play patterns You can play one pattern over and over play one after the other on the fly or chain them together in songs Obviously it s a good idea to know just what a pattern is Pattern Play Fart 1 CTrance Chord The Pattern Play Screen Next Len 4 To put it simply in the MC 909 a pattern is a chunk of music More specifically a pattern contains a sequence A pattern s sequence can be anywhere from one bar to 998 bars long e an effect setup Each pattern has its own settings for the Pattern Sequence MC 909 s reverb compressor and two MFX processors e apart setup A pattern contains settings for each of its sequence s 16 parts Each part has a whole bunch of its own settings including the patch it plays its volume its stereo positioning called panning its tuning the effects it uses Effects setup Part setup and more Patch Play ee ee el Os a This is the patch setup for Emr Cee SC co o o SADRY BOTH the first factory pattern The EF eso Sine Bass as ej a ejoer JEOTH BEMIPR Ali1e The Prent OB 33 a a a MFX BOTH T SOR SB IDRY BOTH screen is called the Patch Play screen Ta PFiezzo 15 Steel Guita 56 PeskArrs ine 36 Hah Gtr kiff 47 JY Strings ir The Fad a4 989 k26 1 Be 989 TR S0S E F 121 Perc Menu 3 z2 Perc Menu 4 ee Cymbal Menu BS R amp B Word BEB R amp B GU
34. fers to assign the new patch to the currently selected part Part 16 Message from Ml 989 If you want assign AN to the currernt part press CFG Execute j Let s take advantage of this time saving suggestion Press F6 Execute We ve now saved a patch that plays our sample and have assigned the patch to Part 16 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Auto Sync The MC 909 s powerful Auto Sync feature allows you to change a sample s timing so it fits perfectly into a pattern that uses a different tempo Auto Sync is super simple to use as we ll see Let s use Auto Sync to make our 90 BPM sample work with our 100 BPM pattern SAMPLING 1 Make sure that Part 16 the part that plays the patch we just O m m created is selected ee 2 Press the AUTO SYNC button so it lights That s all there is to it acount aure MIX IN Remember how we set the sample s tempo during editing This gave the MC 909 all it needed to know in order to do the necessary Auto Sync math Let s listen to what just happened Press PLAY so Get Started plays Press VELOCITY PAD 2 on the first beat of the pattern and listen to how our originally 90 BPM Sample now plays in time with the 100 BPM pattern 5 To really lock our sample in let s record a part using it 6 Press REC and then F1 Realtime 7 Set Quantize Resolution to 1 4 notes this time to make sur
35. he note selection box back up to A s closed hi hat 14 Light all of the VELOCITY PADS except 11 and 15 15 Press twice to get to the open hi hat 16 Press VELOCITY PADS 11 and 15 to light them 17 Repeat Steps 8 11 to add the kick and snare You ve not got two measures recorded 5 18 Press STOP to stop recording and press PLAY if you wish to hear your work without the metronome A Short Trip to the Editing Planet Copying Recorded Measures Let s pause in our recording session to use the MC 909 s editing tools to fill up the remaining two blank measures in our sequence 1 Press F2 Edit The Pattern Edit screen appears Pattern Edit Z Dub Bass ars san sna ao S JP OctAttack fii oe oe 4 Loney Heart fie de e oe 5 UltimateEuro fie ie e oe BOStTBS R Atk fii TStaeseEP weTr f eie e oe 2 On the Pattern Edit screen the Source From and Source End parameters select the portion of the sequence to be edited Since we want to make a copy of Measures 1 and 2 the measures we just recorded we ll set Source From to 1 for Measure 1 and Source End to 2 for Measure 2 Source From is already set to 1 Source From fo Source End so press gt and turn the VALUE a A dial to set Source To to 2 as shown here 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 3 Press F2 Copy the first Copy window appears so you can select the part from which data is to be c
36. ine at Oms Stop Trigger Since we know the length of our pattern 16 beats we can take advantage of the MC 909 s Stop Trigger feature Set Stop Trigger to BEAT Sampling Length The MC 909 automatically sets this to 16 You re not the only one who knows how long the selected pattern is Auto Trigger Length and Gap Time These parameters have no bearing on what we re doing 5 Press F2 Auto Trig and F3 Trim Sw to checkmark them 6 Press TOP to make sure we ve returned to the beginning of the pattern 7 Press PLAY Get Started is resampled The MC 909 stops resampling when it reaches the end of the pattern The pattern also automatically stops playing after 16 beats 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 8 Press VELOCITY PAD 2 to hear The Pattern Formerly Known as Get Started which is now The Sample Known As Whatever You Name It In fact you can play any pad to hear the resampled pattern at different pitches and speeds x Chopping a Sample One of the handiest of the MC 909 s talents is its chopping ability Chopping allows you to slice up a groove or a sampled series of sounds into individual samples Once chopped up these individual samples can easily be assigned to their own pads for playing In the MC 909 you can chop up a sample manually wherever you like or you can let the MC 909 do it for you using its AutoChop feature Let s
37. it The Trim Switch helpfully sets some important sample parameters for us as we ll see a bit later 3 On the MC 909 press F2 Auto Trig to turn on Auto Triggering by checkmarking it This sets the MC 909 to start sampling automatically when it hears the CD selection begin At the top of the screen the MC 909 announces Now Waiting for The Input Signal Before we capture the sample here s what s about to happen just so you re ready when it does e When the CD player plays Track 27 the MC 909 will automatically begin sampling it You ll see the sampling time count away on the MC 909 as the sample is captured e When you hear the loud click at the end of Track 27 you ll stop sampling by pressing F5 Stop on the MC 909 Locate the F5 button now so you re ready to move quickly F5 is currently the Cancel button but that ll change once sampling begins 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Ready 1 Press Play on your CD player and look at the MC 909 s screen to see what s going on Sampling Run 1 USER New Samer Z USER New Same amp 2 When you hear the loud click at the end of the drum groove press F5 Stop That s it You ve just sampled the Track 27 drum groove The MC 909 takes a moment to draw its waveform on the Sample Edit screen allowing you to see what you ve just captured Sample Edit Uaeeie User age 1 Stereo Star
38. itar a a 7 m gf oh co co ra ra T a m a I i SPRE EE lll Sa eS ee eee ERHHE T PP TEENE if D m m m m m ie i e im 3333 3 I I I I 1 fa T Pi e a m I ge a T miela a a cL Gi e The result of all this is that each pattern contains not only its own sequenced performance but also its own overall sound since it uses its own set of patches and its own effects setup 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide AD Song A song is simply a group of patterns you ve strung together end to end You may have a pattern for an introduction followed by a pattern for a verse a bridge and then a chorus and so on In the MC 909 a song may be as big as 50 patterns long When you play a song the string of patterns plays in the correct order In this song list the first five song steps play Patterns 1 5 one after another A Note About Saving Your Work in the MC 909 When you ve been creating samples creating or tweaking patches or recording pattern sequences you ll want to be able to permanently store your stuff somewhere You can store samples patches and patterns in the MC 909 s built in user memory You can also purchase and install SmartMedia cards for lots of additional storage space Housekeeping Made EZ It s often the case that samples patches and patterns rely on each other A patch may require a
39. le Memory Samples come in all sorts of sizes depending on their length and whether they re stereo or mono Samples are measured in bytes the way things are usually measured in computer based devices Since most samples you record are thousands of bytes in size the MC 909 counts them in thousands to make life easier Each thousand bytes is called a kilobyte and is abbreviated on the MC 909 s display as simply KB as in 100 KB 32752 KB and so on Here are a couple of examples that show how a sample s length and whether it s stereo or mono affect its size The roughly five second There s no other love sample that ships in the MC 909 is a stereo sample whose left side and right side are both 257 KB in size 257 KB means 257 000 bytes so the sample s size is 514 000 bytes in total On the other hand the short mono R amp B Guitar sample is only 76 KB Most samples you re likely to create will be in the hundreds of KBs BBS eork m m m PHOBOS PSB vocal This is a list of the oe an factory preset samples PRBHE RSE GUIiTare POBGT Break It on PRBHBE Chek It Out PaBBO I Like That PBIB Thats Tiasht Really though you don t have to think about all this too much It is worth noting however that the amount of memory you have for sampling and sample storage is counted in megabytes or MB so you ll need to do a little math to make sure you ve got enough memory for what you want to
40. m set each pad plays a different kit sound lt a We ll explain how to change a part s sound later on Your First Recording The MC 909 provides several different ways to record You can record using any of these methods depending on how you like to work or the kind of part you want to record You can even switch between methods while working on a part MC 909 Getting Started Guide 2003 Roland Corporation U S Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Exploring TR Rec Mode Turning On TR Rec Mode We ll begin with TR Rec mode an easy no performance pressure way to record TR Rec is short for TR Recording If you ve ever used one of Roland s legendary TR Series drum machines you ll recognize this approach TR Rec mode lets you turn the desired notes on and off using the VELOCITY PADS You can see the notes onscreen as you work 1 Press REC for RECORD so it lights red the Recording Menu screen appears Recording Menu Recording Menu 2 Press F2 TR Rec to display the TR Rec Standby screen It s called a standby screen because you re not actually recording yet you re just getting set up to record On the TR Rec Standby screen the MC 909 offers you three options for how you d like to set up your sequence To change a setting no need to do this now you d press a or w to highlight the parameter you wished to change and then turn the VALUE dial to select the desired value for that par
41. m the computer to the currently connected area of the MC 909 s memory is to drag it there We strongly recommend that you drag files to the root level of the USER or CARD volume and not into the ROLAND or TMP folder After you ve dragged the file to its destination you should see it in the same folder view as the ROLAND and TMP folders as shown here 606 MC 909_USER EF o 9 2 Back Forward View rath i Computer 2 irems 9 5 MA avallahle e E ROLAND TMP Tir pi YouMoveMe mid 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Disconnecting the MC 909 from the Computer This is a two step process First you ve got to turn off USB communication Next you ll disconnect the two devices physically if desired Turning Off USB Communication ate 1 On the MC 909 press F6 Exit cee UBB DISCONNeCting gt USB communication is stopped and you re returned to the first USB screen 2 Press PATTERN to return to Pattern Play mode Disconnecting the MC 909 From the Computer 1 Power down the MC 909 2 Unplug the USB devices connecting the MC 909 to the computer Importing Samples and SMFs Once you ve moved files from a computer into the MC 909 s user or card memory you ll need to import them for use Importing a Sample In you re not on the Pattern Play screen press PATTERN Press MENU and select UTILITY
42. n the MC 909 s screen here s what a mono sample looks like ee _ WAV and AIFF Samples A sample can also be audio that someone else has recorded and stored as a file on a computer or on some other sampler These files are stored in various audio file data formats The most popular are WAV format and AIFF format files The MC 909 can load and play either type of sample file It can also create WAV and AIFF samples of its own The Bottom Line In the MC 909 when we talk about a sample we re referring to audio you ve recorded yourself or to a WAV or AIFF file you ve imported into the MC 909 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Whatza PCM Waveform There s another type of audio that the MC 909 plays PCM waveforms A PCM waveform is a sample that Roland has created for you and that s built into the MC 909 s ROM Read Only Memory The MC 909 contains 693 of these PCM waveforms They re recordings of all sorts of things including drum and percussion instruments keyboards guitars basses strings oddball noises and on and on They form the basis of the MC 909 s factory sounds or patches PCM waveforms like samples can be stereo or mono Whatza Patch When you play a sample or PCM waveform on the MC 909 you play it in something called a patch The MC 909 comes from the Roland factory with 800 ready to play patches and you can create
43. ng a Sample Normalizing is a process that guarantees that a sample is at its absolute optimum volume by 1 boosting the sample s level if necessary Let s normalize our groove SAMPLING SNE Press the NORMALIZE button to display the Normalize screen ae Press F4 Overwrite to checkmark it so that the normalized version of SAMPUNG I 2 3 4 the sample replaces the original version in the live sample memory Press F6 Execute The MC 909 asks if you re sure you want to proceed Press F6 Execute to finish normalizing the sample Saving a Sample As we discussed earlier the MC 909 s live sample memory is cleared when you turn off the MC 909 To preserve a sample you must save it in the MC 909 s user memory or an a SmartMedia card Let s save the sample we ve captured to user memory 1 Press WRITE The Write Menu screen appears with Sample already selected Write Menu Press ENTER to display the sample naming screen Name the sample TR 27 Sample for our purposes Press F6 Write The MC 909 presents sample writing locations in its user memory Number Same Hame AAF zer ARP Select an unused user memory location in which to store the sample For now you can select User Location 001 The MC 909 protects your work by not allowing you to store a new sample in a location that already contains an older one To replace a stored sample you must manually delete it first See Page 123 in the MC 909
44. ngs and you ll find them both in the MC 909 Audio is sound When you hear something you re hearing audio What comes out of your mouth when you sing is audio What comes out of a tambourine is audio What comes out of the jack labeled OUTPUT on the back of y a synthesizer or the MC 909 or out of a 1 4 jack on an electric bass is audio MIDI is a computer to computer music language MIDI short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface is a language that computers use to talk to each other about music Every MIDI device whether it s a synth a drum machine or whatever is actually a computer designed to do something musical MIDI is all about instructions sent from one MIDI device to another that allows the first device to tell the second one how to do something 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Inside the Box A good example of this kind of conversation takes place right within your MC 909 The MC 909 s case actually holds several separate MIDI devices that are always yapping to each other Sound oe Sampler generator Fay i c e A agag Sequencer VELOCITY PADS a i 1 NuNIsON MENTS SOLO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 7 i ain a OULUU OULULUU OU VELOCITY PADS ______ Let s eavesdrop on one of these conversations between the MC 909 s VELOCITY PADS and its sound generator Here s what these two
45. oceed press F6 Execute again The MC 909 chops the sample saving each chunk into user memory and lays them out across the first eight VELOCITY PADS 9 When the MC 909 asks if you d like to create a rhythm set that plays your chopped up resampled pattern press F6 Execute name the rhythm set anything you like and finish saving it You can save it to the first rhythm set memory location USER 001 10 Finally when the MC 909 asks if you d like to assign the new rhythm set to the current part press F6 Execute The chopped pattern is now a rhythm set assigned to Part 8 Re save the pattern by pressing WRITE F1 Ptn and then ENTER Press F6 Write twice and then F6 Execute _ _ Automatically Loading Stored Samples into the Live Sample Memory You may prefer to leave the live sample memory empty on power up ready to capture a new bunch of samples Otherwise though you can set the MC 909 to automatically load your samples such as the ones we just captured when it powers up It can automatically load e samples stored in user memory and on any currently installed SmartMedia card e the factory preset samples that the MC 909 demos and preset patches use Here s how to set up your MC 909 to automatically load samples at power up 1 Press EXIT repeatedly if necessary to display the Pattern Play screen 2 Press MENU the main menu appears in the display with System selected Utility MIDI File Utility
46. op Rest gives you a short break after each playing of the pattern so you can get your bearings before it comes around again Set this parameter to On Quantize Resolution turns quantizing on or off Quantizing corrects any timing mistakes you make as your record so that each note is automatically planted exactly where it belongs rhythmically Set this parameter to 1 16 to move everything you play to the nearest 16th note Quantize Timing makes quantizing more at 100 or less at 0 perfect and machine like For now leave it at 100 Rec Velocity sets the velocity value assigned to each note you play during recording We ll leave it set to Real to capture your performance most faithfully 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Turning On Realtime Recording Breathe Deeply Unlike TR Rec mode Realtime mode can be a little scary until you get used to it after all the pressure s on to play well just like in a real studio or onstage Fortunately the MC 909 offers some tools to make things easier For now trust us We ll keep things pressure free here Round and Round Once we start recording the MC 909 plays the sequence over and over so you can add or remove notes without stopping Here We Go 1 Press PLAY the one measure countoff starts and the Realtime Recording screen appears Don t worry You don t have to play anything yet We re just going to let the MC
47. opied All of the PART buttons at the bottom of the MC 909 light to show that all 16 sequence parts are currently selected for editing 1 S M M E T A a a a m When all 16 PART buttons are lit any edit you perform applies to the entire sequence However we only need to copy Part 10 so let s select just that one part for editing Hold down SHIFT and press the Part 10 button so that it s the only PART button lit 5 Press F6 Select the second Copy window opens In this window you can set up how Measures 1 and 2 are to be copied The default settings are fine for our purposes except for one of them 6 Press w to select the Destination Meas for Destination Measure parameter and set it to 3 for eoiiUser Pattern 1 Measure 3 We want to place a copy of Measures 1 and 2 at the beginning of Measure 3 so that the copy fills up Measures 3 and 4 7 Finally lets make sure we ll be copying Measures 1 and 2 to the correct part The PART 10 button is flashing to show that it s selected as the destination for our copied data This is just what we want so we re good to go 8 Press F6 Execute The MC 909 displays Pattern Edit Completed 9 Press PLAY to hear the full four measure sequence 10 Press PATTERN to return to the Pattern Play screen 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Changing the Sequence Pattern T
48. ou hear the note Note selection box 3 Press a and to select the closed hi hat at A 4 TR REC Farti CTR 389 Ser J BBS IES C Ce ee ee The keys along the left edge are numbered Each octave starts at C A 4 c5 so you have C1 B1 C2 B2 mim M ee ee ee ee ee ee ee and so on Een sex REAL Mote Gate Velocity Muriber Type Time 3 You can see the currently selected note number here 4 Press all of the VELOCITY PADS one by one so they re all lit You don t need to do this in rhythm since in TR Rec mode your re just setting each note s on off switch As you turn on each pad its note appears in the grid until it looks like this When all of the pads are lit you ll hear the hi hat on all 16 16th notes in Measure 1 The oth
49. particular sample you ve captured a pattern may require that patch and so on When you ve got a bunch of stuff samples patches patterns that all belongs together it s a good idea to store them all in the same place Save them all in the onboard user memory or save them all on the same SmartMedia card That way you can be confident that you ve got all the bits and pieces you need at any given time without having to keep detailed track of what s where School s Out Now that we ve made our way through the MC 909 s basic concepts we re ready for some fun This guide is based on the MC 909 s Version 1 10 operating system software If your MC 909 lt a doesn t behave as described in these pages please visit www RolandUS com or call Roland Product Support at 323 890 3700 to learn about obtaining the latest MC 909 software 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide How to Sequence Select an Unused Pattern Since each sequence in the MC 909 lives within one of its patterns the first step in recording a sequence is to select an unused pattern The MC 909 contains 200 patterns into which you can record these are called the user patterns We ll record our sequence in User Pattern U 001 the U stands for User 1 Press PATTERN to display the Pattern Play screen 2 Press F1 List beneath the display x The pattern list appears By d
50. red our pattern in the MC 909 s built in user memory If you ve installed a SmartMedia card you can also save patterns on the SmartMedia card Recording More Parts Exploring Realtime Recording Mode When we recorded using TR Rec mode we entered notes on a grid Of course it can be a lot more fun to simply play a part to record it that s what Realtime recording is Let s add a bass part to Get Started using the Realtime recording method Getting Bass ic We ll begin by setting up a bass part and configuring the VELOCITY PADS for bass recording 1 Press PATCH SAMPLE to display the Patch Play screen 2 Press the round PART 2 button beneath the faders so the button lights this selects Part 2 on the Patch Play screen 3 Press F1 List The MC 909 presents a list of patches 4 Turn the VALUE dial to select PR C 66 PeakofTEBE This is a buzzy bass sound that ll go well with the drums 5 Press F6 Select to confirm your choice and return to the Patch Play screen 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Drop It If you play PeakofTEBE on the VELOCITY PADS you ll notice it doesn t sound much like a bass patch That s because we re playing it too high in pitch By default the VELOCITY PADS act like a keyboard playing in the middle of its range In fact VELOCITY PAD 2 plays Middle C The pads play the notes shown in blue Middle C or MIDI Note C
51. ress the round PART 10 button so it s lit 3 ila ra GG pace fi z E 3 j af 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 4 7 8 Press F1 List to show a list of available patches Since Part 10 currently uses a rhythm set the MC 909 presents you a list of rhythm set patches Patch List Farti C9509 Tk 30 1 1 E 3 PR A 662 509 TR 305 1 PR A 663 395 TR 90959 PR A 664 369 TR 93909 3 PR A 865 509 TR 93909 4 PR A 866 369 TR 885 PR A 867 509 Techno 1 PR A 668 969 Techno PR A 669 989 Techno 3 PR A 618 983 Techno 4 Bank MS6 L56 Bde B64 Prosram Chanae 881 Press to hear how your recording sounds with different rhythm sets When you ve finished experimenting return to PR A 001 909 TR 909 1 and then exit the screen by pressing F6 Select Press PATTERN to return to the Pattern Play screen Press STOP to end playback Saving a Pattern Until you actually save your work the MC 909 holds it in RAM Random Access Memory if you select another pattern or power down the MC 909 your work is lost To keep it safe you ve got to save or write the pattern into the MC 909 s memory Here s how 1 2 Press the WRITE button to display the Write Menu screen Write henu Notice that Pattern is highlighted on the screen Since we re currently in Pattern mode the MC 909 assumes you wan
52. rforming it e You can do all sorts of stuff to sequenced MIDI data You can change its pitch change its timing add or remove notes and lots of other things Oh and one more thing On the MC 909 you can record separate performances for up to 16 different instruments in a single sequence Each of these performances is called a part Bass 9 Lead Vocal Patch Synth 1 10 Guitarish 11 Main Keys 12 Organ 13 Clavinet 14 Tambourine 15 8 Claps 16 Main Drum Kit Background Vocal Patch 1 Background Vocal Patch 2 Lead Vocal Patch 2 Hits Percussion Bells Since all of the parts play back together they sound like they were all recorded at the same time even though you may have actually built your arrangement one instrument at a time Outside the Box MIDI also allows completely separate MIDI instruments to communicate You might for example connect a MIDI keyboard to the MC 909 so you can play its sounds from the keyboard instead of from the MC 909 s own pads You can even sequence on the MC 909 by performing the desired parts on an external MIDI device When you connect two MIDI instruments you do so using MIDI cables You connect one end of a MIDI cable to the MIDI OUT jack of the first instrument and the other end to the MIDI IN jack of the second instrument For a two way MIDI conversation something you need in certain situations another MIDI cable connects the second instrument s MIDI
53. see how Auto Chop works using the resampled pattern we just made SAMPLING CHOP EMPHASIS COMBINE EDIT Pa TIME NORMALIZE STRETCH AMP 1 Press CHOP the Chop screen appears SAMPLING AUTO RESAMPLING MIX IN SYNC You can set Auto Chop to divide up a sample by e Level so Auto Chop divides sample the each time its volume reaches a specified level e Beat so Auto Chop divides the sample at each beat It knows where the beats are since it knows the sample s BPM setting e Divide X sets Auto Chop to divide the sample into a specified number of equal chunks 3 For our example set Auto Chop to Beat 4 Press w and turn VALUE to set Beat to 1 2 notes 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 5 Press F6 Auto Chop The MC 909 takes a moment to divide up the sample into two beat chunks When it s done it assigns each chunk to a pad VELOCITY PADS 1 8 light up with each one playing two beats from the sampled pattern 6 Try twisting the resampled pattern around by playing the pads in any order that amuses you 7 Since this works fine for our example press F6 Execute When your re setting up an Auto Chop on your own you can try different Auto Chop settings lt a Press F6 Execute when you re satisfied with what you ve got or F5 Cancel and then F4 Auto Chop to try out other settings 8 When the MC 909 asks if you re sure you want to pr
54. sired characters to name Get Started Put a space between the two words the blank space character is just before A When you ve finished naming the pattern it should look like this p AGT I STEP 13716 E gt Get Started A C 5 Press F6 Write the MC 909 presents you with a list of user pattern memory locations in which you can store your pattern r Pattern Write 281 tleer Pattern 1 Emrty Emnrty Emnrty Emrty Emrty Emrts Emnrty Enrty Emnrty i i l Locations that don t yet contain one of your patterns are named Empty The pattern location in which you re currently working has an asterisk in front of its name You can select a different location by turning the VALUE dial However for now let s save the pattern just where it is 6 Press F6 Write the MC 909 asks if you re sure Ws Wi Li Ls U BE Wi Li BEH Message from MZ 909 Pattern Write Are You Sure Press F6LExecute to write 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 7 Press F6 Execute to finish storing your pattern Write Pattern Write Now Writing The MC 909 writes the pattern into its memory and displays Pattern Write Completed when it s done lt a While we ve just saved a pattern the procedure for saving anything else in the MC 909 is pretty much identical lt a In this example we ve sto
55. ss F6 Close to return to the TR Rec Standby screen when you re done snooping around Starting TR Recording Here we go 1 Press PLAY a few things happen e The MC 909 s metronome starts beeping as the empty sequence plays over and over e The TR Rec screen appears and the first of the sequence s four measures appears in a grid TR REC Partia CTR 389 Ser J The TOP POSITION readout tells you the measure you re looking at Now line If the box above Note Number isn t selected press F3 Note Number e Avertical line called the Now line moves from left to right across the screen as Measure 1 plays disappearing off to the right during the sequence s other three measures The Now line shows you your current position in the sequence In TR Rec mode each VELOCITY PAD acts as an on off switch for one of the sequence s beats By default each measure in the sequence is divided up into 16 steps or 16th notes Each pad represents one of these 16th notes The black bars above the pads show how each set of four pads belongs to one of the measure s four beats Beat 1 Beat 2 Beat 3 Beat 4 EEE ENHA ENNEN s Ss DOUCHOSHONCHOSHO VELOCITY PADS 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 2 Press and to see the note selection box move up and down the screen This box selects the note you ll be turning on or off As it moves to each note y
56. t Point ARAAAAAE zoom Horz Loop Start Popong zoom Wert End Point janzsesze BPivi Playing Back a Sample DA AREE Press and hold VELOCITY PAD 2 to hear the sample play through By default samples are assigned to C4 Middle C the note that VELOCITY PAD 2 plays when the OCT buttons are turned off Editing a Sample Now that we ve captured this drum groove we ll edit the sample to prepare it for use by e setting its tempo by adjusting its BPM value trimming or truncating it to get rid of that loud click and silence at the end of the sample e setting its optimum volume by normalizing the sample We recommend performing all three operations on every sample you capture 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide Setting a Sample s BPM The MC 909 can do some pretty amazing things to a sample to make it fit into any musical context In order to do this the MC 909 needs to know the sample s original tempo Let s tell it now 1 Press F2 Sample Param to display the Sample Prm for Sample Parameter screen Sample Priv Paaee CSanshin Phrase 1 MONO a Loop Mode Loop Tune Orisinal Kes BRM Time Stretch Type Start Fine Loop Start Fine Loop End Fine On this screen you can see a variety of parameters that determine how the sample behaves The one we re concerned with now is BPM 2 Press w three times to select the BPM par
57. t to save a pattern Whenever you press WRITE the MC 909 selects whatever it is you re working on for you in its Write menu You can always select something else to save by turning the VALUE dial or pressing the desired F button but you don t need to do that now We do want to save a pattern Press ENTER to confirm that you want to write a pattern 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide The MC 909 presents its Pattern Name screen P 881 B 5 T User Pattern 1 lt a Whenever you save something on the MC 909 you can name it on a screen that looks just like this one Names in the MC 909 can have up to 16 characters in them Each character has a position on the display which is shown by an underline Right now the first character position is underlined You create the name you want by selecting each of its character positions and dialing in the desired letter number or punctuation mark Let s name this pattern Get Started 1 Turn the VALUE dial to select a capital G As you turn the dial you can see the available characters swing in and out of view PM Do F aser Pattern 1 2 Press gt once to select the second character position M 3 Dial ina lower case e Pattern Hame x 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 4 Continue to press gt and dial in the de
58. they occupy though a Sample uses the name you created when it s in the MC 909 its disk file is named after its memory location To learn a sample s WAV AIFF file name SS aa 6 7 Press the SAMPLING EDIT button Press F1 Sample List the Sample List screen appears Select the area of memory where the sample is stored Press F2 User or F3 Card as desired Turn the VALUE dial if necessary to display the sample you ll be moving Look to the left of the sample s MC 909 name to learn the number of its memory location This number will identify the sample when you see it on your computer Janber Samrle Name h L Sample 2 Ugggg Fis Guitar L HSSKEB numbers ugga4 R Z6KE I HAnppRES STAER Make note of the sample s number Repeat Steps 3 5 for any other samples you want to move Getting a Sequence Ready by Exporting It as an SMF To move a sequence from the MC 909 to a software sequencer you have to convert the sequence into an SMF Here s how 1 Press PATTERN and turn the VALUE dial to select the pattern containing the sequence you want to move Press MENU Select Utility and press ENTER to display the UTILITY menu UTILITY Factory Reset User Backup Import WAY AIFF User Restore 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide 4 Press F2 Save as SMF the Save as SMF screen appears e CROLAND J CTMP l 5 Press F1 User or F2
59. your own too A patch is a group of samples and or PCM waveforms and a bunch of settings or parameters that determine how each sample or PCM waveform plays When you play a note all of the samples and or PCM waveforms in the patch play together making one big interesting sound Zi Toning Up A patch s samples and or PCM waveforms are organized into four tones Each tone plays a stereo sample or PCM waveform or it can play two mono samples or PCM waveforms Each tone has its own set of about 90 parameters that determine how its samples or PCM ie ace pcre Pea wach waveforms play Tones can be set to play together in a Tones 2 and 3 each play two mono different ways resulting in a bunch of different sounds Sane eon wavetonn Patch Parameters The number of patch parameters is huge each patch has over 300 different parameters Some control the sounds of individual tones and others set the sound of the entire patch They can control things like e how bright or muffled each sample or PCM waveform will sound e the tuning of the sample or PCM waveform e how the volume of the sample or PCM waveform changes as a note sounds e how the patch behaves as you play it e much much more When you twiddle many of the knobs and buttons on the MC 909 or use the D Beams you re actually adjusting these parameters 2003 Roland Corporation U S MC 909 Getting Started Guide Roland MC 909 Getting Started Guide

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