RS008 Roland MC-303: The O.G. Groovebox

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The MC-303 is a very personal affair for me. Other than most of the stuff on this channel, I’ve owned the machine in the video for close to 25 years.
Back in the 90s Techno ruled supreme, at least here in Frankfurt Germany, the birthplace of German Techno music (according to people from Frankfurt that is) there was no way to escape the call of the mighty bass drum. So as a kid getting into music, techno was the natural way to go for me and so many other bedroom producers of the day. To bad for me that Techno had already been around for quite some time in the late 90s, so all the cool gear had already become way too expensive for my 16 year old self back then. So when Roland announced the MC 303 I was stunned. It all just sounded too good to be true! 303 like in TB 303 (I had a poster of a tb303 on my bedroom wall back then). Multiple TR drumkits and lots of knobs (all the cool kids were fiddlin with knobs!) all in in one almost affordable package - I just had to have one!
Scraping together money form wherever I could, I actually managed to really get a MC 303 and boy was I disappointed when I got it. Getting used to the interface took quite a while because anything I had ever used before was a PC based (think Cakewalk and Cubase, ‘borrowed’ from friends) and no matter what I tried, the tracks never came out quite the way I would have liked them to. Having just invested everything into the machine, I kept on trying anyway, spending hundreds (if not more) hours at the machine, laying out the tracks you can hear in this video.
When revisiting the machine for this video project, I was amazed to find some of my old tracks not to sound too bad after all. Drums and basses are punchy, pads lush and the filters are much less terrible then I remember them, and even if you don’t dig the sounds, you’ll get a great performance oriented hardware sequencer for your other gear. So actually, in 2020, it’s still quite a nice machine that can be had for around 100€ these days, money that is very well spent I’d say!
Tracklist:
0:00 Introduction
1:34 136BMP Sweepin
3:48 120BPM Really Bad RMB
5:01 93BPM 808 Beat
6:06 136BPM That Pad
9:22 129BPM Rage
10:51 173BPM Really Bad DnB
11:16 142BPM 2Step
14:42 138BPM Trance
17:52 Conclusion
19:21 Chill Outro

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Опубликовано:

10 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 45

@LousyFacelift 4 года назад

One of the most underrated machines today especially for its punchy drums and flexible sequencer with an incredible arpeggiator. The synth part lacks depth but is still capable if you know what (and what not) to expect from it. Great video!

@wreckage-vs5jv Месяц назад

Frankfort 90s, Pascal FEOS, Gabriel LeMar, Aural Float, Insect Jazz...I can't remember who had more delay variations per measure. Good times.

@edgi55 3 года назад

I've had mine since the late 90's also, absolutely great and under rated machine. Straight forward workflow, great arpeggiator and never had an issue with it. In fact the battery in it is original and still working. Highly recommended if you can find one.

@makrowelle 2 года назад

thanks for reminding me, i am really glad i sold this 20 years ago :D

@DJRicardoHenriquez 3 года назад

Neat little gadget from the 90’s. This and vinyl and you are rocking like a real DJ should!

@studiospiraluniverse 8 месяцев назад

The workflow gives me headache, but I love many of the sounds. I use it as a soundmodule with Octatrack and Digitakt. Add some modern (external) effects and you have a great system already.

@GlennMichaelThompson 2 года назад

Good video which accurately mentions some pros and cons of the MC-303. I recently took my Groovebox out of storage after years and am quite happy with it. Although I don't play hip-hop, dub, straight ahead dance beats or the styles the unit was marketed for, I still find it very useful for creating some great funk bass grooves, ambient synth pads and swells, as well as some great drum/percussion grooves. A very handy piece of gear for sure! Also excellent for adding some tones to my electric piano via midi. Thanks for sharing your overview on the MC-303 Groovebox.... well done!!!👏🙏🎼🎶

@rejectedsynths 2 года назад

Glad you like it, the mc 303 sure packs some mighty funk

@GlennMichaelThompson 2 года назад

@@rejectedsynths Absolutely!!! Great for jamming with live, recording or when coming up with parts for writing and arranging. I bought mine in the late 90's, but it was put away for at least the last 5 years. Took it out just a few days ago... it's working fine and is reinvigorating my playing. Thanks again for the great video 🙏✌😉

@squishmusic 4 года назад

U36 pretty nice nostalgic 90s trance sound ;)

@rejectedsynths 4 года назад

The sad thing is, all I NOT wanted to do as a kid, was trance music! But very time I sat down to make some music, half an hour later, something like U36 had happened. And it doesn't even stop there. When I took up making music again a few years ago, basically the first thing that happened was this: soundcloud.com/colinslair/cheesy-trance-epic I'm cursed by some ancient trance natives or something :(

@SnatchNuman 4 года назад

U36 definetly has got an RMB vibe to it, a bit "Deep Down Below"-ish. I like it!

@rejectedsynths 4 года назад

From all the commercially successful dance acts that had videos on TV back in the day, RMB really stood out for me, as beeing way cooler than the rest, so your comment really makes me blush ☺️

@farahelfeghali3390 3 года назад

93BPM 808 Beat IS DOOOPE!

@noodlingaround2023 2 года назад

Brilliant video and sounds. Thanks. I'm tempted to purchase one of these. I use model cycles and am wondering if I'll be able to create something as good as you create? Is it hard to learn? Thanks

@rejectedsynths 2 года назад

It's mainly down to play to the machine's strengths. There are many things that will never sound good, but some things it can do very well 😍

@theprogrammerrolandmc3039 2 года назад

this is what the roland mc303 can do ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cLXOuVoS9ag.html

@rejectedsynths 2 года назад

Nice tune man!

@Kiham80 2 года назад

I have one, and while it has some strong sides it has some weak sides too. Weak sides * It is not a very user friendly machine. Its not necessarily a hard machine to use, but there is a learning curve and it will take some time wrapping your head around it. * Putting in notes one by one is tedious. Hook it up to a MIDI keyboard. Or a regular synth. Its a must. * It is powered by a processor from the 90s. It cant churn out a gazillion of notes per second, all drenched in a massive reverb with a delay and what have you. The processor will most likely crap out if you try that. * There isnt a lot of storage for user patterns. * In a regular synth you create patches, but here you have Tones and Performances. Tones are stock waveforms that comes with the machine, and Performance is a modified Tone that is stored in a pattern. I dont think you can move different Performances between patterns easily. Strong sides. * I think it is based on the JV sound engine, so it sounds good if you learn your way around it. * The sequencer is powerful once you can wrap your head around it. It can do all sorts of stuff that a lot of sequencers cant. Even modern sequencers. * They are dirt cheap today. * Boatloads and boatloads of sounds included. Probably the cheapest way of getting okay Roland X0X drum sounds in hardware form these days. * I havent played around much with the arpeggiator, but people like it. Also decent built in effects. While not quite as bad as its reputation, it is nevertheless a mixed bag. How well it suits you most likely depends on how well you get along with the sequencer and the workflow of it. Buy one and try it, and if you dont like it sell it for roughly the same price you bought it for?

@DocBolus 4 года назад

Nice box. If you are using it as a sequencer will it not play internal sounds for the tracks you are sending via midi? I like the idea that you can use the mute buttons on this for external gear but if some of the internal sounds are useable I would like to use both but without any doubling up. Not sure if that makes sense?

@rejectedsynths 4 года назад

You should be able to set the volumes of the individual parts in the machine itself, so if you set a channel volume to zero, it should still play the notes via midi. I'm not entirely sure (you can check that in the manual available on the net) but I think changing the part volume is not transmitted via midi so you won't also accidentally change the volume of the external synth. But even if midi volume cc is sent, you can work around that by first setting the volume of the part to zero and then connecting it via midi

@DocBolus 4 года назад

@@rejectedsynths OK that makes sense. I might go and have a look at the manual.

@Zalanes 4 года назад

I used to use mine mainly as a sound module, with midi coming from a QY700 sequencer. You have to get your head round sending various and quite complex nrpn commands, but it’s quite amazing what it can do when parameters are automated 😀

@qix6424 3 года назад

The Korg PSS-50 is the Grandaddy of groove boxes.

@gelatinous6915 3 года назад

MC202*

@marcelodiana82 3 года назад

Not bad at all!

@jevogroni4829 2 года назад

These days which cheap old boxes are the best value? If I am on ebay is the MC-303 the best choice or are slightly better ones cheaper?

@rejectedsynths 2 года назад

While the days of cheap are deifinitely over, everything even remotely vintage synth mostly catches crazy prices on ebay, I'm sure you can't find a more complete package than the mc303 at a relatively cheap price. Sure you can get a volca or two for the same price but the 303 is a much more versatile machine than a single volca.

@jevogroni4829 2 года назад

@@rejectedsynths one thing that still puts me off of the MC-303 is that I heard it has not so many editable patches, and a mountain of patches you can't touch. besides that, I am on board and I still think these can go for a good price.

@rejectedsynths 2 года назад

All the patches are basically presets, but you can 'record' and therefore save modfied settings of each patch with the current track.