to figure out HOW this to work: 1. set Track 1 to Tone instead of Drums: press Shift+Project and then Track 1, delete drums and assign it as a Tone track. 2. To set all four control knobs to Track 1 (default is one per track): press all four buttons (Sound, Filter, Mod, FX) at the same time so they all light up, then assign each sys-ctrl knob. YEAH THANKS MAN THIS IS COOL
I totally agree ,most people dont realize this 101 is much more than just a groove box ,it s the most powerfull synth module ever created,the sound pack to download each for 1 dollars are crazy good..128 Voice polyphonie ,actually this MC 101 is a way better deal taht a JUNO station who cost double.... Yeah the Zen core synth is a beast! forget the Novation Tracks ,forget all other groove box,it even has chorg generators and arpegiator and it s a great sound card and sampler looper
That is an interesting opinion! Very true I guess. I thought about adding some kind of "broad" synth module to my set, something like the JV-2080 or maybe an XV model. But this little gem may probably be the best option today. Thanks for pointing this out!
@@rorz999 yeah ,got all 104 Xtensions so around 5000 synth preset couple with a Roland J6 for nice arpegio and chords= a joy ,it s a proper synth + a drum sample machine + audio interface ,all other groove (exept elektron)box are silly next to the ABC technology from roland
Not everyone can afford Zenology Pro so it’s a good idea to expose the right elements for at least some basic sound design to be available right from the unit. I was trying g to accomplish something similar using the 1 year free membership that Roland provides to its ZenCore capable device owners but I see this has been brilliantly done, shared and explained by you ! Thanks ! Basically more sound design capability than many small factor groove boxes now. Btw this little box is awesome, the recent upgrades from Roland made it a killer. It just requires a bit to get used to its workflow which isn’t that obvious.
Pretty dope. I’ve been lusting after an MC-101 since I saw that it works with Zenology Pro. I feel like that’s exactly what it needed to go up against Circuits and Electribes (for me). It might even be a bit better with the EQ options. Now if only you could actually edit whatever’s on your MC-101 via computer (like Circuit’s Components, for example), instead of editing on the computer and then basically transferring ROMs/patches.
I love that you are constantly coming up with and finding ways to do new things with the MC 101 and showing us how to do it, here's one for you that maybe you can find is there any way to do any kind of granular synthesis it's something that I have been reading about and watching videos about and I am quite interested in and it would be great if I could do it with my mc101 because I do live on a very limited budget but it is something that I really want to kind of dive into
Dang, that’s a good topic. For some reason I hadn’t thought about granular synthesis yet. I’ll add it to the list of topics and do some thinking about it. I remember messing with my volca sample some years ago and kind of faking a granular synth, maybe we can do something kind of similar on the 101....you’ve got me thinking now Thanks for the suggestion! If I come up with anything useful I’ll make a video on it.
More MC-101! Let’s talk about using midi controllers, external sequencers, and what the hell is up with Zenology in terms of what it offers the MC line
fantastic work, well done. I'm currently looking at getting a zen core based box... the mc101, mc707 or mv1 verselab so very handy also saw smeone who mad a great TB303 set of patches recently .. they were spot on too.
I just got an mc707 a week or so ago, and I love it. FWIW, the audio inputs were the main reason over 101 for me... You can use up to 4 of the 707's tracks to insert/mix/sample external sources. Super fun. Cheers.
Yeah it’s really powerful and there are some really talented people pushing to take advantage of it. I think all three are great devices. If you haven’t seen yet, you should check out teabreakbeats here on RU-vid, he has a number of great tricks to get the most out of the 101, and they might help get perspective on the sorts of things you can pull out of this box. To me there’s no real wrong choice among the three of them, I’m really liking Zenology as I get deeper into it.
Woah!! Ace man. Fantastic work and dont worry the mc101 is a true winner. I wonder if its possible to split tones in 2 across the keybed in zenology.....now that would be immense!
Thank you! You can do that (you can actually split 4 partials into zones in Zenology, either with key position or velocity). I haven’t gotten into that yet but probably will at some point, but chuck vicious has a video on how powerful it can be that you may want to check out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l4WaExuwD58.html
Awesome, thats a great idea! Thanks a lot! It reminds me of the electribe, with the simple Controlls, that still let you create all basic sounds. An idea: Can you maybe do a preset for Cross-Mod and Sync-Saw as well? With Sys-CTRL3-4 controlling Oscillator-Pitch-Parameters instead of Filter, to create this typical cross or sync-sound?
When I press sound file on track 2 I get «directory not found». I bought my MC-101 used. How do I get access to the folder? Do I need to connect to my PC and download something first to be able to change the sounds of the synth?
Great sounds and I really want the synth pack but seemingly it is not there in the group anymore. I just get 'can't find the server' - please help!! lol
One suggestion I'd have is to add a couple more oscillators with sub osc options. For example on the top of CS80 saws, My Reface CS has a Sub Saw you can add and it just sounds immense! But the Chorus isn't quite as big sounding as the Juno one here, wow is that lush
Thanks! That’s a fair question. Unfortunately there’s not a nice way to do it on the 101. They save with a project, then you can load in to a new clip from a project, but you can’t rename or put them anywhere too conveniently. You can make a new project to store patches, like I have a project named “bassSounds” that has a bunch of basses I’ve designed and I can load from, and that works alright, but it’s not the most convenient.
This seems really cool! Do you need a midi controller to take advantage of it or can you play the sounds on the 101? Sorry if dumb question, I'm still super confused with how MIDI works and what's possible.
That's really cool Ben! You definitely have the knack to figure out the esoteric and not-so-well documented capabilities of the MC-101. You mentioned Macro Controllers can control parameters in Zen Pro and the MC-101 can access those parameters? Or Macro Controllers? How does the MC-101 access Zen Pro's parameters/controllers? Thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Subscribed, his explanations are very complete and easy, and I don't understand English, but watching your videos is appreciated and grateful. From Spain. I have to update 101, I have 1.0, install direct 1.60? Or previous versions 20.30.40... for after 1.60? Better do with a card off Mc and then install? Or card inside the Mc? Thank you . Desde traductor
I can only find the the svz file on FB. I don't see any PDF or project file that goes with it (as you mention in the video). When i simply load up a patch from the svz, i get no sound from it. Any place where i can get the complete package + instructions? Thanks.
Hi, excellent video !! I dont have any sound under Sound File, actually it says Directory not found, so that BCVirtualAn.svz doesnt come with the MC101. Where I can find it ?
Thanks for checking it out! Yeah I made the BCVirtualAn.svz sound pack. You can find it free in the Facebook group I linked in the description if you search my name under the files section. You can also find it on my patreon if you join for 1$ (also in the description, feel free to join and then cancel), or if neither of those work just email me at bencoemusic@gmail.com, mention you’re looking for the pack and I’ll send it to you. Once you have it you need to go connect your MC-101 to your computer, and drag and drop the .svz file into the Roland/Sound folder. There are instructions for that part on the Roland website under MC-101 documentation/support. It’s a bit of a process but once you do it you’ll have all this stuff and won’t have to do it again, hope that helps!
@@BenCoeMusic thank you I find it and work perfect. Unfortunatelly dont have Zencore subscription, that is the only way to make a file sound like this?
Do you think it could be possible to have a preset that has PCM wave on osc1 and sysctrl1 could change the pcm wave / osc waveform?. Thinking about this because the 10 and 707 have more than 300 sounds on those pcm oscs
That’s a good question and one I’ve thought some about. Unfortunately, at least from what I can tell I don’t think there’s a way to do it. There’s no modulation destination in the matrix that I can make work that way. I’m always trying stuff though.
Two things! First, that childish grin shows just how excited you are. That's awesome, and I love it! Second, I would try to balance the sound levels between the audio in the very beginning and your speaking volume. That sound got pretty loud so I turned down the volume, then I had to turn it back up when you were talking. Can't wait to see what you have in the rest of the video though. Also, how did you get your LaunchPad connected to the MC101? Is it running to your computer, and then your computer sending the midi data over to the MC101?
Thank you! I’ll work on that in the future, I’m just learning video editing and after listening to myself talk for 3 hours and the same synth sounds over and over again i don’t know if my ears hear it well enough. I’ll try to be more careful, don’t want to blow any ears or speakers. The launchpad is actually going through a raspberry pi that I’m using as a USB host box. The details for the setup are here (not my page, but I followed the directions and it worked) neuma.studio/rpi-as-midi-host.html You could also do it with a computer or a commercially available USB midi host, like the iconnectivity host boxes or the Bome Box, but the raspberry pi is convenient because it can be powered by a USB phone battery and also give power to the 101 and up to 3 USB controllers.
can you please put it up somewhere that isn't facebook? I really want this but can't get it. Even if you don't want to, I think it's a great thing you've done.
Thanks! If you shoot me an email at Bencoemusic@gmail.com I can just send it to you. Otherwise it’s on my patreon. I haven’t had luck with other file hosting services but if you know somewhere easier for you that’s free for both of us let me know I’ll see if I can get it up.
Hello Ben Coe, hope you’re well! Returning to the subject of maximum bar length in a MC101/707 project, did you previously state that the system is maxed out at 128 bars length maximum per project? (16 clips x 8 bars {128 steps per clip at 16th note feel} or can one get more than 128 bars of fresh, original music per project? thanks!
Pues acabo de utilizar el traductor en modo conversación y me traduce sus palabras o conversación bastante bien o muy bien , lo digo porque si habla así de bien y claro ....puede llegar a más gente que no entiende inglés (como yo vaya por delante el 1 reo) . Así que gracias por las revisiones así de profundas y a fondo, y que se entienda fácil...
This is unrelated to the video but you are the mc-101 reference in many regards. I was wondering if you knew if there was a way to edit pads of a scale? What I mean is: In scale mode pad 1 and 16 are the same (the root 1 oct up from pad 9) I want pad 16 be a half step down from the root. Any tips? :) Thanks for your time!
I'm trying to control the amp envelope sustain, but there doesn't seem to be a way to map a sys ctrl to it. I've tried the AMP_DEPTH setting but it seems to have no effect. Have you had any luck in this area?
Shouldn’t there be a way to use an external controller to control more then 4 controls or is that limited by the mc101? Because what would be great would be to program a novation zero sl to really have full control over the synthesis. Then you could save patches on the novation - at least settings minus the oscillator type, and have knobs for everything.
Yes and also no. The 101 accepts cc messages for some of the available synth parameters but only what’s available in the menus, and unfortunately the sys-ctrl parameters I use aren’t available directly by cc. Attack decay sustain and release are all available though, and any parameters assigned to the c1-c4 knobs can be reached, so you can definitely get use out of it. Roland has a chart that shows what CCs map to what. static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/MC-101_MIDIImpleChart_eng03_W.pdf
Since the launchpad X doesn’t have a midi out port, you need to use a usb midi host box between the launchpad and the mc-101. There are a few out there (Kenton, iconnectivity make them as well as some smaller manufacturers) that you plug in by connecting the usb out from the launchpad x to the usb in of the host box, then connect the midi out from the host box to the midi in of the mc-101. I’m using a raspberry pi configured as a usb midi router, and the usb of the launchpad is plugged into the raspberry pi, and the usb of the mc-101 is also plugged into the raspberry pi, and midi is shared between the devices by the pi, which also powers both of them.
another great video ben! Gave me a reason to explore my free year membership of the roland cloud other than the expansion packs. I joined the facebook group but do not see where the patches are under files. Do you know what the name is for the patches in the faecbook group?
I’m super sorry, I set this to post in the morning, went to sleep and planned to post them in the group the same time the video went up. Then I slept through my alarm, they’ll be up in the Facebook group shortly.
Yep it has pretty decent piano, electric piano, organ, etc. They sound better with a velocity sensitive keyboard. I’ve used them at bar cover band gigs and my band mates preferred them to the waves electric-200 piano I had. Never tried them against like the big fancy kontakt libraries but they get the job done.
@@BenCoeMusic cool man thanks a lot for the reply. that really helps a lot. is there a way to keep like 10-20 favorite patches fairly easily accessible so you can change between them fairly easily?
@@gagealbright in some cases yes but more generally there isn’t a great way to manage favorite patches. In general, you can’t favorite patches or move them anywhere, but they’re fairly well organized and after a few months with it I could load up what I wanted in a few seconds, not ideal but possible. However, you can load patches into separate clips in a project and call them back with one or two button touches if your plan is to play them live. That way you can have 16 clips x 4 tracks to have 64 different sounds callable almost instantly. This isn’t a great storage method if you want to quickly add a favorite sound to a project you’re working on but it is a great method if you’re designing a setlist or preparing sounds for a jam session. If it’s helpful each track can respond to its own midi channel so if you have a midi keyboard that can do splits on midi channels (or two keyboards and a midi merge) you can set different sounds on different 101 tracks and use it multitimbrally. When I was playing live my printed setlist would say something like “la Vida loca, track 1 clip 2, track two clip 3” which would put the horns on one hand and the keys or whatever on the other hand in 3 button presses. It was slightly slower in some situations than MainStage or workstation performers who have a “next song” button but it made me a lot faster if we changed songs on the fly, and I could call up sounds fast for jams. Don’t know if that’s your situation but it made me really think of the mc-101 as a really good basic all-rounder sort of sound module for cover band keys.
@@BenCoeMusic thank you so much for your thorough reply! it really is very helpful to me! its so hard to figure out some of these things without having someone who has actually used one give advice
@@gagealbright yeah no problem, happy to help! I know how hard these things can be to really understand without having them in front of you. If you have any other questions feel free to ask, there’s also a Facebook group mc-707/mc-101 users that’s usually happy to answer any questions if you want perspectives that aren’t just mine lol
Hey, i was wondering if im getting this right - i can load 4 va synths to 4 tracks of 101 and control them with external sequencer? like multitembral 4 part synth
Thanks! I use a raspberry pi to connect the launchpad. It took a little work to set up but for what I want to do it’s perfect. I have a USB battery that powers the raspberry pi and then the pi powers the launchpad and the 101 and passes midi between them. There are other ways to do it, with a computer or off-the-shelf USB midi host device (iconnectivity and a few others make them, and recently there have been a few small companies making them with extra features, like the bome box or blokas just made one). You could also use a launchpad pro with its dedicated midi out into the MC-101 midi in.
@@BenCoeMusic Whahhh-Ben?!? A Raspberry Pi to power and rout Midi-O.o do tell-I have been thinking that one could make something like that-make a video please! :-)
Not sure I understand what you are doing here. Is it that you made a selection of very basic waveform type patches in zenology pro and assigned the syscontrols to "meat and potato" params rather than more esoteric ones? LIke, zen-core engine in the mc-101 is already VA so I don't understand what this manages to do. Is it that you can't init to anything other than basic saw directly on the mc-101 natively? And can't assign what the controls actually do natively in the mc-101 (other than assign to generic syscontrol* as determined in zenology pro)?
Yeah I think you understand exactly lol. Basically the 101 lacks an easy way of using traditional VA waveforms. The init patch is like a really dirty sine wave that sounds saw-ish, and you can get sort of decent starting waves with some lead patches but that’s sort of convoluted. Also like you guessed, the syscontrol parameters can’t be mapped from the 101 itself, so in Zenology Pro I mapped them to “meat and potato” settings to make VA stuff as flexible and intuitive as possible. I’ve found the preset 101 patches make very little use of the syscontrol parameters so this gives quite a bit more control than the built-in presets (at least the ones I’ve explored). So in all, the goal here was to expose Zenology parameters to the MC-101 user to make traditional virtual analogue-style sound design possible from the unit itself, without the need for Zenology Pro or a computer. Hope that clarifies, thanks for checking out the video!
@@BenCoeMusic Thx for the response. I don't own the 101 (yet) but own Circuit which is basically the same situation, except that components is free, so I understand now why your patches are useful. I figure that BOTH units have "flavorful" presets rather than truly workable basics. Does the Novation Launchpad XL control the 101 decently? I've got a couple and they make my Circuits so much more useful. Anyway, I've already got zenology pro, but even then this from you is useful if I go for the 101. I'm narrowing it down now between 101/707/mv-1 and mpc one (wild price spread I know) but the more I research the mpc isn't showing many flaws. But hey, even if I get mpc one on the high end which knocks out the other high end contenders, the appeal of the mc-101 on the low end is always there. Cheers, thx for clearing this up and for the files.
I don’t see it as an option where I would expect it (in project settings) I know chord mode was added in an update (1.5 or 1.6?) so maybe it’s an oversight that they put it in but didn’t get around yet to letting us change the colors.
i invite you to join me ROASTING Roland on each and every support board, because they don't have controller software for the 101/707 which is STUPID deep. They have a computer UI for the 2006 MC808, but nothing for us, LoL...
