Roland Groovebox MC-505 Operating instructions

It all started with the MC-303 in 1996. Then, in 1998,
the MC-505 Groove Box exploded on the scene and
added a whole new dimension to the word "Groove."
With over 500 sounds, 64-voice polyphony, a large
sequencer capacity, extensive MIDI implementation, and
an infrared D-Beam* controller, the MC-505 is all you
need to make professional sounding grooves. The pur-
pose of this document is to help the intermediate to
advanced user probe the depths of the MC-505. We will
assume that you already have a good grasp of the basic
operations including selecting and muting patterns, as
well as writing and recording your own patterns and
songs. If you are new to the MC-505 or need to review
these basic concepts, follow along with the Quick Start
(included with your MC-505). Another good source of
basic information is the MC-505 TurboStart, which is
available from our FaxBack system (document #20070)
or from our Website (www.rolandus.com).
We will cover the following topics in this document:
I. Selecting and assigning effects on the MC-505.
II. Using the Mute function.
III. Pattern Sets and the Pattern Call function.
IV. Assigning and using the individual outputs.
V. Creating reverse drum sounds on the fly.
VI. Copying RPS patterns for additional editing.
VII. D-Beam tricks.
VII. Internet resources for MC-505 users.
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October 20th, 1998
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*D-Beam controller technology has been licensed from
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I. Effects
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
Effects can significantly change a sound or a whole
groove. The same pattern can be made to sound very
different when an effect is applied. The MC-505 has 3
separate effects processors that can be assigned to any
Part or rhythm instrument. These effects are an impor-
tant part of creating an interesting and satisfying pattern
or song. The effects in the MC-505 include:
· Reverb - 6 types
· Delay - 2 types
· Insert - 23 effects
The Insert effects range from common effects such as
overdrive and flanger, to unique effects such as Lo-Fi,
Phonograph, Radio Tuning, and Slicer. Use the following
procedure to add some record noise to one of your
grooves:
1) Hold EFFECTS SELECT (the [*] button) and press
CARD/*EFX so it is lit.
2) Continue to hold EFFECTS SELECT, and use the
VALUE dial to select "PHONO."
3) Press EFFECT SELECT to light the EFX OUTPUT
LEVEL indicator.
4) Rotate the EFX knob all the way clockwise.
5) Press TEMPO/MIXER then press MIXER SELECT to
light the EFX/OUT indicator.
6) Use the mixer sliders to turn on/off the phonograph
effect for the desired Parts.
7) Press PLAY. Hold EFFECTS SELECT and use the
VALUE dial to select different effects.
These new effects settings can be saved in a pattern.
Use the following procedure:
1) Press PNT/SONG.
2) Press WRITE and use the VALUE dial to select the
desired destination pattern.
3) Press ENTER twice.
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II. Power Muting
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Sequencing
You may have already mastered the concept of muting
individual Parts of a pattern. But what if you need to
mute out several Parts (or all Parts) of a pattern at the
same time? Use the following procedure (called All
Mute) to mute all the Parts simultaneously:
1) Select Pattern P:049 and press PLAY.
2) While holding PART MUTE, press RHYTHM MUTE.
All Parts are muted.
3) Hold PART MUTE and press RHYTHM MUTE again to
toggle between All Mute and All Play.
Now, use Solo Mute to break down the pattern to just
one Part:
4) While holding PART MUTE, press the Part R select
button to solo the Rhythm Part.
Suppose we want to hear everything except the drums.
Since we currently are hearing only the Rhythm Part, we
can use Mute Exchange to quickly invert the status of
our mutes:
5) While holding PART MUTE, press PART SELECT. The
Rhythm Part will be muted, but all other Parts will
play.
Another feature of the MC-505 allows the mute status
of the current pattern to be held over for the next pat-
tern. This technique is referred to as Mute Remain:
6) Continue to play back Pattern P:049 and mute out
everything except for Parts R and 2.
7) While the pattern is playing back, press PLAY again
(so it begins to flash).
8) Press the INC button to select the next consecutive
pattern. The next pattern will play back using the
mute status of the previous pattern.
As you can see, the MC-505 allows you to alter pat-
terns in several ways quickly and easily in realtime.
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III. Pattern Call
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
Many performing DJs dont compose a song ahead of
time. Instead, they improvise various grooves and pat-
terns on the fly. This can be accomplished by using the
MC-505s Pattern Call feature, which lets you have a
specific collection of patterns assigned to the KEY PAD
buttons. You can select a pattern with a KEY PAD
which will continue to play back until you select a differ-
ent pattern. A collection of up to 16 patterns (one
assigned to each KEY PAD) is referred to as a Pattern
Set. For our example, lets assign a few patterns
(P:031, P:009, P:003, P:197, P:009, and U:001) to a
Pattern Set:
1) Press PTN SET and use the VALUE dial to select the
first User Pattern Set "U:01 Techno 1."
2) Press PTN/SONG and use the VALUE dial to select
the first pattern "P:031 NU-NRG 4."
3) While holding PTN/CALL, press KEY PAD 1, the LCD
display will briefly indicate "Complete!"
4) Use the VALUE dial to select our next pattern
"P:009 Psy Trance 9."
5) While holding PTN/CALL, press KEY PAD 2, again,
the LCD display will briefly indicate "Complete!"
6) Repeat steps 4-5 to continue to register the
remaining patterns (P:003, P:197, P:009, and U:001)
to KEY PADs 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Now lets use the Pattern Call function to play the
Pattern Set weve just made:
1) Press PTN/CALL so it is lit
2) Press KEY PAD 1. The first pattern weve registered
(P:031) should appear in the LED display.
3) Press PLAY to begin playback of the pattern.
4) Use the KEY PAD 2-6 buttons to select other
patterns. As soon as the current pattern has finished,
the next pattern will play.
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Pattern Call (continued)
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
Now lets assign a footswitch to cycle through the
Pattern Set weve created:
1) Connect a Roland DP-2 or BOSS FS-5U footswitch to
the PEDAL input on the rear of the MC-505.
2) Hold SHIFT and press KEY PAD 10.
3) Use the PAGE < / > buttons to select
"Pdl Assign =HOLD."
4) Use the VALUE dial to select "Pdl Assign=PTN-I."
5) Press EXIT and wait until the "ProcessingKeep
Power ON!" message disappears.
6) Press PTN/SONG then press PTN CALL so it is lit.
7) Press KEY PAD 1 to recall the first pattern weve
assigned (P:031).
8) Press PLAY to begin playback of the pattern.
9) Press the footswitch once. When the current pattern
has finished, each press of the footswitch will
advance to the next assigned pattern in the pattern
set.
Using the footswitch to select patterns can free up your
hands to play another instrument, use the D-Beam, the
realtime controls, and the mixer section of the MC-505.

IV. Using Direct Outputs
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
In most recording studios and many live performance
setups, it is preferable to use individual outputs to send
specific Parts or instruments to a mixer for processing or
to give more control to the engineer. The MC-505 is
normally set to use the LEFT/RIGHT MIX outputs.
However, it is possible to send any Part of a pattern to
the DIRECT 1 and DIRECT 2
outputs on the rear of the
MC-505. Use the following
procedure to utilize the
DIRECT 1/DIRECT 2 out-
puts:
1) Connect the desired outputs of the MC-505 to the
appropriate inputs of your external device.
2) Press PTN/SONG and use the VALUE dial to select
the desired pattern.
3) Press MIXER SELECT to light the EFX/OUT indicator.
4) Press TEMPO/MIXER in the DISPLAY section.
5) Hold SHIFT and use the PART MIXER slider for each
Part to select the desired output destination, DRY,
EFX, DIR1, or DIR2. Consult Figure 5 to determine
the routing assignments:
6) Press PLAY to listen to the pattern now utilizing the
DIRECT outputs.
You can use the PAN controls to move a Part to just
one output if you would like to have several mono out-
puts. Use the following procedure to set Part 2 to play
only from the left DIRECT 1 output:
1) Assign Part 2 to the DIRECT 1 output destination (as
previously described).
2) Press MIXER SELECT to light the PAN indicator.
3) Use the PART MIXER slider for Part 2 to select
"L64."
DRY: Signal is sent to LEFT/RIGHT MIX outputs and not routed through the EFX processor.
EFX: Signal is sent to LEFT/RIGHT MIX outputs and routed through the EFX processor.
DIR1:Signal is sent to DIRECT 1 outputs.
DIR2:Signal is sent to DIRECT 2 outputs.
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V. Reverse Drum Hits
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
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Just as a DJ has the ability to spin a record backwards,
you can use the KEY SHIFT function in the Part Mixer to
simulate reverse drum hits when applied to the Rhythm
Part. Use the following procedure to simulate the effect
of backwards grooves:
1) Select Pattern P:143 HipHop West 1, and press
PLAY.
2) Press MIXER SELECT to light the KEY SHIFT
indicator, then press TEMPO/MIXER.
3) Quickly move the PART MIXER slider for PART R all
the way up for a reversed drum effect.
4) Move the PART MIXER slider for PART R to the
middle position to turn the reverse effect off.
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VII. D-Beam Tricks
VI. Copying RPS Phrases
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
The MC-505 contains 60 RPS sets covering a wide vari-
ety of styles. Each RPS set contains up to 16 RPS
phrases. Perhaps you have found an RPS key that con-
tains a part you might want to include in one of your
own patterns. RPS phrases do not actually contain pat-
tern data (they simply "point" to an existing pattern).
Because of this, you can easily copy the source pattern
of the RPS phrase to your User pattern for further edit-
ing. Use the following procedure to locate the source for
a RPS phrase and copy it to a new pattern:
1) Hold the desired RPS phrase on one of the KEY
PADs, then press and hold PTN/SONG. The LCD will
display the source pattern and Part for the RPS
phrase.
2) Release all buttons and use the VALUE dial to select
the pattern indicated in the display from step 1.
3) Hold EDIT and press KEY PAD 1.
4) Use the PART SELECT buttons (just below the Part
Mixer Sliders) to select the Part you wish to copy.
5) Use the VALUE dial to select "From=1." Press
ENTER and use the VALUE dial to select
"For=ALL."
6) Press ENTER and use the VALUE dial to select the
destination pattern.
7) Press ENTER twice and use the VALUE dial to select
"Status=ALL."
8) Press ENTER and use the VALUE dial to select
"Mode=REPLACE."
9) Press ENTER and use the VALUE dial to select
"Times=1."
10) Press ENTER twice.
The infrared D-Beam controller is just one of the many
impressive features of the MC-505. From the default
settings, the D-Beam allows you to select either
Turntable, Cutoff + Resonance or Ad Lib effects allow-
ing you to physically interact with your patterns and
sounds. There are 28 additional control types available
for use by the D-Beam.

Assigning the D-Beam
Use the following procedure to assign the D-Beam con-
troller to any of the 28 available control types:
1) Hold the D-BEAM CONTROLLER SELECT button and
use the VALUE dial to select one of the 28 D-Beam
control types.
2) Press the D-BEAM CONTROLLER ON/OFF button so
it is lit to activate the D-Beam.
Using the Adlib Function
The D-Beam can be made to emulate to sound of a
Theramin (a unique instrument that is played by waving
your hands near two metal antennas) by using the Adlib
control type. Use the following procedure:
1) Press PATCH in the DISPLAY section.
2) Press PART SELECT and use the PART SELECT but
tons to select Part 1.
3) Use the VALUE dial to select Patch "P:A054 Sine
Tone."
4) Hold the D-BEAM CONTROLLER SELECT button and
use the VALUE dial to select "26:Note+Bend [A4]."
5) Press the D-BEAM CONTROLLER ON/OFF button so
it is lit. This will activate the D-Beam.
6) Move your hand at various distances over the
D-Beam Controller to utilize the Note+Bend effect.
Next, we will improve the sound of our Theramin by
increasing the range of the pitch change:
7) Hold EDIT and press KEY PAD 14.
8) Use the PAGE < / > buttons to select "BEND: Bend
Down."
D-Beam Tricks (continued)
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
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D-Beam Tricks (continued)
®ÂØÒÅÎ Supplemental Notes MC-505 Advanced Programming
9) Use the VALUE dial to set the bend down range to
"-48."
10) If desired, press WRITE and save the edited Patch to
an empty USER Patch location.
Now, the D-Beam will smoothly change the pitch of Part
1 over a range of five octaves.
Using the D-Beam to Trigger External Devices
We can make a few modifications in the above steps to
trigger an external MIDI sampler, sound module, or key-
board. Needless to say, waving your hand in mid air to
trigger a sound or phrase can be very cool. Use the fol-
lowing procedure to trigger a sample from the Boss SP-
202 Dr. Sample using the D-Beam:
1) Connect audio cables from the L/R LINE OUT jacks of
the SP-202 into the corresponding inputs of your
external mixer, amplifier, or receiver.
2) Connect a MIDI cable from the MIDI OUT jack of the
MC-505 to the MIDI IN jack of the SP-202.
3) Power on the SP-202 while holding PAD 1 to set it
to receive on MIDI channel 1.
4) Verify that a sample has been recorded and assigned
to PAD 1 of your SP-202.
5) On the MC-505, press PART SELECT and use the
PART SELECT buttons to select Part 1.
6) Use the OCTAVE - and + buttons to select
"OCT -2" in the LED display.
7) Verify that KEY PAD 2 on the MC-505 triggers the
sample assigned to PAD 1 on the SP-202.
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