The

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

MC-505 is a

groovebox A groovebox is a self-contained electronic or digital musical instrument for the production of live, loop-based electronic music with a high degree of user control facilitating improvisation. The term "Groovebox" was originally used by Roland Co ...

conceived in 1998 as a combination of a

MIDI controller A MIDI controller is any hardware or software that generates and transmits Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data to MIDI-enabled devices, typically to trigger sounds and control parameters of an electronic music performance. They mos ...

, a

music sequencer A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Cont ...

, a drum machine, and a desktop synthesizer with many synthesis features: arpeggiator, oscillators, and voltage-controlled filter, control of attack, decay, sustain and release, different envelopes and 2 Lfo. It was released as the successor to the

Roland MC-303 The Roland MC-303 is the first of a series of musical instruments known as a Groovebox. It combines a simple sound module with a sequencer to record and store notation, along with controls aimed at encouraging the musician to improvise the music ...

and is a compact version of the

Roland JX-305 The Roland JX-305 Groovesynth synthesizer was produced in 1998 by Roland. It is very similar to a Roland MC-505 with an additional set of 61 keys. The keyboard is sensitive to velocity and has channel aftertouch. This keyboard was aimed at pr ...

Groovesynth without the full set of 61 keys. It is also the predecessor to the Roland D2,

Roland MC-307 The Roland MC-307 is a combination of MIDI music sequencer, synthesizer, drum machine and control surface produced by the Roland Corporation. This combination is commonly referred to by Roland as a 'Groovebox'. It is a scaled-down version of the ...

Roland MC-909 The discontinued Roland MC-909 Sampling Groovebox combines the features of a synthesizer, Music sequencer, sequencer, and Sampler (musical instrument), sampler, with extensive hands-on control of both the sound engine and the sequencing flow. It ...

and the

Roland MC-808 The Roland MC-808 was a groovebox, announced at the Winter NAMM in 2006. It is the successor to the late Roland MC-303, Roland MC-307, Roland MC-505 and Roland MC-909. Background Though cheaper than the Roland MC-909, it has a number of feature ...

Features

The key features of the MC-505 are: * 64 voice polyphonic digital subtractive synthesis engine (derived from the

Roland JV-1080 The Roland JV-1080 ( Super JV, Super JV-1080, or simply 1080) is a sample-based synthesizer/sound module in the form of a 2U rack. The JV-1080's synthesizer engine was also used in Roland's XP-50 workstation (1995). Due to its stellar library ...

) with 251 different oscillator, acoustic and drum sample waveforms * 512 built-in preset sounds, 256 user sounds & 26 rhythm sets (includes the

Roland CR-78 The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine launched in 1978. Although primitive by later standards, the CR-78 represented an important advance in drum machine technology at the time, in particular by allowing users to program and store thei ...

, TR-808,

TR-606 The Roland TR-606 Drumatix is a drum machine built by the Roland Corporation from 1981 to 1984. It was originally designed to be used with the Roland TB-303, a monophonic analog bass synthesizer, to provide a simple drum and bass accompaniment ...

TR-909 The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a drum machine introduced by Roland Corporation in 1983, succeeding the TR-808. It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples for some sounds, and the first with MIDI functionality, allowing it to syn ...

, TR-707 and R-8) * 8-track MIDI sequencer + Mute Ctrl Track * Recording length of up to 32 bars per pattern * 714 preset sequencer patterns, 200 user patterns, 50 user songs * 3 multi-effect units: Reverb, Delay and 24 different EFXs * Infrared D-Beam controller for hands-free sound modulation * MEGAMix function for intuitive realtime mixing of beats and patterns * 5 volt

Smartmedia SmartMedia is an obsolete flash memory, flash memory card standard owned by Toshiba, with capacities ranging from 2 MB to 128 MB. The format mostly saw application in the early 2000s in digital cameras and audio production. SmartMedia m ...

card slot for doubling user patch and pattern memory

Criticisms

The Roland MC-505 has no sampler. The size of the

LCD screen A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...

makes it difficult to read each feature setting, and over time the LCD screen would lose pixels (which in some cases renders the screen unreadable; this is called "display bug" by some users). This issue is due to the heat on the

PCB PCB may refer to: Science and technology * Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant * Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics * ...

board, the lamination between the crystal and the

is opening/splitting up from the little heat inside the Roland MC-505 from prolonged use. Roland has fixed this by updating the

component Circuit Component may refer to: •Are devices that perform functions when they are connected in a circuit. In engineering, science, and technology Generic systems *System components, an entity with discrete structure, such as an assemb ...

Notable artists

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, after members Australian Alex Murray-Leslie and American Melissa Logan met at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status th ...

Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Initially, the band's lyrics were primarily concerned with food, before expanding into broader subject ma ...

* Duo 505 *

Eric Prydz Eric Sheridan Prydz (, ; born 19 July 1976), also known by his many aliases including Pryda () and Cirez D (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He rose to fame with his 2004 hit single " Call on Me", and saw continued chart success with "Pro ...

Freddy Fresh Frederick Schmid, better known by his stage name Freddy Fresh, is an American DJ, musician, and electronic music producer. Fresh has recorded for over 100 independent record labels, including major labels Sony UK, Virgin, BMG UK, and Harthous ...

Gustavo Cerati Gustavo Adrián Cerati (11 August 1959 – 4 September 2014) was an Argentine singer-songwriter, composer and producer, considered one of the most important and influential figures of Ibero-American rock. Cerati along with his band Soda Stereo, ...

* James McNally ( Afro Celts) * Kirlian Camera *

Lasgo Lasgo were a Belgian electronic music group. The group formed in 1999 was composed of Evi Goffin, David Vervoort, Peter Luts, and Dave McCullen). Peter Luts confirmed on Belgian radio in 2008 that Evi Goffin was not returning to the band, after c ...

The Legendary Pink Dots The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984, the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka- ...

* M.I.A. * New Order *

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuz ...

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

Rambo Amadeus Antonije Pušić (; born 14 June 1963), known professionally as Rambo Amadeus () is a Montenegrin author. A self-titled "musician, poet, and media manipulator", he is a noted artist across the countries of former Yugoslavia. His songs combine ...

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The G ...

* Grace Iveshttps://pitchfork.com/features/rising/grace-ives-interview-janky-star/ *

Juan Atkins Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. ''Mixmag'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of The Belle ...

I-F I-f (also Interr-Ference) is the stage name of Ferenc E. van der Sluijs, a Dutch producer and DJ based in The Hague. He is a former member of the Dutch techno-pioneers Unit Moebius. Overview In 1997 he produced the track "Space Invaders Are Sm ...

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

References

External links

MC-505 PDF Manual Links:
Online Roland MC-505 PDF Owners Manual Location

Roland MC-505 Service Notes Manual Schematics
Other Links:
Roland US Corporation, MC-505 site and files.

Roland MC-505's discussion Group Forum
at

Yahoo! Groups Yahoo! Groups was a free-to-use system of electronic mailing lists offered by Yahoo!. Prior to February 2020, Yahoo! Groups was one of the world's largest collections of online discussion boards. It allowed members to subscribe to various grou ...

Roland MC-505 FAQ v.1.041

"Roland MC505 - next up from the mc303 comes the 505 - same thing, more power". - (Dancetech.com "A London, UK Independent Product Reviews site". - Date: March 16, 2000)

At Home With the Groovebox
- Compilation of artists using only the MC-505 featuring

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

, Pavement, Jean Jacques Perrey,

Gershon Kingsley Gershon Kingsley (born Götz Gustav Ksinski; October 28, 1922 – December 10, 2019) was a German-American composer, a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, founde ...

and others. Released in 2000 by

Grand Royal Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California-based vanity record label set up in 1992 by rap group Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings. ''Grand Royal'' was also the name of a magazine written a ...

. {{Roland

MC-505 The Roland Corporation, Roland MC-505 is a groovebox conceived in 1998 as a combination of a MIDI controller, a music sequencer, a drum machine, and a desktop synthesizer with many synthesis features: arpeggiator, oscillators, and voltage-controll ...

Grooveboxes