The Roland MC-202 (MicroComposer) is a

monophonic Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

analog synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...

and

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 ...

released by

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 ...

in 1983. It was the first

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 ...

.Roland MC-202 MicroComposer
''

Electronic Musician ''Electronic Musician'' is a monthly magazine published by Future US featuring articles on synthesizers, music production and electronic musicians. History and profile ''Electronic Musician'' began as ''Polyphony'' magazine in 1975, publis ...

'', November 2001 Its synth is similar to the

TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

bass synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

and the

SH-101 The Roland SH-101 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1986. Though it was something of a commercial failure during the time of its manufacture, it later became a staple of electronic music in the 1990s ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, featuring one

voltage-controlled oscillator A microwave (12–18GHz) voltage-controlled oscillator A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is an electronic oscillator whose oscillation frequency is controlled by a voltage input. The applied input voltage determines the instantaneous oscilla ...

with simultaneous saw and square/pulse-width waveforms. It is a successor to the Microcomposer family of sequencers, including the MC-8 and MC-4. Chris Carter
ROLAND MC8 MICROCOMPOSER
''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, a ...

'', Vol.12, No.5, March 1997 The unit is portable and can be operated from batteries or an external power supply.

Synthesizer

The internal synthesizer features one

with simultaneous saw, square/pulse-width and sub-octave square waveforms. Additionally there is a 24dB Low Pass filter, an LFO and a single ADSR envelope generator. In terms of circuitry, it is nearly identical to the earlier

synthesizers but lacks the noise generator, choice of LFO shapes and modulation/pitch bend controls. However, unlike the SH-101, it does include a delay on the LFO. The two units also share a design aesthetic in terms of the control layout, casing, lettering, knobs and slider caps.

Sequencer

The MC-202 includes a sequencer that can play back two separate sequences simultaneously. Two sets of

CV/Gate CV/gate (an abbreviation of ''control voltage/gate'') is an analog method of controlling synthesizers, drum machines, and similar equipment with external sequencers. The control voltage typically controls pitch and the gate signal controls not ...

connectors on the rear of the unit allow for routing the sequences to external synthesizers. One of the two sequences is used to control the internal synthesiser. The sequencer is programmed much like Roland's early digital MC-4 and MC-8 Microcomposer sequencers, whereby notes are entered with pitch, length and gate length. Additionally, each note in the sequence can have an accent and slide, which is similar to the

and allows for so called

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

sequences. The SH-101 lacks the ability to programme accents. The sequences are lost if the unit is powered down, however a tape interface is provided so that sequences can be stored to and recalled from an audio tape recorder. There are

DIN sync DIN sync, also called Sync24, is a synchronization interface for electronic musical instruments. It was introduced in the early 1980s by Roland Corporation and has been superseded by MIDI. Definition and history DIN sync was introduced in t ...

inputs and outputs which allow the unit to synchronise playback, either as master or slave, with other DIN sync-equipped instruments such as the TB-303 or the

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...

. The unit can also generate and sync to

frequency-shift keying Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a frequency modulation scheme in which digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier signal. The technology is used for communication systems such as telemetry, weather ball ...

signals from a tape recorder. The MC-303 was built in 1996 and is a digital successor of the MC-202.

Computer-based sequencer programming

In 1997, Defective Records Software release
MC-202 Hack
a software application that enables programming of the MC-202's sequencer on computer. It works by creating audio that is routed into the MC-202's cassette input port. It allows for MIDI files to be converted to MC-202 sequences. This eliminates the need to use the MC-202 keys to enter sequence information. Version 2 of the software (released in 2009) also allows sequences programmed directly on the MC-202 to be converted back into MIDI files.

References

External links

The Roland MC-202 Portable Fun With Only 6 C Batteries!

Vintage Synth Explorer

MC-202 Hack software to convert MIDI files back and forth from/to the MC-202

* ttp://reaktorplayer.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/roland-mc-202-original-data-tape-converted/ Roland MC-202 MicroComposer Original Data Tape Download (Sep 24, 2010)
MC-202 Analog User Modifications (D.I.Y. Special: FREE plans to add MIDI capability to the Roland MC-202 with the Synhouse Original MIDIJACK!) : UPDATED for 2010!

Electronic Musician Magazine Articles - Roland MC-202 MicroComposer (Oct 13, 2011)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roland Mc-202 MC-202 Grooveboxes MIDI instruments

Synthesizer

Sequencer

Computer-based sequencer programming

References

Further reading

External links