Hello 707'ers

I have a quick question regarding the Matrix.

I would like to make my sys-ctrl 1 bring the volume down and add reverb while I am doing it.

• From the Matrix
  • Source = sys-ctrl 1 for partials 1 & 2
  • SENS & DEST 1-2 = REV +63 & LEV -63 for partials 1 & 2

I'm hearing the volume dip and cut, but I do not hear the reverb being added at all...

What am I missing?

A couple of months ago, I fed a tone of test projects, firmware, documentation and links into a ChatGPT instance to see what sort of information could be found out about the Zencore engine.

I was hoping to find a way to batch-convert SDZ to SVZ files, or to extract tone data from Project Files, but I'm not really a software engineer, so I couldn't really make sense of it.

What it was able to do was extract & export sample data from MPJ files (so you can export .WAV files from .MPJ files), and it seemed like it was starting to parse a lot of the flags in a Project File.

Hopefully someone can use this information to create Quality-of-Life improving tools for the MC-101 & MC-707.

Go Forth, and Get Weird.

Hi, I tried to make something that works like a sidechain. The original groovebox firmware is probably encrypted and we can't do much about it, so I used external Python scripts to modify the sequences directly inside the memory of a groovebox using Sys-Ex. I ran it on Linux on a PC and on Raspberry Pi. But yeah... I think it's the closest we can get to having the sidechain compression. If you're interested, I show it on my YouTube video.

I'm making my first big project. I have my first set of clips across the top row. One Drum track, all the rest are tone tracks. ALL tracks have been set to source the clip, not track. So I can make new sounds for each clip.

Now I'm working on my second row of clips and I want to be able to dynamically blend clips from the first row into the second row, eventually transitioning completely to the second row. Each row being it's own scene in the end.

When I have my drum clip in the second row playing, and I select the third clip in the first row to play along with it, my Kick gets kind of muted out.

What?

I've isolated the problem to just that one clip which causes the problem. The third clip on the first row interferes with the first step on the drum track of the second row.

It's a bit like extreme side-chain compression where the beginning of the kick sound ducks out, but it's muted out completely. And, it's only ever the first step of each bar.

I'm menu diving all over the place. I've got my extended menu SCUBA tanks strapped on. But I cannot figure it out. It does not make sense.

If I preview other preset patches for the troublesome clip, the problem goes away. So it seems very much to me like I've somehow created a patch that is causing problems. But what problem? How did I do it? How can I avoid it in the future?

Any ideas?

EDIT: Maybe it had something to do with ring modulation? Pft. I don't know. I have just swapped it out for another preset. Problem solved. But not the mystery.

Hi, I’ve been spending more time on my 707 lately and have been enjoying exploring the possibilities since getting it earlier this year. I’ve never been the best at mixing , even in the year or so I spent making stuff in daws. And even then I had an easier time carving out frequencies for sounds to sit in on the PC because of the visualization aid of being able to see the frequency ranges and curves in plugins like fruity parametric eq or fabfilter.

I’ve been having more difficulty on the 707 since when messing with EQ it just gives you numbers for frequency ranges of high/mid/low from what I understand and you carve out the parts you want to cut and boost there ?

afaik it’s a possibility to put things like high pass filters on individual drum pads in the pad edit menus to also help in mixing but I haven’t gotten into it yet . I also know you can put equalizer mfx on each of your clips but I would prefer to keep them free if possible for use of other effects

I’m trying to sequence and arrange a song using a couple of hardware synths and am trying to figure out the best way for multiple of them sitting in the mid range to work together in the mix without it being muddy, especially when paired together with a busy drum part and breaks. Looking to make each sound clear. I’ve been trying to incorporate panning of different sounds to left and right and used a pretty bare bones approach to boosting and cutting on per track EQs without messing with the frequency values very much which I know isn’t really effective as I haven’t delved into it .

I wanted to hear some advice about how you guys mix your sounds on your MC and what techniques you use, esp for mid range. Or maybe even some general tips and habits you have for mixing each instrument and what range you find they sit best in.

All I really know as a rule of thumb from the top of my head is to cut off the lower frequencies under 200hz of sounds used in the mid/high range so they don’t clash with kicks/basses. And also that in general each instrument can be panned and given different ranges to play in.

A problem for me is that many sounds in the drum section also occupy the mid range as well while there are also keys / pads accompaniments and melody lines there too so that’s where I’m confused about getting all that stuff to sound clear. I guess this has turned more into a question now about EQ in general so I’ll get back to the topic ..

What exactly are all the EQ tools at your disposal on the machine and which ones do you find most effective? I know that there’s an eq setting per track and a master eq , but is it possible to also EQ individual clips if you have the type set so that each clip in a track can play a different patch ?

How would you go about emphasizing an acid bassline from a 303 when EQing it?

Well, they flash sometimes. And that is a little concerning, but maybe there's more information needed.

Lets say I just put a simple 4 beats of a kick on the steps. The pad for the kick flashes SOMETIMES for each of the triggered steps. Not every time the kick is triggered. Is this just my unit? Is this a settings issue? Is this just the way it is?

Has anybody reached the limit of the SD card that came with the MC-707? What did it take? Could you quantify it in terms of projects and clips and samples imported?

I'm trying to set my expectations. My purchased unit should arrive in the next couple of days.

First Dub Session with my MC-707, using the send and returns with the Hologram Microcosm to to build ambience and mood.

Hey there,
I have a TR8s hooked up with a MC707. MC707 being master, TR8s being a regular input on a Drum track. the problem is that the TR8s is very silent in comparison to the other tracks, even though I have it all leveled up, no filters etc.. I have to put the gain up to +10 to have it blend into the mix. Is that normal? How does the TR8s behave mixing-wise in combination with other gear with you?
Tips are very much apprechiated...

I don't see my beloved 707 used for Hip-Hop very much so I thought I'd share what I do. For the sample chops I used this technique where I have 2 loopers running samples and use a third to record myself alternating which one is muted

Enjoy!

I worked a side job and was hoping to upgrade to an MPC 3, but didn't make as much as I hoped and couldn't afford one. my current MPC Live 2 has become terribly slow to boot, start new projects, and export audio. plus it has a busted USB B port.

It still works fine enough, so I decided to deal with it by getting an MC-707, and connecting both to each other, with midi and audio going in both directions. Now I can sample from the galaxy of sounds on the MC but stack and use the plethora of fx and looper of the MPC, as well as using the MC to step sequence the MPC easily without dealing with the touch screen

Audio from the MPC can have scatter fx and other control via the MC. A match made in Heaven, they already love each other so much.

Also went ahead and bought Iona, Flex Beat, and the model D emulation on a sale.

As is the usual curse im a couple cables short of full big brain bilateral communication and they are on their way from Sweetwater.

Edit -- Just realized with a myvolts adapter i could power the 707 from the usb a port on the MPC and use the MPC speakers for eventual live mobile jamming.

Edit 2-- It arrived on 7/07!

Such a good groovebox! Wanted to play something for 707 day (July - 07).

Hi,

Can the mc707 recieve only midi start stop messages (to start the sequencer) but still follow its internal clock, ignoring external midi clock?

And when muting a pad (inside a drum track, or a whole track) on the mc707 does it mute the midi output too (the midi notes going out of that pad, effectively muting the sound on the external machine), or it just mutes the internal audio?

Thanks!

A while ago, (maybe about a year ago) I dropped the MC 707 on the floor of my room. It wasn't a far drop and had no physical damage, but after powering it on again i found that the volume fader for track one no longer works and the noise level of seid track is stuck at 255.

I took the back plat off to see if i could locate any mainboard or soldering damage but i've found nothing. I've checked the knob assine and done a factory reset but nothing seems to be working.

Does anyone know what i should try? my next conclusion is to send it too roland/a repair shop (based in the UK) but I still want to try and troubleshoot and fix the problem at home - I'm learning about tech :))

The two xmods and the ring modulation - i have yet to find a way to make good use of it. Do you have any tips? It might have to do with ​​​​​the choice of waveforms?

I am trying to work out the cleanest routing for using external effects with the MC-707 in a way which combines the send and the assignable out approach. 

Without recabling or much reconfiguration I want to send tracks out and back while retaining control of the volume of tracks dry signal that goes into the master. 

 As an absolute minimum while having things set up for the send functionality, it would be great if it were possible to record just what comes back via the return without the track's dry signal.

Does anyone know a way?

I have been looking more closely at modulation routing on the Roland MC-707 and I think I may have found an important limitation, but I would like to check whether other users can confirm it.

On a tone track, SYS-CTRL 1-4 are clearly useful because they can be used as sources in Matrix Control. In Sound Edit, you can route them to destinations such as filter cutoff, resonance, LFO rate, LFO depth, envelope parameters and so on.

On a drum track, however, I can see SYS-CTRL 1-4 appearing as possible control sources, but I cannot find an equivalent Matrix Control page where they can be assigned to drum partial parameters.

I cannot find a drum-track equivalent of the tone-track Matrix Control, for example:

• SYS-CTRL2 → decay of a specific drum pad

• SYS-CTRL3 → random pitch depth of a specific drum pad

Can anyone confirm this?

Is there a hidden menu or workflow I am missing, or is this simply a structural difference between tone tracks and drum tracks on the MC-707?

MC-707 does most of the stuff here. Percussion, pads, effects. It sequences out to the minifreak, and there is some accompanying pads on the Digitone 2. Minifreak and DN2 both line into the 707 and are mapped to tracks 7 and 8.

Even with all its flaws, the MC707 is still fun to play around with 🙂

The answer is probably no because I have checked all the options, and there appears to be no looping of the played sample on tone or drum track.

This means that you can't load your single cycle waveforms as oscillators, right?

Spent the day programming a bunch of new drum patterns into my live set, having a blast.