MMC-202 "Understanding Technology Series" advertisement, Sequencers! Sequencers! Sequencers! Magazine 1983

MMC-202 "Understanding Technology Series" full page colour advertisement from page 263 of the 1983 Third Quarter issue of Sequencers! Sequencers! Sequencers! magazine.

Okay - what's not to love? The much loved MC-202 upgraded to MIDI?  

It was hardly a secret that just before the launch of MIDI, Roland was already nearing production of their MPU-401 Midi Processing Unit interface and breakout box for many brands of personal computers including Apple, Commodore, IBM/PC and AT... even the MSX and Sharp X1. But Roland's accompanying family of MSQ series hardware sequencers were still months away from production and they needed something out there fast. 

I can imagine the board meeting... 

Executive one: "We got all these MC-202 spare parts lying around!"

Executive two: "Remove the synth to make room to retrofit in some MPU-401 guts!"

Executive three: "Slap an extra "M" on to the name". 

Well... job well done, dammit!

Design-wise, this MCC-202 advertisement follows along the evolutionary path of many of Roland's other "Understanding Technology Series" advertisements, appearing shortly after the TR-808 and TB-303/TS-404 ads from the same time period. 

   

Sadly, this MMC ad was the last in the series to appear in print - a fitting end and big F-U to CV/Gate and a big hello to MIDI. 

Sure, the MSQ series, and in particular the MSQ-700 is always getting the spotlight when it comes to early Roland hardware MIDI sequencers, so not to many people choose to remember that when Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential bossman Dave Smith unveiled the MIDI standard in 1983, it was Kakehashi who whipped out the new MMC-202 MIDI sequencer from his backpack the following day to a boothful of surprised music journalists and musicians. Walking over to the Sequential booth with MMC in hand, he connected it to the Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 and Roland Jupiter 6 that had just been connected and showed what MIDI could do. 

Kakehashi was soon touring with the MMC-202 where ever he was invited, demonstrating the little sequencer along with some of Japan's most notorious DJs.  It was no surprise that these demos led to over two years worth of huge sales  throughout Belgium as well as the Long and McQuade in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Cute little ergonomic buttons. Easy to program. What's not to love. <3

Roland Bass Plus 30 "Roland has seen the future..." organ bass pedal replacement synthesizer advertisement, Choir and Organ Magazine, 1984

Roland Bass Plus 30 "Roland has seen the future and it doesn't involve... feet" organ bass pedal replacement synthesizer advertisement from page 32 in the March 1984 issue of Choir and Organ Magazine.

Hey - hope everyone is doing well out there during these uncertain times. While practicing self-isolation, I know a lot of you are playing with your organ a lot, so I decided to dig through my archives and post something that hasn't received a lot of attention until of late.

Roland used to love to repackage gear. A great example is the Synth Plus 60 - basically a Juno 106 with integrated speakers that looked more at home in the living room or church than in the studio. The Synth Plus 10 and 80 had the innards of the Alpha Juno 1/2. All three machines are coveted by collectors and musicians almost as much as the originals.

Another example is found in this advertisement - the Bass Plus 30. It too is a re-packaged product.

Let me give you a hint... from the ad-copy:

"The remarkably stable bass synthesizer section features full voice flexibility with dual wave forms and control for Tuning, VCF-cutoff, Resonance, Envelope Modulation and Decay."

Sound familiar? How about this:

"The programmable Accent and Slide functions bring true bass technique capabilities to the Bass Plus 30."

Whaaat? Ooooh yeah - a stripped down 303! Not to replace your band's bass player, but to replace your organ's bass pedals.

Roland wrapped the Bass Plus 30 in the same lovely wood/wood-print material you'd find covering your favourite Roland's Piano Plus-series keyboards such as the Piano Plus 30, 60 and 70 - or most any other organs for that matter. And why not? Even if you didn't have an organ with pedals, the Bass Plus would match nicely while sitting on top of your living room's electric piano.

Advertising for the Bass Plus didn't make a lot of appearances in the wild - this ad only appeared in the top nine organ-based magazines and weeklies within a relatively short four-month period in 1984. But it's not surprising that it also joined it's TB and TR brethren in the well-loved Roland "Rhythm Machines" brochure where it shared space on the back page with the Piano Plus series as well as some of Roland's ultra-greats like the Jupiter 8, Juno-60 and SH-101.

The Bass Plus didn't sell well due to the mostly-false rumors that it didn't sound like real organ bass pedals. Some geographic exceptions included the Southern United States, Belgium and the Canadian city of Regina. In all, only around 300 units were produced.

According to Organ Weekly Digest, the Bass Plus was discontinued only six months after production began, and many soon after ended up in pawn shops. But unlike it's sibling the TB-303, most Bass Plus 30's continued to sit unused on shelves and in closets until 2018 as word finally began to slowly spread of its abilities. What was once one of the most unknown pieces of Roland gear, it turns out, had been in use by well-known electronic musicians for decades.

A great March 2019 thread started on the Organ Heaven listserv by member OrganLover4Ever lists famous users, which include Jean-Michel Jarre's brother, Billy-Bob Jarre, who owned five until they were sold as a package for over three figures in an exclusive 2019 Christie's auction.  Since that time, he went on record in World of Organs magazine that he had used them mostly for his live performances. Their small size, durability and wide range of sound were great replacements for his five much heavier Jupiter 8s.

Other notable users include Borgore, who used a Robin Whittle-modified Bass Plus on his banger, "Bass Plus Bass", as well as Hardwell's "Plus Bassing" and DJ Guv's "Thirty Plus Bass". During an extended VJ session on the popular OTV (Organ Television), Richie Hawtin announced that his Plus 8 record label was named after the fact he owned eight Bass Plus 30's while living for six months in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Edna Boil, editor
Organ Emporium Magazine

Digging through my archives, I found a great review by Editor Edna Boil in the "New and Blessed" section of the June 1984 issue of Organ Emporium Magazine. Along with the other specs of the machine, she highlighted its key change feature.

"The unit contains sufficient memory to hold many patterns and also has a key-change feature that can raise the key of a programmed pattern. This feature is useful to add variation during long consecrations at mass or during those extended snake-worshiping dance sessions."

 Edna Boil knows here organs. Make sure you take the time to play with yours.

Casio LZ-1000 synthesizer "Why would you let your friends choose any other synthesizer" ad, Keyboard Magazine 1998

Casio LZ-1000 phase distortion and sample playback synthesizer "Why would you let your friends..." full page colour advertisement from the inside front cover of the April 1998 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Let's face it... Casio knew a good thing when they saw it.

And *everyone* was as happily surprised as Casio when David Schwimmer finally got the chance to show off his virtuoistic chops on a Casio CT-460 in his hit TV docu-drama "Friends" in 1997.

Blessed with a peerless technique, David's repertoire on the show was wide-ranging, taking in everything from Merzbow and Beethoven, to Coltrane, Parker and Monk, not to mention his own masterful transcriptions and other compositions. It was, perhaps, his sense of spontaneity and impeccable timing that only comes from years of training that made his live performances on "Friends" so fresh and exciting for the studio audience, America and the world.

Knowing a good thing when they saw it, Casio quickly made an endorsement deal with David and upgraded his gear. Within a few short months you could find David's trademark smile and I-don't-care-if-my-music-is-too-loud shrug on every magazine rack in Liechtenstein, Tuvalu and Saskatchewan for months to come. And, of course, it could also be found in this Casio LZ-1000 advertisement which Casio paid good money to place strategically on the inside front cover of Keyboard Magazine for over two years.

Casio and Schwimmer were a perfect fit - an awesome sounding keyboard with some of the latest "Moo", "Bark", "Ding Dong" and "Pew Pew!" sound samples recorded to date, paired with a light-up keyboard that let new users play along with some of David Schwimmer's latest and greatest hits that came pre-programmed with the internal sequencer.

Utilizing some of the latest Internet technology, owners of the LZ-1000 could dial-up to AOL and connect directly with Casio to download Schwimmer's latest hits twice a year. Casio's state of the art sample compression algorithms allowed users to download the package of songs, including the Schwimmer's personally recorded 16 bit/44.1kHz samples, in under six hours and averaging less than $200 in telephone and AOL fees.

I managed to catch his set in Chicago at the 2005 Lolapalooza festival. His set began quietly, with David lingering over just a few short samples, avoiding the urge to head straight for the shredding post-punk that dominated his playing style during that time period. By the fifth hour, the intensity started to build, unleashing explosions of raw energy on the audience of campers next to the festival.

I bought his t-shirt. Who wouldn't?

Casio kept the AOL service running for over 20 years until the endorsement deal unfortunately and suddenly collapsed at the 2017 Amsterdam Dance Event in Belgium where David unexpectedly took his music in a new, totally acoustic direction.

Keyboard Magazine's Jim Aikin concluded his review of the LZ-1000 in the July 1998 issue, stating "...It works, but what's with all the animal sounds?", before giving it a solid 8 out of 10. Coincidentally, Jim also reviewed Schwimmer's newly released electro album "Coffee with Friends" in the same issue asking a similar question.

Here's a great look back at David's authentic and expressive playing style that captivated viewers around the world.

What an inspiration.

Roland TR-606 Drumatix drum machine and TS-404 Multitrax sequencer ad, Keyboard 1983

Roland TR-606 Drumatix drum machine and TS-404 Multitrax sequencer full colour advertisement from page 49 in the August 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

I've already posted a scan and blogged about Roland's popular first ProForm advertisement that launched the TB-303 and TR-606, so I thought I'd focus more on the TS-404 in this 606/404 ad.

Within a year after launching the first two pieces of music gear that made up their "ProForm Series" - the TB-303 and TR-606 - Roland realized the hits they had on their hands. In particular, positive response in regards to the simplicity of the TB-303 sequencer led Roland to deliver on their promise to bring more ProForm gear to market by announcing a multi-track TB-style sequencer to go along with the bass synthesizer and drum machine.

Roland is known for re-purposing their cases to help keep costs down, and they've definitely kept that philosophy with all three ProForm products. As can be seen in the ad photo, the TS-404 kept the simple and clean TB-style sequencer on the lower half of the case, but replaced the main synth controls at the top of the case with multi-track sequencer functionality in the form of "Track" buttons and corresponding LED lights. CV and Gate labels indicate that each Track has its own set of CV/Gate outputs situated on the back. Slick!

The result - an awesome four track sequencer that looks absolutely smashing next to its older TR-606 sibling.

And it doesn't just look gorgeous. Its just about as dreamy to program. A Roland representative at the time remarked "If programming and editing one TB-303 sequence was easy, then programming four TS-404 sequences is four times as easy."

I found the TS-404 programming instructions in an article that appeared in the September 1983 issue of CV/Gate-Love Magazine called "The TS-404: Release yourself from your cumbersome Fairlight sequencer software". The guide matter-of-factly states that when using their simple 37-step programming and editing guide, "even someone with only a Doctorate in Astrophysics will be up to speed making Yazoo-style tracks in no time".

An amazing machine, but unfortunately, MIDI had just launched and was gaining steam quickly,  eventually stopping the sales of the TB-303, TR-606 and TS-404 in their tracks (pun intended). Many ended up sold in store blow-out sales and later dumped in pawn shops around the world. And while the TB-303 and TR-606 ended up becoming famous soon afterwards in the hands of acid house producers around the world, the TS-404 became generally recognized within a lesser well-known genre of techno called Banjo-Tech.

This fad of integrating banjos with TS-404s began in Belgium around 1992 and quickly spread to a small city in Canada called Regina. Owners would send their four-string banjo and TS-404 to a guy in Keflavik, Iceland. Known as the GodFerret mod, the integration with the banjo effectively destroyed the TS-404 in the process but resulted in an instrument that had one very unique sound when the four strings were played directly through the four tracks of the sequencer.

But unlike acid house which spawned many sub-genres and is still going strong today, the unique sound and genre of BanjoTech faded soon after, and the few rare TS-404s that never were GodFerreted are coveted by the few lucky owners that have them.

Shame I'll probably never be able to get my banjo GodFerreted.  :(

Sequential Circuits Prophet-15 spec sheet, 1980

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-15 spec sheet from 1980.

Dang! There are few things I like more than a good ol' fashion spec sheet. And this one takes its rightful place as leader of the Prophets - specifically the Prophet-5 and Prophet-10. I posted those spec sheets just a little while back.

There's no date on the actual spec sheet, but I'm guessing its from around 1980 since a Prophet-15 "Three Prophets are better than one!" advertisement appeared in the April 1980 issue of Keyboard Magazine (right). It caused quite a stir in the letter section of the May and June issues as musician unions were worried that each Prophet-15 would replace three musicians in studios and at live events.  That worry was soon put to bed as few non-unionized musicians arms were long enough to reach the top controls on the front panel of the Prophet-15.

The SCI Prophet-15 is the type of mythical beast that no one has ever played on, but everyone talks about how they *know a guy who knows a guy* that's played on one. Heck, there are at least three people on GearSlutz that have said they've seen one gathering dust in the back of the rental department at the Long and McQuade music store in Regina, Saskatchewan. But apparently the rental/tech guy won't let anyone touch it until Dave Smith's personal tech has tuned it up so he can put it back into rental circulation. And the hype around the Prophet-15 on GearSluts recently became so intense that Uli Behringer had to put out an official announcement that he wouldn't be cloning this particular piece, leading to multiple synth memes to appear on Facebook both defending and attacking the decision.

The SCI Prophet-15 is built on the same tech as its younger sibling - the dual keyboard Prophet-10 - adding a third keyboard as well as an additional five sweet sweet voices. And it was those extra voices that Jimmy "Triple Ace" Douglas was looking for when he produced Star Cruiser's third album "Super Prism". He brings up the Prophet-15 in particular during an interview that appeared in the April 1980 issue of Synthesizers For Fun and Profit magazine.

"I had the Prophet-15 shipped to the studio halfway through the production of the Star Cruiser album. It was at great expense - the thing weighs a ton. But we needed a particularly complicated twinkly sound behind the main rhythm of 'That's not a gun in my pocket', and I knew it would take three different parts from the Prophet to really bring that song together.    Mission accomplished." 

According to synth expert Marcus Vole's book My Favourite Vintage Synthesizers and How To Identify Them, the Prophet-15 kept pace with the Prophet-10's production figures with as many as 11 units being sold to larger studios in the US and Europe, as well as to one community college in northern Saskatchewan that filed for bankruptcy soon after due to the large debt incurred through its unauthorized purchase by a young Star Cruiser fan that worked in the purchasing department. I'm guessing that's how one of these rare beasts turned up at that Long and McQuade in Regina.

The jump in synthesizer technology that came about with the Prophet-15 created a domino effect in the synthesizer manufacturing industry, as Roland soon after announced plans for their three-keyboard Jupiter 24, and Korg quickly debuted their Poly-18.

To this day, scientists at Yamaha are still working on their fully analog three-mini-keyboard CS-03.