I actually bought a lot of my vintage stuff back in the '80s and '90s via "old school", pre-Internet newspaper ads. It was much cheaper, back then (i.e. my TR-909 cost $250, PolySix $100, JP-8 cost $1,200 w/ MIDI etc.) These days, I buy and sell on eBay / craigslist like many other people do.
Yagga97, good point about the technical "limitations" of the devices of the '80s - gear back then was much less complex and powerful, but that didn't prevent the users to make great music. Actually, you can replicate the feel of hardware sequencers with a PC by hard-quantizing (8th & 16ths are the common quantize resolutions used in the '80s) and keeping arrangements "simpler" and less busy than today's music. Very cool that you are 10 :) I have a son of your age.Thanks for watching the channel.
Thanks and yes, the MSQ-700 has input quantize - see that horizontal slider in the middle of the unit? You can set it to real-time, 1/32, 1/24, 1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, 1/2 . Of course for this it was set at 1/16 so I could do the typical fast sequenced lines in the last part of the video.
@@kensmechanicalaffair I guess some do and others don't.. Mine does have a little tempo drift going on, but i usually just use a sequencer so it doesn't do much for me. Love the sounds though
I just bought the MSQ-700. I'm excited to make some good old 80's music now. Thanks for all the inspirational videos. You do such a great job. Take care, Sam.
The Roland MSQ-700 was one of if not the first polyphonic multitrack hardware sequencers available. Quite useful given its equipped with Rolands DIN Sync and MIDI. At one point Greg Hawkes (keyboardist with "The Cars") used two MSQs to drive "The Cars" many sequence based songs. I moved onto the Roland MC-500 (later the MkII) which was/is an amazingly piece of hardware being powerful and rock-solid reliable. Ten years constant use performing and it never failed not once - amazing.
Hi, the sequencer played back what I had recorded in real time - I cut half of the video frames of the recording phase from the video because it would have taken too long to show at low speed, but then it plays back the complete jam at fast speed at the end. I'm only using one MSQ channel out of eight, I could have made it more complex by using the other channels but didn't have much time to record yesterday. I'll do another video soon
Thank you - they are different (arguably "colder"), they remind me more of the alpha-Juno / JX / MKS series - however they are more versatile with two oscillators, velocity, split etc.
They certainly make it very easy to add loads and tons of *things* into a song that the song doesn't need. Helps to take a step back every so often to think and make sure you know what it is that you're making, so that you can keep making the ever-so-important decisions of what it's not. And while I'm not in a position to say what writing or production was like before my time, I am pretty sure that thinking makes most things better.
Thank you - I used just one channel ouf of eight due to time constraints - I plan to do another video using all eight channels and more synths / drum machines.
No TR-505 on the Roland Soundcoud.. awwww! Nice Jam, I was born in 1971 and I heard the 505 all the time on the radio. Now I know where some of those drum sounds came from. Keep up the good work! Very inspiring stuff on Synthmania.
I haven't tried connecting more than two keyboards yet (no time until December...) but it should work - you might want to get a MIDI hub or patchbay so you don't have to constantly swap the MIDI cables
Grazie - ho comprato la maggior parte della mia attrezzatura negli anni '80 e '90, prima che scoppiasse il boom del vintage, comunque roba come per esempio l'MSQ si trova benissimo - e a poco - sul mercato dell'usato, perche' nessuno li usa piu'...
Did that thing have input Quantizing? My first sequencer was the Alesis MMT-8.. My sophomore year in HS! Amazing machines! I STILL use hardware sequencers! My K2600 runs everything in my studio! Post is on the Puter! This is an excellent video into Midi sequencing history!
Cheesy 80's synth pop is definitely the order of the day with these retro gear. Modern music seems to be drawing itself back to these analogue synth bass rhythm.
I used an MSQ-700 back in the early 80's, but quickly moved on to the C64 "SuperSequencer" (from "Sonus"), then a few years later found myself using the Kawai Q-80. I find it interesting that I went from hardware to software, then back to hardware. From the Q-80 I moved on to Emagic Logic on the Mac in the mid-1990s, which is, in my opinion, as close to perfection as a MIDI sequencer can get.
Would you say that the 'sound' of Italo changed when MIDI sequencers came out? I guess it was easier to create Italian Hi-NRG with MIDI in the mid to late 80s than it would have been with CV and gates at the beginning of the 80s.
Very impressive Paolo!!! I've just wondered if those sounds was written separately (as different channel) in to this sequencer, in order to be processed later with a sound effect. (reverb, delay etc)
The later MC-80 is extremely advanced compared to the MSQ-700 however the aesthetics of the MSQ-700 are incredible, love hitting those chunky big buttons!
Marco Longo I don't think you can input quantize. I haven't heard back from Synthmania, but I've tried to figure it out on my MSQ700 and it never seems to work. The manual only specifies that it can quantize after the fact. And, at least the unit I have, does a terrible job at quantizing after the fact.
Hello Paolo, greetings from Finland! Thank you for the awesome and informative videos! I have one question for you: how did you manage to sync the TR-505 with MSQ-700? I'm curious to know where that yellow MIDI cable is connected? I'm struggling to connect my Juno-106 and TR-505 to my MSQ-700. As far as I know, the TR-505 does not have a DIN sync output. I would appreciate your help in this matter!
Hello, Night Driver - Very easy: the 505 has MIDI, so it's easily connected to the MSQ-700 --- just go from MSQ-700 MIDI Out to the Juno-106's MIDI In, and from the Juno-106's MIDI Thru to the TR-505's MIDI In.
complimenti...quanta nostalgia per questo sound e per l'hardware che utilizzi....Ho guardato molti dei tuoi video ....ma come fai a possedere ancora tutta questa attrezzatura?
How do you get the 505 to start once you load? And how do you get the 505 to sync with msq? I just got one and I’m having difficulty syncing my 626 to it
Ciao, anch'io ti faccio tantissimi complimenti e da tempo stavo cercando se tu fossi rivenditore o altro visto il numero di strumentazione che possiedi. Anche se non paragonabile, anch'io possiedo un pò di strumentazione "vintage" ( jupiter 8, mini moog, synthex etc) e ti volevo chiedere se per caso in giro si trova il manuale del msq in Italiano... é facile da usare? Il pc io non lo sopporto...sono all'antica :) :)
Oh my god the 909s go for >2000€ on ebay now.. I would be extremly happy with a 101 and a sampling drumachine like 505/707and additional a jp-8x; I'm 16.. any recommendations where I can get some Equipment for "cheap"? Thank you for you Videos, really helping me getting into old machines. Do you sell/release your records anywhere?
I actually bought a lot of my vintage stuff back in the '80s and '90s via "old school", pre-Internet newspaper ads. It was much cheaper, back then (i.e. my TR-909 cost $250, PolySix $100, JP-8 cost $1,200 w/ MIDI etc.) These days, I buy and sell on eBay / craigslist like many other people do.
yep.." the recycler" and the "pennysaver" were gold mines
Yagga97, good point about the technical "limitations" of the devices of the '80s - gear back then was much less complex and powerful, but that didn't prevent the users to make great music. Actually, you can replicate the feel of hardware sequencers with a PC by hard-quantizing (8th & 16ths are the common quantize resolutions used in the '80s) and keeping arrangements "simpler" and less busy than today's music. Very cool that you are 10 :) I have a son of your age.Thanks for watching the channel.
This is the most accurate reproduction of 1980's sound ever recorded on youtube. Very well done!
It it just me or is the MSQ-700 really pretty? I just love that Roland 80s look. 505 luv! :)
+Die, Master Monkey (Die, Master Monkey) I agree.
You're not alone in that thought!
I agree! I had one.. lovely machine
Thanks and yes, the MSQ-700 has input quantize - see that horizontal slider in the middle of the unit? You can set it to real-time, 1/32, 1/24, 1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, 1/2 . Of course for this it was set at 1/16 so I could do the typical fast sequenced lines in the last part of the video.
The 505 might be the most underrated drum machine ever. I love mine so much :-)
with some effects , like in this vid, it is great indeed!
I had one back in the 80s. Useless - the tempo drifted all over the place.
@@chockergram Thats crazy because it doesnt, lol.
@@kensmechanicalaffair I guess some do and others don't.. Mine does have a little tempo drift going on, but i usually just use a sequencer so it doesn't do much for me. Love the sounds though
Thank you - not that I play Italo style only, but it's the music of my teen years in Italy so I remember it fondly
I just bought the MSQ-700. I'm excited to make some good old 80's music now. Thanks for all the inspirational videos. You do such a great job. Take care, Sam.
505 sounds good to me.
The Crumar bit series synths are instant Italo Disco in my opinion. Great demo!❤️🎹
The Roland MSQ-700 was one of if not the first polyphonic multitrack hardware sequencers available. Quite useful given its equipped with Rolands DIN Sync and MIDI. At one point Greg Hawkes (keyboardist with "The Cars") used two MSQs to drive "The Cars" many sequence based songs. I moved onto the Roland MC-500 (later the MkII) which was/is an amazingly piece of hardware being powerful and rock-solid reliable. Ten years constant use performing and it never failed not once - amazing.
Hi, the sequencer played back what I had recorded in real time - I cut half of the video frames of the recording phase from the video because it would have taken too long to show at low speed, but then it plays back the complete jam at fast speed at the end. I'm only using one MSQ channel out of eight, I could have made it more complex by using the other channels but didn't have much time to record yesterday. I'll do another video soon
Thank you - they are different (arguably "colder"), they remind me more of the alpha-Juno / JX / MKS series - however they are more versatile with two oscillators, velocity, split etc.
I have always loved the sound of the BIT99. Those are very hard to find!
Thanks - yep, it was much simpler back then - now we arguably have too many options in our DAWs! :-)
They certainly make it very easy to add loads and tons of *things* into a song that the song doesn't need.
Helps to take a step back every so often to think and make sure you know what it is that you're making, so that you can keep making the ever-so-important decisions of what it's not.
And while I'm not in a position to say what writing or production was like before my time, I am pretty sure that thinking makes most things better.
love that bit 99 brass sound..... (mucho 80 ties !!)
Heck yes!!!! Its great!!
Thank you - I used just one channel ouf of eight due to time constraints - I plan to do another video using all eight channels and more synths / drum machines.
No TR-505 on the Roland Soundcoud.. awwww! Nice Jam, I was born in 1971 and I heard the 505 all the time on the radio. Now I know where some of those drum sounds came from. Keep up the good work! Very inspiring stuff on Synthmania.
Thanks for listening
Very cool, looking forward to reading the interviews! thank you
I agree, the MC-500 series software was great and rock-solid
I'm back in the 80's love the 80's...thanks!
Absolutely brilliant demo. Loved it. Italo disco ftw.
mmmmm love that sound!!!! i grew up in this era and the synthesizer always my favoirte and it still is :-)
Super cool vintage sounds and vintage sequencing :)
i had a white crumar bit99. i didn't keep it because it wasn't an oberheim but it did have some good sounds on it.
nice tunes
Thank you
Thanks
More MSQ videos please!
Could be a sound track to most 80's movies...nice work
The Roland TR 505 in full glory,it sure packed a punch for its size.
what a great machines
in 1986 I had the same instruments, but i used Yamaha MX computer as sequencer .... great !!!
Very nice. Bit 99 sounds great! :)
At last, a playback video of this rare sequencer! Very nice!
those are some really nice tunes you made!
Love it! And the sound that comes of the TR-505 makes me go wild. :D
The last part is definitely sounds like The Flirts - Passion. Love this.
I haven't tried connecting more than two keyboards yet (no time until December...) but it should work - you might want to get a MIDI hub or patchbay so you don't have to constantly swap the MIDI cables
Grazie - ho comprato la maggior parte della mia attrezzatura negli anni '80 e '90, prima che scoppiasse il boom del vintage, comunque roba come per esempio l'MSQ si trova benissimo - e a poco - sul mercato dell'usato, perche' nessuno li usa piu'...
thank you!! great video!
yes, I used MIDI to sync the 505
Why am I not subscribed to you? This is the jam.
Thank you very much for the info :)
Great demo, great tunes!
amazing piece of kit :) I know howard jones used 2 of these the 500 version on tour
very fun session
Mindbogglingly brilliant! Keep up the great videos! :@D
you got the groove ! great melodies
nice melodies by the way.. soo good like always
nice sound man
Did that thing have input Quantizing? My first sequencer was the Alesis MMT-8.. My sophomore year in HS! Amazing machines! I STILL use hardware sequencers! My K2600 runs everything in my studio! Post is on the Puter! This is an excellent video into Midi sequencing history!
This is so great
Cheesy 80's synth pop is definitely the order of the day with these retro gear. Modern music seems to be drawing itself back to these analogue synth bass rhythm.
So awesome
Again... Excellent!
many use a SX 64 as midi sequencer with lengeling or steinberg sequencer on stage. SX64 was a portable C64 with include display
This is great, very inspiring. Reminded me of the Kavinsky record. Must...resist...urge...to buy...everything!!
Ha :-) I remember Falco very well. Which of the three parts in this demo reminds you of him?
awesome man! i still want a msq-700
I used an MSQ-700 back in the early 80's, but quickly moved on to the C64 "SuperSequencer" (from "Sonus"), then a few years later found myself using the Kawai Q-80. I find it interesting that I went from hardware to software, then back to hardware. From the Q-80 I moved on to Emagic Logic on the Mac in the mid-1990s, which is, in my opinion, as close to perfection as a MIDI sequencer can get.
thanks for posting these videos.
Nice Roland,thank you Dave Smith!;-).
Thank god I'm not the only one slowing down the tempo so I could play it easily and not having to quantize anything haha GREAT TUNES!
SO SICK
i think its more fun to record like how they did in the 80s than easy abelton or pro tools i believe
I got up and danced lol
Think ya betta DAAAAANCE Now!
You rule! This video is great.
Very instructive and nice! Thanks! :-D
Simple set-up, good sounds.
very nice
Would you say that the 'sound' of Italo changed when MIDI sequencers came out? I guess it was easier to create Italian Hi-NRG with MIDI in the mid to late 80s than it would have been with CV and gates at the beginning of the 80s.
Yowza, thems some funky fresh beats yo!
Love it
Nice....thanks for sharing.
Brilliant!
Actually there is quantization, the MSQ was set up at 16ths -
Very impressive Paolo!!! I've just wondered if those sounds was written separately (as different channel) in to this sequencer, in order to be processed later with a sound effect. (reverb, delay etc)
Nop, these were played live in one take with two hands, just like you see in the video ;)
@@SynthManiaDotCom is it possible to be done? Recording each one take (bass/brass/drums) as different tracks/channel?
@@durion6 Yes, it says it in the name: "Multi Track Digital Recorder"
@@SynthManiaDotCom Thank you very much Paolo!!
@@durion6 Very welcome
Awesome man!
Bravo!!! 🙌🙌👏👏👏
Grazie!
i love the italo vibes of your vids !
Thanks, I love your videos! How is the bit 99 as aDCO synth when you compare it to juno60 or 106?
The later MC-80 is extremely advanced compared to the MSQ-700 however the aesthetics of the MSQ-700 are incredible, love hitting those chunky big buttons!
That was my very first sequencer. I think I still have it somewhere.
Larry Wilson if you want to sell it, I'm here. lol
Yo this goes so hard bro srsly
Very cool session! Nice sounds and tracks, although it doesn't sound super quantized. Is it just me?
Marco Longo I don't think you can input quantize. I haven't heard back from Synthmania, but I've tried to figure it out on my MSQ700 and it never seems to work. The manual only specifies that it can quantize after the fact. And, at least the unit I have, does a terrible job at quantizing after the fact.
great italo sound!
Nice, can this setup synced with a taperecorder or a DAW to record audio?
Greets Peter
Peter, yes, it syncs to MIDI
Hello Paolo, greetings from Finland! Thank you for the awesome and informative videos! I have one question for you: how did you manage to sync the TR-505 with MSQ-700? I'm curious to know where that yellow MIDI cable is connected? I'm struggling to connect my Juno-106 and TR-505 to my MSQ-700. As far as I know, the TR-505 does not have a DIN sync output. I would appreciate your help in this matter!
Hello, Night Driver - Very easy: the 505 has MIDI, so it's easily connected to the MSQ-700 --- just go from MSQ-700 MIDI Out to the Juno-106's MIDI In, and from the Juno-106's MIDI Thru to the TR-505's MIDI In.
complimenti...quanta nostalgia per questo sound e per l'hardware che utilizzi....Ho guardato molti dei tuoi video ....ma come fai a possedere ancora tutta questa attrezzatura?
Bravo!
How do you get the 505 to start once you load? And how do you get the 505 to sync with msq? I just got one and I’m having difficulty syncing my 626 to it
505 for life! So sick. That MSQ-700 is so sexy lol 😝
awesome
It's a perfect musuem...did you buy all devices?
i got a chance to grab one of these.. im kinda thinking i should just grab it.. the msq that is
+Chris Nova777 Do it
How is this being sync'd to the 505? MIDI?
Cant believe you didnt make a mistake while playing the notes in, and didnt use quantization !? I always need the timing correct function ^^
Ciao, anch'io ti faccio tantissimi complimenti e da tempo stavo cercando se tu fossi rivenditore o altro visto il numero di strumentazione che possiedi. Anche se non paragonabile, anch'io possiedo un pò di strumentazione "vintage" ( jupiter 8, mini moog, synthex etc) e ti volevo chiedere se per caso in giro si trova il manuale del msq in Italiano... é facile da usare? Il pc io non lo sopporto...sono all'antica :) :)
Oh my god the 909s go for >2000€ on ebay now.. I would be extremly happy with a 101 and a sampling drumachine like 505/707and additional a jp-8x; I'm 16.. any recommendations where I can get some Equipment for "cheap"? Thank you for you Videos, really helping me getting into old machines. Do you sell/release your records anywhere?