I purchased my D50 when it first came out in 1987. I still have it to this day, it has never been on the road for anything and is in showroom condition. It's a fantastic piece of the 80's.
@MrKoi13 I lucked out with my D-50. Fellow keyboardist landed on one with a nice road case. He wanted the ROAD CASE ONLY and not the D-50!! I bought that D-50 with volume pedal, manual etc. for $100. It also was never gigged with, and is like brand new to this day! Your story is very much like mine with my Yamaha CS-60! I bought that in 1978 when it was released, and it was a BEDROOM piece. Been in storage since 1991, and still like brand new! I hear those CS series are pretty valuable these days.
I remember the first time I played the D50 in 1987 and was blown away by the factory presets. The George Michael Faith pipe organ and Enya pizzicato patches blew me away. However I was even more blown away a year later in 1988 when I played the Korg M1 for the first time! Oh my goodness, I thought that I was going to melt when playing the Universe program and hearing pianos, saxes, guitars and drums that actually sounded realistic. The D50, M1 and DX7 were the staples of 80s and 90s music.
Nothing sounds like a D-50... I never forget when I, in 1988 at age 14, played my older friends D-50 for the first time and always dreamed of owning one. Now 33 years later I finally managed to get one in close to mint condition AND ! a PG-1000 - how lucky can one be ? 🙂 Only viewers of this channel will fully understand 😉
Bought mine for 55 euro with one broken key and 3 memcards really! , Fun fact was when it came out in 87 i was buying all the analogs you could get instead as they we're dirtcheap then, any of the analogues even the little mono's go 10 to 30 times the price of a used d50 now , i was right in not spending the 2000 euro newwprice of the rapid ageing d50 then!
The D-50 is my “home” keyboard. I played one as my main instrument during the late 80s/early 90s on hundreds of gigs. Solid build and very reliable. It never failed me. Didn’t always use the sounds live(I owned some newer modules) but 1 of my all time favorites.
The Roland D50 is the ONLY digital Synth of the 80s digital Synthesizers which i would gladly buy again in addition to my only D50. Difficult to program but my god does it open up SPACE for you when you load the proper presets.There is absolutely no other synthesizer like it which has such a "very-hard-to-narrow-down" sound aesthetic. Hard to put it into words. It's not as dry and glassy as FM synths but also not as cold and harsh as Wavetable synths. It is one of it's kind. A truly emancipated Synthesizer that literally makes you fly, both on a wave of nostalgia but also floating through time and space. No other synthesizer sounds like it. The D50 is eternal.
@@timmbrockmann959 Fair enough. That one is a mighty fine digital flagship as well. The kind of greatness that Roland hasn't produced in a looong looooong time..
I could say the same thing about the Ensoniq ESQ-1. It is still a VERy 80's sounding synth. We can get by with that. I hope that you keep stretching the parameters of the D-50. (However, it didn't have the amazing capability of the onboard sequencer that was on the ESQ-1).
@@bandfromtheband9445 True, the ESQ-1 (and also the Mirage too, even thou it's a sampler) are 2 more very distinguishable digital Synths with such a charismatic unique sound. I'd still love to have an ESQ-1 in my instrument section as well. Maybe one day.
I've owned many different synths, but when I acquired one of these it was just fantastic, even now its lush sounds and pads are wonderful and expressive. For me, the D50 is number one even over 35 years later!
I forgot to add, one area the D50 brings a little something extra, is that it's possible to slow the ADSR envelopes way down which allows you to create sounds that drone and change and evolve over several minutes just from latching a key or holding sustain. It's one of the only synths that can do that. It makes it excellent for pad sounds on movie and TV soundtracks.
Yes - the D-50 has the longest envelope times - like no any other synth. And its 6 stage TVA envelopes are much more flexible than the most standard ADSR envelopes. And with 4 partials, 6 LFOs, 2 pitch envelopes, 4 filter envelopes (TVF), 4 amp envelopes (TVA) you would find everything to generate large and evolving ambient pads.
@@pthex_2859 I'm not ashamed to admit I mostly use presets when I'm playing around and only done my own patches for special projects. I was surprised when Espen said he prefers the on keyboard controls for editing. I'd kill for a PPG.
Actually, it wasn’t the technicians at Roland who came up with the idea for LA synthesis. It was Steve Porcaro of Toto, who was already using that technique by layering attack transient samples with his analog synths. Steve demonstrated his synthesis technique to Roland’s Ikutaro Kakehashi, and the rest is history.
@@looneyburgmusic It was some interview with Steve... might have been in connection with Spectrasonics, or for the anniversary of the D-50. Can’t quite recall exactly. It wasn’t this interview, but here’s a different version of that story: www.kvraudio.com/interviews/continuing-a-family-tradition-an-interview-with-steve-porcaro-36653
one of the most expressive and inspiring synths ever created. i will never sell my D550. mine sits right next to it's older brother MKS-80 and MPG-80, but holds it's own with pride. this luscious monster doesn't get intimidated by pure analogs or pure waldorf analog filtered waveform synths or pure Yamaha FM beasts. D50/D550 is a synths that even after 4 decades, it will make you sigh.....like an old sweetheart never forgotten.
One of the best synth of the history! The sound potential is so incredible ! The D50, the SY77 for the AFM and the JD800= Best digitals synths of the 90’s fof me...
I have all 3 synths you mentioned - 2 x D50, 1 x JD990, 1 x TG77. I use them all the time together with many other synths and modules. Beautiful machines that never lost their charm. Cheers!
One fun fact about the D-50 is that the bulk of the instruments in the Amiga 500 Soundtracker were based upon D-50 sounds. So around the late 80s/early 90s, the demoscene was crowded with tracker music using monophonic 8 bit versions of famous D-50 presets, becoming cliches in their own right. Pizzagogo became "Pizza" and Shamus Theme became "Shamus", both of which were way overused in the demo scene music at the time, at least until musicians got their own samplers and made sure to make their own sounds from their own synths. :)
Yesss - it's really the king of the 80s beside the DX7. Still today one of my favourite synth. It has something magical and some sounds (e.g. Spacious Sweep, Soundtrack, Glass Voices etc.) that can't be generated by other synths. One reason for D-50's great success were its excellent on board presets - designed by Eric Persing. Eric Persing was a consultant and chief sound designer for Roland in that time. One of his most celebrated accomplishments with that company was programming many of the factory patches for the popular D-50 synthesizer, along with fellow sound designer Adrian Scott. 20 years later Eric Persing presented the VSTi Omnisphere....and made it to the king of vsti's...hehehe...again... Unfortunately most people only know those famous D-50 factory presets, that are maybe dated today, but it has also a huge potential for numerous modern sounds. Especially with tone stucture 1 and 2 it's like a great VA-Synthesizer too. Would never sell mine. Roland D-50 Celebration Moments with Eric Persing (Performance) - ua-cam.com/video/VggsB5eZ0oM/v-deo.html Mr Woofer - Molding Glass (Roland D-550 Demo) - ua-cam.com/video/5T5WFGv9ZEM/v-deo.html
I bought my D-50 in 1987--traded in my JX-8P for it, as I could only afford one synth at the time--and I still have it. In my opinion, the best sounding and least cliche patches are those that use structures 1 and 2 (both synth, no PCM). With three envelopes, three LFOs, and ring modulation there is a lot of raw synth power here.
An hour ago, I added your name to “D50” in the search machine to check if you had some videos of this synth on your channel. I commented on that video of yours from two years ago about the D50. 45 minutes later and you’ve uploaded this one. Funny coincidence!🤣 excited to see the video!
Nice demo! Due to lack of space, I'm glad they offer a set of D-50 patches for my Integra-7. Together with all the other vintage patches, it's starting to feel like a Roland museum, highly usable!
Thank you for this fantastic video Espen. For years I yearned for this synth, and it so happens to be that only a while ago I managed to find a (very) used one, bought it really cheap I was told it was completely broken (not so) So I was a little offish at first about playing it. A few nights ago at the studio I turned it on and started exploring. I mean deeply exploring it. I couldn't stop playing and being amazed at the sounds. I loaded different SYSEX files and each and everyone just took my breath away. This is a real jem and I am proud to be an owner of one...
Thank you Espen, bought the D-50 in Hong-Kong 1997, sold it a view years later and bought one in stellar condition together with a PG-1000 last year. So many good memories...
@@digiface Well, I hate not being a kid, and I hate the 21st century ways. If I could be young again, and things such as cars, music, tv shows, films and some of the fashion would go back to how it was in the 80's, I would be happy. Living a second childhood in an 80's style utopia would be my heaven. Just throw in high speed internet, modern computers and UA-cam in there too (and yes I know they didn't exist in the 80's but there the only things out of the 21st century that matter to me) and I'd be set for life.
SAME🎯 retro music is like time travel for me_before this & that happened_but id still rather know what i know today_can go back in time & do it naively all over again_so id rather use this wisdom & reintroduce these sounds of the naiive generation today_w/ a modern twist_& that will enhance their lives_which will in turn save my life_then i can start having my own kids & do it all over again_its my only reason to continue living thru all of this reset agenda ♟
One of the most iconic and famous synthesisers of all time! I very cool and interesting idea to combine the sound of a real instrument sampled for the first seconds and then combined with a digital synthesis, to create a whole new form of sound. Genius and inventive! I also love that demo song you did it’s so catchy and I can’t stop listening to it sometimes for how rhythmic and great it sounds, as well as those patch demos. Very cool and even inspiring! Great video as always Espen Kraft!
Wow. I'm so glad I kept my D-50 that I bought in 1987. I have a D-05 as well! This is by far the best demo I've ever heard of the D-50. It reveals some magic I never knew existed in there. Please keep us updated on your patches for sale. I would love to buy them.
Many thanks Mike! If you want to check out more of these sounds you can go here, this is my patch bank for the D-50: thepatchbay.co.uk/product/roland-d-50-32-retro-patches-for-synth-pop-synthwave-italo-disco-electronica/?description=true
The Roland D-50 is the Enya sound! I just love those unique presets. The PG-1000 is a nightmare to me. I hardly use mine. I really need to sit down and try to figure it all out. The D-50 and D-550 are great synthesizers for getting that outer world sound. The Korg M-1 does a great job of this as well. I'm sure everyone reading this already knows, but maybe it's news to someone out there. Take care and keep the great content coming. Sam.
"The PG-1000 is a nightmare to me" Ive never used one but Ive heard that. Can I suggest an app for iPad called PatchBase. coffeeshopped.com/patch-base Now...be warned, its expensive, but utterly amazing. It stores sounds and lets you edit every parameter from your iPad.
Its news to me. I’ve seen this synth before but i play guitar mostly so i didn’t pay much attention, glad this dude made the video, i gotta get one now! Somehow i had this feeling i had to watch this video and that something good was in it... strange, hmm? He even says “i am the eighties”, that’s my line!
@@pinkglow2402 I am glad that I could help. You can get the vintage synthesizer or the modern-day do5 from Roland. it's a very small form factor and has all the wonderful sounds of the d50. You can hook it up by MIDI. Take care and have a wonderful time.
I think the big problem with the PG1000 is that it only allows access to 1 partial at a time - I've heard stories of people who have connected 4 PG1000s to their D50 but can't see how that can be done - so unless you have near photographic memory, it really doesn't help THAT much, although having said that, it is still nice to be able to alter sounds with such immediacy. I agree though that it is confusing to use and I sold mine, along with a D50 (both in excellent condition) for less than £500! I kept my other D50 though and it is through expmenting with that, 1 partial at a time, minus the PG that I've started to become more comfortable with programming the D50. It's currently the synth I mess around with the most and I own a number of "classic" analogue synths. Personally, I consider most of the D50's original preset sounds to be really rather horrible and dated sounding but there are a few absolute classics, of which my favourite is definitely Glass Voices. It's one of those pad sounds where it is almost impossible to hit a bad note, which is always a good thing when your playing "skills" are as execrable as mine! BTW; d'you want to sell me your PG1000?!
Fabulous synth. It was my dream synth back then, but I could never afford to get one. I did have D-10 and D-20 at one point it time, but they did not sound as rich and lush. When Roland released the D-05 a few years back I jumped all over it and I tell you what Espen... I love it. The cool thing about the D-05, is I can take it around the house, it has a build it speaker (okay that is not good but that's okay) it has all of those after market sound cards preloaded and only at a fraction of the price of the original. I don't know if you have had a chance to play the re-pop version but Roland did a really good job of replicating the D-50. Thanks for the video.
I too heard this dermo'd in a music shop. Somewhere in Regent Street, London. Blew my socks off then and is still one of my favourite synths. Thanks for the classy run-through.
Sounds soooo good!! All those pads are so beautiful and rich... It's sometimes hard to believe these sounds are coming from a digital synth! Thanks for sharing, Espen. You truly are the 80s :-)
The D-50 was my first ever synth, had it for many years. I kinda got tired of it at one point in the late 90s and had to sell it in a bad financial time... I regret it now, it definitely is a unique sounding synth. I especially loved to play with the joystick ;) some of the d-50 sounds can still be heard on some of my songs on this channel . Thx Espen!
Keep these videos coming :) Your passion for 80s synths is infectious, and inspiring to me for the retro game I'm making. Firing up my Roland Cloud D-50 now to mess about!
@@EspenKraft it's 25$ a month I better fire it up more often!! But you get almost all the synths Roland made. It's quite good, but not quite as good as the real deal I'm sure!
Great video, Espen!! I loved the way you explained the D-50 synth and those chords / atmospheres you were playing are to die for. The filter control was awesome, really smooth. It's my favorite synth (for nostalgic reasons). I remember the display to be green, though :^D Perhaps a replacement. Btw, personally I wouldn't call the D-50 a VA synth.... I think that's a rumor that DON SOLARIS :^D spread a few years ago - I'd call the first VA synth the Nord Lead / 1995.
Many thanks Paolo! I admit to being a little cheeky with the title and I knew it would stir up some controversy. I know it isn't a VA synth per definition and that's why I nuance my words both in the voice over as well in the video description. Since the D-50 has so much to give in the structure 1 and 2 with its "oscillator" synth engine only I just wanted to point out that I personally think it IS the king of VA synths (the true VA synths). I'll probably change the title now that it has made my point, sort of... ;-)
We get D-50 sounds in modern Roland keyboards like the Fantom. You're not really missing out on much. D-50 is basically an inferior Fantom. Mediocre EGs, rubbish filter, limited LFOs and modulation options, no mod matrices, only a square wave and a sawtooth wave for regular synth sounds, the irritating limitations are easy to hit. With Fantom, MC-707, FA-06, and so forth, your imagination is much more the limit than the synth. Not as much as, say, Kontakt and Massive X, but as far as it gets with Roland gear.
Back in those times I was a live gigging musician and I still am. I stuck to my Hammond, Rhodes Moog, Korg Dw8000, etc. ensemble I was right. Until the M1 the D50 nor DX7 never quite got there. It was about Piano's back in the day. that said, it was a lovely machine and one i wanted though not really sure why.
I have been really mad at myself for selling my Roland Juno 60 years ago when the street price was less than 1/3 of what it is today. Then I remembered I have a D50 and after seeing this video, I'm not so mad anymore. You got some great sounds out of this machine!
My first synth was a Juno 106. Following the hype around the D-50, around 1988 I sold the Juno in order to buy one. In retrospect, considering how expensive the 106 now is, maybe I should have kept it, but in any case I still have my D-50, in a closet but with me! After having come across many videos like this one in which many people sing its praises, and realizing that in fact it is as good a synth as any, that I got sucked way too much into the whole software synth trend, I'm taking the D-50 out of retirement, will get it a fresh battery, whatever maintenance it needs, and will make it part of my renewed interest in hardware synths (just bought a Hydrasynth keyboard and a DeepMind 12 desktop).
The Juno 106 commands a lot more money these days, but that doesn't necessarily means it's "better" than any other synth. Collectors drive up the market prices. The synth that makes you the most enjoyment is the one to keep. ;-) Although nothing is preventing you from having BOTH!
Espen you are the D-50 master and the blue screen perfectly fits the color scheme! My reason to buy the D-50 in 1990 was mainly for the Valhalla Screamin B3 card Had such a blast in church with those 64 organ patches!
Great video and song. Your channel has the best 80s vibe. I love the sound of the D-50. Back in the day it was so revolutionary. The 80s were a magical time for the evolution of synthesizers. I would have no problem using a D-50 today, timeless sound. I am glad i lived through the years of the great 80s synth evolution. For me it all started in 1984. I wanted a YAMAHA DX7, but settled for a YAMAHA CS-01. When the D-50 came out i almost completely stopped wanting the DX7, lol. These days, If i was to buy just one old synth from the 80s, it would be the ROLAND D-50.
Roland JV, XP and XV are also awesome digital pad machines as are most Korg synths from the M, T, I, X Trinity and Triton series. I also love Ensoniq VFX and TS series as well as Kurzweil K series.
@@HenritheHorse I lusted over the SQ80 when it was released and then also over the TS10 a few years later. Ensoniq made fantastic instruments but they did have reliability issues at times. I loved using a Kurzweil 2000 whilst studying music at university 30 years ago. That's an amazing digital pad machine that can also sound decidedly analog. The Novation Supernova series and Yamaha EX5 were also great digital machines for creamy sounding pads.
Roland really had an incredible decade for synths. Jupiter 8, 6, juno, d50, jx series. These days they don't lead the pack as much as they create digital versions of their past hits. Hoping Roland can return to making fun innovating instruments in the future. The Roland sound was always my favorite. Alpha Juno is my all time favorite.
@@CraigScottFrost Sounds like a winning combo. Also sounds expensive. But flagship gotta flagship. They should shoot for a Kronos-killer, and what you've described sounds like the sauce they'd need for it. Don't forget the D-Beam lol
Thanks Espen for posting this fantastic video. I just acquired a Mint D-50 with the PG-1000 that was almost never used with all the manuals and blank card. I cant wait to start making music !
I have the D550 and it's still one of the most emotive electronic instruments I've ever played. You can literally get lost in it. The Juno 2 demo in this video is absolutely fantastic
The Roland D-50 is amazing even today. The Yamaha DX7 is still my favorite but not by much. My #2 is the D-50. The D-50 presets were better to my ear than the DX7 and more airy. Both the DX7 and D-50 have been far eclipsed these days but in their day, they were groundbreaking. I wish I bought a D-05 when they were more affordable.
The D-50 clearly can't make the kind of sounds the M1 could. It's also doubtful the M1 could make some of the sounds of the D-50. So probably a good combo. I had the CZ's for my digital analog VA sort of sounds, and my FB-01 for FM sounds along with my M1. Exploring D-50 sounds more now via soft synth options.
The D-50 is still the King of the 80s. Combine it with the Queen, the DX-7 and some nice Drums and you got a party! 😎🎹 Hope you guys like the swab new white on black display on it too (blue on camera, but white in real life😁).
D-50 stands on the vortex of that analog to digital definitive transition. In a way, it's the single most essential synth Roland's ever made, if you had to keep only one in your studio. a very "analogue" digital synth and a very inexpensive "digital" analogue synth.
you could call it a digalogue , it is also the last era where roland made quality hardware , these things can survive a serious bump or drop, at this point all big manufacturers apart from yamaha wanted to ripp off the PPg effect at that stage without copyright infringement , SCI did it with a facsimile vector synth (basically to mimic wavetable movement n a 4way automateable mixer through analog filters) as did the d50 , they were workarounds but they wanted to sound like PPg s for a larger market
In the early-mid 80s, I had one of the first MIDI capable polysynths in the Roland JX-3P. A friend also bought a Yamaha DX7. I was never so keen on those. I could appreciate the technology, but they sounded a bit plinky-plonky to me. But I did like the attack on the sounds. So we used to midi layer the DX7 attack with the JX analog sounds and got some great results. A few years later, I tried a D50 in a music shop and fell in love. I also realised that this was what I was trying to do with the MIDI. I couldn't afford one as I was a poor student at the time, but have great affection for it and the music it spawned - hey, even Enya. It just takes me back to a fun period in my life. Now I have its spiritual successor, Eric Pershing's Omnisphere - the last synth that made my jaw drop, even if it is unfashionable software. I still like to program and layer sounds like the D50's to this day. And, of course, the 80s are back in fashion.
When this synth came out and after some time appeared on the TV shows I was hooked. Then I heard Digital Native Dance. I remember thinking what is that?
This beloved synth sure was a creation of a genius. In fact, some of its sounds were later inspired for several synth sounds in the General MIDI standard in 1991, they were even used by many musicians and keyboardists in the Bollywood industry from where my parents are from. For example, Sochenge Tumhe Pyar from 1992 Shah Rukh Khan movie Deewana. There was the Staccato Heaven patch being used for a magical bell hit in the song's intro. The Bass Marimba patch in Gazar Ne Kiya Hai Ishara from 1989 movie Tridev. As of now, some of the keyboard's sounds like Fantasia and even (Digital Native Dance) were featured in one of the keyboards I have in my high school (Lynfield College 🇳🇿), the JUNO-DS. I was conpletely stunned by that as soon as I found out. Less than a year later, I decided to learn about synth programming via Roland Cloud and different VSTs like OB-Xd, and Dexed. Eventually, I became a synth programmer and one of the 2 keyboardists (other being the Head Of The Music Department, Mr. McLarin) for the school's annual production this year. Throughout the matinees we had and the nights we ran, I had experiment with built in D-50 and JUNO-106 sounds, sample based synthesis, and analog synth knowledge. Put them into the test, and it turns out that I was accoladed by many for a polished performance. What a great time to be alive.
Espen Kraft I’m disappointed to say, I no longer have any of them now. I must admit that the Roland keys were my favourites. I particularly had a love for the Alpha Juno 2. How is your new job going? I’m happy to see you’re still finding time for a video or two.
I remember hearing the D50 for the first time in a music store too. Awesome sound! I was shopping for my first synth, but still in college (i.e. poor) so ended up buying the cheaper Casio CZ-1 (which I still have).
Also a great synth. I have two of them. Totally different than the D-50. The CZ’s excel at reproducing traditional analog synth sounds from Moog, Oberheim, ARP, etc. Especially good at lead sounds.
@@classicarcadeamusementpark4242 Yep, I still take care of my CZ-1. A couple years ago, I took it apart and applied some white lithium grease to all the keys because they were sticking a bit. Plays nicely even at its old age.
You know as much as I love my D50 and D550, I came to the realization earlier that my TG77 does everything it can, plus it has a DX7 instead of subtractive synthesis so it can also do a whole lot more. Got to love the D50 patches though, Pizagogo, Digital Native Dance, Soundtrack, classics.
Bought the D50 new back in the 80s, sold it in the 90s. I regret that every day. When it was new I swear it had the most beautiful keybed I've ever touched. Really appreciate the programming you've done here.. Maybe I'll get another some day.
Or just grab the VST version. Or a D-05. The original has a sluggish CPU, D-05 is more responsive, has plenty more memory for custom patches, and doesn't require the expansion cartridges as it has all those sounds integrated already. I recommend combining it with a MIDI controller with a Fatar keybed. Lastly, there are much more practical solutions for programming it without having to hunt down those overpriced programmer boards for D-50/D-05.
A fitting tribute to the instrument that finally out sold the DX7. I guess the slight irony with synths that brought entirely new ways of creating sounds (like the DX7 and D-50) is that they are most famous for their presets.
These two synths were near the beginning of a couple of decades of digital synths whose chances at success / popularity hinged primarily on the quality of their presets. A blessing early on that you eventually wish never existed, even though you may have never taken the time to learn the instrument in the first place if they weren't there.
No the dx outsold the d50 and strangely roland most sold synth was the juno 106 ( i worked as product specialist in a synth import dealer) ,the one that outsold all was the m1
@@cnfuzz Maybe it outsold the brown original DX7, but the DX7 had some reincarnations like the DX7II and the FD versions. The DX7 in total sold more yes. If you count all flavours of the M1 the M1 family sold over 500000 with the original M1 doing over 300000! The M1, M1R, M1ex, M1Rex, T3, T3ex, T2, T2ex, T1, M3R all share the same architecture and waveforms and the keyboards share the form factor (except the wooden T1 and the M3 needs combinations to make some dual oscillator sounds exactly the same).
@@cnfuzz Sorry, I misremembered, yes it was the M1 I was thinking of. The D-50 was released in 1987 and that was also the final year that anything with "DX" in its name was produced by Yamaha. I'd conflated two things.
I have the D50 too, and I always wanted it as a kid back in the late 80s, Finally got one 10 years ago (repair object, but in mint condition display wise). Later I got the Yamaha Montage 6, and would you believe that the Part programming system of the Yamaha Montage is very much alike the D50? Except you have 8 parts per instrument, and you affect the filters the same way you do in the D50 by combining what part effects what filter and VS. Someone said "DO NOT SELL YOUR D50" after purchasing my Montage, and I understand why now, they are SO similar in many ways you won't believe it, I love the RICH Strings I have on the D50 and it's my 2nd synth on the synth stand and I use it all the time together with the Montage. What made me buy the Montage in the first place rather than the ModX was the AFTERTOUCH. The Roland D50 was one of the few synths that had this, and once you get used to using After touch...there is NO going back, you just have to have it in every performance keyboard you use. When the Yamaha Montage gets too complicated for me (which it does all the time, it's an insane instrument), I revert to the D-50 for comfort, and they still have so much in common. What sets them appart is of course 30+ years of sound quality improvements, and sample sizes not to mention when I use the 4-part system on the D-50, I run out of Polyphony very fast :)
I've been interested in checking out the D-50 for some time for sound of it's unique LA synthesis sort of sound effects. Now I can with the soft synth version of the D-50. I bought the MODX which I love, and has the same sound engine as the Montage. Going through D-50 sound collections, the Montage engine doesn't remind me too much of the D-50's engine. Totally agree the Montage/MODX engine is excellent however. I became a huge fan of aftertouch because of my Korg M1 where many of the sounds supported it. When I got a Keytar, I had a hard time finding one years ago that offered aftertouch at the time but I found one and it was absolutely critical using M1 sounds. The D-50 from the sounds I've been checking out also does a good job of supporting aftertouch. The Montage however, does a terrible job of supporting aftertouch, as does the great grandson of the M1, the Kronos. Going with the MODX over the Montage was an easy decision. The aftertouch wasn't going to matter much with those kind of sounds unless your using it as a MIDI controller or found some good patches that did support it. It's less than half the weight, and less than half the cost. I'm a starving gigging musician. LOL. Perfect! The lack of aftertouch is easily addressed as I also gig with a 15 lbs 61 key MIDI controller which I can either use with my MODX (found little reason to so far) or with my soft synths like the D-50, M1 soft synth (no longer have to drag my two M1's to gigs) and I sold my ARP Pro Soloist which was like the first synth in the early 1980s to really support aftertouch, because the soft synth I have of it sounds just like it including the entire effects section dedicated to aftertouch. But the Montage/MODX engines are very powerful, and the ability to load samples too. Almost any kind of sound could come out of it with creative programming. Then again, with creative programming, the M1 amazed me with some of the analog synth sounds. The amazing samples I took for granted. The main thing is the D-50, Montage/MODX, M1, DX7 & Casio CZs have massive sound libraries available. And with access to such things, one can find many impressive sounds beyond what you might expect. The Kronos seems more limited to me in the availability of patches. It can't tap into Korg's previous flagships like the Montage & MODX can. Pair a MODX, with a light weight MIDI controller with aftertouch & a laptop and you can cover almost any kind of sounds, and more portable & economical than any other options. Exactly what I do.
Thank you for making this video Espen! :) I recently picked up one of these at a really good steal. One of the most lovely sounding instruments I have ever gotten to play. :)
I'm glad Roland didn't mess up with the boutique version of it. Other than minor annoyances like usb 5V power, a single 1/8" stereo output, the boutique has the same sound, the same menus, navigation and programmability, has a joystick even, plus 8 full user memory areas and all Roland's original expansion cards builtin.
@@mgabrysSF Actually English isnt my mother tongue, but it did cross my mind you could have meant that. Yeah, it's a pity it's not available anymore. But.. That's Roland.
Wow! I love the way this synth sounds! I saw a D-05 video that went into making custom patches and I was very impressed with the results, even though programming it is different than what I’m used to. The UVI version is the closest I’ve come to working with it.
Awesome Demo and explanation Espen, i really love your Videos, yr a talented 80s guy like me. Soundtrack patch best ever , just awesome and Tangerine Dream used it on Canyon Dreams 1987 track Waters gift and on Optical Race 1988 on The Midnight Trail, also Digital Native Dance on Canyon Carver also on Canyon Dreams, as did Michael Boddiker on White Water Summer score 1987, i gotta buy a D 50 back again since regretfully selling mine in 2011, yr sounds lift me up 🙂
I love my D50 and PG1000! My first synth when I was 15. Still love it! The built-in effects was the primary reason I got that over the DX7IIFD. Also have the D-50 cartridge for my Roland Vari-OS. So it's like having 2 D50s! Also just got the Hypersynth memory card which holds 6400 patches (one for the DX7 also). It's amazing! Great video!
It's got a certain unique flavor - it's got the ability to sound digital similar to wavetable but also analog sounding even though it isn't. And it's got a real nostagic and futuristic aspect to the sound as well. It's not dated at all.
Its nice to hear the "analog" side of the D-50. I still have the poor man's D-50 - the MT32 that also had the "analog" side if you dove into it with an editor. Haven't used it in years now that there are a million free vsts available but it was my first multitimbral synth complete with multi effects.
Fab sounds as always. For anyone else arriving late here like me there is a great bit of windows freeware software called the D50 Librarian by a chap called Chris Nightingale that does the same real-time control as the PG-1000 programmer (which tend to be less available), plus it lets you save and re-up patches and create a library of all those patches you've had sat on PCM cards since forever.
Interesting video. I got a Kawai K4, similar technique, a bit more interesting due to it's unique filter and the grittier sound. For lovers of such type of "synthesis" but without the hardware, I highly recommend R Papens Vecto VST to achieve such sounds.
I purchased my D50 when it first came out in 1987. I still have it to this day, it has never been on the road for anything and is in showroom condition. It's a fantastic piece of the 80's.
@MrKoi13 I lucked out with my D-50. Fellow keyboardist landed on one with a nice road case. He wanted the ROAD CASE ONLY and not the D-50!! I bought that D-50 with volume pedal, manual etc. for $100. It also was never gigged with, and is like brand new to this day!
Your story is very much like mine with my Yamaha CS-60! I bought that in 1978 when it was released, and it was a BEDROOM piece. Been in storage since 1991, and still like brand new! I hear those CS series are pretty valuable these days.
I remember the first time I played the D50 in 1987 and was blown away by the factory presets. The George Michael Faith pipe organ and Enya pizzicato patches blew me away. However I was even more blown away a year later in 1988 when I played the Korg M1 for the first time! Oh my goodness, I thought that I was going to melt when playing the Universe program and hearing pianos, saxes, guitars and drums that actually sounded realistic. The D50, M1 and DX7 were the staples of 80s and 90s music.
For the record, how old were you in 1987-88?
@@Barber747 I was 15-16 years old.
@@Barber747 why do you ask?
@@madness8556 just wondering outta curiosity, that's all
@@Barber747 I've been into synths since I played on a DX7 and Jupiter 8 at a family friend's wedding in 1987 when I was 15.
Nothing sounds like a D-50... I never forget when I, in 1988 at age 14, played my older friends D-50 for the first time and always dreamed of owning one.
Now 33 years later I finally managed to get one in close to mint condition AND ! a PG-1000 - how lucky can one be ? 🙂
Only viewers of this channel will fully understand 😉
You are so lucky I'm probably the same age as you and would be like a little kid if I owned one today ✋ Enjoy!
_"how lucky can one be"_
All that + robot legs.
Bought mine for 55 euro with one broken key and 3 memcards really! , Fun fact was when it came out in 87 i was buying all the analogs you could get instead as they we're dirtcheap then, any of the analogues even the little mono's go 10 to 30 times the price of a used d50 now , i was right in not spending the 2000 euro newwprice of the rapid ageing d50 then!
I just set up my old D-50 after many years in storage. Thanks for re-aquainting me with my old freind.
One of the best synthesizers ever produced in the late 80's.
Some of the presets in the D-50 are timeless and that's why a love it.
The D-50 is my “home” keyboard. I played one as my main instrument during the late 80s/early 90s on hundreds of gigs. Solid build and very reliable. It never failed me. Didn’t always use the sounds live(I owned some newer modules) but 1 of my all time favorites.
done the same, I will argue for that every home needs a D50
The Roland D50 is the ONLY digital Synth of the 80s digital Synthesizers which i would gladly buy again in addition to my only D50. Difficult to program but my god does it open up SPACE for you when you load the proper presets.There is absolutely no other synthesizer like it which has such a "very-hard-to-narrow-down" sound aesthetic. Hard to put it into words. It's not as dry and glassy as FM synths but also not as cold and harsh as Wavetable synths. It is one of it's kind. A truly emancipated Synthesizer that literally makes you fly, both on a wave of nostalgia but also floating through time and space. No other synthesizer sounds like it. The D50 is eternal.
if you include the 90s as well, I would also add the Roland JD-990 ;)
@@timmbrockmann959 Fair enough. That one is a mighty fine digital flagship as well. The kind of greatness that Roland hasn't produced in a looong looooong time..
D70 all day
I could say the same thing about the Ensoniq ESQ-1. It is still a VERy 80's sounding synth. We can get by with that. I hope that you keep stretching the parameters of the D-50. (However, it didn't have the amazing capability of the onboard sequencer that was on the ESQ-1).
@@bandfromtheband9445 True, the ESQ-1 (and also the Mirage too, even thou it's a sampler) are 2 more very distinguishable digital Synths with such a charismatic unique sound. I'd still love to have an ESQ-1 in my instrument section as well. Maybe one day.
I've owned many different synths, but when I acquired one of these it was just fantastic, even now its lush sounds and pads are wonderful and expressive.
For me, the D50 is number one even over 35 years later!
I forgot to add, one area the D50 brings a little something extra, is that it's possible to slow the ADSR envelopes way down which allows you to create sounds that drone and change and evolve over several minutes just from latching a key or holding sustain. It's one of the only synths that can do that. It makes it excellent for pad sounds on movie and TV soundtracks.
Yes - the D-50 has the longest envelope times - like no any other synth. And its 6 stage TVA envelopes are much more flexible than the most standard ADSR envelopes.
And with 4 partials, 6 LFOs, 2 pitch envelopes, 4 filter envelopes (TVF), 4 amp envelopes (TVA) you would find everything to generate large and evolving ambient pads.
Try once a Ensoniq SQ80 ;)
it’s a fucking envelope beast. my secret weapon along with the mighty mks50. btw the only preset I’ve ever used is patch 37 soundtrack...
@@pthex_2859 I'm not ashamed to admit I mostly use presets when I'm playing around and only done my own patches for special projects. I was surprised when Espen said he prefers the on keyboard controls for editing. I'd kill for a PPG.
@@MrVinylistic Don't forget on board effects :) It makes track ready sounds all by itself.
Actually, it wasn’t the technicians at Roland who came up with the idea for LA synthesis. It was Steve Porcaro of Toto, who was already using that technique by layering attack transient samples with his analog synths. Steve demonstrated his synthesis technique to Roland’s Ikutaro Kakehashi, and the rest is history.
I don't think Porcaro did the CPU programming to make it crunch through the numbers in the LA synthesis engine.. ;-)
Espen Kraft Obviously, but it was his concept.
@@deastman2 Source for this story?
@@looneyburgmusic It was some interview with Steve... might have been in connection with Spectrasonics, or for the anniversary of the D-50. Can’t quite recall exactly. It wasn’t this interview, but here’s a different version of that story: www.kvraudio.com/interviews/continuing-a-family-tradition-an-interview-with-steve-porcaro-36653
The 1983/1984 Kurzwiel K250 also used the sampled attack plus synthetic decay method. Still sounds great to this day.
i love the honesty and the generosity , you are not here to get subscribers but to share your love for the 80 s sounds. bravo !
Cheers!
one of the most expressive and inspiring synths ever created. i will never sell my D550. mine sits right next to it's older brother MKS-80 and MPG-80, but holds it's own with pride. this luscious monster doesn't get intimidated by pure analogs or pure waldorf analog filtered waveform synths or pure Yamaha FM beasts. D50/D550 is a synths that even after 4 decades, it will make you sigh.....like an old sweetheart never forgotten.
One of the best synth of the history! The sound potential is so incredible ! The D50, the SY77 for the AFM and the JD800= Best digitals synths of the 90’s fof me...
I have all 3 synths you mentioned - 2 x D50, 1 x JD990, 1 x TG77. I use them all the time together with many other synths and modules. Beautiful machines that never lost their charm. Cheers!
D-50 and SY77 we're my first two serious synths, and complimented each other well. Still have the D-50.
Best demonstration of sound editing I've ever seen for a D50. You make it seem less mysterious.
Thanks!
"mysterious"
It's just an old subtractive synth.
One fun fact about the D-50 is that the bulk of the instruments in the Amiga 500 Soundtracker were based upon D-50 sounds. So around the late 80s/early 90s, the demoscene was crowded with tracker music using monophonic 8 bit versions of famous D-50 presets, becoming cliches in their own right.
Pizzagogo became "Pizza" and Shamus Theme became "Shamus", both of which were way overused in the demo scene music at the time, at least until musicians got their own samplers and made sure to make their own sounds from their own synths. :)
Yesss - it's really the king of the 80s beside the DX7.
Still today one of my favourite synth. It has something magical and some sounds (e.g. Spacious Sweep, Soundtrack, Glass Voices etc.) that can't be generated by other synths.
One reason for D-50's great success were its excellent on board presets - designed by Eric Persing.
Eric Persing was a consultant and chief sound designer for Roland in that time. One of his most celebrated accomplishments with that company was programming many of the factory patches for the popular D-50 synthesizer, along with fellow sound designer Adrian Scott.
20 years later Eric Persing presented the VSTi Omnisphere....and made it to the king of vsti's...hehehe...again...
Unfortunately most people only know those famous D-50 factory presets, that are maybe dated today, but it has also a huge potential for numerous modern sounds. Especially with tone stucture 1 and 2 it's like a great VA-Synthesizer too. Would never sell mine.
Roland D-50 Celebration Moments with Eric Persing (Performance) - ua-cam.com/video/VggsB5eZ0oM/v-deo.html
Mr Woofer - Molding Glass (Roland D-550 Demo) - ua-cam.com/video/5T5WFGv9ZEM/v-deo.html
I bought my D-50 in 1987--traded in my JX-8P for it, as I could only afford one synth at the time--and I still have it. In my opinion, the best sounding and least cliche patches are those that use structures 1 and 2 (both synth, no PCM). With three envelopes, three LFOs, and ring modulation there is a lot of raw synth power here.
An hour ago, I added your name to “D50” in the search machine to check if you had some videos of this synth on your channel. I commented on that video of yours from two years ago about the D50. 45 minutes later and you’ve uploaded this one. Funny coincidence!🤣 excited to see the video!
11:30 I love that sound...
Been advertizing this video for a week now.. ;-)
Nice demo! Due to lack of space, I'm glad they offer a set of D-50 patches for my Integra-7. Together with all the other vintage patches, it's starting to feel like a Roland museum, highly usable!
Thank you for this fantastic video Espen.
For years I yearned for this synth, and it so happens to be that only a while ago I managed to find a (very) used one, bought it really cheap I was told it was completely broken (not so) So I was a little offish at first about playing it.
A few nights ago at the studio I turned it on and started exploring. I mean deeply exploring it. I couldn't stop playing and being amazed at the sounds. I loaded different SYSEX files and each and everyone just took my breath away.
This is a real jem and I am proud to be an owner of one...
Thanks! :)
Thank you Espen, bought the D-50 in Hong-Kong 1997, sold it a view years later and bought one in stellar condition together with a PG-1000 last year. So many good memories...
Oh man ... every soundtrack from 80's movies just came rushing back! Love it :)
I freaking love how the D-50 and D-05 look like they came straight out of an '80s sci-fi movie.
Me too
I still have my Roland D-50, still in great shape and still sounds great.
I love that 80's sound, it was part of my childhood. A chilhood that I want back so badly I can't even begin to tell.
I know how you feel. ;-)
We all hear you
@@digiface Well, I hate not being a kid, and I hate the 21st century ways. If I could be young again, and things such as cars, music, tv shows, films and some of the fashion would go back to how it was in the 80's, I would be happy. Living a second childhood in an 80's style utopia would be my heaven. Just throw in high speed internet, modern computers and UA-cam in there too (and yes I know they didn't exist in the 80's but there the only things out of the 21st century that matter to me) and I'd be set for life.
@@CoolDudeClem It wouldn't be 80's though, with the internet. Especially with things like youtube :p
SAME🎯 retro music is like time travel for me_before this & that happened_but id still rather know what i know today_can go back in time & do it naively all over again_so id rather use this wisdom & reintroduce these sounds of the naiive generation today_w/ a modern twist_& that will enhance their lives_which will in turn save my life_then i can start having my own kids & do it all over again_its my only reason to continue living thru all of this reset agenda ♟
Things are interesting second time around. It sounds so perfect and clean. The font on the logo is just as important as the sound.
I love the clarity, depth and ambient qualities of those D-50 sounds!
Some of the best sounds I've ever heard coming from a D-50. Bravo!
Sweet!
Cool. I purchased a D-50 as my first keyboard back in 96, I still have it
One of the most iconic and famous synthesisers of all time! I very cool and interesting idea to combine the sound of a real instrument sampled for the first seconds and then combined with a digital synthesis, to create a whole new form of sound. Genius and inventive! I also love that demo song you did it’s so catchy and I can’t stop listening to it sometimes for how rhythmic and great it sounds, as well as those patch demos. Very cool and even inspiring! Great video as always Espen Kraft!
Many thanks! :)
@@EspenKraft Anytime mate! 👌 :)
Wow. I'm so glad I kept my D-50 that I bought in 1987. I have a D-05 as well! This is by far the best demo I've ever heard of the D-50. It reveals some magic I never knew existed in there. Please keep us updated on your patches for sale. I would love to buy them.
Many thanks Mike!
If you want to check out more of these sounds you can go here, this is my patch bank for the D-50:
thepatchbay.co.uk/product/roland-d-50-32-retro-patches-for-synth-pop-synthwave-italo-disco-electronica/?description=true
The Roland D-50 is the Enya sound! I just love those unique presets. The PG-1000 is a nightmare to me. I hardly use mine. I really need to sit down and try to figure it all out. The D-50 and D-550 are great synthesizers for getting that outer world sound. The Korg M-1 does a great job of this as well. I'm sure everyone reading this already knows, but maybe it's news to someone out there. Take care and keep the great content coming. Sam.
Thanks Sam! :)
"The PG-1000 is a nightmare to me"
Ive never used one but Ive heard that. Can I suggest an app for iPad called PatchBase.
coffeeshopped.com/patch-base
Now...be warned, its expensive, but utterly amazing. It stores sounds and lets you edit every parameter from your iPad.
Its news to me. I’ve seen this synth before but i play guitar mostly so i didn’t pay much attention, glad this dude made the video, i gotta get one now! Somehow i had this feeling i had to watch this video and that something good was in it... strange, hmm? He even says “i am the eighties”, that’s my line!
@@pinkglow2402 I am glad that I could help. You can get the vintage synthesizer or the modern-day do5 from Roland. it's a very small form factor and has all the wonderful sounds of the d50. You can hook it up by MIDI. Take care and have a wonderful time.
I think the big problem with the PG1000 is that it only allows access to 1 partial at a time - I've heard stories of people who have connected 4 PG1000s to their D50 but can't see how that can be done - so unless you have near photographic memory, it really doesn't help THAT much, although having said that, it is still nice to be able to alter sounds with such immediacy. I agree though that it is confusing to use and I sold mine, along with a D50 (both in excellent condition) for less than £500! I kept my other D50 though and it is through expmenting with that, 1 partial at a time, minus the PG that I've started to become more comfortable with programming the D50. It's currently the synth I mess around with the most and I own a number of "classic" analogue synths. Personally, I consider most of the D50's original preset sounds to be really rather horrible and dated sounding but there are a few absolute classics, of which my favourite is definitely Glass Voices. It's one of those pad sounds where it is almost impossible to hit a bad note, which is always a good thing when your playing "skills" are as execrable as mine!
BTW; d'you want to sell me your PG1000?!
Fabulous synth. It was my dream synth back then, but I could never afford to get one. I did have D-10 and D-20 at one point it time, but they did not sound as rich and lush. When Roland released the D-05 a few years back I jumped all over it and I tell you what Espen... I love it. The cool thing about the D-05, is I can take it around the house, it has a build it speaker (okay that is not good but that's okay) it has all of those after market sound cards preloaded and only at a fraction of the price of the original. I don't know if you have had a chance to play the re-pop version but Roland did a really good job of replicating the D-50. Thanks for the video.
Many thanks James! :)
Not going to lie, I've just gone and bought a D-50 after being reminded of exactly why I need to own one from this. Cheers Espen!
Congrats Graham! :)
Cool. That said, I would recommend the D550 rack over it because it's MIDI is way faster.
how much are they worth? I still have mine from 1991 and wouldn't mind unloading it.
You tune allways me in happy mood with that 80's groove!
That Juno 2 patch is absolutely ridiculous! When the filter AT comes in - pure eargasm!
I too heard this dermo'd in a music shop. Somewhere in Regent Street, London. Blew my socks off then and is still one of my favourite synths. Thanks for the classy run-through.
Sounds soooo good!! All those pads are so beautiful and rich... It's sometimes hard to believe these sounds are coming from a digital synth! Thanks for sharing, Espen. You truly are the 80s :-)
Sweet man! :)
from erasure to don henley it sits right in a mix, black slab of power, fascinating textures, so shiny
Uncle Espen strikes back! The coolest man on earth! The one who teaches us how beatmaking was born!
The D-50 was my first ever synth, had it for many years. I kinda got tired of it at one point in the late 90s and had to sell it in a bad financial time... I regret it now, it definitely is a unique sounding synth. I especially loved to play with the joystick ;) some of the d-50 sounds can still be heard on some of my songs on this channel . Thx Espen!
Keep these videos coming :) Your passion for 80s synths is infectious, and inspiring to me for the retro game I'm making. Firing up my Roland Cloud D-50 now to mess about!
Thanks! Fire it up :)
@@EspenKraft it's 25$ a month I better fire it up more often!!
But you get almost all the synths Roland made. It's quite good, but not quite as good as the real deal I'm sure!
Well, I have access to Cloud as well and the sound of these are superb no doubt. Nothing beats playing the real thing though, I admit to that. ;-)
Great video, Espen!! I loved the way you explained the D-50 synth and those chords / atmospheres you were playing are to die for. The filter control was awesome, really smooth. It's my favorite synth (for nostalgic reasons). I remember the display to be green, though :^D Perhaps a replacement. Btw, personally I wouldn't call the D-50 a VA synth.... I think that's a rumor that DON SOLARIS :^D spread a few years ago - I'd call the first VA synth the Nord Lead / 1995.
Many thanks Paolo! I admit to being a little cheeky with the title and I knew it would stir up some controversy. I know it isn't a VA synth per definition and that's why I nuance my words both in the voice over as well in the video description. Since the D-50 has so much to give in the structure 1 and 2 with its "oscillator" synth engine only I just wanted to point out that I personally think it IS the king of VA synths (the true VA synths).
I'll probably change the title now that it has made my point, sort of... ;-)
I'd go with the Waldorf Microwave as the first real VA synthesizer. Especially if you had an Access Programmer gizmo.
SynthMania and Espen Kraft congratulating each others, love it ! You guys are both legends, thanks for sharing your knowledge
@@secretelitemusic A wavetable synthesizer is not considered as a VA synth.
Show us your thousand page thesis on the subject.
Love the D-50. I never had one. Had a JX-8P. Have a Fantom now. Thank you for sharing.
We get D-50 sounds in modern Roland keyboards like the Fantom.
You're not really missing out on much. D-50 is basically an inferior Fantom. Mediocre EGs, rubbish filter, limited LFOs and modulation options, no mod matrices, only a square wave and a sawtooth wave for regular synth sounds, the irritating limitations are easy to hit. With Fantom, MC-707, FA-06, and so forth, your imagination is much more the limit than the synth. Not as much as, say, Kontakt and Massive X, but as far as it gets with Roland gear.
Back in those times I was a live gigging musician and I still am. I stuck to my Hammond, Rhodes Moog, Korg Dw8000, etc. ensemble I was right. Until the M1 the D50 nor DX7 never quite got there. It was about Piano's back in the day. that said, it was a lovely machine and one i wanted though not really sure why.
I have been really mad at myself for selling my Roland Juno 60 years ago when the street price was less than 1/3 of what it is today. Then I remembered I have a D50 and after seeing this video, I'm not so mad anymore. You got some great sounds out of this machine!
Cheers!
My first synth was a Juno 106. Following the hype around the D-50, around 1988 I sold the Juno in order to buy one. In retrospect, considering how expensive the 106 now is, maybe I should have kept it, but in any case I still have my D-50, in a closet but with me! After having come across many videos like this one in which many people sing its praises, and realizing that in fact it is as good a synth as any, that I got sucked way too much into the whole software synth trend, I'm taking the D-50 out of retirement, will get it a fresh battery, whatever maintenance it needs, and will make it part of my renewed interest in hardware synths (just bought a Hydrasynth keyboard and a DeepMind 12 desktop).
The Juno 106 commands a lot more money these days, but that doesn't necessarily means it's "better" than any other synth. Collectors drive up the market prices. The synth that makes you the most enjoyment is the one to keep. ;-) Although nothing is preventing you from having BOTH!
Juno 2 - so much emotion
The sound of every late 80s /90s corporate training video!
No you'd need to include the DX.
@Chicken George Ahh you’ve got it upside down.
Espen you are the D-50 master and the blue screen perfectly fits the color scheme!
My reason to buy the D-50 in 1990 was mainly for the Valhalla Screamin B3 card
Had such a blast in church with those 64 organ patches!
I can imagine! I know a lot of churches that had the D-50 as part of the house band/choir etc. Thanks! :D
Great Video Espen Kraft! You are so right about the D-50's programmer. It really does seem to get in the way more than help when making patches :D
Thanks! Yeah, I guess I know the programming routine on the synth itself too well.. ;-)
I still have my Roland D-50, and I absolutely love this synth. I also use this when I'm composing my music.
I had the D-70, -lovely pad machine, especially with the *analog feel* active...
Great video and song.
Your channel has the best 80s vibe.
I love the sound of the D-50.
Back in the day it was so revolutionary.
The 80s were a magical time for the evolution of synthesizers.
I would have no problem using a D-50 today, timeless sound.
I am glad i lived through the years of the great 80s synth evolution.
For me it all started in 1984.
I wanted a YAMAHA DX7, but settled for a YAMAHA CS-01.
When the D-50 came out i almost completely stopped wanting the DX7, lol.
These days, If i was to buy just one old synth from the 80s, it would be the ROLAND D-50.
Thanks!
D-50, DSS-1 and Wavestation are my all time favorite digital pad machines!
Roland JV, XP and XV are also awesome digital pad machines as are most Korg synths from the M, T, I, X Trinity and Triton series. I also love Ensoniq VFX and TS series as well as Kurzweil K series.
@@madness8556 Man those Ensoniqs, ESQ-1 too.
@@HenritheHorse I lusted over the SQ80 when it was released and then also over the TS10 a few years later. Ensoniq made fantastic instruments but they did have reliability issues at times. I loved using a Kurzweil 2000 whilst studying music at university 30 years ago. That's an amazing digital pad machine that can also sound decidedly analog. The Novation Supernova series and Yamaha EX5 were also great digital machines for creamy sounding pads.
Roland really had an incredible decade for synths. Jupiter 8, 6, juno, d50, jx series.
These days they don't lead the pack as much as they create digital versions of their past hits. Hoping Roland can return to making fun innovating instruments in the future. The Roland sound was always my favorite. Alpha Juno is my all time favorite.
I was always more a Yamaha and Korg fan .
@@CraigScottFrost Sounds like a winning combo. Also sounds expensive. But flagship gotta flagship. They should shoot for a Kronos-killer, and what you've described sounds like the sauce they'd need for it. Don't forget the D-Beam lol
Nice. K1 and K4 from Kawai were very unique and awesome too( and also far cheaper) - and needed not fear comparison back in 1988
Thanks Espen for posting this fantastic video. I just acquired a Mint D-50 with the PG-1000 that was almost never used with all the manuals and blank card. I cant wait to start making music !
Congrats!
Love and respect to everyone that made the 80's so amazing.
To Espen Kraft for the amazing videos.
Many thanks! :)
Your chord progressions and song arrangements always make my day. Beautiful! So much to deeply study.
Many thanks for saying!
That Juno 2 pad is just heavenly !
Cheers!
I have the D550 and it's still one of the most emotive electronic instruments I've ever played. You can literally get lost in it. The Juno 2 demo in this video is absolutely fantastic
Cheers!
The Roland D-50 is amazing even today. The Yamaha DX7 is still my favorite but not by much. My #2 is the D-50. The D-50 presets were better to my ear than the DX7 and more airy. Both the DX7 and D-50 have been far eclipsed these days but in their day, they were groundbreaking. I wish I bought a D-05 when they were more affordable.
D-50 VST --> USB soundcard + MIDI controller w/ Fatar keybed --> PROFIT!
haha
I like your demo a lot! The D-50 is great, beautifully KRAFTed sounds! Thank you for all that work.
Thanks! :)
I love the D50..and also Korg M1.. both Synthesizer are the perfekt Combo...👍❤👀
The D-50 clearly can't make the kind of sounds the M1 could. It's also doubtful the M1 could make some of the sounds of the D-50. So probably a good combo. I had the CZ's for my digital analog VA sort of sounds, and my FB-01 for FM sounds along with my M1.
Exploring D-50 sounds more now via soft synth options.
The D-50 is still the King of the 80s. Combine it with the Queen, the DX-7 and some nice Drums and you got a party! 😎🎹 Hope you guys like the swab new white on black display on it too (blue on camera, but white in real life😁).
And we like 80s-parties! ;-)
The track that Espin is playing reminded me of your work Anders! I thought he was channelling you for a moment or so! 😁
Where did you get the W/blk screen?
@@DaraM73 Luxmuzik (UK chap, you can find him on Ebay) :)
Absolutely! Blue on camera but white in real life.... MAGIC!)
D-50 stands on the vortex of that analog to digital definitive transition. In a way, it's the single most essential synth Roland's ever made, if you had to keep only one in your studio. a very "analogue" digital synth and a very inexpensive "digital" analogue synth.
you could call it a digalogue , it is also the last era where roland made quality hardware , these things can survive a serious bump or drop, at this point all big manufacturers apart from yamaha wanted to ripp off the PPg effect at that stage without copyright infringement , SCI did it with a facsimile vector synth (basically
to mimic wavetable movement n a 4way automateable mixer through analog filters) as did the d50 , they were workarounds but they wanted to sound like PPg s for a larger market
Thanks for sharing this video - helps to tune out from virus talk and just nerd out over one of my favorite Roland synths of all time
That's great to hear. Thanks. We need our little escapes these days. ;-)
When Reason finally got Midi out, the D50 was the first thing I hooked up. The brass patches sounds amazing arppegiated
In the early-mid 80s, I had one of the first MIDI capable polysynths in the Roland JX-3P. A friend also bought a Yamaha DX7. I was never so keen on those. I could appreciate the technology, but they sounded a bit plinky-plonky to me. But I did like the attack on the sounds. So we used to midi layer the DX7 attack with the JX analog sounds and got some great results.
A few years later, I tried a D50 in a music shop and fell in love. I also realised that this was what I was trying to do with the MIDI. I couldn't afford one as I was a poor student at the time, but have great affection for it and the music it spawned - hey, even Enya. It just takes me back to a fun period in my life.
Now I have its spiritual successor, Eric Pershing's Omnisphere - the last synth that made my jaw drop, even if it is unfashionable software. I still like to program and layer sounds like the D50's to this day. And, of course, the 80s are back in fashion.
When this synth came out and after some time appeared on the TV shows I was hooked. Then I heard Digital Native Dance. I remember thinking what is that?
I enjoyed listening to you getting into the D50 ..it was the first synth I ever bought back in the 1980s. Thanks🎹😊
Thank you! :)
I could listen to the Juno 2 demo part for ever.
This beloved synth sure was a creation of a genius. In fact, some of its sounds were later inspired for several synth sounds in the General MIDI standard in 1991, they were even used by many musicians and keyboardists in the Bollywood industry from where my parents are from. For example, Sochenge Tumhe Pyar from 1992 Shah Rukh Khan movie Deewana. There was the Staccato Heaven patch being used for a magical bell hit in the song's intro. The Bass Marimba patch in Gazar Ne Kiya Hai Ishara from 1989 movie Tridev. As of now, some of the keyboard's sounds like Fantasia and even (Digital Native Dance) were featured in one of the keyboards I have in my high school (Lynfield College 🇳🇿), the JUNO-DS. I was conpletely stunned by that as soon as I found out. Less than a year later, I decided to learn about synth programming via Roland Cloud and different VSTs like OB-Xd, and Dexed. Eventually, I became a synth programmer and one of the 2 keyboardists (other being the Head Of The Music Department, Mr. McLarin) for the school's annual production this year. Throughout the matinees we had and the nights we ran, I had experiment with built in D-50 and JUNO-106 sounds, sample based synthesis, and analog synth knowledge. Put them into the test, and it turns out that I was accoladed by many for a polished performance. What a great time to be alive.
That juno 2 patch is amazing!
Amazing! Youre lucky to have one! every sound is nailing it and that itself is rare.
Love it Espen! When I played keys in bands in the 80s, my rig was a D50, an M1, a DX7, an Alpha Juno 2, an ESQ1 and a TR707
Thanks Jan! :)
Espen Kraft I’m disappointed to say, I no longer have any of them now. I must admit that the Roland keys were my favourites. I particularly had a love for the Alpha Juno 2.
How is your new job going? I’m happy to see you’re still finding time for a video or two.
IF I go along with he new job I'll start June 1st. I haven't decided yet on what I'm going to do.
Espen Kraft whatever you decide - tillykke med!
That's an awesome setup for a live performance! Do you have any music I can listen to?
Those sounds and this composition really took me back! 😁 Good times! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful and creative work!
I remember hearing the D50 for the first time in a music store too. Awesome sound! I was shopping for my first synth, but still in college (i.e. poor) so ended up buying the cheaper Casio CZ-1 (which I still have).
Also a great synth. I have two of them.
Totally different than the D-50.
The CZ’s excel at reproducing traditional analog synth sounds from Moog, Oberheim, ARP, etc. Especially good at lead sounds.
@@classicarcadeamusementpark4242 Yep, I still take care of my CZ-1. A couple years ago, I took it apart and applied some white lithium grease to all the keys because they were sticking a bit. Plays nicely even at its old age.
It is quite a powerhouse! I love blending it with my JX-8P😍🎶🎹 Great stuff as usual, Espen👍
Many thanks man!
You know as much as I love my D50 and D550, I came to the realization earlier that my TG77 does everything it can, plus it has a DX7 instead of subtractive synthesis so it can also do a whole lot more. Got to love the D50 patches though, Pizagogo, Digital Native Dance, Soundtrack, classics.
Bought the D50 new back in the 80s, sold it in the 90s. I regret that every day. When it was new I swear it had the most beautiful keybed I've ever touched. Really appreciate the programming you've done here.. Maybe I'll get another some day.
Or just grab the VST version.
Or a D-05.
The original has a sluggish CPU, D-05 is more responsive, has plenty more memory for custom patches, and doesn't require the expansion cartridges as it has all those sounds integrated already.
I recommend combining it with a MIDI controller with a Fatar keybed. Lastly, there are much more practical solutions for programming it without having to hunt down those overpriced programmer boards for D-50/D-05.
A fitting tribute to the instrument that finally out sold the DX7.
I guess the slight irony with synths that brought entirely new ways of creating sounds (like the DX7 and D-50) is that they are most famous for their presets.
True Alex. Both these synths have the burden of carrying their famous presets with them like a curse. ;-)
These two synths were near the beginning of a couple of decades of digital synths whose chances at success / popularity hinged primarily on the quality of their presets. A blessing early on that you eventually wish never existed, even though you may have never taken the time to learn the instrument in the first place if they weren't there.
No the dx outsold the d50 and strangely roland most sold synth was the juno 106 ( i worked as product specialist in a synth import dealer) ,the one that outsold all was the m1
@@cnfuzz Maybe it outsold the brown original DX7, but the DX7 had some reincarnations like the DX7II and the FD versions. The DX7 in total sold more yes. If you count all flavours of the M1 the M1 family sold over 500000 with the original M1 doing over 300000! The M1, M1R, M1ex, M1Rex, T3, T3ex, T2, T2ex, T1, M3R all share the same architecture and waveforms and the keyboards share the form factor (except the wooden T1 and the M3 needs combinations to make some dual oscillator sounds exactly the same).
@@cnfuzz Sorry, I misremembered, yes it was the M1 I was thinking of.
The D-50 was released in 1987 and that was also the final year that anything with "DX" in its name was produced by Yamaha.
I'd conflated two things.
Those first presets made me want to own one of these LA legends.
I have the D50 too, and I always wanted it as a kid back in the late 80s, Finally got one 10 years ago (repair object, but in mint condition display wise). Later I got the Yamaha Montage 6, and would you believe that the Part programming system of the Yamaha Montage is very much alike the D50? Except you have 8 parts per instrument, and you affect the filters the same way you do in the D50 by combining what part effects what filter and VS.
Someone said "DO NOT SELL YOUR D50" after purchasing my Montage, and I understand why now, they are SO similar in many ways you won't believe it, I love the RICH Strings I have on the D50 and it's my 2nd synth on the synth stand and I use it all the time together with the Montage. What made me buy the Montage in the first place rather than the ModX was the AFTERTOUCH. The Roland D50 was one of the few synths that had this, and once you get used to using After touch...there is NO going back, you just have to have it in every performance keyboard you use.
When the Yamaha Montage gets too complicated for me (which it does all the time, it's an insane instrument), I revert to the D-50 for comfort, and they still have so much in common. What sets them appart is of course 30+ years of sound quality improvements, and sample sizes not to mention when I use the 4-part system on the D-50, I run out of Polyphony very fast :)
I've been interested in checking out the D-50 for some time for sound of it's unique LA synthesis sort of sound effects. Now I can with the soft synth version of the D-50.
I bought the MODX which I love, and has the same sound engine as the Montage. Going through D-50 sound collections, the Montage engine doesn't remind me too much of the D-50's engine. Totally agree the Montage/MODX engine is excellent however.
I became a huge fan of aftertouch because of my Korg M1 where many of the sounds supported it. When I got a Keytar, I had a hard time finding one years ago that offered aftertouch at the time but I found one and it was absolutely critical using M1 sounds.
The D-50 from the sounds I've been checking out also does a good job of supporting aftertouch. The Montage however, does a terrible job of supporting aftertouch, as does the great grandson of the M1, the Kronos. Going with the MODX over the Montage was an easy decision. The aftertouch wasn't going to matter much with those kind of sounds unless your using it as a MIDI controller or found some good patches that did support it. It's less than half the weight, and less than half the cost. I'm a starving gigging musician. LOL. Perfect! The lack of aftertouch is easily addressed as I also gig with a 15 lbs 61 key MIDI controller which I can either use with my MODX (found little reason to so far) or with my soft synths like the D-50, M1 soft synth (no longer have to drag my two M1's to gigs) and I sold my ARP Pro Soloist which was like the first synth in the early 1980s to really support aftertouch, because the soft synth I have of it sounds just like it including the entire effects section dedicated to aftertouch.
But the Montage/MODX engines are very powerful, and the ability to load samples too. Almost any kind of sound could come out of it with creative programming. Then again, with creative programming, the M1 amazed me with some of the analog synth sounds. The amazing samples I took for granted.
The main thing is the D-50, Montage/MODX, M1, DX7 & Casio CZs have massive sound libraries available. And with access to such things, one can find many impressive sounds beyond what you might expect. The Kronos seems more limited to me in the availability of patches. It can't tap into Korg's previous flagships like the Montage & MODX can. Pair a MODX, with a light weight MIDI controller with aftertouch & a laptop and you can cover almost any kind of sounds, and more portable & economical than any other options. Exactly what I do.
You're right man. It's a beautiful keyboard. He was released when I was born.
What a perfect warm and lovely sounding synth. Wish we would have some sort today...
you are joking right?
Thank you for making this video Espen! :) I recently picked up one of these at a really good steal. One of the most lovely sounding instruments I have ever gotten to play. :)
Thanks! Congrats on the purchase :)
I'm glad Roland didn't mess up with the boutique version of it. Other than minor annoyances like usb 5V power, a single 1/8" stereo output, the boutique has the same sound, the same menus, navigation and programmability, has a joystick even, plus 8 full user memory areas and all Roland's original expansion cards builtin.
JobimMusic of course they messed up the 05. Try and buy one.
@@mgabrysSF I have one , perfectly happy with it
@@JobimSynthMusic Quick go online and buy one. Oh noooo ... you can't. I said Try and Buy one. English not your thing?
@@mgabrysSF Actually English isnt my mother tongue, but it did cross my mind you could have meant that. Yeah, it's a pity it's not available anymore. But.. That's Roland.
It's a great module with its quirks. The dock for 60$ though.... and even more for the pathetic mini keyboard. Roland made it a bit sour.
Wow! I love the way this synth sounds! I saw a D-05 video that went into making custom patches and I was very impressed with the results, even though programming it is different than what I’m used to. The UVI version is the closest I’ve come to working with it.
Awesome Demo and explanation Espen, i really love your Videos, yr a talented 80s guy like me. Soundtrack patch best ever , just awesome and Tangerine Dream used it on Canyon Dreams 1987 track Waters gift and on Optical Race 1988 on The Midnight Trail, also Digital Native Dance on Canyon Carver also on Canyon Dreams, as did Michael Boddiker on White Water Summer score 1987, i gotta buy a D 50 back again since regretfully selling mine in 2011, yr sounds lift me up 🙂
Many thanks Caleb! :)
I love my D50 and PG1000! My first synth when I was 15. Still love it! The built-in effects was the primary reason I got that over the DX7IIFD. Also have the D-50 cartridge for my Roland Vari-OS. So it's like having 2 D50s! Also just got the Hypersynth memory card which holds 6400 patches (one for the DX7 also). It's amazing! Great video!
Thanks! :)
It's got a certain unique flavor - it's got the ability to sound digital similar to wavetable but also analog sounding even though it isn't. And it's got a real nostagic and futuristic aspect to the sound as well. It's not dated at all.
That melody 😲 2:44 love it !
👏👏👏 Very impressive...
Thanks for the videos and tutorials ✌️
Its nice to hear the "analog" side of the D-50. I still have the poor man's D-50 - the MT32 that also had the "analog" side if you dove into it with an editor. Haven't used it in years now that there are a million free vsts available but it was my first multitimbral synth complete with multi effects.
Fab sounds as always. For anyone else arriving late here like me there is a great bit of windows freeware software called the D50 Librarian by a chap called Chris Nightingale that does the same real-time control as the PG-1000 programmer (which tend to be less available), plus it lets you save and re-up patches and create a library of all those patches you've had sat on PCM cards since forever.
Cheers!
Interesting video. I got a Kawai K4, similar technique, a bit more interesting due to it's unique filter and the grittier sound. For lovers of such type of "synthesis" but without the hardware, I highly recommend R Papens Vecto VST to achieve such sounds.
The D-50 + moogerfooger Mf 101 filter is one of my favorite combinations
Amazing video, thanks! The D-50 remains my favorite synthesizer (unfortunately I've sold mine 20 years ago, be sure I regret).
Cheers!
Have one for sell
Beautiful bought my 1st d50 in 89ish. I'm now on my 4th. My bestest synth buddy has made me promise to not sell this one! 😁 ♥ 🎶🎹