Devotees of the new Roland MC boxes said it all along: these boxes are deep — if you’re willing to dive in. Developer Benedetto Schiavone has done what Roland didn’t and created a comprehensive editor for everything the MC-101 and MC-707 can do, hacking into the hidden features of the MCs.
This is very unofficial – both in that it’s not coming from Roland but also in that it hacks into the device. (Excellent.)
As is known, the two Roland grooveboxes do not officially support MIDI SysEX messages and there is no documentation relating to their implementation which is hidden. In reality, the MC-101/707 are able to receive and send such messages: they respond with a completely wrong addressing, with duplicate and incorrect data which however can be corrected and used by the software.
The editor-librarian, like the analogous versions for Fantom/0, AX-Edge and Jupiter-X/Xm, communicates in real-time and bidirectionally with the groovebox, using MIDI SysEx messages.
Here’s a trailer of the editor:
The B67 Zend Editor-Lib now comes with an MC version with a ton of features, and Benedetto has produced a ton of sound banks, too, available as a bundle and compatible across all ZEN-Core instruments, synths, grooveboxes, wind instruments, and guitar synths:
- 6 subsections for modifying all synth parameters
- 93 effects to modify
- Vector-based, resizable GUIs
- Real-time listening as you edit parameters
- Real-time graphical feedback
- Copy and paste partials
- Macro control access
- 4-track step sequencer
- Effects presets
- Convert user tones into the editor
And a lot more. Available for macOS and Windows as a paid download (with preset bundles). Check the full English-language site (an Italian-language site and docs are available via the main link):
And the full link across all the Zen-Core stuff:
B67 Zen-Core Editor-Librarian & Banks Collection
Haven’t gotten to test this myself but I might just dust off the MC-101 for the purpose. (Also, I know artist and gear guru Shawn Rudiman did a ton with these boxes so – hi, Shawn!)