Roland MC-80 User Manual

• Standalone professional MIDI sequencer with powerful
composing, arranging and realtime performance capabili­ties

• Enhanced 480 TPQN resolution for increased accuracy

• Large capacity storage via internal floppy disk drive
and optional internal 2.5-inch IDE hard drive or internal
Zip™ drive and/or SCSI port

• Mark and Jump buttons allow for quick realtime re­arrangement of songs during practice and live perfor­mance

• Easy-to-use Music-Minus-One, Solo/Mute and
Transpose functions

• Large backlit LCD for quick song selection and easy
sequencing operations

• Various advanced Quantize, Realtime Phrase
Sequencing and Arpeggiator functions

• Assignable footswitch options: Mark/Jump, Play/Stop,
Fade Out, etc.

• Optional VE-GSPro Voice Expansion Board adds a
high-quality GS sound set and powerful effects

• MMC and MTC compatible with two independent MIDI
outs

Powerful Standalone MIDI Sequencing is Back

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MC-80 Micro Composer

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The MC-80 Micro Composer is a pro­fessional standalone MIDI sequencer
that eliminates the hassle and reliabili­ty problems found in many of today’s
computer-based sequencers. By offer­ing enhanced resolution, reliability,
portability, durability and easy setup,
the MC-80 makes the perfect MIDI
sequencing partner for composers, live
performers and those who just like to
keep things simple.

* Product pictured is a prototype model. Actual
product appearance may be subject to change.

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The Ideal MIDI Sequencer for Live Performance

The MC-80 MicroComposer was designed from the ground
up with live performance in mind. Not only is this profes­sional MIDI sequencer portable, durable and reliable, but it
also includes some realtime control features which permit
greater spontaneity on stage and during rehearsal. In par­ticular, the built-in Mark/Jump function—which allows users
to place markers in a song and then instantly access them
in realtime—permits realtime re-arrangement of songs that
can be used for extending the bridge or repeating that last
chorus (“One more time!”). A Solo/Mute function incorpo­rates 16 Track buttons that light up when they contain
MIDI information, and can individually be soloed or muted
with a single button press. Music-Minus-One and
Transpose functions allow the quick removal of any
desired part, including the melody track for singing, and
global transposing of all MIDI data into any key. Finally, the
MC-80 allows the assignment of two optional footswitches
to functions like Mark/Jump, Play/Stop, Punch In/Out, and
Fade Out—perfect for hands-free operation.

Massive Storage Capability

Because storage is always an issue, the MC-80 not only
includes a 120,000-note internal memory and a floppy
drive which can store 118,000 notes per disk, but offers
massive additional storage in the form of an optional inter­nal 2.5” IDE hard drive, an internal Zip™ drive, and/or an
optional SCSI interface board for connecting to external
storage devices for data backup.

Strong Composing Features

With the MC-80, users get all of the acclaimed sequencing
and composing features found in the best-selling Roland
XP-Series of professional keyboard workstations, plus
some notable enhancements. These features include 16
Phrase tracks and a separate Tempo track, Time Signature
track and Pattern track; non-stop recording functions; an
improved 480 TPQN resolution; a phrase sequencer;
Groove quantize functions with quantize templates bor­rowed from the XP-80 workstation; the acclaimed XP-80
Arpeggiator; Quick Play capability; Microscope Editing;
MMC and MTC compatibility; and two MIDI outputs to con­trol up to 32 MIDI channels simultaneously. An intuitive
control panel layout and a high-definition backlit graphic
LCD enhance the sequencing process, aided by six multi­purpose Function buttons that correspond directly to the
various LCD parameters on screen.

Optional Sound Expansion

For those looking to add onboard sounds, the MC-80
allows the user-installation of an optional VE-GSPro Voice
Expansion Board, offering 1,117 high-quality GS instru­ment tones ranging from grand pianos to TB-303’s, 42 full
rhythm sets, 128 Preset Patches, and powerful effects pro­cessing capabilities. This configuration presents a com­plete “all-in-one” sequencing and sound module solution.

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VE-GSPro Voice Expansion Board

The optional VE-GSPro Voice Expansion Board sets the
MC-80 apart from other standalone hardware sequencers
by giving users 1,117 high-quality sounds and powerful
effects on a single, user-installable board. This board
boasts full 64-voice polyphony, 32-part multitimbral opera­tion and Roland’s best GS sound set. And its effects
include eight types of reverb and chorus algorithms, ten
types of delay algorithms, 2-band EQ, and 64 multi­effects algorithms. This board is also compatible with
Roland A-70 and A-90 controller keyboards.

* Zip drive requires professional installation. Hard drive is
user installable. See authorized Roland dealer for model
and manufacturer information.

Specifications

<Sequencer Section>
Tracks

Phrase Tracks (16 MIDI channels per track): 16, Pattern
Track (16 MIDI channels per track): 1, Tempo Track: 1,
Beat Track: 1 *Amaximum of 100 patterns can be created
in a Pattern Track.

Song Data (Internal Memory)

Songs:1, Note Capacity: approx. 120,000 notes, Song
Length: 9,998 measures

3.5 inch Floppy Disk Drive

Disk Format: 720 KB (2DD), 1.44 MB (2HD), Note
Storage: approx. 58,000 notes (2DD), approx. 118,000
notes (2HD), Song Files: 99, Configuration Files: 1,
Loadable File Formats: MC-80 Songs, MRC Pro Songs,
Standard MIDI files (Format 0/1), Super MRC Files,
Savable File Formats: MC-80 Songs MRC Pro songs,
Standard MIDI files (Format 0/1)

Resolution

480 ticks per quarter note

Recording Method

Realtime, Step

Max. Simultaneous Input Notes (during realtime
recording)

64 notes

Max. Simultaneous Output Notes

64 notes per track

Tempo

Quarter Note = 5 to 300

Time Signatures

1/6 to 32/16, 1/8 to 32/8, 1/4 to 32/4, 1/2 to 32/2

Sync Method

MIDI, MTC (MIDI Time Code), MMC (MIDI Machine
Control)

<General Section>
Display

320 x 80 full dot matrix backlit LCD

Connectors

MIDI (In x 2, Out x 2, Thru), Footswitch (stereo), Output
(L/Mono, R), Phones

Power Consumption

13 W (AC 117V/230V/240V)

Dimensions

358 (W) x 303 (D) x 88 (H) mm (14-1/8" x 11-15/16" x 3­1/2")

Weight

3.2 kg (7 lbs. 1 oz.)

Accessories

Demo song floppy disk, Power supply cord

Options

Voice Expansion Board: VE-GSPro, SCSI Board: VS4S-1,
Internal Zip Drive, 2.5" Internal Hard Drive

<Sound Section (VE-GSPro)>
Parts

32

Max. Polyphony

64 voices

Internal Memory:

Preset Tones: 1117, Rhythm Sets: 42 (incl. 3 SFX), Preset
Patches: 128

Effects

Reverb (8 types), Chorus (8 types), Delay (10 Types), 2­band EQ, Multi-effects (64 Types)

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®ÂØÒňΠMC-80 Micro Composer cont.

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