Atmospheric Black Metal on the Roland MC-101 Only! A proof of concept track by George L

[@Eddie_CYH]

Magnificent!!! I've just started to play 101. It's a masterpiece!!!

[@GeorgeL909]

@@Eddie_CYH thank you! Yeah no kidding, that's by far the synth from which I've gotten the most bang for my buck. I've used it on at least 30 tracks I've put up. As a work horse romplers and polyphonic sequencer, it's absolutely indispensable to me at this point. Paired with the sp404 those are my two desert island pieces of gear. That being said, I still find myself drawn to other gear for the tactility that the mc101 kinda lacks. But if I'm looking for a very specific sound, I feel like I can find it on this little box. I'm sure you've done this already, but I don't think it was available when I made this jam, please for the love of Sauron and all the children of Mordor, update to the latest firmware so you can fully edit the oscillators and establishment unlock all parameters for every voice. That was a game changer I didn't have for many of my early tracks on the mc101

[@Eddie_CYH]

@@GeorgeL909 WOW! I'll learn more and try more in the future. I've already started to upload videos on KZbin to record how I learn MC 101 and likewise record all my works. Wish I could be an expert as you do as soon as possible.

[@paultdavies4418]

I'm so impressed you did this all with stock sounds!

[@chazhook5692]

I have an Mc-101 am still just digging into it. I have more of a background in guitar based music and it’s a very cool cross in music worlds to hear what you made. Well done!

[@GeorgeL909]

Thank you kindly!

[@teabreakbeats]

Great to see how versatile the sounds are on this unit!

[@ZwadaLive]

i have an mc101 and the firware 1.8 is great asf for sound design for dungeon synth style! your music is true post black metal masterpiece, greetz from brazil

[@GeorgeL909]

Thank you very much! That's very kind of you, and I really appreciate that. Greetz! Yeah, I hope you enjoy the mc101,0 it's is a powerhouse these days after the update, and in combination with the sp404 mk2, the pair are currently my favorite way to make music at the moment. I've been using the two to explore some weird combinations of genres, and the combo has dominated my workflow for my most recent tracks. I feel like the sp404 unlocks the limitations of the 4 tracks, and adds even more crazy effects to shape the sounds.

[@ZWADASONORA]

@@GeorgeL909 Thats it! its my combo. Sp404 SX + Korg Monologue for Synth Bass or ambiences & MC101 for drums, percs, pads & some leads. da SP404 its an gamechanger for MC101, unlock all ambiences & sound effects with MFX (Subsonic, Vinyl Sim, Flanger, Reverb) its so much fun to use this portable setup. a synth, a sampler and a drum machine,,,

[@GeorgeL909]

@@ZWADASONORA 100% agree with you, when you get comfortable with controls, it's such a satisfying dawless way to build tracks and soundscapes. I'm digging it.

[@manouel8746]

Excellent. Juste magnifique et bien pensé. This groove box is definitively powerful.

[@GeorgeL909]

Woo! Thank you!

[@manouel8746]

@@GeorgeL909 I have to say that I am 46, and i begin to listen to Metal Music around 15. This is why I'm impressed by your job. Challenge: Could you do it in a Sepultura style.HIIhi! Just for fun. Thanks. See you.

[@frankkujath3501]

Absolutly well done. This soudbox is quite deep. But takes a while to learn all the key kombinations. But overall the architecture is amaising.

[@mr_floydst]

Awesome, great work, you obviously know the genre very well. Liked & Subscribed.

[@GeorgeL909]

Thank you kindly! Your videos have been a wonderful inspiration! I still regularly use patches on the reface dx based on some of your fm synthesis tutorials 😉

[@DJ-Lazy-Lodger]

so much from the heart;-)

[@oligrigore1924]

This is like you take Varg from Norway and put him on a white sand sunny beach 😅. Great job!😮

[@_l04f]

Woo! Black metal drum machine magician!!

[@sevenape]

Oh yes!!!

[@I.O.M.]

Absolute 🔥

[@GeorgeL909]

Thank you kindly!

[@hexwavemusic]

This just popped up in my feed and I had to see it as it's the only video evidence that you are, in fact, a mortal being, and playing music on synthesizers, and not in fact on a 6 piece band of octopus people.

[@GeorgeL909]

😂 Jokes on you, we just kidnapped a professional hand model to press the play button, the 6 of us were actually in the back jamming off camera 🐙🎸

[@hexwavemusic]

@@GeorgeL909 Ohhhhh you guys!!! You got me!

[@Lock27]

Ow Nice!

[@GeorgeL909]

Thank you kindly!

[@camilomendez1350]

Wooooow

[@GeorgeL909]

Thank you!

[@boedye]

How in the world did you get that guitar tapping down so well!!? This is great!

[@GeorgeL909]

I set the patch to monophonic so that I could hold down a base note and tap the other notes in staccato. It will voice steal from that base note automatically (just like a real guitar since every string is monophonic if you're tapping one string). I may also have used automation of the filter and decay to add variety in the tone so it sounds less mechanical. It's honestly easier to just play it in live in a single take since editing the sequencer after the fact is kind of a slog, so keep that clear sequence combo handy.

[@GeorgeL909]

Also thank you!

[@boedye]

@@GeorgeL909 Thats a clever trick! I used to do something similar when I had an MS20! Everytime I see something like this, I want to dive into the Groovebox world again, but alas... it's just not in my bag of tricks! However I'm thankful to have guys like you to listen to, and enjoy!

[@GeorgeL909]

@@boedye grooveboxes are very tricky because there is no perfect solution... Yet. They all have extremely glaring flaws that are often deal breakers for serious musicians. The closest thing to a "perfect groovebox" in my opinion is maybe a cheap ipad with Korg Nanokey Studio and your combination of music apps like AUM, Korg gadget, nanostudio 2 or grooverider gr-16. This setup blows away most grooveboxes, but then you lose that dedicated hardware feel, and it's like a half way solution between DAW+controller and groovebox.

[@boedye]

@@GeorgeL909 Had that Korg Nano Controller and it paired mostly well enough with FL Studio Mobile! Ive come to realize that Im just a beep booper, and so its more about the pretty sounds, rather than the composition!

[@toddsmithmusic3172]

Nice work man ! You liking 101?

[@GeorgeL909]

Thanks a bunch! The 101 is awesome but flawed. I love it though. It still doesn't have full in depth access to the oscillators like the 707 does, and editing notes after the fact can get a little funky. But it has such accurate note resolution when recording live and unquantized, decent melodic sample playback, and amazing built in effects. The updates keep me coming back too. Roland keeps adding features, but I still feel like they are an update or two from making it a legendary groovebox. It's not perfect, but it has really gotten much better with the recent firmware updates.

[@toddsmithmusic3172]

@@GeorgeL909 yea, 707 seems very sick.

[@michaelcahill2896]

Did you sample your Guitar parts? Brand new to the MC 101 Got it 2/9/23. Still in beginner status. Guitar and bassist for 29 years

[@GeorgeL909]

I did not sample the guitar parts or anything in the track. It's all from the 4 on board tracks all Roland Zenology engine, played either with pads (for drums) and a midi controller (for all melodics). No multi tracking, no fussing with audio tracks. I believe I used a Yamaha reface dx as the controller, and everything was recorded straight to midi with the on board sequencer. Hit record, with quantize off and play to your hearts content up to 8bars. If you browse the many presets you'll find a section called distorted guitar, which has some good starting points for the sound. The algorithms similar to BOSS pedals are in the MultiFX for the track. Now you may have to manipulate the "Ctrl" parameter manually to get vibrato. It depends on the patch you use. It also helps to set the patch from "poly" to "mono" for guitar solos so when you overlap notes is simulates tapping and legato. Poly works great for power chords. And for the love of the Emperor, update the firmware, because now you have full access to every parameter!!! Which wasn't the case back when I made this.

[@supereb1an]

Охуенно! Восхитительно, продолжай. Ты ювелир...

[@technodrone313]

definitely sounds like buttrock

[@GeorgeL909]

There's actually a Doom/black metal band called Aarsland that is dangerously close to being spelled and pronounced Arseland by me on more than one occasion. Just thought you should know.

[@technodrone313]

@@GeorgeL909 I bet they have mullets too.