Roland S770 Sampling For Beginners

Not a video for everyone. Aimed at beginner Roland S range sampler users or people thinking about getting one. I will probably create one more S range video going a bit deeper into its features for the channel and that will be it.

[@JurassicTrance]

Please continue to make these!

[@wojtekniewiadomski9451]

I'm here for hardware videos. Congrats on your 1k subscribers!

[@smiljanicn]

Skills that are so hard to find these days. Thanks mate!

[@adammiller8403]

thank you! looking to get a 750, this is extremely helpful

[@alphanumeric1529]

Never in my life did I think I'd watch someone set up a patch on an old hardware sampler. It felt like hell back in the 90's just naming a sample on the Yami A3k... with brand new fresh out of the box jumpy encoders, and now I'm watching other people do it. Lol, if you would have told people back in the day, no one would have believed you. I sprinted towards the computer to make music, even when they weren't ready to, just to get away from these tiny displayed, two knobbed boxes. And now in the future, I'm using an Alpha Juno with one knob, and lusting after my old stolen sampler. The future is unpredictable kids. The things you hate may be the things you love. You never know! But if I had this sampler, or even known about it, (information back then being such an invaluable resource, people just don't know now... my teenager just expects to be able to know anything within about 10 seconds, she takes it for granted, like it isn't amazing to her, wait I'm going proper geezer), but if I'd of known about it, I'd of stuck with it for sure.

[@MOOTANT1]

The S range when using the mouse and monitor was literally decades ahead of the game and to this day I can sample and sound and have it sequenced just as fast as I could with any software sampler today. I'm sure Roland took their influence from the Fairlight and then improved on that with the S range. I have a sneaky suspicion the new Roland Fantom 0-6 has something similar to an S range inside it. I want to check it out because I would like to retire the S770 if I could. Reason: Dont like using SCSI, even my modern SD SCSI drive. To many corrupted disks over the years.

[@alphanumeric1529]

@@MOOTANT1 Wish I could get my hands on an S. Have an Akai Ax-60 poly analog that has a port for the S's, so you can use the S as extra oscillators.... I would love to hear what this synth could do with sample content layered in, but alas, many years ago when I picked up the AX-60 it was just bit too late and old beat up S prices went parabolic already. It's now a dream that I likely will never realize in this life. I use a Korg Sample for gritty sample playback, that's like methadone S sounds, I guess.

[@womagrid]

@@MOOTANT1 Are you still using the S770? The disk detection on mine seems to have broken recently. The S series sampler engine is hiding inside the MV8000/MV8800. They can accept much more RAM and use IDE, a PS2 mouse and a VGA screen.

[@MOOTANT1]

@@womagrid Not so much these days. I tend to just do everything in the box now. Although I've never owned an MV880 I seriously considered one back in 2008/09. I didn't need the sequencer/audio recording/pads FX etc. It was simply to get away from SCSI and my barely working ZIP disks. But by the time I factored in the extras I needed, it was pricey just to get some modern connectivity and I was kind of OK with the S range samplers I had. Also for some reason getting one with the output expander which was essential (for me) seemed impossible at the time. But I certainly recall thinking all that fancy stuff it has would be great to have in an S range. If the MV880 will suit your needs (and I think it would) then I would say it's a good one to get. In regards to how the 8800 samplers sound, I don't have any experience, but my hunch is it will be as good as the old S range.

[@womagrid]

@@MOOTANT1 I sold my MV8800 with OP-1 a few years ago. It sounded great but the loading times were a bit annoying. Seems that lots of people are hoping that Roland will get through their stockpile of tiny displays and release a proper successor but I can't see it happening.

[@topnobby]

Excellent tutorial, please make more!

[@ClassicCult]

Subscribed. I have a Roland s760 I need help with. Please make more s series tutorials!

[@MOOTANT1]

What specific area would you like one to be focussed around? S760 is a great machine. What you see me doing with the S770 you can do with an S760. The OS is a little different on the S760, but its actual improvements. You have more memory in the S760 32mb Vs 16mb. You can click patches before you load them. There are a number of other very handy updated features on the S760 - and it sounds the same as the S770 and S750.

[@oldkidsonthebox]

Hey Mr. Mootant! Thank you for your precise and indepth video to get me startet. I bought a beaten and dented S750 recently and was curios if it still works. I felt like i where 15 again when it booted the first time. The overall feel with this maschine instanstly kickt me back in the Atari XL days.

[@asdasd-ub4lg]

Great video, thanks. I wonder what's the easiest way to chop loops on Roland s-series samplers?

[@MOOTANT1]

There is no easy way to achieve instant chop like we can do with Daws today. YOu have to copy the sample as mant times as you need and edit start/end points. Alternatively, have you considered trying pitching the loop to get it in time if your not looking to re arrange the loop? Pitching the loop up or down to tempo match is an old school method which can also give your sound a bit of identity.

[@dxtrs_mnpltr]

@@MOOTANT1 How do you copy a sample within the sampler? Do you not need to sample the same sound as many times as needed?

[@MOOTANT1]

@@dxtrs_mnpltr Something I've only needed to do a couple of times. It's in the sample menu somewhere but it's an easy enough process. I think you hit index, sample, then com and a little menu with copy should come up. What is it you're trying to achieve?

[@dxtrs_mnpltr]

@@MOOTANT1 I want to chop a loop. It’d be handy to be able to copy and keep adding chops of course but I don’t think its possible. I think you need to sample the loop agsin and again...

[@MOOTANT1]

@@dxtrs_mnpltr You don't need to resample - you can definitely copy the sample. Index Loop1 (select the sample you want to copy) Com and the menu that pops up will show copy select that, select sample to be copied and that's it. You will need to edit the new copies name to enable you to copy again Repeat the process as much as you want add them to partials and put the partials into a patch so you have all the chops on one patch

[@Indiiyana]

Cheers for sharing this dude. I own an S760 and the manual is pretty bloody cryptic. I saw that you mentioned that fundamentally the "S" series of samplers are the same thing, but the S760 has a few additions. Which parts of the manual would you say would be useful to look at for those additional features that are not covered in this video, and would you ever consider making a vid on those additions? Ta.

[@MOOTANT1]

I've never read the manuals of any S range sampler so can't point you in the right direction. The differences in the OS between S760 and S750/70 are subtle but very handy. For example, you can tag/select a bunch of sounds you want to load whereas I have to load them up individually. You have basic EQ on each patch, you have bit reduction features, and a few other things I can't recall right now. Other than a few extra features and OS enhancements the S760 is exactly the same as the S770/50. The playback quality is exactly the same. The only difference there is the S770 has XLR inputs and I think a different gain stage at the input for sampling but I'll bet we wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Importantly the filters sound exactly the same on the 50/60/70 The S range may seem complicated but they really aren't (as long as you have a monitor and the mouse which are essential). Watch my videos and pay attention to sampling from within a patch - it's a super-fast method of sampling and in my experience with old samplers, nothing is faster. Also, Look how I assign filters to the pitch bend, but you can use any controller (coz that's where the sound is). One key thing to remember is there are usually a number of methods to do the same job with these samplers. The structure is simple but initially seems long-winded. Sample - Partial - Patch and here is an example of achieving the same thing because you can sample direct, sample from within a partial - so the sample creates its own partial and you can sample from a patch so it creates a partial and a patch. Partials are where you do all the envelope and filters stuff as well as combining samples (2 bass samples for example), patches are where you add the partials which contain the samples. Why? Because each sample on your patch can have different sound characteristics because of all the sound-changing characteristics you can do with partials. There's a lot of stuff in the S range I never really used such as mixing and splicing samples, resampling, pitching, etc so when you boil it down to just sampling, adding filters for manipulation, assigning sounds to patches it's all very easy once you get the hang of it. Get the basics down which my videos do cover (sort of) and then you can investigate the other features. keep in mind you're working with 80's technology - although at the time the S Range was ahead of its time but from today's perspective some features may seem long-winded I can't do a comparison 770/760 video as I don't have an S760. I do plan to do a long video going through (in detail) as many features of the S770 as I can because there's still interest in these samplers. The only reason I haven't done that yet is I want to find a way to record the RGB out rather than stick a camera in front of the screen. Persevere a bit and you will get there

[@Indiiyana]

@@MOOTANT1 Fantastic write-up, ta. Also not sure if you saw my other question but how do you change the velocities in a Patch so that different layers can be triggered depending on how hard you can hit the keyboard? In-addition I saw someone ask a question about multisampling across the keyboard at once; I had a quick look in the manual but can't find anything under that so maybe it's another a different name? Thanks again.

[@MOOTANT1]

@@Indiiyana It's done in the patch split section where you add samples to the patch. But there comes a time young Jedi when one must seek the knowledge for themselves - and basically, I can't remember in detail to write here..

[@Indiiyana]

@@MOOTANT1 Ah ha. Ta mate.

[@AnalogFlava]

@@Indiiyana Did you ever find out how to layer samples? Not that I am there yet. I haven't even sampled anything yet , but just saw the Junkie XL video where he talks about simply samply 1 note only on older samplers and that layering wasn't what they were meant for, and you'd be better of using Kontakt for that, still I wonder 😁

[@ZenMountain]

Great!! Thanks!

[@isaacperry1793]

Thanks so much for this, great explanation. Subscribed

[@plebian44]

I like your videos. Do you have any advice for what to buy so I can get a video monitor for a S750 working? I've already gone the SCART to HDMI route with little luck - have to turn the brightness all the way up and barely see image on the screen.

[@MOOTANT1]

Not sure what the issue is. I have a cable which is one end RGB which goes into the S770 and the other is Scart which I plug into an old 90's TV. I do plan on getting my self a small modern monitor at some stage. Anyway, it sounds to me like one of the pins might be wrong or disconnected? I did have an issue with my S750 where it would only produce black and white but I got someone to investigate and it turned out the RGB cable (the side that connects into the sampler video out) was wired up incorrectly. Maybe have a look at that area.

[@oubrioko]

7:57 not a jedi... definitely a sith lord, tho

[@MOOTANT1]

Baby Yoda was round the other night - he wanted the knowledge..

[@RenegadeHarlequin]

Great videos thanks. Can you show how to map a multisample across the keyboard!?

[@MOOTANT1]

If I do another S770 video I will.

[@JurassicTrance]

Love the thumbnail!

[@bxtrc1341]

I had the s330...those filters tho

[@MRcyclon1]

Thank you for very informative and inspiring video. Question, I have bunch of drum samples from other libraries which I converted to Roland Format and saved them on hard drive. After I load them one by one in S750 sampler, I would like to ask you, which is the most convinient and fast way to construckt a drumkit Patch containing this samples. ?

[@MOOTANT1]

You need to add the individual samples into a partial first and then follow the steps from this point of the video. It's easy to create a kit in the S range. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH7RhoyDrKljg8U

[@EvLoutonian]

Can a regular mouse from that era be used, or just the Roland (proprietary?) mouse?

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

any, you need an adapter.

[@mariusmitrea5462]

✨🙄🙄🙄✨🫣🫣🫣primitive ...just like my Roland W-30 ....

[@alexundr917]

Hello! what sampler with the same capabilities or better you can recommend nova days ?

[@l33tyeet]

im desperately trying to find the video expansion card for my s-760. If you have one you can sell me or know someone who does please get in touch :)

[@Indiiyana]

How do you change the velocities in a Patch so that different layers can be triggered depending on how hard you can hit the keyboard?

[@shadowrage2593]

It must've been a nightmare to sample in the 90s, especially for dnb producers who were making sum complex multi layered drum beats. Not to mention working in a 90s studio. Took them forever to sample and write a tune and writing an album might take years.

[@MOOTANT1]

I'll wager a bet we worked faster in the 90's than we do today.

[@johnmccloskey7199]

How similar is this to the s330?

[@ClassicCult]

Is partial like a drum rack?

[@MOOTANT1]

I couldnt say it is even close. A partial can hold up to four samples. Think of it like a container for notes of a multisampled snare drum/piano etc. Can also be used to layer sounds. But really, the way to go with a sampler from this era is one sound per patch unless you're creating a drum kit.