Roland Verselab MV1: The Step Sequencer

Today we'll talk about the step sequencer on a kit track, and tone track. Question? Comments? Leave them below. 😊
EDIT: As g florin mentioned, MTE when editing a step in a kit track, is probability! At 100 it would, effectively mute step, but what it actually does is assign a percentage that the note will sound. At 0 it will always sound, at 50 it will sound half the time, at 75 it will mute it 75% of the time etc. Hope that helps! Thanks to g florin ( ‪@ghanezu‬) for pointing this out!

[@DavidWolfberg]

As a total noob I find this to be one of the most cogent explanations of how this all works. It helps that 1) you aren't spending 40 minutes describing the equipment and 2) you are using the simplest options like the hi hat to explain the sequencing options. 3) turning all the stuff off instead of building it helps me know exactly what's going on and what function you are working on. Thank you! I am trying to find more info about populating a single sample - say, using the built in mic and hitting a glass with a spoon - into notes. I think this is under "note mode" in the manual but would like to see it in action if it's possible.

[@LeRoy3rd]

I appreciate the encouragement! I do have videos on sampling planned, but it's going to be a couple of weeks. In general, of you want to use a sample chromatically (whether a WAV you import, or a sample you record live), you can load the sample into any TONE track (the track types are TONE, KIT, or LOOPER). This will load the sample, by default, onto the note C4 (if you're using the default pad settings, this is pad 1), and you'll be able to play the other pads to play it at different notes (though higher notes will just play the sample faster, making it shorter, and lower notes will make the samples slower, making it longer).

[@Ms76Cocoa]

Great tips, thank you!

[@mwl5]

Just deleted my post on the Facebook group because I found the answer here (longer note lengths in the step sequencer)! Thanks for making these videos. They are super helpful - please keep making more!

[@LeRoy3rd]

Thanks for the support. I've been having some health issues... I had a plan to make dozens more videos, but got a bit discouraged. Anything specifically you're struggling with?

[@mwl5]

@@LeRoy3rd I recently got the MV-1 and am still learning it. I still wanted to learn more about the scales, chords, effects at different stages of the workflow, midi, and sampling. The manual and parameter guide is helpful but can be vague sometimes, and the selection of useful, in-depth youtube tutorials is a little limited, so while the MV-1 may not be as popular as say an MPC, know your videos are appreciated.

[@LeRoy3rd]

@@mwl5 Fair enough, thanks for the encouragement. Because of my health issues I can't spend time editing, I have to do the videos in a single take, but I do have dozens more planned... The next video will be on note mode with keys and scales, then chord mode, then the style modes (arps and rhythm styles), then, probably, a brief overview of the sampler engine followed by some tips on resampling (which is very useful on this device). Stay tuned, there is more coming, I just have to work slowly.

[@juan3m53]

I bought the MV-1 to act as drum box for my solo looping and ended up with a DAW. I mean. I knew the capability when I bought it but my original plan wasn't to make full use. Now I changed my mind. Thanks pal.

[@LeRoy3rd]

@@juan3m53 Glad if I could be of assistance. Honestly I don't recommend the Verselab to anyone, a DAW is way more capable than any hardware, and for the price of the verselab you could buy some great external midi controllers and VSTs to make the DAW more efficient (and fun). If it wasn't for my seizure disorder keeping me from long sessions on screen, I'd still be using Ableton Live, instead of the versleab. That being said, as devices without a screen go, the verselab is pretty capable, and I've found that by understanding the limitations, and instead of fighting them, leaning onto what it does *well*, my sessions with it are far more enjoyable.

[@juan3m53]

@@LeRoy3rd I get what you say. I'm also an Ableton guy and definitely you can do a lot more on screen but as you say, for the price I could have gotten only the drum box and ended up with an "all in one" with the limitations and tradeoffs. I'm trying to add Zenbeats on my pc to see how capable could get.

[@LeRoy3rd]

@@juan3m53 Honestly, Zenbeats doesn't add much to the verselab experience. It gives a visual representation to the sections, but doesn't allow any new functionality, or working with audio... the best thing the Zenbeats integration does is allow you to see all FX parameters at once (instead of needing to menu dive). I find that taking the time to load zenbeats takes me longer than just working on the versleab directly. The VENDOR mode of the verselab, however, can be useful, as it turns the verselab into an audio interface, and allows you to record audio from each track, separately, as well as the MIXOUT, live audio from a mic, and all midi data from the sequencer. It has its problems, but I use it to back up my projects on my computer... this way if the verselab dies, I have all the audio AND midi data already saved as an Ableton Live project, if I ever want to continue working on it.

[@twiglet2214]

Great stuff - thank you !

[@ghanezu]

🙏

[@ghanezu]

MTE does mute as I recall, in kit means the probability to play the note.Correct if im wrong.

[@LeRoy3rd]

You are ABSOLUTELY correct! At 100 it would, effectively, mute, but that's the worst way to do it (NOTE+PAD would be preferable, though that's for the track, not per step). It's one of those features I never use, always forget about it. Updating the description, thanks for helping keep things accurate!

[@ghanezu]

Keep doing those good videos.Thank you.

[@craigdickerson1487]

hi! just got a verselab, but i've had an mc101 for a while...in the mc101, when sequencing a tone track, you could seq and press rec, then touch the desired step...to make the note length longer, you simply press rest and the following step or steps you want the note to ring out to...way easier than changing the note length on every note. is there no shorter way to do that on the verselab?

[@LeRoy3rd]

If I understand your question, the answer is no. I haven't had the chance to play with a 101 or 707, but on the verselab there's no way to change the length of a recorded note on a step except by using EDIT+STEP. As far as I can tell there's not even a way to set a different default step length (the default is 0.80 steps). I'll be going back over the relevant sections of the manual today to make sure I haven't missed something (that would be great!), but I don't think I have.

[@craigdickerson1487]

@@LeRoy3rd thanks for your answer! it's disappointing that they can include that on the cheaper mc-101, but not on the verselab, but i do have both so i guess i can't complain. thanks again!

[@KNinja]

Here's a quick question, if I have just 16 steps, and if I have one Instrument 1 sound on Step 2 and another Instrument 1 sound on Step 4. And let's say I want to move everything backwards one step, so that my first sound starts on Step 1 and my second sound starts on Step 3, or let's say I want do move everything forward one step so that my first sound starts on Step 3 and second sound starts on Step 5. Is there a simple way to do that?

[@LeRoy3rd]

Hmmm... There's no easy way (as far as I know) to just push the sequences around, however, there are a couple of ways you might be able to creatively use the copy function to do what you're after. If it were me, I'd probably re-record the section in question, if possible, but if that's just not an option, I'd probably start with saving the clip in question (because I just KNOW that I'm going to make a mistake before I get it right, lol). Depending on the complexity of what you want to move, it could be as simple as copying specific steps to other steps, but if it's a complicated sequence, it could take several steps, or not be possible. I've got several more videos planned (life has gotten in the way recently, unfortunately), and one of them will be on using the copy functions with the step sequencer. I've made a note to spend some extra time playing with the copy function, and to demonstrate how you might use copy to achieve (though clunkily) what you're asking. Sorry I couldn't be more help, I do agree that it would be nice to have a couple more elegant controls to tweak step sequences, but it's relatively basic, at the moment.

[@KNinja]

@@LeRoy3rd It’s a good workaround. Thanks! Looking forward to more vids from you.

[@LeRoy3rd]

If you're curious what's keeping me from adding more videos, there's a bit more info here: leroy3rd.com/please_share_this.html

[@abdullalhazred3365]

More good work - thanks for making this - I'd always wondered what the 0.8 for Length meant