The Ultimate MC-101 Synthwave Method

I walk you through the making of some synthwave and spacewave songs on the Roland MC-101, using my hybrid groovebox / DAW process that gives pretty polished results while retaining the portable workflow.
The full songs: • some synthwave tracks ...
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:02 Beat 1 (MC-101)
08:33 More spacewave (MC-101)
09:17 Beat 2 (MC-101)
14:39 Beat 1 (DAW)
15:25 Pro-tips for recording MC-101 tracks
19:06 Song structure
20:22 Mixing and plugins
23:43 More spacewave (DAW)
24:04 Beat 2 (DAW)
25:47 The MicroFreak makes a cameo
27:19 More tips and tricks
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Circuit Tracks: www.zzounds.com/a--3972602/it...
Circuit Rhythm: www.zzounds.com/a--3972602/it...
Roland MC-101: www.zzounds.com/a--3972602/it...
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Website: GabeMillerMusic.com
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[@jordanrowland2760]

"wake up babe... new Gabe Miller Music synthwave video just dropped"

[@SvenFx-22]

Would love to see a video of you taking the 101 into your daw step by step and layering and post processing. Thank you

[@markkilley2683]

Brings back memories of the 80's. Nice one.

[@justjoeblow420]

One thing with the voice stealing I noticed at least on the MC-707 is the firmware is set up to mute voices waaaay sooner before the ASIC actually runs out of steam. I know there's settings on the MC-707 to adjust voice stealing behavior and the minimum allotment per track and I stopped having voice stealing issues after that with chord stacks and stuff.

[@HalfBakedBeats]

Very cool to see how you've structured your clips/tracks on the MC101 and your process in detail. Thanks for sharing. :)

[@mark_heath]

Thanks for sharing your workflow. I picked up an MC-101 second-hand about a year ago (thanks to watching your videos), but haven't created much with it yet because I haven't put in enough time to properly learn my way around it. Watching this has inspired me to give it another go as I love the synthwave sounds this thing can produce.

[@_mickmccarthy]

Love seeing more of your MC-101 content, definitely need to spend some more time working with mine! Recently I've tended to just use my laptop + MPK Mini as it's not a massive difference in portability. Definitely deserves some more use!

[@sirdancedalot]

You have slowly become one of my favourite GearTuber. And nice to watch you grow in each episode and always enthusiastic. I been on a similar journey for a perfect groovebox or a combination of gear that make a "perfect" inspirational box. p.s. I bought the mc101 yesterday!. Lookin good with my Verselab and TR 8 and S. Ciao!

[@christopherfarrell-artist3557]

Amazing. Thank you. I have found that putting the Voice Assign to FULL instead of LIMIT per clip ( shift + Sound > System > VoiceAsgn ) helps a lot with voice stealing. I will try your method too.

[@Highfiber123]

Great technically valuable content as you always do, thanks

[@SonicVibe]

Jam came out nice 👍

[@jordanrowland2760]

Also this is the 666th video, hell yeah dude. Great job on the channel, you've probably been my main resource for the Circuit Tracks which has been great for my productivity. Much appreciated 🙌

[@GoFastBeSafe]

love the synthwave man. I just got myself an MPC but my biggest head scratcher is how to set up my SD card to be efficient. Do you think you could do a short video on how yours is set up to maximize workflow and how you put it all together? Thanks for all you do!

[@robinr22]

I'd second this - 99% of all the music I make on mine use the first handful of kits, because it's just way too much of a pain to hunt through them!

[@jboulderct]

You really maximize the MC-101. Great walk through

[@80iesDude45]

Love my MC-101, ZEN sounds amazing ;-)

[@joonaskalandermbyidk]

Sheesh that drops cool!🔥🔥

[@Jason75913]

sweet groove

[@antoineauzillaud]

Great song Gabe Vinsky🤩🤩

[@JGlassy]

Really nice! inspires me to keep climbing this 101 learning mountain. I’m always learning new tricks/techniques from your channel Gabe.

[@alexmiller9185]

"Mom can we have Synthwave boy?" "No, honey, we have Synthwave boy at home." Synthwave boy at home:

[@jaydeepalmer]

It's been a couple of years i've had the mc101, and the workflow always made me scratch my head and give up after a few hours of trying to edit sounds/sync up clips, and it's just until recently i kind of clicked with it, as i wanted to make up more "finished songs" instead of just jamming 😅 Thanks for your tutorials Gabe. Love your guitar stuff at the end, it's inspiring to hear the mix between synthwave and metal 🔥🤘

[@WotanSkyFather]

The drums on the first jam sound almost exactly like the drums from I Need You Tonight by INXS! Wild.

[@stefrance2]

Awesome music ! Period !!!!

[@99bigjim]

excellent....... You can do this in the Verselab too, and get a song structured even easier..... but what an excellent machine..... so powerful and pro sounding

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Yeah I enjoyed the Verselab when I had it, especially for forcing myself to finish songs. Although sometimes it still didn't allow for as much layering as I usually want, which is why I like the method in this video so much.

[@djcuda]

Dope!

[@zzrwood]

Hey Gabe - thanks for the great stuff you have on the MC-101. I am trying to get my head around synth stuff (old guitar/bass player) and would love to know how you get such amazing filter sweeps on the bass in these tracks. Maybe something for a video one day? Also, you should have a "buy me a coffee" or similar so people could make a donation to your channel, as I'm sure plenty of people find it valuable.

[@zzrwood]

Just noticed someone else has bought you a coffee in the comments, but I can't figure out how to do that in KZbin?

[@SvenFx-22]

Would love to see more verselab videos

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

23:50: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@SvenFx-22]

Could you do a video going into more detail what your doing with the clips?! I’m Not sure how you’re using the clip source. Looks cool but Il not understanding the process apparently. You really are getting maximum use of the 101. I really want to be able to do that. Thank you

[@GabeMillerMusic]

All you have to do is hold shift and select the track, and change the source from by track to by clip. From there, you can just select presets like normal.

[@blkrbbt]

Here, grab yourself a nice coffee so you can keep making MC101 follow alongs!

[@PFDarkside]

Gabe, can the MC-101 be used as a Volca sized rompler? For things like pianos, rhodes, keys, etc.?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

It definitely could, I've used it as a sound module with the Circuit Tracks many times

[@Jason75913]

Lots of folks are doing that with it. It is the most portable sound module ever, and it sounds great.

[@jaydeepalmer]

You can, but make sure your patches are properly saved for live playing 😅

[@petertraxler9243]

would you make the mc project freely available for download i am a new mc101 owner thank you

[@MichaelDSessions]

Really cool. Was wondering does this have any drum beats that is close to the CR-78? or would that be better to import the CR-78 Sounds?

[@OpiateClub]

MC101 have a stock sounds of CR78, tr606, 707,808,909 and more!

[@jordanWAH]

I've been really wanting a ju-06a, but I'm thinking this is the better bang for the buck. Idk, I don't really like the cymbals or crashes. At least I don't think 808 & 909 are enough.

[@philfazer]

Thank you Gabe you are great, you speak a little too fast for an old Frenchman (thanks google translate) I see that you work a lot in wav in your DAW, thank you very much for all the work you share , Phil from Paris 😏

[@SvenFx-22]

I’m shocked how much you love the mc101 yet really don’t love the verselab. I love both.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I actually had the Verselab on loan from a music retailer and had to send it back. I like the 101 better because of its extreme portability, but I did enjoy the Verselab when I had it.

[@DJCJ999]

So you don’t capture any of the 101’s midi for further manipulation in your daw?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I don't, I just use the audio layers.

[@DJCJ999]

Ok thanks… just been checking out your other channel and I have an SP404 mk2 too that I just haven’t yet worked how to integrate into my setup… starting to think the Sonicwave Smpltrk would be a better unit for me..@@GabeMillerMusic

[@rupakmajumdar9959]

Do you ever get a hissing sound when recording your MC101 over USB?

[@bash-man2360]

I did. The solution I found was a usb ground isolator. The hiss is gone.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I haven't had a problem with it personally

[@bash-man2360]

@@GabeMillerMusic It very well could be only some units. I love my mc101 though.

[@psider3239]

I don’t understand how 128 voices are not enough for 1 patch 🤯

[@avace917]

With each next layer you add, I believe you cut the polyphony in half. If I'm right, that means a patch with 4 layers would be able to play 32 notes of polyphony. That's before you even factor in any other sounds playing

[@TheBrainvision]

More techno

[@alexmiller9185]

cosplay king

[@jinxh]

First