Roland MC-505 : Owner`s manual : Page 176

Synchronizing to an External

Sequencer

The playback of the MC-505Õs sequencer can be syn-

chronized to the MIDI Clock messages transmitted

from an external MIDI sequencer or from a VS-880

hard disk recorder (optional).

In the following example, we will synchronize the

MC-505 pattern playback to an external source of tim-

ing.

fig.16-11

1. Press [MODE] to enter Pattern mode.

2. Set the Sync Mode setting to ÒSLAVEÓ (p.

166).

3. Make settings on your external MIDI

sequencer so it will transmit MIDI Clock

messages. For details on the setting, refer

to the ownerÕs manual for your external

MIDI sequencer.

4. Return the MC-505 pattern to the begin-

ning of measure 1.

5. Play back the external MIDI sequencer,

and the MC-505Õs sequencer will begin

playback simultaneously.

6. To stop playback, stop the external MIDI

sequencer.

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If you want only to control the pattern start/stop oper-

ations from the external MIDI sequencer without syn-

chronizing to MIDI Clock messages from the external

MIDI sequencer (so the tempo will be controlled by

the MC-505 itself), set the Sync Mode to ÒREMOTE.Ó

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Synchronizing Two MC-505 to

Each Other

Two MC-505 units can be connected to each other, and

used to play different patterns in synchronization.

fig.16-12

1. On the master unit (the MC-505 that will

control the timing), set the Local Tx Switch

of all parts to ÒINT,Ó and turn Sync Out

ÒONÓ (p. 169, 166).

2. For all parts (including MUTE CTRL) of the

pattern used by the master device, set the

Sequencer Output Assign setting to ÒINTÓ

(p. 25).

With these settings, the only messages transmitted

from MIDI OUT will be synchronization signals.

3. On the slave unit (the MC-505 whose tim-

ing will be controlled), set the Sync Mode

to ÒSLAVEÓ (p. 166).

4. Press [PLAY] on the master unit, and the

two MC-505s will begin playback together.

During synchronized playback, operating the knobs,

arpeggio or RPS on the master unit will not affect the

slave unit.

5. To stop synchronized playback, press

[STOP] on the master unit.

You can use the same procedure to synchronize an

MC-505 and an MC-303. In this case, use the MC-303

as the slave device, and set its Sync Mode setting to

ÒSLAVE.Ó

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If the two patterns being synchronized have a differ-

ent time signature or a different number of measures,

the performance will move apart even if synchroniza-

tion is maintained. When synchronizing in this way, it

is recommended that you use patterns that have the

same time signature and number of measures.

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