Checking out Roland's CMU-800 w/ a Alex Ball history lesson

video upload by Stazma

"Here we dive again into Roland's "Compu-Music" serie from the early 80s with it's centerpiece and first release: The CMU-800.

If you havn't seen the video about the CMU-810, featuring the full history thing on the Compu Music serie by Alex Ball, here it is:"

The mighty yet unknown CMU 810 by Roland featuring Alex Ball

First steps with the T-1 from Torso... with a Roland CMU 800

video upload by Stazma

Proper fun anachronic setup today in order to show you my first impression about playing with the T-1 from Torso. I'll try to make a full pattern / short track / jam / whatever using it with the legendary unknown CMU-800 from Roland (proper video about this thing coming rather soon as well). Have fun!"

00:00 Intro
01:44 Drum beat!
05:48 Lead
08:12 Sequencing the bass
09:21 Polyphonic arpeggios
12:57 Let's add some voltage controlled filters
15:00 How to CV control using a note channel
17:52 End jam

Michigan Synth Works MSW 810 Analog Synthesizer

video upload by Michael Dykehouse

"The MSW-810 is a faithful recreation of the CMU-810 Monosynth which was designed as a synth expander for the 1983 CMU-800 computer music production system. At its core however, is the tone generator of the MC-202. In this clip the MSW 810 is producing all the sounds you hear including the drums. Available currently as a kit and will be available fully assembled in the fall of 2022."

Additional Michigan Synth Works MSW 810 posts

Roland CMU-800 w/ Original Box

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via this auction

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Working Roland CMU-800R w/ Apple II Up for Auction

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This is the system featured in this recent video.

"Unbelievable piece of Roland history in museum condition. Here is the Fully Working Roland CMU-800R setup together with Apple II computer. This is not just working CMU-800 in pristine condition. It comes together with Apple II interface card impossible to find and Apple II software. It's fully running and working. CMU-800 is also modified to introduce drum sounds tuning. This is the professional upgrade performed in my workshop. No corners cut. Apple II is retrobrighted, comes with a monitor and keyboard and also includes FLOPPY Emulator. It also comes with the original floppy drive, if you prefer to keep authentic. This is one of set up, that you'll enjoy.
That is CMU-800R? It's essentially computer based synth/interface designed early 80s. It combines 6 synth parts - Melody, Bass, Chord (4 voices) and TR-606 style analog drums. It also has 8 CV/Gate interfaces, Roland composer software to operate it. NO MIDI :)

Check out the video I recorded of this exact system: [posted here]

You'll receive:

1. Roland CMU-800R
2. CMU800 Apple II interface card
3. Apple II computer
4. Floppy emulator with SD Card and all necessary files
5. Floppy Drive
6. Original CMU-800 Manuals
7. Original 5.25" floppy discs
8. Apple Color Monitor
9. Apple Keyboard
10. Power cables."

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The Roland Super Quartet - The 80s band in a box!

Alex Ball

Check out more of Alex Ball's synth videos here.

"If you’re after a classic Roland Juno-106 or TR-707, you might not know that both (plus a bass synth) are found inside the MKS-7 or “Super Quartet” from 1985.

Roland made various rack mount versions of their 80s synths in the MKS range, but the Super Quartet is a little different and is somewhat related to their earlier CMU-800.

In this video we take a look at what it does, how it was intended to be used and how it can be used in ways that weren’t intended.

Espen Kraft even shows up. What’s not to love?

0:00 Intro
0:32 The Super Quartet
2:07 Four Bass Presets
2:56 Four Chord Presets
4:12 Four Melody Presets
4:55 Editing
5:17 In Its Pure Form
6:04 Karaoke
7:09 Playing Outside the Box

Some original brochure scans stolen from the wonderful Retro Synth Ads blog:
http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com"

Roland CMU-800 Revived

So when is the last time you heard a @roland_us #cmu800 #analogdrums and #analogsynth parts thru a #multivox #multivoxmx201 #tapeecho #multiecho #spaceecho huh? 🤖🎛🔊💥❤️ all sequenced by the #frankensix #tr626 for a quick check. Drums dry with low EQ cranked up, then spring reverb, then tape delay, then some A&H EQ sweep, oh yeahhhhhh

A post shared by RhythmDial - Owen D (@rhythmdialtechno) on May 16, 2017 at 10:22pm PDT

via @RythmDial

You don't see these often. The CMU-800 normally required software running on an Apple II via an interface card. You can now use it with a MIDI interface card from beatnic.jp. Click here for some previous posts featuring the CMU-800. There was also a CMU-810 expander.

Roland CMU-800 with MIDI & Original Box

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via this auction

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Roland CMU-800R MIDI Interface Test

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Published on Mar 6, 2016 DeftAudio



via this auction

See this post for a fun overview and demo of the CMU-800R, including the software, at the 2006 PNW Synth Meet. You can find additional info on the CMU-800R here and here, and of course in the archives. Note you do not get full access to the internal synth parameters, so think of this as a severely limited preset synth with TR-606 drum sounds, and CV & gate outs. Still a fascinating bit of synth history and this one has MIDI so you do not need the software to make use of it. According to this Sound on Sound article it was "the first sound module to provide multitimbral voicing, independent outputs for each section, control over other synthesizers, and sequencing."

Description from the listing:

"The CMU-800 is one of unique and rare module that was produced by Amdek and then by Roland in the past. It's a medium-sized, off-cream metallic wedge, with a barrage of jacks on the back and a bare minimum of knobs on the front. It also sported this ruddy great ribbon cable hanging out the back!

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XBASE 888 (Digital-side), SH-101, CMU-800 demo by Jordan Passmore

Published on May 3, 2016 Jordan Passmore

"This demo is of the JoMoX XBASE 888 (utilizing solely the digital, sample-based side of the drum machine, rather than the analog voices), Roland SH-101 (doing the bassline), and Roland CMU-800 (with the arpeggio melody). The Mutable Instruments MIDIpal is sequencing the CMU and the Roland SH-101 is running off of it's own sequencer. A Roland SBX-80 is the master clock, sending MIDI clock to the XBASE and MIDIpal and triggers to the SH-101's trigger in. The mixer is a Roland M-16E and the only effect is the Boss DM-2w analog delay.

I uploaded my own samples into the XBASE 888; a mix of LinnDrum and Oberheim DMX samples. The XBASE has an 8-bit sample playback engine for 6 of it's voices and they can either be one of the stock 808/909ish samples or user uploads (via the JoMoX Win/OSX utility)."

Roland SH-101 and CMU-800 Demo by Jordan Passmore

Published on Apr 7, 2016 Jordan Passmore

"This video is a demonstration of the Roland CMU-800 and SH-101 synthesizers. The CMU is doing the drums, chords and melody while the SH-101 is doing the bassline. The CMU is connected to a Beatnic.jp MIDI interface that allows for it and any one of the prospective 8 CV/Gates to be sequenced via MIDI. The SH-101 is connected to the 7th channel of CV/gate outs. The two are being sequenced by an Akai MPC-1000 and mixed on an Ace Tone MP-40 mixer."

Roland CMU-800 with Original Box

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via this auction

This is the unit featured in the video posted here.

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Roland cmu-800 MIDI interface test / CMU800

Published on Mar 6, 2016 DeftAudio

GEETA DAYAL "Signal and Noise: A Brief History of Electronic Music" :: watsON? NOISE 2013

Published on Jan 31, 2014 The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry

Missed this one from 2014. Title of the post says it all. Fascinating bit of history that lead to our world of synthesizers. Enjoy.

You can find her website at http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com.

"Project Page :: http://watsonfestival.org/2013/geeta-...

Geeta Dayal is an arts critic and journalist who has been covering the intersections between sound, culture, and technology for a decade. She has written hundreds of articles and reviews for major publications, including Wired, Frieze, Cabinet, The Wire, The Village Voice, Bookforum, The New York Times, Print, and many more. Her first book, Another Green World, on the musician Brian Eno, was published by Continuum in 2009. Her essays appear in several anthologies on music, including The New Grove Dictionary of Music (Oxford, 2013), Loops (Faber, 2009), The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson (Zer0, 2009), The Pitchfork 500 (Simon & Schuster, 2008) and Marooned (Da Capo, 2007). She is a recent recipient of a major grant from Creative Capital / The Andy Warhol Foundation in the Arts Writers Program. She holds two undergraduate degrees from MIT (2001) and a master's degree from Columbia (2003). She is currently based in San Francisco, and is at work on a new book, on sound and technology in the 1950s.
________________________________________­_________________________

The watsON? NOISE Festival 2013 - Curated by Golan Levin and Spike Wolff
'Ancient life was all silence.... with the invention of the machine, Noise was born.' -- Luigi Russolo, 'L'Arte dei rumori'
Noise continually surrounds us, from white static to violent intensity. We are absorbed into, embraced by, and assaulted with sound. Vibrating through our bodies, we capitulate as it engulfs us and permeates our psyche. In the still of its quiet absence and the thrill of its deafening roar, the force of sound is a constant. wats:ON? 2013 explores the realm of noise through a variety of analog, digital, and apparatus enhanced sound-music performances. Noise asks you to surrender to the possibility of the rush of the sublime.
________________________________________­________________________________________­_

The Jill Watson Festival Across the Arts (wats:ON?) was created to honor the life of Jill Watson, whose interest in the arts inspired others through her work and her teaching. The festival celebrates Jill's commitment to an interdisciplinary philosophy as an artist and celebrates her accomplishments and reputation as an architect. Jill Watson was a Carnegie Mellon University alumna, adjunct faculty member in the School of Architecture, and acclaimed Pittsburgh architect who died in the TWA Flight 800 plane crash on July 17, 1996.
The wats:ON? Festival is made possible by the generous support of the JILL WATSON FAMILY FOUNDATION.
________________________________________­________________________________________­_

This lecture is co-hosted by The wats:ON? Festival and CMU HCII Human Computer Interaction Institute, with support from :

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Roland Museum Germany Massive Synthesizer Selloff - Most Gear for Sale in a Single Auction

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This one in via Marko of Retrosound.de.

26.000,00 Euro gets it all.

via this auction

Someone needs to contact the Guiness Book of World Records. Longest list of gear for sale ever:

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Roland CMU-800 CompuMusic with Apple II Interface Card

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via this auction

Note this does require an Apple II and software to run. You don't see pics of the card often.

See this post and this post for a couple of video overviews of the CMU-800. A search will bring up previous posts.

"Up for sale is a very rare Roland CMU-800 CompuMusic vintage analog synthesizer/sequencer module. Additionally it has 8 cv/gate outs for controlling other gear that supports this feature.

The unit powers on and the LED lights up, but that is all as far as the testing goes as I don't have the needed gear to test. So I am selling this AS IS.

It also comes with an Apple II interface card -- no software though. (Everything you get is in the two photos).

If you search the net there is a way of making or buying a MIDI interface for this. One is available for around $75 from beatnic.jp, which is based on an atMega168 using schematics and c code another Japanese fellow developed. I'll include on a DVD-ROM this set of files. -- in case you want to implement your own using the schematics, printed circut board image file and the c code.

I read that with the MIDI interface you can trigger all 8 channels of the cv/gate -- for compatible gear. Channel 8 has a nice portamento effect."

The End of Asia／YMO

Published on Mar 23, 2015 Toshiyuki Arakawa

With the DSI Prophet '08 and a Yamaha Motif.

See this post for a version with the Roland CMU-800 & Gakken SX-150.

Roland DG CMU-800 CompuMusic Vintage Analog Synth Sequencer SN 327621

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via this auction

"Up for sale is very rare Roland CMU-800 CompuMusic vintage analog synthesizer sequencer module.

The unit powers on and the LEDs light up, but that is all as far as the testings go as I don't have the needed gears to test. So I'm selling this AS IS.

If you search the net it seems like there are ways of converting this to MIDI, as well as people who sell MIDI interface for these."

These require an interface card and software to run. You can see a video of one here.

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1984 Roland DG COMPU-MUSIC CMU-800 German Ad

via synthmuseum.de

MIDI-IF for CMU-800

Published on Jul 20, 2013 Motohiko Takeda·59 videos

"CMU-800 can be driven from legacy MIDI by using this box.
for more information, visit here.
http://beatnic.jp/products/cmu-800-mi..."