An historical first, Rainer's first layout controls many of the most important 80s synths by Roland: JX-3P with Organix mod, JX-3P with KiwiTechnics upgrade, MKS-30 with Johannes Hausensteiner mod, JX-8P, Juno 106, Roland Alpha Juno 1 & 2 + MKS-50, Roland MKS-70 A + B, and the Roland MKS-70 Patch. This layout inspired the entire Community to get to work. It's not just a classic: it's the first Platinum Layout ever, so it's not just a work of art. It's a trail-blazing work of art which inspired so many others. Thanks to Rainer for inventing this activity!
This is the latest version (2013-07) of my Roland 80s synth layout, made for the iPad version of MIDI Designer, v1.5.3 or higher. It covers the following Roland synthesizers:
Bank 1 / 5
Bank 2 / 6
- Roland MKS-70 A + B
- Roland MKS-70 Patch
Make sure to enable the options "One Big Page" and "Banks Change Together" in the Config - Options screen.
- The MKS-70 layout has turned out great! I've done my best to make all parameters as accessible and clear as possible - on both the "main parameters" pages and the "Patch" pages, the Upper (A) and Lower (B) sections are available at the same time, which is impossible with ANY other controller I know of. This makes it possible to use it as a 4-DCO polyphonic synth, with access to every parameter simultaneously. I hope it will give you new joy in using it :-) I actually didn't use the MKS-70 that much before, because it was just too daunting/unclear to edit, even when using the BCR2000 patch that I made for that controller.
- A new addition is the Roland Juno 106. I haven't tested this one though, 'cause I don't have a 106. It might even work with the MKS-7, but as I don't have one of those either, I can't test :-)
From MIDI Designer v1.5.4 and higher, you can use the new "Append Layout" functionality to append this layout to your 'favorite synths' set. This is a BIG layout though, which takes a while to load.
Please leave your comments and suggestions in this thread, I'd love to hear from you!
Change log
2013-07-20
- Added Roland Juno 106. This synth has a rather crappy "several parameters in one Byte" implementation, making two big multi-knobs necessary to control several parameters at once. I
- Removed separate MKS-50 page as it uses the same Sysex as the Alpha Junos
- Added "Named ticks" for options that could benefit from it
- Added Program Change controls for most synths
- Lots of other optimalizations
This is the latest version: Roland 80s Synths 2013-07
2012-11-09
- Various bugs squashed
- Colored controls in all editors
- New MKS-70 A+B edit page
- New MKS-70 Patch edit page with performance controls. The "Key Mode" and "Bender" controls are using both controls, they need to be used together because they are Binary - sure sucks but hey, that's how Roland implemented them...
- The Alpha Juno and MKS-50 tabs have been moved to Bank 3+4.
If you would still want to use this layout, you can find it here: Roland 80s Synths 2013-01-20
2012-09-01
- Arp Mode settings on JX-3P KiwiTechnics corrected
This older version can still be downloaded here: http://mididesigner.com/qa/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=775618293856563988
2013-01-20
- Added MIDI Channel selectors to every editor, so you can select the MIDI channel *your* synth is on
- Removed the VCF ENV 'sweepers' from the MKS-30 and JX-3P (Organix) layouts as they just didn't work out the way I wanted and I never used them anyways :-)
- Controls that can be - or + are more clearly labelled and will show - and + values
- Revamped the MKS-70 Patch page including the performance controls
- Various bug fixes and refinements
PS: try to find all frog faces :-)