Roland MC-8 Microcomposer - Overview

Overview

The MicroComposer could precisely adjust multiple sound producing and effects elements of a synthesizer, such as the VCO, VCF, and other voltage-controlled components very rapidly, which is nearly impossible to do manually by a performer. The MC-8 was designed to work with large complex modular synthesizers such as the Roland System 100 and System 700. It could also be used during a live performance to control lighting by using pre-programmed, timed pulses, and pre-programmed timed voltage levels.

The MC-8 was based on a prototype developed by Canadian Ralph Dyck, a composer and technologist who did research and development for Roland. Roland switched to the then brand new Intel 8080A 8-bit microprocessor and increased the RAM from 512 bytes to 16KB, allowing storage of over 5,300 notes, which could be entered via the calculator keyboard (the preferred method) or recorded in real-time (not so easy). Backup was via cassette and could take 45 minutes to an hour for a three or four-minute piece of music to back up and verify. The memory was volatile, so a loss of power meant complete loss of data. All parameters were variable so the scale and time-base could be assigned number values to suit the needs of the piece being programmed. This made the machine extremely versatile but somewhat unfriendly to approach for the first time.

While only 200 units were sold worldwide, the MC-8 was a revolutionary product. It provided storage for variables in analogue sound production, synchronization capability for multi-channel recording (the time-code could be recorded on a spare track), sufficient capacity for recording full compositions, editing capabilities and rapid access time. The MC-8 provided eight control voltage outputs and eight gate outputs, as well as a six-bit multiplex output with a special seventh bit set aside for portamento control.