Dom's Rambles

For those who don’t know about these things the Roland MC-505 Groovebox is a combined eight track MIDI sequencer and multitimbral sound source with a hands on, real time, control surface – and that’s about as simply as I can explain it without descending into geek speak. I originally bought one of these little beauties in 1998, shortly after they were first released, but traded it in a year or so later when the staggering advances in computer music technology being made at the time rendered it superfluous to the requirements of my bedroom studio.
Of all the musical equipment that’s passed through my hands over the years this was the one item I really wished I’d hung on to. There’s an indefinable something about these units that make them so much fun to use and they have such character – more, in fact, than certain ex-girlfriends I could mention (MC-505s don’t fake epileptic fits to garner attention either – even if it is a bit tricky to get your knob inside them).
Although I was heavily into dance music during this period, it did occur to me that if I'd had a Groovebox in the early part of 1987 then, bandwise at least, things would have turned out very differently indeed – I’d even go so far as to say that the whole course of rock ‘n’ roll history would have been altered!
Suffice it to say that when I saw an MC-505 on eBay for the give away price of £140 a couple of weeks ago I just had to have it and have been refamiliarising myself with the thing (and annoying the neighbours) ever since.
Also, and while we’re on the subject of equipment that’s passed through my hands, if a certain person is reading this, I’d like my Supernova and JP-8080 back.

posted by Dom  # 9:18 PM