Memorymoon ME80 going 64 bit

[fluffy_little_something]

Interesting, I accidentally clicked somewhere or hit some key on my computer keyboard, and now the mouse wheel no longer changes the patch, but allows me to scroll sliders and knobs by hovering over the control, which is cool, no more clicking and dragging Works like with Element.

[Rob James G]

Fluffy,
It sounds like you are having serious compatibility issues. Talk to Gunnar.

What do you mean? The aftertouch? Never mind, I don't really need aftertouch. I don't need it with the kind of music I like and try to make. I was just curious

I was just playing around a bit with the ME80 because I finished work for today. But I don't have to actually use it. Actually, I don't think I will, it simply takes me too long to make a patch because there are so many controls. I am more the simple guy with simple needs The ME80 must be very nice for synth freaks, though Spacey synth brass stuff seems to be one of its big strengths.

I wonder if Chris Kerry will update his own synths as well and make them non-SE.

I would say it is not for you.
Please do not judge it by the music above though. That piece is off the wall, like Vangelis's Beaubourg album and Invisible Connections. He made many normal mainstream albums with CS80. So did lots of other artists.

Many ME80 patches will sound poor (or very ordinary at best) if you have no means of applying aftertouch. ME80 (like the CS80) is that aftertouch-centric. The CS80 is a complex synth. In all honesty ME80 being a very accurate clone it is a synth for synth freaks and Vangelis fans (probably of a certain age or brought up with parents of a certain age), and yes its greatest strength (by a country mile) is the "spacey synth brass stuff". ME80s Achilles heel and also greatest strength is its rigid adherence to the effects of CS80 technical specification. Love CS80 love ME80.

The patches will be enough for most users. I am told that most users never go beyond preset patches. A real CS80 has far less patches, and they didn't come with built in reverb effects.

Aftertouch does make synths sound much more alive, far more expressive. Compare 1980s Vangelis to Skrillex, yikes. Beauty and the beast.
A modern band known for using the Yamaha CS sound is the Boards of Canada, reputedly using a CS60 (CS80 baby brother). Again music that can be an acquired taste.
Not everyone's cup of tea.

[Rob James G]

First you need a midi-keyboard which support poly aftertouch, very rare nowdays.

I have a Roland A-300 Pro, it is not the latest gear. It says on the site that it has aftertouch, but not which kind. Actually, I dislike that keyboard It has too many features, the manual is so comprehensive, I never felt like diving into it. The only good thing about it is the key quality and the fast interface. Maybe I should replace it by one with more keys and fewer controls

It have channel aftertouch not poly. Anyway, i had a A-800 Pro and the aftertouch was totally unusable because it's totally impractical, you have to push the keys very hard to get a bit of result, really laughable.

I have one, it is stiff.
Also CME X key which is too light and triggers aftertouch too easily. You can also use a breath controller which raises the aftertouch performance to another level. No tip toeing around trigger happy aftertouch or breaking your fingers off with channel AT keyboard,

it takes a little practice with channel AT on a keyboard but it does get easier.

[fluffy_little_something]

I would say it is not for you.
Please do not judge it by the music above though. That piece is off the wall, like Vangelis's Beaubourg album and Invisible Connections. He made many normal mainstream albums with CS80. So did lots of other artists.

Many ME80 patches will sound poor (or very ordinary at best) if you have no means of applying aftertouch. ME80 (like the CS80) is that aftertouch-centric. The CS80 is a complex synth. In all honesty ME80 being a very accurate clone it is a synth for synth freaks and Vangelis fans (probably of a certain age or brought up with parents of a certain age), and yes its greatest strength (by a country mile) is the "spacey synth brass stuff". ME80s Achilles heel and also greatest strength is its rigid adherence to the effects of CS80 technical specification. Love CS80 love ME80.

The patches will be enough for most users. I am told that most users never go beyond preset patches. A real CS80 has far less patches, and they didn't come with built in reverb effects.

Aftertouch does make synths sound much more alive, far more expressive. Compare 1980s Vangelis to Skrillex, yikes. Beauty and the beast.
A modern band known for using the Yamaha CS sound is the Boards of Canada, reputedly using a CS60 (CS80 baby brother). Again music that can be an acquired taste.
Not everyone's cup of tea.

I agree, probably not for me. I don't even like Vangelis.
Dunno why, but I remember Fame, they used one of those Yamaha synths as well.

[jsp1979]

Yes, yes, yes...the aftertouch on the A-800 *is* ridiculously stiff. Thank you for corroborating my experience. It's my first keyboard with aftertouch, and I keep thinking, "How can you effectively use aftertouch in a playing scenario when you've got to press down so freaking hard?!"

Using the keyboard editor, you can at least modify the aftertouch response so you don't have to press it down all the way to go through the full aftertouch range. That's not ideal though.


Ok...back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Rob James G]

It is an excellent keyboard. The velocity response is bang on, rare at the price. The keys are nicely rounded too. Channel Aftertouch is typically stiff, A800 certainly is. If you watch Vangelis with real CS80 he presses down hard at an angle even with proper poly AT on a quality keyboard.
Very pleased with A800, it is excellent but channel AT is hard work on the keyboard.

Note that channel AT is much easier towards the centre of the keyboard where the strip is. It is fairly easy to apply at the ends of the black keys.

[EvilDragon]

Usually Roland's (->Edirol) stuff has way too hard aftertouch. IMHO the best aftertouch I've ever played on are on Kurzweils and some Korgs (M3 onward).

[jdnz]

Usually Roland's (->Edirol) stuff has way too hard aftertouch. IMHO the best aftertouch I've ever played on are on Kurzweils and some Korgs (M3 onward).

the NDVR looked like the ultimate solution for polyAT - but I don't think it ever actually made it to production?

http://youtu.be/lEdD3WAoPQE

[fluffy_little_something]

The Roland PCR series has both channel and polyphonic aftertouch.
Makes me assume that mine has both as well...
I guess I found it, in the manual it is called polyphonic key pressure...

http://lib.roland.co.jp/support/en/manu ... _R_e05.pdf

[gunnare]

Chris read this thread and wanted to do big GUI versions of the ME80. It is perfect for high resolution monitors with 1920x1080 resolution. He made it 1.4 times bigger. It is available for registered users on request.
The standard GUI fits monitors with a resolution like 1360x720 pixels.

The ME80v2_extra bank was completed today with 128 patches. The last patch is an initialize patch. Half of the patches made by me, other half created by Robin Grinnall, and some patches by others:
RG sounds made by Robin Grinnall
Rylo3 sounds made by Shaun Rylands
DW sounds by Darren W
DL sounds by David Lee.
It is uploaded to: http://www.memorymoon.com/downloads.htm

A soundtrack from Shaun Rylands. It is all ME80 v 2.1 and is inspired Vangelis Beaubourg. It shows off the more experimental side of the synth:
https://soundcloud.com/rylo-3/vangelis-beauborg-tribute

And no, the Roland PCR keyboard has not got polyphonic aftertouch, only its pads.

All the best
gunnare

[fluffy_little_something]

http://www.rolandus.com/community/rolan ... article/99

Here pretty much in the middle it says:

"First and foremost, the PCR is a MIDI keyboard controller. Calling on the 30-plus years of keyboard experience of its parent company Roland, Edirol’s PCR controllers provide a velocity-sensitive synth-action keyboard with a superb response and playing feel. There are 12 different velocity curves available, so you can adjust the playing response to perfectly suit your individual playing style. The keyboard also offers assignable aftertouch (either polyphonic or channel) with four different velocity settings."

But it seems that mine, even though the successor, only got poly aftertouch for those pads.

[Rob James G]

The manual for the a800 pro is confusing. You could be forgiven for thinking it has both poly and channel AT. It does!, but only poly assigned to drum keys, the main keys have channel AT (function assignable). The wording gives the impression you can choose between poly AT and Channel AT. Even the control software is confusing in this regard. Channel AT works normally out of the box, you just have to try and break your fingers off at the joint! Press white keys in the middle not the ends for AT.
Breath Control is much nicer.

Leave it as it is with default velocity curves and it performs brilliantly. Channel AT is silly stiff though, but useable if not required for heavy use.

Most of the ME80 sounds are actually nice without aftertouch (I played my sounds with and without AT when making patches) but all the real action is with aftertouch capabilities. This is what separates ME80 from the crowd.

And now we have the option of big GUI.

[Rob James G]

The extra bank sounds really nice now. It is easily the equal of the factory bank.

[Breeze]

I found an old Kurzweil Midiboard in mint condition last weekend, and my getting the ME80 has everything to do with that.

The Midiboard happens to have a touch that I like; weighted but not too heavy and very responsive. And the AT, whether mono or poly, can easily work the way the NVDR demo shows it, with that same degree of ease.

A lot of people rave about this keyboard but the biggest issue with it is that the Note On sensors are the same ones that detect AT. When you optimize for one, the response of the other is compromised. You can work around this by memorizing different setups optimized for different uses, but there's always some compromise involved if you want to use a wide velocity range AND smooth easy AT control.

But it's actually very cool and I hope someone will give us Poly AT in a new 88-key controller soon. It's about time...

BTW: THANKS for the big GUI! Very appreciated.

[BlackWinny]

BTW: THANKS for the big GUI! Very appreciated.

Incredible how much it changes everything !

1400 x 800 !!!

Veeerrryyy BIG !!!

A huge thank you to both, Chris and Gunnar !!!