Roland MKS-80 Editor (MPG-80 Emulation) mk1

After many years of having this famed module kicking around in my studio rack without a good editor for it on MacOSX which has plug-in integration and support for 32bit and 64bit VST/AU hosts, I stumbled across CTRLR which has revolutionized the way in which I can integrate my hardware synth collection within Ableton Live! I decided right away to get my hands dirty, contribute something of value to the community and bring this module to life since there was no panel for it created already.

Here is mk1 version 1.0 (latest versionuploaded 19-02-2015) of my Roland MKS-80 CTRLR Panel (essentially an emulation of Roland’s MPG-80 programmer).

Current Limitations:

– This mk1 version edits the Upper Tone only of a Patch (for mk2 I will extend functionality to have simultaneous editing of the Lower Tone).

– SysEx dumps of single patches and Bulk dumps have not been implemented yet.

 

NOTE: With the current implementation of the Programmer Channel selector, behaviour is as follows. The range is from 0-15 and which translates to 1-16 of “real” MIDI channels. So this means if your MKS80 is set to MIDI Channel 9, you *must* select 8 on this Panel’s Programmer Channel knob (you can’t miss it – it is coloured orange). If you do not set the channel correctly on the Panel,  your tweaks on this Panel will not reach your MKS80. I will investigate a means of correcting this behaviour so the displayed MIDI channel matches the real MIDI channel.

I’m looking forward to developing this further as I get my head around LUA scripting (this will take some time). For now, enjoy tweaking this awesome sounding synth if you’re lucky enough to have one and be sure to make use of Snapshots to store your sounds to give yourself full patch recall with your self created sounds being faithfully stored within your DAW project files. Liberating yourself from the tedium of managing patches within the synth own memories is the key to achieving robust recall of your precious sounds).

Special mention must go out to my good friend, John Grant, for the extended loan of this module he was no longer making use of! Much respect! Additional thanks going out to forum member, Layzer, for adding nicely rendered animated slider/knob caps and making the Programmer Channel selector work! MANY THANKS!

 

Best Wishes,

 

JaseFOS

DOWNLOAD: Roland MKS80 mk1 v1.00

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