MKS-50/Editor/Utility By K.MEIERE If there are any MKS-50 owners out there, here is a program I know you can use. It is a tone and patch editor program with some features I have seen missing from other MKS-50 editors. FEATURES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Point, click, & drag envelope settings and Sound Testing on same screen * Tone editor and Sound Testing on same screen * Patch editor for all MIDI functions and Sound Testing on same screen * Randomizer with editable mask settings * Load and Save randomizer mask files for future use * Sound Testing of entire MKS-50 key range from C0 to C8 w/velocities * All editing done with mouse * Increment/Decrement value changing and wrap-around counters * Tone or patch parameter listing to printer * User selectable screen colors * It's free ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wrote this program because I was tired of spending time pushing buttons for an hour just to create one tone and also because I'm constantly searching for new sounds for this great sounding synth. Editing on any rackmount synth is not much fun ........... unless you have a computer. The program is entirely mouse driven except when using the keyboard to enter new names for tones and patches. Help screens are available from the main menu and everything is fairly straight forward. TO MAKE IT WORK --------------- Two files are required to run this program. MKS_50.PRG & MKS_50.RSC Hook up TWO MIDI cables since communication will go both ways. Only works in Medium Resolution Mode THINGS TO REMEMBER ------------------ 1) Before running the program you must set the MKS-50 into the following mode: ---- MIDI CHANNEL = 1 | MIDI OMNI = ON | MIDI PROG.CG = ON | PCH ASG MODE = ON |------> Accessed Via The TUNE/MIDI Button on MKS-50 TX C.M. APR = ON | TX PATCH APR = ON | TX TONE APR = ON | MEM. PROTECT = OFF | ---- MIDI EXCL = ON ------> Accessed Via The PARAM Button in Patch Mode This program will not work unless these settings are correct! After setting the MKS-50 into these modes, run the program, the title screen is displayed, and the tone called I-Beam should appear in the MKS-50 display window. You are ready to roll if it looks like --> T-a11* I-Beam 2) Sending tones and patches to the editor is easy. Every time a two digit number is pressed on the MKS-50 front panel, a series of SysEx numbers are sent to the editor. Be sure that when you are editing or sending tones that the display has the letter 'T' in front of the name like; T-a68 TwiliteZne and when you are editing or sending patches, the display should have the letter 'P' in front of the name like; P-A68 TwiliteZne. 3) When editing a tone and you want to rename it, place the mouse pointer over the words 'TONE NAME' and press the mouse button. Enter a 10 character name from the keyboard and press the Return key. 4) This program will do just about everything except permanently WRITE a file into the MKS-50 tone and patch memory areas. That is your job and when you get a tone or patch tweaked just right, remember to press the WRITE button before starting on another sound or editing a patch. You will notice that an asterisk * appears next to a tone or patch name once you start to edit and the display looks something like, T-a68*TwiliteZne. This is an indicator to tell you that a SysEx command has been sent to the MKS-50. You can use this as a reminder that the tone or patch in the temporary memory area has been altered but not saved in memory. The asterisk will disappear when you select a new tone or patch to edit. (Roland did not incorporate a SysEx Write command for individual tones or patches on the MKS-50 (bummer). Roland also failed to include a way to save the MIDI parameter settings inside the MKS-50 (so what else is new?). Every time you turn off the synth, factory settings will return on power-up and you will need to set the MKS-50 according to the list shown above in step 1). 5) This is a 'real-time' editor which means that when you are in the tone, patch, or envelope edit mode, every time you press the mouse button to change a parameter setting, the tone or patch in the temporary memory area is altered to match what is shown on the ST monitor display. However, it is still impossible for you to accidentally over write any existing tones or patches in the MKS-50 permanent memory area using this program. The only way to over write is by manually pressing the WRITE button on the MKS-50 front panel. (Note: When in the tone edit mode and a tone name is showing in the MKS-50 display window, pressing the PARAM button will enable you to see the edit as it happens. There is no real significance to this quirk but I noticed it one day while using the program). 6) The degree to which a tone can be randomized is entirely up to you. I find it easier to find the 'right' sound by setting various desired random modes and then turning the VCA ENV (waveform) OFF and also turning T4 OFF. When in the tone edit mode, by setting the VCA ENV (waveform) to D|\ (envelope with dynamics) and T4 to 127, I can quickly step through as many as 40 different sounds by repetitively clicking on the RANDOM box before the sounds fade away. The Randomizer Mask files included are just some samples and they demonstrate how to use the randomizer feature to tweak an existing tone. Don't always stick to these samples though. Experiment with some of your own. ENVLIZER.RND - Generates random envelope settings WAVEIZER.RND - Randomly chooses from the 14 basic waveforms in the MKS-50 VAPRIZER.RND - Vaporizers, Plazmoids, UFO's and (?) everything else (The VCA LEVEL of the Randomizer Mask defaults to the OFF mode but it can be turned on IF YOU DARE! Use this one with caution because a first time randomly generated VCA LEVEL of only 18 can easily turn into a randomly generated VCA LEVEL of 127 on the second pass. It's the same effect as turning the volume knob all the way up if you don't monitor your volume settings. I know from experience! Also, when in patch edit mode, the VOLUME parameter is another setting to watch out for.) 6) Fail-Safe: If you accidently replace a tone in the temporary edit area of the MKS-50 by using TX! or by pressing a two digit tone number, all is not lost. You can send all of the parameter settings shown on the screen to the MKS-50 by going into the Edit Randomizer Mask mode and turning all the settings to OFF. When you return to the tone edit screen, clicking on the RANDOM box will send every setting on the screen back to the MKS-50 temporary edit area and your 'lost' tone is restored. This is a FreeWare program. Unlike ShareWare, the FreeWare concept requires you to send no money, no blank disks, etc....., but you are required to upload the sounds you create in 'GenPatch', 'Cassette Buster', or any other type of format! Thanks.