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Roland TR-505 Drum Destruction Patchbay Mods: £60
The Roland TR-505, a classic piece of kit! This Drum Machine is an essential feature of many studios throughout the whole world. Wherever there is a studio door that needs to be wedged open the 505 finds its true purpose as a door stop and does the job with a simple elegance which we can all admire. Never has a piece of music kit been so vastly overrated.
But wait, no longer will the 505 be viewed as the runt of the Roland TR range! Our Drum Destruction patchbay mod turns this otherwise average piece of kit into an industrial grade percussion monster.
The modification consists of:
24 way 3.5mm jack patchbay: Connections made between the sockets on the patchbay cause all kinds of distortion, ring modulation, sound swapping, modulation and general alien effects to be applied to the sounds. multiple connections can be made at any one time offering thousands of different percussion grinding options. MIDI functions are not affected in any way.
2x 3 Way patchbay multiples: These are 2 sets of 3 sockets that allow you to connect more than one plug to the same source. This further multiplies your creative possibilities.
Envelope Follower LED: This LED flashes along with the output of the machine.
Click on the buttons below for mp3 demos of these mods. The first demo is the same breakbeat running via MIDI and processed using the patchbay. The other two are just random beats and effects using the mods.
None of the demos have been processed externally in any way.
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Roland TR-505 Individual Outputs / Trigger Outputs Mod: £25
This mod adds up to eight +5v analogue trigger outputs or eight individual audio outputs to the TR505. The TR505 has 8 audio channels consisting of:
Each channel can have an individual audio output for the sounds on that channel, and an analogue trigger output that will output a +5v clock pulse whenever any of the sounds associated with that channel are played. For £25 you get a total of 8 new minijack sockets which can be any combination of trigger and audio outputs. As an example, if for some bizarre reason if you wanted it, we could install 1 audio out for the kick on channel 1, and 7 trigger outputs that are all triggered by the snare on channel 2. Alternatively you could have 7 audio outputs and then use the sound you use least often as a trigger output, or any other combination that suits you best. It is perfectly possible to have both the audio and trigger outputs for the same channels installed at the same time but care should be taken not to mix them up or you may end up with a very dead mixer channel.
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The audio output channels are monophonicso on channel 3 you can't play the clap & rim shot at the same time and on channel 8 you can't play the timbale and any of the toms at the same time etc, just like a normal TR505. In the same way, every sound on a channel will trigger a clock pulse when it is played. So playing either the crash or the ride will trigger a clock pulse on channel 4 and playing any of the Toms or Timbale will send a clock pulse from channel 8 etc. This can be a little annoying if you have chosen the Timbale as a trigger ouput and you also want to use the Toms in your drum pattern so pick your triggers carefully.
The trigger outputs are perfectly capable of triggering analogue drum modules or clocking something like the sequencer & arpeggiator on a Roland SH101. We even had them triggering a modified Synsonics drum machine!
£25 gets you 8 sockets as most people just go for all 8 indvidual audio outputs, but we can add extra sockets for £5 each up to as many as we can physically fit on the case. Theres a possibility we might be able to manage 16 but it wouldn't be pretty.
TR-505 MODIFICATION DEAL: If you want both the patchbay and the individual output / trigger mods installed on your TR-505 at the same time it costs £80. A saving of £5 on the the normal price.
Roland TR-707 / 727 Drum Destruction Patchbay Mods: £75
The Roland TR-707 and 727 are another pair of classic drum machines that are, in our opinion somewhat overrated but the fairly average original sounds are more than made up for by the classic Roland user interface.
As with the TR-505 mods the TR-707 Drum Destruction mods add some serious modular patching action to turn it into something that wouldn't sound out of place at a panel beating convention.
The modifications consist of:
18 way 3.5mm jack patchbay: As with the 505 mods connections made between the sockets on the patchbay cause all kinds of distortion, ring modulation, sound swapping, modulation and general alien effects to be applied to the sounds. Multiple connections can be made at any one time offering thousands of different percussion grinding options.
2x 3 Way patchbay multiples: These are 2 sets of 3 sockets that allow you to connect more than one plug to the same source. This further multiplies your creative possibilities.
2x 3 way distortion switches. These switches offer four types of distortion from all out electro grinding to mild overdriven crunch. Each switch also has an effect off setting.
2x Patchable switches. These are two switches that can be patched in line with any of the patchbay connections. Essentially this allows you to find two effects you like on the patchbay and then turn them on and off at the flick of a switch instead of having to repatch the cables.
Click on the demo's below to hear some mp3's of what these mods can do.
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The Roland TR-727 can also be fitted with the same patchbay mods for the same price as the 707. If anything, a bent 727 sounds even more alien and surreal than the 707 does. If you were buying a TR machine for modification purposes with a view to creating more bizarre layers of percussive loops rather than solid lead percussion we'd definitely recommend getting hold of a TR727 rather than a TR707.
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Roland TR-707 / 727 Hi Hat decay knobs & audio input: £30
This mod adds two knobs to control the decay of the open and closed Hi-Hat sounds along with an external audio input socket.
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On the TR-707 the open and closed hats sounds use the same sample with different envelopes. This mods adds individual knobs to control the decay of each sound but in order to do this the open hat decay knob has to act as a kind of overall 'master' decay for both sounds and the closed hat decay knob sets the decay of the closed hat within the maximum setting of the open hat knob. Essentially this means that when the open hat decay is set to full, then the closed hat can be set anywhere from a tiny click to the full open hat sound, but when the open hat is set only half open then the closed hat can only sweep from the tiny click sound at minimum to roughly the normal closed hat and full. This is virtually impossible to explain so we hope you get the idea.
Audio input - This is a jack socket placed on the right end on the machine that allows you to run an external signal through the Hi-Hats bus. Plugging a jack into this socket removes the Hi-Hats from the mix and replaces them with any external signal. The external signal is chopped and gated according to the Hi-Hat envelopes and programmed Hi-Hat pattern. The level of the external signal is controlled with the normal Hi-Hats mixer slider.
This mod can also be applied to the TR-727 but on the 727 the knobs control to the short and long whistle rather than Hi-Hats. Its therefore not stunningly useful but the external audio input still works just as well as on the 707.
Roland TR-707 / 727 Cold Cathode lamps: £35
This is a totally gratuitous and yet ultimately a 'must have' mod for any TR-707 / 727 owner. We like to tell ourselves that its designed so you can see the TR screen on a dark stage and certainly not just so you can own the coolest looking drum machine you've ever seen. That's our story and we're sticking to it!
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This mod simply installs two 4" cold cathode lamps above and below the LCD screen. The lamps can be turned on and off using a push button on the back of the machine, the only drawback being that the inverter to power the lamps has to be mounted on the left hand side of the machine in order to avoid any audio interference that may occur from mounting it internally.
In order to actually run the cathode tubes you will need a power supply capable of delivering a minimum of 700ma at 12 volts. This means that the PSU that you are currently using will probably need to be replaced. The TR will still run on a lower rated supply with the lamps turned off.
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You can choose the colour of the tubes from any that we are able to get hold of. Probably green, red, pink, blue, white or purple, just ask and we'll see what we can do. We are willing to use UV tubes but bear in mind that you will be looking at the screen a lot and staring at a UV tube for any length of time can be more than a little unpleasant.
TR-707 / 727 MODIFICATION DEAL: If you want all three mods installed on your TR it only costs £130. A saving of £10 on the normal price
Roland TR-626 Drum Destruction Patchbay mods: £70
The Roland TR-626 Drum Destruction patchbay mods are exactly the same as the TR-505 patchbay mods apart from the addition of two patchable switches which can be patched in line with any connection to turn it on and off at the flick of a switch. They can create more or less exactly the same sounds and effects as the only difference between the machines sound-wise is that the 626 has a few more sounds onboard. See the 505 mp3 demos for the kind of sounds available.
We can also supply good quality patch cables for use with these modifications. Click HERE for more details. |
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