ANNOUNCE: Roland MC-8 Hack
I'm thrilled to announce yet another in a series of vintage sequencer "Hack" applications built entirely using Max, that convert MIDI files into audio suitable for programming the sequencer via their cassette input ports. This time, the target is the Roland MC-8, one of the earliest (and possibly rarest, at only 200-300 made) microprocessor-driven sequencers.
As was the case for several of my previous "Hack" applications, the development of MC-8 Hack required the assistance and cooperation of an entire team; this software wouldn’t have come to be without their expertise and help. Among others, this team included pivotal contributions from Alex Ball, Eric Bedes and Pea Hicks (with Pea having corresponded quite a bit with Ralph Dyck before his passing - Ralph's sequencer prototype eventually turned into Roland's production device). I'm indebted to them for their help!
Despite having taken over 1.5 years to do the reverse engineering and create the software, this software is free (how many functioning units are still out there?), available for both Mac and Windows. In exchange, I'm hoping that some of my music idols I know who used the MC-8 will get wind of this, download, and correspond with me about it! :-)
