Defective Nation | Sample CDs/Samples of Classic & Vintage Synthesizers

Roland D50 Sample Collection 001

For us 1987 was an eventful year and while everyone around us seemed to be using the Yamaha DX7 we just hated its sound and it was far too "other worldy" to prograam your own sounds on. We've generally preferred Roland synths for a variety of reasons. Yeah when it said "Piano" above a button you just knew it was going to sound nothing like a real piano but it would be a useful enough sound. Yamaha had a runaway success on its hands with the DX7 (see our Yamaha FS1R and TX802 samples) and Roland needed an answer but they had no equivalent form of synthesis available to them.

In response to Yamahas DX7 Roland's1987 flagship synthesizer, the D-50, was released and what a surprise it was. For the first time Roland was able to offer some pretty realistic sounds due to the sample based synthesis employed by the synth. Yeah the samples were REALLY tiny and really only to be used as an attack part of the sound but the "Piano" preset sounded like a piano. Memory was expensive in 1987 so the sample selection was incredibly small but, with some clever programming, it was possible to create a vast range of sounds. Together with the samples the synth also had a selection of more usual waveforms and resonant filter. While the filter was not as great as that found on earlier synths it had its own sound and that sound was suddenly heard on many hit records. The D-50 spwned artists like Enya (Orinoco Flow) and established artist, such as Jean Michelle Jarre, would use it to write complete albums. Today the Roland D-50 synth remains almost as popular as it was when it first appeared.

Roland D50 Sample Collection 001

Our Roland D-50 sample collection 001 consists of the original bank of sounds found on the new synthesizer. Each patch has been sampled at 24 bits, across more than 7 octaves with 4 notes samples per octave (1,886 samples). The synth was sampled in our recording studio using professional equipment from Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU). For each patch we took long samples so that we could capture the movement in the sound but to also ensure that we could find suitable loop points so that we could loop sounds that were sustained.

Sample collection 001, detailed below, is part of our Roland D50 10 DVD sample collection which is available at a specially discounted price. Of course you are perfectly welcome to buy the single DVD below but we think, that once you look at the 771 patch collection, you'll agree it's excellent value for money and not-to-be-missed. [Please Note: We used the Roland VariOS with the VC-1 D-50 Card for superior sound quality. See http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may05/articles/rolandvc1.htm].

Roland D50 BUDGET DVD SAMPLE PACK 001
		KONTAKT / EXS24 / WAV https://ko-fi.com/s/4e9c642456		64 Roland D50 sound patches at 24-Bit resolution PRICE: £9.99 [Download via ko-fi.com]
Read more our 10 DVD Roland D-50 Sample Collection >>>

D-50 Sounds Sampled In Budget Collection 001

Below is a list of the D50 sounds which we sampled to create collection 1.

Voices/Patches BANK 001 (original D-50 preset bank):