ROLAND MC-500 MK11 question

[windowman]

Yeah, I know it's ancient, but I was hoping some of you older dogs could help a guy out.I'm finally ready to retire this unit (my second), & I'm trying to get the song files from the many discs I have & store them on my new PC. Being a floppy drive & considering that I don't have a floppy drive in either of my PC's, I was wondering if anybody knew of a way to dump the files. I downloaded MIDIOX But I don't think that's the right program.Here's how I have it setup-ROLAND MC- MIDI in to PRESONUS Firestudio project & then out of the Presonus & back into the ROLAND.When I fire up a drum file from the sequencer & run it through BFD2, it plays just fine. Recording the MIDI like this is not an option as I have 500+ songs that need backing up, and I'm way too old & impatient for that. My last resort would be to find a PC with a floppy drive & transfer that way. Of course, then I'd have to get up, put some clothes on & leave the house. IF I have to go that route, would any old PC work as long as I brought back the files on a CDR/DVD?Any keyboard players out there that can help? Steve A G? You mentioned once that you had owned one of these relics in the past.Thanks way in advance...WadeBTW.... I haven't been around here much due to the large learning curve I'm going through right now.Here's what I'm running thus far-WINDOWS VISTA Processor Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00 GHz 3.00 GHz RAM 2.00 G 32 bit OS Drive C 197 GBDrive D 268 GB REAPER DAWPRESONUS FIRESTUDIO PROJECTBFD2PODXT W/GEARBOXFender Jazz, Strat & Tele.

[sgs4u]

Oct 8, 2008, 7:33pm, windowman wrote:Yeah, I know it's ancient, but I was hoping some of you older dogs could help a guy out.Fender Jazz, Strat & Tele.I've never pictured myself as an old dog... Maybe this is what I'll look like? Here's the most important thing Wade. Replacing old (broken or stolen) gear is necessary. And it always reminds us exactly how we need to weed out bullshit that doesn't matter. Sure, keep your Roland MkII around as long as you can. Make sure you have audio files, of every song or audio bit that is worth keeping. However, this other thing is going to become clear. By the time you get yourself familiar the new gear that you're going to acquire in the next 2 years, it will become SOOO much faster to record from scratch, any piece of music you have from your current archives. The midi data will not matter. You actually don't have a problem, unless you give yourself this huge, boring task of backing up midi files, on 3.5 floppies. Imagine instead, your relief at not needing to do it, because you're leaving all that crap behind. A lot of guys keep every piece of gear they've ever owned, because of what you're about to go thru. Backing up all those disks is so tedious. If you have audio files of them, you're safer. You're already better at recording than you were when you created all those midi files, because you're much faster and a better musician/engineer/producer/guitarist/ & everything else now. I think I just said the same thing in 2 paragraphs... Once you get the drum loops (Stylus, EZdrummer & Addictive Drums) thing sorted out for yourself, all that old Roland midi data will be too much a pain in the ass to bother sifting thru... Leave the 90's technology to gather dust man, as soon as you can. Fender Jazz, Strat & Tele are all that matter. That's where your heart is!

[anthony34]

Hi guys - what a good pair of posts. Steve, I thoroughly agree with your sentiments (photo is great by the way.) I've got a stack of stuff on a Roland VS880 - and I've basically concluded the same thing; my VS880 is worth about $100 now and the problems of trying to recover and re-engineer old files just is not worth it. Bite the bullet, don't waste the time - get on with your best recordings yet!. Kind regards from "downunder" Michael W.

[liamkelly]

WadeYou could borrow an external floppy drive (plugged into/powered by USB port). Or buy one ($ 25) if you're really desperate.Liam

[windowman]

Thanks so much for your answers guys. And Steve. I guess what I was getting at is this- I'm very happy with my new gear & moving forward with it as well as looking at other options for the future. i.e. pianos, organs, guys making fart noises.Anyway, I'm only trying to find a way to save the song data, especially the drums. After hearing my programming from the MC-500 put through the BFD2 sounds, I was quite impressed. The note learn function is a great tool &, yeah, I'd have to make some changes to certain bars, but the basic songs are finished. Song of my drum tracks are new & are/will be used for TAXI submissions, so I don't want to have to program from absolute scratch. I also have hundreds of cover songs programmed note for note which I don't want to lose because of the occasional TAXI 'cover song' listing. Tweaking makes more sense. Is this time consuming or time saving to grab those MIDI files? Even the keyboard programming is salvageable IMO.Bottom line, though, is that I'll probably have to do this through a PC with a floppy drive. Or maybe there is a solution with my resources?!?!?!? PLEEZE?I hope this helped to clarify what I meant earlier.Thanks again........Wade

[ibanez468]

Hmmmm...yeah I get what you're sayin'. I run into that problem occasionally too. It definitely sucks to have to try and reprogram intricate pieces knowing you've already got it done, but just not done using the latest gear. And you've got it saved in an old format. So I definitely lean towards anything that saves time, even though it may not seem like a time-saver at first.Outside of recording the files as you suggested, but don't have the patience for (I don't blame ya') there may not be any other way but what has been suggested by Liam. Actually that sounds like the ticket, if ya' ask me. Here's a website I found just for this type of thing. They'll actually do it for you if you want (at a price of course), but some folks like ta' do for themselves, so that's understandable. Hope this helps dude, and GOOD LUCK!http://www.floppydisk.com/usb.htmI-468PS -- I was almost tempted to purchase one myself, and then I remembered, hey I've got a coupla' old computers with floppy drives and USB ports. What am I thinkin' about? That's why I almost never get rid of anything linked to computers and/or music. Ya' never know when that stuff will ever be needed again. I can't tell ya' how many times I've patted myself on the back for NOT getting rid of something that I felt I was gonna need sometime in the future, even if it was just a one-time application. Sometimes it pays to hold on.

[mojobone]

Go to Newegg.com , buy a twenty dollar USB floppy drive. Transfer the dotMID files to any system drive, and viola! Bob's your uncle! PS: if you have the option, save 'em twice; as type zero and as type one MIDI files. Some DAWS have a preference.