versatile, with features like single-event editing (microscope), and even

real-time SYSEX recording, which Cakewalk just added this year (12 years later).

The key layout & feel were very convenient, something they unfortunately changed

on the MC300 and 50 with the smaller flatter buttons, making fast, calculator-

like key entry impossible. Global editing was not assignable to a note range, limited to channels within

a track. So you had to keep those drums on separate tracks until you were

positive those relative snare & kick velocities were correct. Also, no time

shifting (nudge, slide, etc...), so those slow-attack string parts always seemed

late unless programmed in real-time a sixteenth early. All you could do after

the fact was move each note's location individually in microscope (tedious).

Fortunately, Roland realized these oversights and implemented them into the

Super-MRC software, as well as giving each MIDI out it's own discreet 16

channels for 32 total. One bug I stumbled onto (painfully)- when saving an edited sequence whose title

is already on the disk, it prompts "overwrite existing? yes/no". If, at that

point, you remove the disk, insert another and select YES, it not only saves the

track, but overwrites that disk's song title directory with the one from the

previous disk. So if the previous disk had 2 songs, and the new one has 8, the

titles for 6 of the 8 will be deleted. The 6 songs are still on the disk but

cannot be accessed without their titles. Hence, they're gone. Roland's tech

support's advice to me was "roll with the punches, live and learn". I found the MC much easier to use than any PC software sequencer, and I highly

recommend it to any beginner, or pro doing live work. But try to keep the notes

to under 6 per clock pulse, or the delay gets noticeable.