Behringer has announced the availability of the MS-1 MKII, an updated version of their Roland SH-101 knockoff that they say is ‘vastly improved’ over the original Behringer MS-1.
The Behringer MS-1 MKII – originally announced last year – uses cloned 662 chips, to get closer to the original’s sound, and they’ve also updated the firmware to address some problems with the original MS-1’s implementation.
New in Behringer MS-1 mkII 1.0.6:
Transpose Fix – The Arp playback now follows the original implementation, making your music creation smoother and more intuitive.
Portamento Improvements – Whether you’re using Arp, Sequencer, or just playing around with different modes (off/auto/on), Portamento is now more responsive, with better scaling for smoother control and playback. Plus, the start time has been refined for even better performance.
Random LFO Upgrade – You can now clock the Random LFO from external source
MusicDevelopments let us know that they’ve released a major update to RapidComposer, a music composition application for Mac + Windows.
RapidComposer version 5.3 introduces a host of new features for guitarists, including an editable guitar tab and fretboard, guitar chords, and smart algorithms that calculate optimal fingerings for both chords and track notes. Additionally, the new rule-based note forwarding to other tracks unlocks fresh creative possibilities for users.
New in RapidComposer to v5.3:
Guitar tab view of tracks implemented. The finger positions are calculated by a smart algorithm.
Exporting guitar tab as a MusicXML file.
Guitar chords displayed on the master track with preview and fingering choice.
Fretboard added for chord fingering editing.
Guitar preview instrument and options added.
When using guitar chord voicing, the chord fingering is computed by a smart algorithm and not taken from a library anymore.
Forward notes to other tracks by multiple rules (‘Note Forwarding’ tab added in the track inspector). Now you can set various criteria to route notes from a single source track to multiple target tracks.
Piano keyboard layer added (size and key range configurable).
A “small but good quality” guitar soundfont is included in the installation package.
A “better quality” piano soundfont is included in the installation package.
Fingerpicking generator improvement: enter string pattern.
MIDI import options displayed when dropping a MIDI file (track selection, trim silence, import MIDI CC’s, define key-switch range).
New setting added: MIDI Import / “Display MIDI import options”
New way to import a MIDI file: “Merge MIDI file with the current composition”
Track selection when dropping a single MIDI file on the phrase browser. Improved phrase naming: MIDI file name + track title.
“Export chords as MIDI” menu item added in the file menu, with shortcut.
Developer Benedetto Schiavone let us know that they’ve introduced two unofficial editors for the Roland MC-707 and MC-101.
The editors, available for both Mac + Windows, use MIDI SysEx support that Roland included in the grooveboxes, but never documented.
What Benedetto Schiavone has to say about the ZEN-Core Editor-librarian for MC-101 and MC-707:
“The two Roland grooveboxes do not officially support MIDI SysEX messages and there is no documentation relating to their implementation which is hidden. In reality, the MC-101/707 are able to receive and send such messages: they respond with a completely wrong addressing, with duplicate and incorrect data which however can be corrected and used by the software.
The editor-librarian, like the analogous versions for Fantom/0, AX-Edge and Jupiter-X/Xm, communicates in real-time and bidirectionally with the groovebox, using MIDI SysEx messages.”
Features:
Zen-Core Section
Editing of ZEN-Core tones structured in 6 subsections where you can modify all the synthesis parameters and those relating to the 93 effects provided by the standard.
Manage the transmission of sounds (library/presets–>Groovebox) and ZEN-Core editing in each of the locations (Clip/Trak) present in a project: max 136 ZEN-Core tones in MC-707 and max 68 ZEN-Core tones in MC-101
Vector and resizable graphic interface.
Real-time graphic display of the envelopes (Filter, AMP and Pitch) and of the keyboard and velocity range sections
Copy and paste of partials via clipboard.
Macro to speed up editing by controlling in parallel the same parameter of any combination of the 4 partials.
Editing of “hidden” ZEN-Core synthesis parameters not directly accessible in the synths: VCF Gain Correction, Partial LFO Phase Lock, Pitch Down
Depth, Pitch Drift, Pitch Drift Cycle Number – Condition and VA Init Phase
4-track step sequencer. With a new template it is possible to obtain with a single Zen-Core tone melodic and rhythmic sequences with 4 voices, synchronized with the scene BPM
24 ZEN-Core presets, divided into:
INI: simple sounds to use as templates for editing.
PR1: some of the most significant sounds of the optional library that can be purchased separately
PR2: ZEN-Core tones of rhythmic and melodic sequences (8 STEP LFO and related template)
Complete editing of the 93 effects from the ZEN-Core standard and 25 presets for the most used effects
Library Section
Library with the management of 16384 ZEN-Core tones: 8 libraries each composed of 2048 tones (16 banks of 128 tones each)
organization of the library tones with variable clipboard (1-48 tones), bank clipboard and separate management of lib and banks (load/save on file)
Import of ZEN-Core tones and conversion of sounds generated with the Model Expansions into “Equivalent ZEN-Core tones” via a proprietary conversion algorithm. Supported Model Expansions: JUNO-106 -JX-8P -JUPITER-8 -SH-101 – Juno-60 – JUNO-X engine – JUPITER-X/XM engine
Project Section
edit of the offsets of the parameters of the 4/8 tracks (MC–101/707): Volume, Pan, Cutoff, Res, Attack, Decay, Release, Vibrato, Portamento, SYS Ctrl and send to Delay and Reverb.
edit of all the parameters related to the Chorus/Delay and Reverb effects with the possibility of using 40 reverb presets.
edit of the 5-band Master EQ, the 4/8 (MC–101/707) EQs of the tracks and the Master Compressor of the project with the possibility of recalling 18 presets
The ZEN-Core Editor-librarian for MC-101 and MC-707 is available through Sept 30th, 20224 with intro pricing of € 29,99 (VAT included) for only the Editor, or € 37,99 (VAT included) for the Editor+ B67 Collection1-2 Sound Bank (222 tones).
