seven-hundred progress
Still going, just about. Not sure what I’m doing with that speed switch yet, whether to go faster or slower, hmm.
While I scratch my chin about how to reinforce these daft plastic panels, I’ve been enjoying reading through Fumitaka Ansai’s page on the System 700 – http://anz.yokohama/Museum/Roland/System-700/.
Assuming that Google Translate is accurate (my obsession with the System 700 isn’t quite going to stretch to learning Japanese) it’s interesting to find out that the original prototype had internal speakers, like the ARP2600! Also, it seems that users had been asking for a voltage-controlled envelope generator so they’d planned to release one but never got round to it, even in the later 100M.
I wonder if it was designed and never released? The owners manual for the 700 lists the modules, with gaps at 719, 722, and then 724 – 728, almost as if they intended to fill those gaps at some stage. Actually, maybe the prototype speakers were numbered 719.
Anyway, there are some fun demos on the anz.yokohama site too – if you have a look at the patch samples and then scroll down to Sample Chart 5, you can hear a nice example of using a voice to control a squealing oscillator with the 714 Interface. I’m half-tempted to build that one but it’s a big board, and I’m not sure if I’d just spend ten minutes laughing into it and then never touching it after.
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