I just bought a Roland VP-9000, now what?

[TubularCorporation]

I know the facts about them but I've never had my hands on one before. Anyone on here use one? It seems like it has a lot of untapped (at least by the people who have done Youtube demos) potential for creating inscruitable, abstract soundscape type stuff for starters.

 

 

Is the software worth tracking down? It seems pretty tough to get it without paying someone on eBay for a download, and I'd really rather not do that but it looks like it could be pretty useful, if only for batch converting samples to the VP-9000 format.

 

 

I've got a 4u rack case sitting around and I feel like if I stuck the VP9000, Wavestation SR and Lexicon Vortex in it I could get some pretty lush noises.

[LimpyLoo]

Oh shit I used to drool over demos of this beast

Congrats

If I owned one I'd buy a nice turntable and make choons using only the VP

 

You should post some jams once you get it up and running

[sweepstakes]

Oh shit I used to drool over demos of this beast

Congrats

Damn, me too. I have no idea what to tell you though. Maybe swap out the ZIP drive for something more sensible like a CF/SD reader? I do seem to remember reading that the software was pretty useful, maybe even necessary. Anyway, have fun, the thing seems like a super fun toy at the very least.

[TubularCorporation]

Definitely need to max out the RAM and figure out a card reader. It looks like a card reader is around, but it's pretty expensive. The only reader anyone seems to have gotten to work in it is the MPC200xl OEM card reader, and that's supposed to be a drop in replacement. BUT I have an old, unused Addonics ADIDECF card reader I got for an abandoned project 5 years ago, and it looks like some people have had good luck installing it in the MPC so maybe I'll get lucky.

Edited January 12, 2016 by RSP

[Guest Chesney]

Pretty sure I have a Zip drive and disks around that I nicked from an old job. If I find them you can have them. You'd have to have a puter with scuzzi port though I think.

[LimpyLoo]

Q: "I just bought a Roland VP-9000, now what?"

 

A: "Learn it inside and out, and then conquer the Universe."

[TubularCorporation]

Pretty sure I have a Zip drive and disks around that I nicked from an old job. If I find them you can have them. You'd have to have a puter with scuzzi port though I think.

 

I think I have a box of Zip 100s somewhere in my living room closet but I can never find them lately. I was going to give them to someone a few years ago for HIS sampler but I couldn't figure out where they went but I saw them later on when I moved and now they're missing again. Also I think my dad has a firewire Zip 250 and a couple of disks around, I'm going to email him and see if he kept them. If that stuff falls through I'll take you up on the offer though, thanks!

 

 

Q: "I just bought a Roland VP-9000, now what?"

 

A: "Learn it inside and out, and then conquer the Universe."

 

 

That's the plan once it gets here! I'm thinking a really simple setup with the VP9000, Vortex and a power supply in the 4u rack case, and then the SP-303 you sent me plus a little keyboard, a mixer and the old 2880 looper I've had for years, just build tracks live on the looper with no sequencing at all.

[TubularCorporation]

Today I learned that people are asking anywhere from $200 to nearly $1000 for used SCSI card readers. Hopefully a $20 SCSI-2 to IDE converter hooked up to a $30 Addonics IDE bootable card reader will work just as well, especially since I already had the card reader. With a bit of luck I might be able to fit it all in the chassis of an old internal ZIP drive, rerout the SCSI ports in the VP9000 (looks like it would be as simple as flipping a board around so the plugs face in instead of out, although the cabling might be tough with the limited space in there - in fact, assuming the SCSI/IE converter works, cabling is by far the biggest issue with trying to mount it internally) and swap it for the stock zip drive. It wouldn't be hot swappable but it would still be an easily removable internal hard drive you could load files on to from a computer, you'd just have to power down the VP first.

 

Should have all of the parts except cable in a few days, if I can get this working I'll put together a detailed instruction set with photos.

 

Won't have time to actually fool with the VP itself for a few days but it works and looks pristine.

[TubularCorporation]

Disregard all that, the long suffering MPC came through again, if I ever sell the VP I can just pull the card reader and put the original zip drive back in, and I never hot swap the card in the MPC anyhow. Already had everything I needed lying around the workshop, too.

 

I know I'm pretty much talking to myself in this thread at this point but fuck it, I'm psyched about this. Didn't expect it to be able to use 1gb cards, especially the cheap off-brand one I have in it right now.