Roland goodness

Hi there,

Well, what have we here? It’s time to go back, waaaay back in time. It’s the Roland VS-1880, a digital studio workstation. This great device was launched in 1999, in a time that DAWs were not a commodity. Computers were obviously not cable enough to run a full DAW including one or more effects (per channel).

This is one of the last DAWs “in a box” ever made and they are GREAT! Ok, there were successors after that, the VS2000CD (with CD-writer) and VS2480 but those were more like an upgrade. To me there seems a little coloring on the analog out but it’s the exactly the right color. When mixing vocals, guitars and drums in separate channels, the sound somehow tends to blend perfectly.

And you even haven’t got me started about the FX-cards. I fortunately have both slots filled with FX-goodness. This means you can run 4 different effects simultaneously. The cards, named VS8F-2, has hundreds of preset-effects build in a variety of categories (vocal, guitar, drums….) Although presets, you can store the presets when you’re done editing. And when you decide to edit a preset, you will find loads of options to setup for every part of the effect (like a chorus, delay, compressor etc).

The effects sound 90s-ish. Also in a good way and they are very usable to me. And the fact that the effects have a 90s tense doesn’t mean the mix automatically sound like that.

A drawback is dat you need to learn this device thoroughly before all hand movements and Roland-way of thinking are stored in your brain. And there’s a bit of a learning curve. Also, it’s fairy limited in equalizing your tracks. But it also hits the creative part of your brain like a mother fucker.

Roland VS-1880

Goal:

I want to record some songs I wrote recently using electric- and acoustic guitar, vocals, drums and some synths. I’m hoping to find out if I’m capable enough to make it sound decent. Also, it’s just loads of fun to search through the presets. Recording different instruments on such an “ancient” device with a rattling conventional harddrive (that can die any minute), makes you feel alive!!

Studio

Well, this time I have been “blijvenliggen” due to some physical issues. Nothing major, but still…
Anyway, I’ve updated my home studio a lot since 2020. I bought an MPC X, a Tascam Model 12 mixer and a Polyend Tracker. I’m very happy with all of the new components and use them extensively. Maybe one day I will expose my music somewhere (but I wouldn’t count on it 😉

Here’s a picture:

My new and improved studio

New photo’s of the studio will be places right here in the coming weeks. So stay tuned!!

Fitness space

For the last days I’ve been busy building my own gym. One of the reasons for doing this, is once in a while a get ill (stomach problems) and while I have this, it’s impossible for me to run outside. To keep myself “fit”, a good solution is to train indoors. It’s less heavy and if I don’t feel that good, I’m at home in an instant.

Problem is Codid-19. All the gyms are closed and even if they are open, it’s a significant risk for me to go to these kinds of places.

Gym

So, I’m not finished yet. There are a couple of things I need to do.

  1. Buy a home trainer
  2. Buy a rowing machine
  3. Buy some exercise mats to block the noise from the devices
  4. Put a decent stereo system in my own gym
  5. Reorganize the gym to make a logical layout

And then finally I need to exercise!