Pattern Call on the Roland MC505

Many performing DJs don’t compose a song ahead of time. Instead, they improvise various grooves and patterns on the fly. This can be accomplished by using the MC-505’s Pattern Call feature, which lets you have a specific collection of patterns assigned to the KEY PAD buttons. You can select a pattern with a KEY PAD which will continue to play back until you select a different pattern. A collection of up to 16 patterns (one assigned to each KEY PAD) is referred to as a “Pattern Set.” For our example, let’s assign a few patterns (P:031, P:009, P:003, P:197, P:009, and U:001) to a Pattern Set:

0. Press PTN SET and use the VALUE dial to select the first User Pattern Set “U:01 Techno 1.”
1. Press PTN/SONG and use the VALUE dial to select the first pattern “P:031 NU-NRG 4.”
2. While holding PTN/CALL, press KEY PAD 1, the LCD display will briefly indicate “Complete!”
3. Use the VALUE dial to select our next pattern “P:009 Psy Trance 9.”
4. While holding PTN/CALL, press KEY PAD 2, again, the LCD display will briefly indicate “Complete!”
5. Repeat steps 4-5 to continue to register the remaining patterns (P:003, P:197, P:009, and U:001) to KEY PADs 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Note: As on many Roland products, holding down the SHIFT button while rotating the VALUE dial will cause the parameter or value to scroll more quickly than normal.

Now let’s use the Pattern Call function to play the Pattern Set we’ve just made:

0. Press PTN/CALL so it is lit
1. Press KEY PAD 1. The first pattern we’ve registered (P:031) should appear in the LED display.
2. Press PLAY to begin playback of the pattern.
3. Use the KEY PAD 2-6 buttons to select other patterns. As soon as the current pattern has finished, the next pattern will play.
Now let’s assign a footswitch to cycle through the Pattern Set we’ve created:

0. Connect a Roland DP-2 or BOSS FS-5U footswitch to the PEDAL input on the rear of the MC-505.
1. Hold SHIFT and press KEY PAD 10.
2. Use the PAGE < / > buttons to select “Pdl Assign =HOLD.”
3. Use the VALUE dial to select “Pdl Assign=PTN-I.”
4. Press EXIT and wait until the “ProcessingS”Keep Power ON!” message disappears.
5. Press PTN/SONG then press PTN CALL so it is lit.
6. Press KEY PAD 1 to recall the first pattern we’ve assigned (P:031).
7. Press PLAY to begin playback of the pattern.
8. Press the footswitch once. When the current pattern has finished, each press of the footswitch will advance to the next assigned pattern in the pattern set.
Using the footswitch to select patterns can free up your hands to play another instrument, use the D-Beam, the realtime controls, and the mixer section of the MC-505.

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