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AM MSQ700 Nexus - MIDI Sequencer
Introduction In 1984 Roland released an 8-track MIDI sequencer called the MSQ700. Weighing in at 11 lbs it looked like half of a TR909. The off-white front panel has a multitude of
buttons, switches, and a four digit LED. The MSQ has MIDI and DCB, and a memory of 6500 notes in 8 tracks. At the time it was quite a revolution, as it was one of the first multi-track hardware sequencers, with real and step time
recording. Within just 2 years it was over whelmed by more powerful hardware and software sequencers, and its lack of editing and the use of cassetes for memory storage, meant it fell out of fashion.
Today the MS700 is a very useful
sequencer for storing 8 short sequencer loops, with all the advantages of hardware control. Lots of knobs and switches! Its immediacy makes it a creative tool.
The Replicant The Analog Metropolis MSQ700 Nexus uses a Roland
MSQ700 as the donor machine, with the following changes:
- New front panel in 3mm aluminium, 19" wide, 4U high
- Revised front panel layout to spread the controls over 19" of rack width
- New switches and buttons
- New high quality potentiometer for Tempo
- New rotary switch to replace the slider
- New LED's, blue and aqua green
- Blue 7 segment display
- New display filter
- New case, 4U high
Donor We picked up a rather scratched MSQ700 for under £100. It works
perfectly.
Under the Hood The MSQ700 is a very reliable and robust design which will survive for decades. It based around a Z80 micro-processor. There are 2 circuit boards, one is mounted to the front panel and contains the
controls, the other is mounted to the base plate and is the main digital board.
Making the Changes The same sort of re-engineering could be applied to the 1985 Roland MSQ100., but its interface is not as good.
New LED's
There are 9 Green 3mm LED's for track play and overall play, and 19 Red 3mm LED's for track record, load, clock, etc. The old Green LED's are replaced with modern Aqua Green versions, and 18 of the Red LED's are replaced with modern Blue LED's, leaving the Memory Protect LED as red.
New Display
The existing 2 dual digit 7 segment displays (in red) is easily replaced with blue versions.
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Site Options
Resources
* MSQ700 Schematics
* Front Panel .fpd file