The Yamaha RM-50 and MIDI SDS

[idiotboy]

I recently grabbed a Yamaha RM-50 drum synth module from eBay.

 

Several things attracted me to it, not the least of which is its ability to load my own short samples into an optional memory card. The original Yamaha memory card is long out of production, but there's an outfit in the UK that sells a clone, which I'll hopefully order soon. Cool.

 

So here comes the question: I need to load my samples into the RM-50 via MIDI SDS (MIDI Sample Dump Standard). How is this done? I'm assuming you need to first convert a WAV file to an SDS file, true? Is there a reliable (free?) Mac OSX app that does this? Next, I assume I would then simply use Logic, or some sequencer to send the MIDI file into the RM-50, correct? (note my use of the word "simply" here; I mean it ironically, of course....)

 

I'm assuming the file conversion process adds some overhead bits to the samples, and the memory card is only 512K, so we're not talking about a lot of sample storage here, but, it might be fun to play with.

 

Other nice things about the RM-50:

---each "voice" can have two layered waveforms which can be processed (to a small degree) by it's AWM2 engine,

---It can read SY55/SY77 data cards.

--- ~ $100

 

[Acid Hazard]

Nice pic! =o]

[aeon]

Under MacOS X, both Peak and DSP-Quattro support MIDI SDS.

 

That said, Elektron's C6 app also supports it, and is free. Try it!

 

 

cheers,

Ian

[idiotboy]

 

I'm guessing it's yours, yeah?

 

[idiotboy]

thanks Ian.

[Tony Scharf]

New Note 2

 

 

 

 

I had one of these years ago, and we used in our stage setup. At the time, it was the best way for our drummer to get the samples we used in the studio out with us without having to rely on loading a sampler (the samples are instant on). I am very familiar with the process.

 

First off, you have to find a program that can handle SDS transfers - SDS is a SYS-EX dump standard (Sample Dump Standard - get it?) and not a file specification. The way you transfer samples is basically loading them into the program, setting a few parameters (destination sample number, midi port, etc) and click send. There is a handshake in the standard, so both in AND out need to be connected to the computer. Once you click send...you wait....and wait...........and wait.... Drum samples wont be all that bad, but back in the day I had to use SDS to transfer all of my samples from an EMU E64 to a Kurzweil K2000 via SDS. It took about a week to get everything over to it, and we are talking about maybe 30 megs of sample data.

 

Once the samples are loaded into the RM50, they are stored in an internal FlashRom chip. If you got a unit that has this installed, your very lucky - you dont see them come up that often, as the flash was VERY expensive when the units were new. You can verify you have this option installed by opening up the hatch on the top of the unit. If you *dont* have any cards in there...then you CANNOT load samples into it (you may have already verified this, but I had a friend who bought one and didnt...he was pissed).

 

If you have any other questions on it, used it for a long time. Its a fantastic little machine.

[idiotboy]

Thanks Tony.

 

I've found an outfit in the UK that sells a clone of the "SYEMB06", the 512K RAM card necessary for loading samples into the RM-50. I emailed the guy yesterday, and he has the cards in stock, (~ $46 American). So, if the RM-50 I bought doesn't have the card, I'll buy one from this guy.

 

As for a program to convert and transfer the samples, it looks like Elektron's C6 app will do the trick, and it's free.

 

So, for a total of ~$150, I hope to have a good source for some unique digital drum sounds.

[Acid Hazard]

I'm guessing it's yours, yeah?

 

Yup!