D-50

[beetree]

I think I spotted a D-50 on one of the latest Frost reports. Now I´ve been thinking of getting one again, after 20 years and I got interesten in what use you (Jem) make of it. What can it do that my Fantom will not?

All the best

Johan

[Mickdoo22]

I bought my D-50 new in 1987 because at the time, there really was nothing in it's league.  At that time the Yamaha DX series was king, but in my opinion, the D50 was light years ahead.  I, like many, were sold when we heard "Digital Native Dance" for the first time......but overall I liked it for the FM like bells, the airy sounds, and the built in effects at the time.  By today's standards, it is fairly primitive, however it still has a very unique sound and vibe, and 23 years later it is still very useful for a number sounds.  I have, and still do use mine on virtually every project.  Of the 20 or so synths I own, the D50 is one of the last I would ever sell because I have used it on so many projects it would be virtually impossible to replace.
I have to laugh......mine STILL has the original battery!

[beetree]

Cool, thank you Mickdoo22. I have a Fantom and some other more "powerful" modern gear, but I think that some of the D-50 is not so easily re-created. I also sometimes cover It bites songs and it sounds like John Beck still uses it quite frequently. I also bought my D-50 when it came out, but soon replaced it with the Korg M-1, wich is not that cool anymore, and later the Wavestation. I now have the latter two in software versions and the Wavestation is one of my all time favourites. The soft-version also sound a lot better, probably due to D/A converters in modern sound cards beeing a lot better.

[Mooncat]

I've got the rackmount baby version the D-110. As has already been said, it's great for all those John Beck sounds - I recall he was looking for some less battered versions of his keyboards a while back as clearly he loves the sounds (or can't be arsed learning how to program the new ones!!!!!lol)

[dtscape10]

I've been using my Roland D-50 since I was at school (a few years ago now.... 20 to give you an idea). Even on my avatar picture there is a D50 (not that you can see it but it's the keyboard on top in front of me). Yes it has some lovely sounds - Spacious Sweep, Rock Organ, OK Choralle (Ice Melts into water), Shakuhaki(sorry for the spelling as I can't remember it), Jump Sound (I programmed this for the Van Halen Track and it's massive), Horn Section(which I prefer to most brass sections on modern synths), Digital Native Dance (David Lee Roth). I've got masses of patches for it. Mainly downloaded from the net over many years. I also have the original sound card that came with it. I think I paid about £1200 for it when I got it....

Jem has used a few of the D50 sounds on his material. Black light Machine has aa few of them...

Unfortunatly mine has been stored away for the last 8 months as I haven't needed it but it'll be out and about again shortly!!! I did consider selling it but then I woke up from that horrible dream :lol:

It's a fantastic keyboard