Roland MC101 Groove Box

The MC-101 is a professional production tool, sharing the sounds and many of the capabilities of its bigger sibling, the MC-707. And there are advantages in being small. The MC-101 is solid-yet-light and runs for about five hours on four AA batteries, so you can design sounds, create drum patterns, and compose musical phrases just about anywhere. And it’s not just a scratch pad for simple ideas. You can produce fully-fledged professional tracks or create backing tracks and accompaniment for live performance.

The MC-101 has a four-track sequencer optimized for creating today’s electronic and dance-focused music. You can use the 16 RGB pads to create drum, bass, and synthesizer patterns and produce your own original music. Explore a musical playground, where you can freely combine loops and one-shots with melodic phrases including your own MIDI sequences and imported audio recordings. Compose and chain scenes or clips, rearrange, re-sample, record automation, and more.

The MC-101 uses the ZEN-Core Synthesis System—the most advanced synth engine we’ve ever made. ZEN-Core delivers the Roland sounds that have defined electronic and dance genres for over forty years. Legendary instruments like the TR-808, TR-909, JUNO-106, and SH-101 are all here, ready to replicate classic sounds or be combined, tweaked, and processed into entirely new sounds.

Compose from a curated collection of projects with built-in beats, phrases, and sounds, all expertly crafted by renowned artists and sound designers—with even more available to download. And the MC-101 is compatible with ZEN-Core Sound Packs, so when you’re ready for more sounds, or want to explore new genres and styles, it’s easy to change things up.

Each track contains a powerful sample player so you can import your own custom sounds. Use your own voice, or the sound of your favorite instrument from your computer. Imported audio can sync with the MC-101’s tempo or be processed with the arsenal of built-in effects and hands-on controls.

With the MC-101’s wide range of pro effects, your music sounds polished and fully produced. Each track has independent effects processors with a huge number of variations. Lush chorus brings depth to pads and other synth sounds. Delays and reverbs create evocative spaces and add movement to delicate sequences. Overdrive, distortion, and amp simulation inject grit and intensity into synths, guitars, drums and more. You can also run your entire mix through master effects like filters, bit-crushers, and a master bus compressor that glues it all together with punch and clarity.

When you’re ready to further develop your tracks, or share your creations with friends and fans, simply connect the MC-101 to your computer with a single USB cable. It has advanced USB audio interface capabilities and can record an entire mix or all four parts to individual tracks in your DAW. Or sample sounds from your DAW to capture backing tracks, stems, or the sound of a favorite software synth for your next live show.