Has anyone made an Instrument Definition for the DR-880?

Goto the Boss site and see if they have one.

Has anyone made an Instrument Definition for the DR-880?

Roland don't even have a Patch List, What do you want to control from Midi? Is it just the different Patches? If so I Could make you a basic .ins definition file. It is quite a complex Beast to do a complete Instrument defintion, that's why I ask what you need to switch with midi to save me time and aggravation. PM me with response or reply here and I will try and help you.

Here's a .TXT file of the entries I have in my Cakewalk definitions:
DR880
Notes:
1. This lists only the kits in the Preset bank. After many fruitless attempts, and contact with Boss, I couldn't find a way to tell the DR880 from within Sonar to switch to the User bank so kits can be selected there. Let me know if you find a way!
2. If you're going to paste this in to your INS file, remember from Sonar 6 onwards it lives in Documents and Settings/You/Application Data/Cakewalk/Sonar 7 Producer Edition.

John

That's my impression, also. I know that you can trigger notes assigned to pads for a drum kit, but there is no documentation as to which instruments are assigned to the pads. One can step through each drum kit, and write the note names and numbers, but that is a real PITA.

I'm going to wait for the Akai XR20 or the Alesis SR18 for my next drum machine. (The DR-880 doesn't have A/B pattern/fill capability either. There are a number of other gotchas that are dealbreakers for me that I have to relearn everytime I consider the 880. What sense does it make to import MIDI files if you can't specify the drumkits/note numbers in your develpment tool to hear them play... I guess one can create his own drumkit voice by voice, but I would prefer to start with a default kit and then modify it. (Of course I can create a default kit, but it is still a PITA.....)

But Zoom creates machines with no MIDI output at all....... sheesh!

Chuck

ORIGINAL: Skyline_UK

Here's a .TXT file of the entries I have in my Cakewalk definitions:
DR880
Notes:
1. This lists only the kits in the Preset bank. After many fruitless attempts, and contact with Boss, I couldn't find a way to tell the DR880 from within Sonar to switch to the User bank so kits can be selected there. Let me know if you find a way!
2. If you're going to paste this in to your INS file, remember from Sonar 6 onwards it lives in Documents and Settings/You/Application Data/Cakewalk/Sonar 7 Producer Edition.

John

I have to admit I'm amazed at the lack of good documents for the DR-880 given that it is Rolands flagship drum machine. So, here is my instrument definition that I made for this device. Cut and paste the following text into a blank .ins file and import away.


; ----------------------------------------------------------------------
; Cakewalk Instrument Definition File
; Boss DR-880 Dr.Rhythm
; ken.kerrick@gmail.com


; ----------------------------------------------------------------------

.Patch Names


[Boss DR-880 Preset Kits]
0=Studio 1
1=Studio 2
2=Studio 3
3=Studio 4
4=Studio 5
5=Studio 6
6=Studio 7
7=Comp Studio
8=Total Comp
9=Room 1
10=Room 2
11=Room 3
12=Room 4
13=Room 5
14=Room 6
15=Room 7
16=Natural 1
17=Natural 2
18=Natural 3
19=Rock 1
20=Rock 2
21=Rock 3
22=Rock 4
23=Rock 5
24=Rock 6
25=Rock 7
26=Rock 8
27=Rock 9
28=Rock 10
29=Rock 11
30=Light Rock
31=Long HH
32=Funk Rock 1
33=Funk Rock 2
34=Power 1
35=Power 2
36=Power 3
37=Power 4
38=Maple Hard
39=Ambient
40=Gated
41=Dry
42=Pop 1
43=Pop 2
44=Pop 3
45=Pop 4
46=Pop 5
47=Pop 6
48=Pop 7
49=Pop 8
50=Half R&B
51=Fusion 1
52=Fusion 2
53=Fusion 3
54=Fusion 4
55=Fusion 5
56=Fusion 6
57=Funk 1
58=Funk 2
59=Funk 3
60=Soul 1
61=Soul 2
62=Reggae
63=Ballad
64=Rockabilly
65=Country 1
66=Country 2
67=Slow Light
68=Unplugged 1
69=Unplugged 2
70=Unplugged 3
71=Vintage 1
72=Vintage 2
73=Vintage 3
74=Jazz 1
75=Jazz 2
76=Jazz 3
77=Brush 1
78=Brush 2
79=R&B 1
80=R&B 2
81=R&B 3
82=R&B 4
83=R&B 5
84=HipHop 1
85=HipHop 2
86=HipHop 3
87=HipHop 4
88=HipHop 5
89=House 1
90=House 2
91=Techno 1
92=Techno 2
93=Techno 2
94=BreakBeats 1
95=BreakBeats 2
96=BreakBeats 3
97=Electro
98=Voice Drum
99=India

[Boss DR-880 User Kits]
0=Studio 1
1=Studio 2
2=Studio 3
3=Studio 4
4=Studio 5
5=Studio 6
6=Studio 7
7=Comp Studio
8=Total Comp
9=Room 1
10=Room 2
11=Room 3
12=Room 4
13=Room 5
14=Room 6
15=Room 7
16=Natural 1
17=Natural 2
18=Natural 3
19=Rock 1
20=Rock 2
21=Rock 3
22=Rock 4
23=Rock 5
24=Rock 6
25=Rock 7
26=Rock 8
27=Rock 9
28=Rock 10
29=Rock 11
30=Light Rock
31=Long HH
32=Funk Rock 1
33=Funk Rock 2
34=Power 1
35=Power 2
36=Power 3
37=Power 4
38=Maple Hard
39=Ambient
40=Gated
41=Dry
42=Pop 1
43=Pop 2
44=Pop 3
45=Pop 4
46=Pop 5
47=Pop 6
48=Pop 7
49=Pop 8
50=Half R&B
51=Fusion 1
52=Fusion 2
53=Fusion 3
54=Fusion 4
55=Fusion 5
56=Fusion 6
57=Funk 1
58=Funk 2
59=Funk 3
60=Soul 1
61=Soul 2
62=Reggae
63=Ballad
64=Rockabilly
65=Country 1
66=Country 2
67=Slow Light
68=Unplugged 1
69=Unplugged 2
70=Unplugged 3
71=Vintage 1
72=Vintage 2
73=Vintage 3
74=Jazz 1
75=Jazz 2
76=Jazz 3
77=Brush 1
78=Brush 2
79=R&B 1
80=R&B 2
81=R&B 3
82=R&B 4
83=R&B 5
84=HipHop 1
85=HipHop 2
86=HipHop 3
87=HipHop 4
88=HipHop 5
89=House 1
90=House 2
91=Techno 1
92=Techno 2
93=Techno 2
94=BreakBeats 1
95=BreakBeats 2
96=BreakBeats 3
97=Electro
98=Voice Drum
99=India






; ----------------------------------------------------------------------

.Note Names


; ----------------------------------------------------------------------

.Controller Names


[Boss DR-880 Controllers]
7=7-Volume

; ----------------------------------------------------------------------

.RPN Names


; ----------------------------------------------------------------------

.NRPN Names


; ----------------------------------------------------------------------

.Instrument Definitions


[Boss DR-880 Dr.Rhythm]
Control=Boss DR-880 Controllers
Patch[0]=Boss DR-880 Preset Kits
Patch[1]=Boss DR-880 User Kits

I must be mad, but I've started to pull the data set for this together in Access & Excel - should anything ever come of this, I will let you know...

Slightly quicker than expected, but not the end by any matter of means, I've compiled all of the DR-880 Preset Data into a .xls file for anyone to make use of should it serve a purpose. There's still a lot of work required before it resembles a fully populated .ins file for the DR-880, but it does at least form the basis of something.

Any feedback would be appreciated, especially if there are errors that need to be be sorted out.

The file can be found across at my blog here at - Roland Boss DR-880 Preset Data List

Progress from here on in is somewhat slower, as I'm now mapping out the instrument sounds that are used within each of the 100 kits. This involves going through each kit one at a time, tapping the 3 banks of 20 pads, writing down the instrument number, then entering this data into the spreadsheet. Five kits down so far, which probably amounts to about 2 hours work. Only 95 to go....

Hi Chris,
 I appreciate that you have taken the DR880 on in this matter. This is something  I am greatly interested in as I myself have NO knowledge of how to write MIDI code. I am quite new to midi as all I have really focused on was audio only. I have looked ALL over the net for ANYTTHING resembling and .ins file for the DR880 to no avail. I would be very interested in trying out what you have when you are done.
 
Good luck!
David