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Emdot's Roland RS-202 String Ensemble Samples
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Thanks for downloading the first of my RS-202 sample collections! I've always been a huge fan of string synths
like the Roland RS-202, Crumar Performer, ARP Solina, etc. I purchased the RS-202 from which the enclosed samples were
made through Ebay, and obviously in used condition. I can usually get it to perform well enough to get samples from it,
so as my much beloved Crumar Performer died on me before I had the chance to sample it, I thought I had better preserve
the 202's sound in digital format before it takes a similar dive.

So, dig in and see what you can come up with using these. I hope you enjoy the results!


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**Sample Information**

The samples in this collection were made by running the RS-202 through a circa 1988 Peavey SRC 421-16 mixer and then into
my soundcard. No EQ was used in the recording, only channel gain to achieve something close to unity gain.

The samples were recorded in mono at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz.

Each note was then looped and truncated in Adobe Audition to achieve the smallest sample size.

No noise reduction was used during the process and the notes were not normalized to even the volume across the keyboard.

NOTE: The RS-202 I own--no clue if this is unusual--has a very uneven volume across the keyboard. Some notes are soft, others
are very loud. I have not adjusted the samples at all. They play just as the actual instrument does.

One sample per note is include.

During recording the RS-202's tone control was set at its brightest setting. Vibrato, slow attack and sustain (release) were
all set to OFF.

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**Files Enclosed**

The following files should be included in this rar archive:

* STRI ENSII Dry.nki
* STRI ENSII Delicate His.nki
* (folder) STRI ENSII Samples

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**Kontakt 2 Instrument Details**

* STRI ENSII Dry.nki  (3.57 MB loaded)
  This Kontakt 2 instrument contains the raw samples with no FX or modulation other than an ADSR with the Attack, Decay and Sustain set
  to maximum and a moderate release time. This instrument is not velocity sensitive. Samples have been mapped from F1 to F6 with one sample per note.

* STRI ENSII Delicate His.nki  (3.57 MB loaded)
  This Kontakt 2 instrument uses the same samples as above, but FX and other modulation has been set up. Samples were mapped one octave
  lower, from F0 to F5. One note per sample was used except F5, which covers a note range of F5 - C6.

* (folder) STRI ENSII Samples (13.1 MB)
  The 61 samples included in this folder are used for both the instruments above. They come from the Strings I preset with the Ensemble II
  function switched ON. 

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**Roland RS-202 Information**

The Roland RS202 was the successful 1976 follow-up to its string synth dud, the RS101. The RS-202 added limited programmability to its 
unsuccessful predecessor's bag of tricks, but used essentially the same analog sound engine underneath.

Like all the string synths of it's day, the RS-202 used the 'divide down' method to produce its string sounds: a sawtooth oscillator as the 
base sound, and then its analog signal was divided down in pitch for each note, thus achieving unrestricted polyphony. When you pass this
through a chorus and add simple vibrato, an attack/release envelope shaper and presets for Brass, Strings I and Strings II (different registers),
you end up with that special '70s sound.

There are very few controls on the RS-202, here is a list of all its knobs/sliders (from left to right on the keyboard's interface):

TUNE (master tuning)
VOLUME (master volume)
TONE (Bottom two octaves)
TONE (Top three octaves)
SOFT ATTACK (Bottom two octaves)
SOFT VOLUME (Bottom two octaves)
BRASS (Bottom two octaves)
STRINGS I (Bottom two octaves)
STRINGS II (Bottom two octaves)
SOFT ATTACK (Top three octaves)
SOFT VOLUME (Top three octaves)
BRASS (Top three octaves)
STRINGS I (Top three octaves)
STRINGS II (Top three octaves)
SUSTAIN (Bottom two octaves)
SUSTAIN (Top three octaves)
VIBRATO DEPTH
VIBRATO DELAY TIME
ENSEMBLE (I, II and OFF)

As you can see, the RS202 was hardwired with a keyboard split. The bottom two octaves can be set to a different sound than the top three octaves. 
Register selection (Brass, Strings I, and/or Strings II), SOFT ATTACK, VOLUME SOFT, SUSTAIN, and TONE could be all be set indepentdantly for each 
keyboard region. Only the VIBRATO, ENSEMBLE, TUNE and VOLUME were global to both keyboard regions.

Strings I and Strings II (one octave higher than Strings I) are really the only useful registers on the RS-202. The Brass setting was 
essentially a waste, though sampled and reprocessed it may yet prove useful. Maybe.

Roland is known for its excellent chorus FX (both on its synths and in its Boss line of pedals), and they seem to have gotten it right
on the RS202. The chorus is called ENSEMBLE on the RS-202, and was controlled by a large 3-way switch with I & II or OFF settings, ENSEMBLE II being 
the more deeply chorused selection of the two.

Unlike other string synths of the day, each key on the RS-202 articulated properly because it had its own envelope shaper. Which is good
until you realize that the instrument's attack was limited to only two preset values: SOFT ATTACK ON and SOFT ATTACK OFF. That's a shame
as other string synths from the same era--Crumar's Performer, for example--had a fully functioning ATTACK slider, making much more variation
possible. The RS-202 did have fully variable SUSTAIN (release), so the exclusion of an ATTACK slider is a bit odd.

You can find plenty more information about the RS-202 on the internet. For example, Sound On Sound magazine did an excellent article about the 
RS-202 and the reverse-engineered copycat Multivox MX-202 in July of 2002. As of this writing, that article is available here:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul02/articles/retrozone0702.asp

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**LEGAL STUFF**
This Emdot samples License Agreement is a legally binding agreement between you (an individual or single entity) 
and Micah Sisk, hereafter referred to as Emdot, to use the samples included in this rar archive. 

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Samples copyright 2007, Emdot
ROLAND and BOSS are trademarks of Roland Corporation
KONTAKT 2 is a trademark of Native Instruments, GmbH
