SC-880

SC-880
64 Voice Synthesizer Module

The SC-880 is one of the last and best GM modules offered by Roland. It offered full compatibility with General MIDI (GM), while at the same time elevating the sonic capabilities of this machine to new heights - drawing from samples and sound from Roland's own JV/XP series. It is also compatible with the General Standard (GS) format.

The SC-880 is a 32-part, 64-voice multitimbral sound module, and thanks to this, "it can produce the sounds of a large ensemble. It is the ideal sound module to use with sequencers or personal computers".

The SC-880 contains 1,117 high quality tones and 42 types of Rhythm sound sets (including 3 sound effect sets). These include the same sounds as the SC-55 / 55mkII and SC-88 / 88 Pro, allowing SC-55 / 55mkII and SC-88 / 88 Pro song data to be played back correctly.

A wide variety of effects are provided: 64 types of multi-effects, eight types each of reverb and chorus effects, 10 types of delay, and a 2-band equalizer. In addition, the values of relevant parameters can be set for each effect, allowing professional-level manipulation of sound.

There are 256 user tones and 16 user Rhythm sets, allowing the user to create their own tones and Rhythm sets. The parameter list is not as exhaustive as - say - Roland's own JV-1080 or 2080, but there are enough to provide satisfying customization of sounds, like vibrato, filter, and envelope.

A very cool feature of the SC-880 is "Patch mode", which lets you layer up to 6 parts to create complex sounds. This mode is the most powerful feature of the machine, and where the best sounds are created. There are 256 on-board preset patches (hear examples from all these patches below), and you can create 128 user patches.

The SC-880 also provides a "Performance mode", which stores settings for all 32 parts. There are 8 preset Performances suitable for the following styles of music:

Pop Set
Orchestra Set
Rock Set
Jazz Set
Hip Hop Set
Techno Set
Ethnic Set
SEQ Template

and of course you can create eight of your own Performances.

The on-board Multi-FX is phenomenal, and allows to create very interesting patches, and give them that full-sounding "sparkle". There are many effects to choose from, ranging from the more common reverb, delay, eq and compression, to the more esoteric like phaser, flanger, enhancer, humanizer, overdrive, distortion, auto-wah, hexa-chorus, rotary, pitch-shifter, rotary and many more, and also combinations of effects.

This is really a good alternative to the JV-series - if you don't need all the parameter manipulation, but fast access to great sounds, it's a very valid machine - and you also get many samples that are not on the stock JV series, and thanks to the Multi-FX, many new pro-effects also.

Roland SC-880 audio demos

The three on-board demo songs:

1. Walkin' on the Sun - Typical Fusion-style 1990s demo

2. Toughparade - Dance demo, typically '90s (House, Trance, D 'n' B), that shows well the sonic capabilities of the SC-880

3. Turnabout - Classical demo, showcasing the realism of many of the patches on board

PRESET PATCHES

Stream all mp3 examples below

Patch name with audio demo	My comments
000 SC-880	Beautiful grand piano patch.
001 RB STRAT	Excellent overdriven Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, suitable for Rhythm 'n' Blues
002 MILD OD	Guitar through mild overdrive
003 WAH! PEDAL	Fantastic, very well-programmed patch that reproduces the effect of a wah-wah pedal on an electric guitar
004 WARM OD	Warm overdrive pedal / or amp
005 EC STRAT	Warm overdrive
006 BLUES OD	Very cool, typical Blues guitar overdrive sound
007 HEAVY & WILD	Perfect for Hard-Rock or Metal
008 FLANGER GTR	Super-powerful flanger effect
009 SLOW GEAR	A noted Roland/Boss effect
010 MID-BOOST	Typical Rock guitar sound
011 POWER RHYTHM	Fantastic, groovy and bouncy electric guitar sound, perfect for many genres and of course, Rock 'n Roll
012 HEAVY RHYTHM	Metal stuff
013 NOISY RHYTHM	Sounds like the British invasion of the 1960s
014 CLEAN RHYTHM	Sublime Fender Stratocaster of the 1980s
015 WAH RHYTHM	1970s cop movie
016 T-WAH GUITAR	Cool auto-wah / filter effect
017 FUNK PHASE	Very cool electric guitar through phaser, very in vogue in the late '70s / early '80s for Funk
018 MELLOW&CLEAN	The end of the night at the Vegas casino
019 COOL ARP.	Beautiful clean guitar sound
020 SURF GUITAR	Typical 1960s Surf Rock guitar, with mega-classic slapback echo/delay.
021 JAZZ GUITAR	Yep
022 NYLON BOSSA	Amazing acoustic guitar with nylon strings mounted. Perfect for Bossa Nova and other Latin-American genres
023 ENH. NYLON	Classical guitar
024 ENH. STEEL	The quintessential acoustic guitar sound.
025 COMP PK PASS	Nice picked bass through compressor.
026 DRIVE PK BS.	Picked bass through overdrive.
027 JP FRETLESS	"John Patitucci" style fretless bass, very good.
028 HYPER BASS	Cool...
029 303 SAW BASS	The classic silver box.
030 FAT S.BASS	Gluey synth bass
031 SYNC BAS	Powerful synth bass
032 HUMAN BASS	Nice synth bass with guttural texture introduced by moving the mod. control
033 PH RHODES	Classy Rhodes electric piano through phaser
034 TREM RHODES	Nice Rhodes through tremolo
035 TREM WURLY	Classic Wurlitzer electric piano
036 TREM FM EP	Beautiful 1980s style Yamaha DX7 / FM electric piano
037 SC RHODES	Splendid Rhodes piano, very expressive
038 SOFT E.PIANO	Gentle electric piano
039 COMP PIANO	Nice piano through compressor - perfect for '90s House and other genres
040 COMP CLAV.	Typical Hohner Clavinet, through compressor
041 THE E.ORGAN	Standard electric organ, good for many genres (Progressive, Sacred) - Mod switches the Leslie speed
042 TREM ORGAN	Delightful organ suitable for lighter styles... and Reggae!
043 5TH ORGAN	Yep
044 PERC. ORGAN	Classic Hammond B-3 with Jazz settings
045 OD-ROT ORGAN	Screaming overdriven organ, perfect for 1970s Hard-Rock. Mod wheel changes the Leslie speed
046 THEATER ORG	Swanky theater organ, like the huge Wurlitzers seen in movies
047 DIGI ORGAN	Typical D-50 style digital organ
048 ORGAN BELL	New Age style beauty
049 CHO STRINGS	Nice classical string ensemble through stereo chorus
050 WIDE STRINGS	Yep, and with nice vibrato
051 WIDE SYN STR	Gorgeous synth strings, perfect for many genres.
052 WARM STRINGS	Huge string ensemble, very 1980s
053 FAT STRINGS	Full string ensemble
054 SPIC WALTZ	Cool string played in spiccato
055 WIDE CHOIR	Seminarists singing in a secluded church
056 DUAL CHOIR	Men & Women
057 NYMAN BRASS	A nod to the famous composer
058 SAX LIVE	Realistic saxophones
059 SFORZANDO	Classic brass played sforzando
060 TS WIND	Brass ensemble (Tenor Saxes?)
061 ANALOG BRS	Classic analog brass, very 1980s
062 OCT BRASS	Big brass
063 M. TROMBONE	Funny trombone with mute
064 DRIVE TENOR	Tenor sax in overdrive
065 PM SYN LEAD	Nice synthesizer lead with Portamento
066 MAD CHO LEAD	Chorused synth lead
067 MG SAW LEAD	Nice Moog Minimoog style synth lead
068 OB SAW LEAD	Oberheim OB-style synth lead
069 SINE LEAD	Gentler sine-based synth lead
071 SUPER SAW	Quite different from Roland's soon-to-be-coming JP-8000 SuperSaw
072 SILKY LEAD	Digital goodness
073 STEP SYNC	Lots of movement
074 PHASER HPF	Phenomenal synth strings with generous amounts of the classic Roland/Boss phaser
075 PHASER STR	Gentler version of the above
076 PROLOGUE	Classic Roland preset found in other of their synths
077 MOD SWEEP	Gorgeous synth pad, with lots of modulation delay fx
078 MOD HEAVEN	Nice patch inspired by the mega-classic "Staccato Heaven" on the D-50
079 RAVE SHIFT	Cool Techno-Rave lead
080 FB FAR OUT!	A lot of feedback
081 STEP BELL	Nice and melancholy glassy bell through step phaser fx
082 STEP STRINGS	Strings through the step phaser
083 SEQ HORN PAD	Moving horns
084 THE SOFT PAD	Divine synthesizer pad, perfect for being "the glue" of the song in many genres
085 RATTLE PAD	Yep
086 WARM VOX PAD	Synthy vox pad
087 JP8 SQR PAD	Splendid square waveform synth pad, inspired by the Jupiter-8
088 OB SOFT PAD	Huge soft synthesizer pad, inspired by the Oberheim line
089 PAN SEQUENCE	Jumpy pad
090 ASIAN DREAM	Perfect for New Age
091 ER HU LEAD	The classic Chinese violin
092 ZITHER	Gorgeous, cinematic sound
093 PSY. TABLA	Different
094 SITAR DANCE	Indian atmospheres
095 SPIN BIWA	The Japanese Biwa, played with tremolo technique
096 ARABIC LEAD	Phenomenal reed-based Arabic sound
097 3D BUBBLE	:-)
098 3D ROTARY	Wide organ
099 3D DIDGERIDO	The classic Australian Aboriginal instrument
100 3D BAG SWEEP	Huge bagpipes
101 3D UFO......	Mission Earth
102 3D CHURCH	Bells
103 3D IMPCT HIT	Very nice sound effect
104 3D EXCITE !!	They like the show
105 LO-FI AUH	Classic Techno sound
106 LO-FI TECHNO	Typical JV-1080 style sound
107 LO-FI ORGAN	"Dirty" organ
108 LO-FI SQUARE	Low bit-rate flute
109 LO-FI VOX	Cool Techno vox
110 LO-FI JAZZ	Showcasing the excellent on-board Multi-FX processor's capacity
111 LO-FI DUO	Bass and piano from the gramophone
112 LO-FI GND NZ	The dreaded 60Hz ground loop noise
113 LEAD & SEQ	Cool Moroder style split
114 PIANO & BASS	Yes
115 GTR & ORGAN	Soulful organ and sublime 1960's fuzz guitar split... perfect for James Bond scores
116 VIOLIN&CELLO	Nice duo
117 BRS. & FLUTE	Unusual split
118 SYNTH SPLIT	Early 1980s vibe
119 PIANO & VIBE	Perfect for 1960s Jazz.. piano and vibraphone split
120 JAZZ RHYTHM	The two staples of Jazz - drums and contrabass
121 ACID PANNER	Moving synth
122 LFO RAVE	More JV-1080 style sounds
123 FLANGER NZ	Huge flanger effect, in stereo
124 1 KEY STROKE	Strumming
125 INET LIVE	Tennis match
126 DOUBLE HIT	Who wants to be a millionaire?
127 SCRAPE SHIFT	Nice sound fx
128 EPILOGUE	Early vocoder

USER PATCHES

Stream all mp3 examples below

Patch name with audio demo	My comments
001 Power 880	Huge patch
002 Alternative 880	Another patch inspired by the ground-breaking JV-1080
003 Strings Stack 1	Ravishing string ensemble patch... gorgeous.
004 LA Stack	Typical MIDI-stack combo of the early/mid 1980s
005 Dist Gtr for GR	Solo guitar
006 Dance Saws	Lots of sawtooth waves
007 Sci-Fi Pad	Whoosh sound
008 Gamelan Split	Classy Gamelan orchestra
009 New Age Split 1	Magnificent split that uses an SH-101 sample for the bass, and an amalgam of synth sounds for the synth pad
010 Lo-Fi VP330	The classic Roland vocoder
011 Bass-Brass Sect.	Happy Pop
012 Ac.Piano 880	The very nice grand piano on board
013 Phase Pad	Sublime soft pad through phaser
014 Lo-Fi Rave	Quintessential Rave sound
015 JC Guitar	Beautiful emulation of electric guitar through Roland's famous JC-120 Jazz Chorus amp
016 Prologue 880	Another famous Roland patch, found in other synths
017 Techno Saw	Yep
018 Bass/Lead	Nice split
019 Fantasia 880	Again a nod to the D-50
020 Distortion Pad	Different..
021 Euro Piano	Beautiful, sorrowful grand piano patch, typical of the European Romantic sounds and moods
022 SC Piano	Another great European style piano
023 Church Piano	Awesome patch - a piano mixed with a gorgeous chapel organ
024 Tremolo Rhodes	Very nice Fender-Rhodes electric piano, with auto pan effect
025 Nylon Rhodes	Variant
026 Guitar Rhodes	Another variant
027 SA Rhodes	Really good patch inspired by Roland's RD-1000 and its S.A. synthesis
028 Gamelan Rhodes	One more variant
029 123EP&456BSforGR	Far out Fusion
030 Heaven Piano	One more inspiration from the classic D-50
031 Heaven EP	and one more
032 Heaven Key 1	Moody keys
033 Heaven Key 2	Wavy clouds
034 Air Heaven	Pop sounds
035 Pls Phaser Pad	Nce pulse-waveform style pad, through phaser
036 Bell Pad 880	Fantastic bell pad, very inspired by the JV and JD line of Roland synths
037 Holy Night	Christmas
038 Air Bell Pad 1	Beautiful fairy tale
039 Air Bell Pad 2	Gorgeous cinema
040 Bass-Bell Pad	Nice split
041 Pad-Bell	Gorgeous, somber split
042 Air Bell	Nice Asian feel
043 3D Carillon	Lots of bells
044 Dist.Organ Split	Jon Lord style
045 Church Organ 880	Big sound
046 Church Org-Choir	Very, very cool patch that mixes great-sounding pipe organ and choir
047 Compressor Clav.	The classic Clavinet sound of the 1970s
048 Marimba 880	Nice marimba
049 Accordion 1	French
050 Accordion 2	Italian
051 Ac.Gtr&Harmonica	Somber acoustic guitar and harmonica split
052 Ac.Gtr w-Chorus	Jumbo-style guitar sound
053 3D Ac. Guitar	Wide
054 Ac.Steel Guitar	Perfect guitar sound for many music genres
055 Steel Ensemble	Guitars playing together... or 12-string
056 Feedback JC	Nice New Age ambience
057 Broken Guitar	Fuzzy
058 Bass-Jazz Gtr	Classic jazz split
059 Bass-Dist.Gtr	R o c k
060 EthnicEnsemble 1	Arabia
061 EthnicEnsemble 2	Asia
062 Afro Split	Very cool wooden ambiences
063 Strings Sect. 1	Vienna
064 Strings Sect. 2	Bergen
065 Strings Stack 2	Beautiful string ensemble, good for soundtracks
066 JP Strings	The inimitable soft strings of the Jupiter-8
067 OB Strings	More Oberheim inspiration
068 Strings Machine	The surrogates of the real thing
069 Phase Strings 1	Nice
070 Phase Strings 2	Even nicer
071 Lo-Fi Strings 1	Somebody remove that blanket from the speaker, please!
072 Lo-Fi Strings 2	8-bit beauty
073 Lo-Fi Rain Str	Ferry boat departure scene in a melancholic black & white movie
074 Techno Pizz	Typical JD-990 pizzicato strings Insomnia, Encore Une Fois style
075 Syn Vox 880	Nice 1960s style happy vocals
076 Choir 880 1	Great-sounding choir
077 Choir 880 2	More pop version
078 Dah Vox	Scat
079 Brass Sect 880 1	Enter the Queen
080 Brass Sect 880 2	Pop brass
081 FrHrn Sect 880	Serious French horns
082 Syn Brass 880 1	1980s
083 Syn Brass 880 2	Jumpy
084 OB Stack	More Obie
085 Poly Synth 880 1	Retro mid-1980s Italo-Dance sounds
086 Poly Synth 880 2	More 1980s
087 Dance Saw 2	1990s block chords
088 Dance Saw 3	Ravey
089 Lo-Fi Rave 2	More
090 Techno Split	A bit tame but it works
091 Lo-Fi Saw	Funky synth
092 Phase Saw	Yep
093 Sync Lead 880	Expressive Fusion lead
094 Uni Saw Lead	Another one
095 FM Split	Aggressive FM sounds
096 Bass-Lead 2	Typical '80s sounds
097 Bass-Lead 3	More Italo 1980s
098 Flute 880	Gorgeous, realistic traverse flute
099 3D Pipe	Nice flute
100 New Age Pipe	Calm & peaceful ensemble
101 Soprano Sax 880	Yep
102 Bass-Tenor Sax	Nice split
103 Trumpet 880	Quite realistic
104 Bag Pipe 880	Ok
105 Square Pad	Beautiful pad
106 Slow Phase Pad	Expressive, moving sound
107 Rotary Pad	Yep
108 D-50 Pad	Again, the D-50 influence
109 Slow Glass Pad	Gorgeous pad
110 5th Str Pad	From here to Saturn
111 Syn Hrn Pad	Sublime soft pad
112 Ancestral 880	H u g e pad
113 New Age Split 2	Cool!
114 Space Pulse	Spaceship
115 Step Pad 880	Moving pad
116 Metal Sweep	Digital & good
117 Metal 7th Pad	Charming pad
118 Lo-Fi AuhAuh	Different
119 Lo-Fi Rattle Pad	Vaguely '80s
120 Low Sweep	Very low.
121 Explosion	Yes
122 IMPACT !	We now return to the show
123 Techno Hit 880 1	Very cool Techno sounds
124 Techno Hit 880 2	Very cool Techno sounds
125 Techno Hit 880 3	Very cool Techno sounds
126 Techno Hit 880 4	Very cool Techno sounds
127 Techno Hit 880 5	Very cool Techno sounds
128 For Manual	Honest guitar

RHYTHM SETS

Stream all mp3 examples below

Drum Set name with audio demo	My comments
001 STANDARD 1	Solid, realistic all-purpose studio drums and percussion
002 STANDARD 2	Tighter snares
003 STANDARD 3	Fat, gluey drum kit, good for R 'n B
009 ROOM	With room ambience
010 HIP HOP	Powerful and mixed
011 JUNGLE	Classic very tight samples, for Drum 'n Bass / Jungle
012 TECHNO	Typical Techno drum sounds
017 POWER	For Metal
025 ELECTRONIC	S i m m o n s 80s :-)
026 TR-808	The one and only classic drum machine
027 DANCE	nice samples
028 CR-78	Early Roland drum machine
029 TR-606	Mr. Oizo style
030 TR-707	So totally mid-1980s
031 TR-909	The other one and only classic drum machine
033 JAZZ	Realistic
041 BRUSH	Nice but needs longer samples
049 ORCHESTRA	Cool!
050 ETHNIC	Lots of great samples
051 KICK & SNARE	Yep
053 ASIA	Very, very intriguing
054 CYMBAL&CLAPS	oh yes.
057 SFX	The classic, Roland General MIDI sound FX
058 RHYTHM FX	cool
059 RHYTHM FX 2	cool

TONES (GM and extended)

Stream all mp3 examples below

Tone name with audio demo	My comments
1-000-101 Brightness	Typical GM soundset bright pad
1-008-031 Feedback Gt	GM electric distorted guitar
1-126-027 Picked Bass	GM bass
1-127-035 Chorale	Digi vox
1-127-040 Funny Vox	Early monophonic synth
1-127-042 Ice Rain	One of the classic GM sounds
2-000-030 OverdriveGt	Nice guitar
2-000-054 Voice Oohs	The very famous Roland "Doo" patch
2-016-017 60's Organ 1	Doors vox
2-016-040 Rubber Bas	I've always liked this bass, since when I had my SC-50 Sound Canvas
2-065-025 Nylon Gt.	Honest guitar
2-065-064 Syn.Brass 2	Analog
3-000-016 Santur	Nice
3-016-013 Barafon	Woody and cool
3-024-001 Piano + Str.	Staples of piano-bar players
3-064-004 Honky-tonk	Yep
3-064-010 Glocknspiel	Lovely.
3-065-005 E.Piano 1	Sparkly
A-1-1-001 STANDARD	The typical GM drum set

Roland SC-880 specifications

Year of release:	1998
Polyphony:
Sound generation method:
Preset memories
MIDI:	yes
Sound expansion capabilities:	no
Sequencer	ni
Arpeggiator	no
Effects	yes

Roland SC-880 pictures (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

Roland SC-880 manual

available at www.rolandus.com

Links

SITE	Type of resource	DESCRIPTION

Roland SC-880 review with audio demo - July 4, 2009