C O M M E R C I A L S O U N D B A N K S
Here is a repertory including actual and discontinued commercial soundbanks that I collected since nearly 30 years from ROM cartridges, floppy disks or books.
For each of them you'll find comments about company or sounddesigner and a detailed patchlist. Several of them also include image(s) from the original support.
This collection is not complete, if you have material that is not listed here, I would be largely interested in.
This page is organized in three sections:
1°/ ROM cartridges, extensions & floppy disks collection
2°/ Books collection
3°/ Missing soundbanks (I mean the material that I'm still searching for...)
ROM CARTRIDGES, EXTENSIONS & FLOPPY DISKS COLLECTION
Companies/distributers (alphabetical order):
NOTE: cells with peach background color indicate societies which are still selling D-50 soundbanks via the web (most of them as sysex files)
Sounddesigners/programmers (alphabetical order):
NOTE: cells with peach background color indicate sounddesigners who are still selling D-50 soundbanks via the web (most of them as sysex files)
Downloadable soundbanks are available in standard Sysex (*.syx - 36'048 bytes), SMF (*.mid) and Midi Quest© (*.bnk) file formats
KEEP IN MIND THAT SENDING THESE SOUNDBANKS TO YOUR SYNTH WILL ERASE ALL DATAS STORED IN YOUR D-50/D-550 INTERNAL MEMORY
Click here if you need some help or indications on how to transfer these soundbanks to your D-50/D-550
ROLAND
The japanese
company produced and distributed 5 ROM cards (PN-D50-00 to PN-D50-04) for
his own synth.
PN-D50-00 ROM card is in fact the internal factory preload bank.
They also edited a special 64 patches limited ROM card named "Best Choice" (known in Japan as the "Special Selected" Sound Library).
SOUND SOURCE UNLIMITED
SSU is an american society (Westlake Village, California) which developed complete sounds/samples libraries for a large collection of diverse synthesizers/samplers models.
It gathers a large team of programmers and sounddesigners (see their respective profiles here).
Their products were distributed by Greytsounds™ (Northridge, California - owner: Bob Grey) via their website since the mid 90's.
Sound Source Unlimited (SSU) was then renamed "Sound Source Interactive" (SSI).
Now it has moved to the "Great Sounds" website (Simi Valley, California - owner: Bob Grey) and soundbanks are only available as sysex files (no more ROM/RAM cards).
They also sell their products via their eBay store.
There were a total of 10 ROM cards for the D-50.
Volume 4 (D504R) "FM Radio" was also distributed by Music Solutions - under SSU license - as the "House Band" ROM card (this last one was labeled "D505R" - which could explain that SSU collection doesn't finally include a "volume 5"...)
Any informations about it are welcome!
PA-DECODER
PA-Decoder is a german company (Bielefeld) which produced D-50 ROM cards with an original and exclusive particularity: their models were reversible dual sided and contained 128 patches (64 on each side). So, they edited 6 banks for a total of 3 available ROM cards.
By the way, they also produced an expansion board card which included 8 additional internal soundbanks.
Any informations about it or - best of all - a sysex version of it would be much appreciated!
PN-D50-00 ROM card is in fact the internal factory preload bank.
They also edited a special 64 patches limited ROM card named "Best Choice" (known in Japan as the "Special Selected" Sound Library).
| PN-D50-00 (Internal factory preload soundbank) | Patchlist | Image | |
| PN-D50-01 "Sustain Group" - includes 16 new reverbs (17-32) | Patchlist | Image | |
| PN-D50-02 "Decay Group" - includes 16 new reverbs (17-32) | Patchlist | Image | |
| PN-D50-03 "Sustain Group II" - includes 16 new reverbs (17-32) | Patchlist | Image | |
| PN-D50-04 "Decay & S.E. Group II" - includes 16 new reverbs (17-32) | Patchlist | Image | |
| "Best Choice" Sound Library (also known in Japan as the "Special Selected" Sound Library) | Patchlist | Image |
SOUND SOURCE UNLIMITED
SSU is an american society (Westlake Village, California) which developed complete sounds/samples libraries for a large collection of diverse synthesizers/samplers models.
It gathers a large team of programmers and sounddesigners (see their respective profiles here).
Their products were distributed by Greytsounds™ (Northridge, California - owner: Bob Grey) via their website since the mid 90's.
Sound Source Unlimited (SSU) was then renamed "Sound Source Interactive" (SSI).
Now it has moved to the "Great Sounds" website (Simi Valley, California - owner: Bob Grey) and soundbanks are only available as sysex files (no more ROM/RAM cards).
They also sell their products via their eBay store.
There were a total of 10 ROM cards for the D-50.
Volume 4 (D504R) "FM Radio" was also distributed by Music Solutions - under SSU license - as the "House Band" ROM card (this last one was labeled "D505R" - which could explain that SSU collection doesn't finally include a "volume 5"...)
Any informations about it are welcome!
| D501R "TV/Film" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D502R "Power Synths" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D503R "Dance Mix" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D504R "FM Radio" (also known as the Music Solutions D505R "House Band" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image | |
| D506R "Producer Series" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D507R "Artist Series" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D508R "Super R&B" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D509R "Atmospheric Textures & FX" (programmed by James Reynolds) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| D510R "Country/Acoustic Folk" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
PA-DECODER
PA-Decoder is a german company (Bielefeld) which produced D-50 ROM cards with an original and exclusive particularity: their models were reversible dual sided and contained 128 patches (64 on each side). So, they edited 6 banks for a total of 3 available ROM cards.
By the way, they also produced an expansion board card which included 8 additional internal soundbanks.
Any informations about it or - best of all - a sysex version of it would be much appreciated!
| Volume I (sides 1&2) | Patchlist | Patchlist | |
| Volume II (sides 1&2) | Patchlist | Patchlist | |
| Volume III (sides 1&2) | Patchlist | Patchlist |
BO TOMLYN
Bo Tomlyn is an american musician who worked with famous artists during the 80's-90's (Prince, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Chicago,...) as keyboardist or sounddesigner. He also programmed diverse synths models and commercialized his work. He distributed it under his own name or via his society named Key Clique (Los Angeles, California).
He edited four D-50 soundbanks: "PRO-Series" (volumes I-III) and the "Top Forty" ROM card (distributed in Japan by Rittor Music).
| PRO-I | Patchlist | |
| PRO-II | Patchlist | |
| PRO-III | Patchlist | |
| Top Forty (known in Japan as the KV-502 "Top 40" soundbank distributed by Rittor Music) | Patchlist |
LEISTER PRODUCTIONS
Leister Productions is an american company (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania - owner: Frank Leister) which edited soundbanks for several 80's synths models.
They produced a total of 6 Roland D-50 soundbanks distributed on a 3.5" floppy disk available for all supports of this time (Mac, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128 and PC).
I don't know if their D-50 soundbanks have specific names other than "Volumes 1-6" as mentioned here. Any additional informations about it are welcome!
| Volume 1 | Patchlist |
| Volume 2 | Patchlist |
| Volume 3 | Patchlist |
| Volume 4 | Patchlist |
| Volume 5 | Patchlist |
| Volume 6 | Patchlist |
MICHAEL HOTOP
Michael Hotop is a german sounddesigner (Osnabrück) who programmed and sold soundbanks for several synths during the 80's-90's.
Most of his sets have been distributed in Japan by diverse companies (ARK, Rittor Music, Digital Music Soft Ware). He produced a total of 8 different ROM cards for the D-50.
| SoundSet 1 "First Time" (known in Japan as the ARK/Source "HotopSounds Vol.7" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| SoundSet 2 "Pop Edition" (known in Japan as the ARK/Source "HotopSounds Vol.5" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| SoundSet 3 "Power Set" (known in Japan as the ARK/Source "HotopSounds Vol.6" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| SoundSet 4 "Live 1" (known as the Digital Music Soft Ware/Source "Live Sound Vol.1" - known as the MIDIMusic "Japan") | Patchlist | |
| SoundSet 5 "Studio 1" (known in Japan as the Digital Music Soft Ware/Source "Studio Sound Vol. 2") | Patchlist | |
| SoundSet 6 "Live 2" (known in Japan as the Digital Music Soft Ware/Source "Live Sound Vol.3" soundbank) | Patchlist | |
| SoundSet 7 "Studio 2" (known in Japan as the Digital Music Soft Ware/Source "Studio Sound Vol.4" soundbank) | Patchlist | |
| SoundSet 8 "Special Collection" (known as the Rittor Music KV-501 "D-50 Special Collection Vol.1") | Patchlist |
VALHALA
Valhala is a well-known american company (Ferndale, Michigan) which unfortunately went bankrupt on the early 90's.
They edited three different Roland D-50 ROM cards Series: "Studio Series", "International Gold Series" and "ORGANizer Series".
"Studio Series" commonly gathered 7 ROM cards.
"International Gold" and "ORGANizer" Series gathered 4 ROM cards each.
"International Gold" Series sounds D-501 & D-502 were developed by Hit Music Productions (England, Farnham).
"ORGANizer Series" ROM cards are dedicated to organ sounds only.
(Many thanks to Lee Groves for his contribution).
| Studio Series "PCM" | Patchlist | Image |
| Studio Series "Top 40" | Patchlist | Image |
| Studio Series "Digital" | Patchlist | Image |
| Studio Series "New Age" | Patchlist | Image |
| Studio Series "Analog" | Patchlist | Image |
| Studio Series "Effects" | Patchlist | Image |
| Studio Series "Orchestral" | Patchlist | Image |
| International Gold Series "D-501" (Mix#1: Wide-ranging Techno-Pop/House - programmed by Lee Groves) | Patchlist | Image |
| International Gold Series "D-502" (Mix#2: Sustain, Pads, Spectrum sounds - programmed by Lee Groves) | Patchlist | Image |
| International Gold Series "D-503" (Mix#3: British Influenced, Tech-Pop) | Patchlist | Image |
| International Gold Series "D-504" (Mix#4: Keys, Pads & Analogs) | Patchlist | Image |
| ORGANizer Series "Classic I" | Patchlist | Image |
| ORGANizer Series "Classic II" | Patchlist | Image |
| ORGANizer Series "Theater" | Patchlist | Image |
| ORGANizer Series "Screamin' B3" | Patchlist | Image |
KID NEPRO PRODUCTIONS
Kid Nepro Productions is an american company (Brooklyn, New York - owner: Steve Proto) which is developing products since 1984.
They edited three D-50 ROM cards in the past, but only volumes 1 & 2 are still available.
Any informations or - best of all - a sysex version of this mysterious sold out Volume 3 would be much appreciated!
| Patch King Mix Vol.1 "Organs/Brass/Basses/Synths" | Patchlist | |
| Patch King Mix Vol.2 "Pianos/Synths/Effects" | Patchlist |
MIG MUSIC
Mig Music is an english society (Carshalton) which is rather proposing soundbanks for virtual synths.
Now, they programmed two D-50 soundbanks and sold it for a short while, downloadable as sysex files.
| Volume 1 | Patchlist |
| Volume 2 | Patchlist |
DIGITAL MUSIC SOFT WARE
DMSW is a japanese company which seems to be the continuation of ARK society.
They essentially distributed in Japan D-50 soundbanks from german top sounddesigner Michael Hotop. All are labeled "Source" with a specific logo on it.
The four ones mentioned here are in fact duplicates of SoundSets 4, 5, 6 & 7 from Michael's collection.
Any informations (or sysex versions) about other volumes from this collection are welcome!
| Source "Live Sound Vol.1" (known as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 4 "Live 1" - known as the MIDIMusic "Japan") | Patchlist | Image |
| Source "Live Sound Vol.3" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 6 "Live 2" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| Source "Studio Sound Vol.2" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 5 "Studio 1" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| Source "Studio Sound Vol.4" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 7 "Studio 2" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
ARK
ARK is a japanese society which previously sold Digital Music Soft Ware products. Here are other duplicated D-50 soundbanks from Michael Hotop's collection.
Any informations (or sysex versions) about other volumes from this collection are welcome!
| Source "HotopSounds Vol.5" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 2 "Pop Edition" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| Source "HotopSounds Vol.6" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 3 "Power Set" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| Source "HotopSounds Vol.7" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 1 "First Time" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
RITTOR MUSIC
Rittor Music is a japanese company (Tokyo) which distributed ROM cards and also edited interesting books about synthesis.
As far as I know, they produced two D-50 ROM cards which are both duplicates: KV-501 is the same as the Michael Hotop's "SoundSet 8" soundbank and KV-502 is the same as the Bo Tomlyn's "Top Forty" soundbank.
| KV-501 "D-50 Special Collection Vol.1" (known in Europe as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 8 "Special Collection" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| KV-502 "Bo Tomlyn Top 40" (known in the USA as the Bo Tomlyn's "Top Forty" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
MUSIC SOLUTIONS
Music Solutions is an american (California) society which distributed - under Sound Source Unlimited license - a D-50 ROM card named "House Band" which is in fact the same as the SSU D504R "FM Radio" soundbank. I don't konw if they produced other ROM cards for this synth. Any informations about it are welcome!
| D505R "House Band" (also known as the Sound Source Unlimited D504R "FM Radio" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
PRO-REC
Pro-Rec is an american society (San Diego, California) which is selling a large collection of soundbanks for several synths.
They produced one D-50 soundbank named "Dance".
| "Dance" | Patchlist | Image |
MEDIACRAFT
Mediacraft is an english society (Cheltenham) which produced seven D-50 soundbanks.
| Volume 1 "Golden Memories" | Patchlist |
| Volume 2 "Moods & Textures" | Patchlist |
| Volume 3 "Ethnic Set" | Patchlist |
| Volume 4 "Movie Set" | Patchlist |
| Volume 5 "Producer" | Patchlist |
| Volume 6 "Progressive Rock" | Patchlist |
| Volume 7 "Timewarp" | Patchlist |
GEERDES
Geerdes is a german company (Berlin) which is distributing now MIDIFiles songs.
They began in 1985 with synth soundbanks and editors for Atari or Commodore 64.
They edited three D-50 soundbanks in the late 80's (certainly joined with one of their editor programs).
| "Volume 1" | Patchlist |
| "Volume 2" | Patchlist |
| "Volume 3" | Patchlist |
VOICE CRYSTAL™
Voice Crystal™ is an american company (Oakley, California - owners: Mark Wiens & Paul Chasteen) which is selling all Eye&I Productions products.
They are proposing six D-50 ROM cards. Particularities: volume 3 has Keith Emerson's signature and volume 4 has Jonathan Cain's signature on their respective faces.
| "Volume 1" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| "Volume 2" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| "Volume 3" (Keith Emerson signature card) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| "Volume 4" (Jonathan Cain signature card) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| "Volume 5" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| "Volume 6" | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
EMC
EMC is a german company (Bergisch Gladbach - owner: Klaus Grosser) which started as a recording studio which developed and sold in the late 80's Atari editors for various synths (about 25 until 1994). They are now proposing styles collections for diverse keyboards.
They distributed an Atari D-50 bankloader/sounds editor program named "Manager". They included with it three original soundbanks (Vol. 1-3).
They also produced a ROM card named "Einsteins Power - Effect Sounds" (originally known as "Crazy Klaus" soundbank).
| "Volume 1" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Volume 2" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Volume 3" | Patchlist | Image |
| Einsteins Power "Effect Sounds" (originally known as "Crazy Klaus" soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
METRA SOUND
Metra Sound is a german company (Köln) which produced three D-50 ROM cards.
Their products are now delivered by Sound Art website (Dahlenburg, Germany - owner: Roger Person).
| SC-01 "Standards" (programmed by Hubertus Maass) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| SC-02 "Experimentals" (programmed by Simon Stockhausen) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| SC-03 "Up To Date" (programmed by Peter Gorges) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
PATCH PRO
Patch Pro is an american society (Conowingo, Maryland) which produced and distributed four ROM cards for the D-50 as the "RDROM-Series".
| RDROM1 "Acoustic Synth Assortment" | Patchlist | Image |
| RDROM2 "Pop & Jazz" | Patchlist | Image |
| RDROM3 "Ethereal/Atmospheres" | Patchlist | Image |
| RDROM4 "Textures/Keys/Synths" | Patchlist | Image |
SOUNDENGINE
SoundEngine is an american society (Seattle, Washington - owner: Scott Peer) which is apparently selling now - among others - products developed in the past by Technosis company.
They are proposing two D-50 soundbanks: a bass sounds compilation named "Rippin' Bass" (programmed by Scott) and a synth sounds mixed bag named "Unheard Synths" (programmed by Scott). They are proposing it now gathered in a unique two soundbanks set.
| SEP-002 "Rippin' Bass" (programmed by Scott Peer) | Patchlist | Order It |
| SEP-002 "Unheard Synths" (programmed by Scott Peer) | Patchlist | Order It |
K.S.R.E. MUSIC
K.S.R.E. Music is a german company which produced a very particular "mega" D-50 card: it included a total of 8 banks divided in 4xROM/4XRAM sections (these last ones also contained original preloaded sounds).
Another particularity from this mega card is that there were two specific models: one for the D-50 (labeled D 50 Sound Controller) and one for the D-550 (labeled D550 Sound Controller). They were not compatible (size is different - see images below).
| D 50 ROM1 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 ROM2 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 ROM3 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 ROM4 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 RAM1 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 RAM2 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 RAM3 | Patchlist | Image |
| D 50 RAM4 | Patchlist | Image |
CESIUM SOUND™
Cesium Sound™ is an american company (Berkeley, California - owner: Nick Longo) which produced an original six D-50 soundbanks set. All have been programmed by Nick.
They are now distributing their soundbanks via the Web as sysex files. The patches organization has been modified comparing to the original ROM cards.
I received from an Internaute - many thanks to him! - an original ROM card labelized "03" and another one named "MKM Productions" wich seem to be Cesium pre-production soundbanks.
I also found a ROM card distributed by D-Data Soundvertrieb (Wesseling, Germany) which is similar to the "03" and the "MKM".
| Volume 1 "Top 40" (programmed by Nick Longo) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| Volume 2 "Analog Leads, Sweeps & Pads" (programmed by Nick Longo) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| Volume 3 "Natural & Synth Percussion" (programmed by Nick Longo) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| Volume 4 "New Age" (programmed by Nick Longo) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| Volume 5 "Space & Atmospheric" (programmed by Nick Longo) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| Volume 6 "Orchestral" (programmed by Nick Longo) | Patchlist | Image | Order It |
| Original ROM cards | Patchlist | Image |
SYNTHWARE
Synthware is an american company (Reading, Pennsylvania) which commercialized three D-50 ROM cards in the late 80's as the "Sound Pack" (or "Voice Pack") Series. All have been programmed by Scott Verret, a sounddesigner who worked during the 80's with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Genesis,...
They have been distributed for a while these last years as sysex files via the Waterfall 440 Studio Music website, but it seems now that they are definitively no longer available.
| Sound Pack 1 "Unique Hybrids & PCM Digitals" (programmed by Scott Verret) | Patchlist | Image |
| Sound Pack 2 "Analog Synths, Strings & Basses" (programmed by Scott Verret) | Patchlist | Image |
| Sound Pack 3 "Pianos, Organs, Guitars & Saxes" (programmed by Scott Verret) | Patchlist | Image |
REC'UP
This swiss website is still developing products for old vintage synths. They are proposing now seven original D-50 soundbanks as the "R" Series.
| Rd50_01 "Pop/Rock Studio Session" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
| Rd50_02 "Dance/Techno Studio Programmation" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
| Rd50_03 "New Age/Filmsongs Studio Creation" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
| Rd50_04 "Symphonic/Jazz Orchestra Studio Emulations" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
| Rd50_05 "Folk/Ethnic Worldwide Studio Production" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
| Rd50_06 "Funk/R&B Groovy Studio Selection" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
| Rd50_07 "2020 LA Synthesis Return" (programmed by Karm) | Patchlist | Order It |
SOUND SUPPORT
Sound Support seems to be the society which became Sounds OK (England, Camberley) at the end of the '80s (please correct me if I'm wrong).
They distributed in England a soundbank originally produced by Musicians Tech (Sweden) as the CSD501 "Classic Synthesizers Vol.1" ROM card.
| CSD501 "Classic Synthesizers Vol.1" (distributed by Musicians Tech and Sounds OK) | Patchlist | Image |
EAR 2 EAR
Ear 2 Ear is a german society (Gommern - owner: René Zerm) which produced in 1999 a really Techno oriented D-50 soundbank named "Virtual Analog" (also distributed by SoundArt).
| "Virtual Analog" | Patchlist | Image | Order It | Order It |
MIDI MUSIC
MIDI Music is a british society (West Swindon) which distributed several D-50 products. They were especially an authorized reseller in the UK for the Leister Productions soundbanks (available on two 3.5" Atari floppy disks), Voice Crystal RAM cards, PA-Decoder double ROM cards or Metra Sound ROM cards.
I collected from them three Atari 3.5" floppy disks listed above including several soundbanks each and a bankloader program.
"Japan" bank (Disk #4) is the same file as the Michael Hotop's SoundSet 4 "Live 1" & Digital Music Soft Ware "Source - Live Sound Vol.1" soundbanks.
| Disk#2 "128 Pro British Voices" (2 soundbanks set) | Patchlist | Image |
| Disk#3 "Soundtrack/Film" (4 soundbanks set - programmed by Simon Bull - also named "64 Specialist Voices Vol.1-4") | Patchlist | Image |
| Disk#4 "From Around The World - 128 Pro Sweden Voices" (2 soundbanks set - programmed by Niclas Luthman) | Patchlist | Image |
| Disk#4 "From Around The World - Japan" (known as the Digital Music Soft Ware "Live Sound Vol.1" and the Michael Hotop's SoundSet4 "Live 1") | Patchlist | Image |
| Disk#4 "From Around The World - USA" | Patchlist | Image |
CRIM MEDIA PROJEKT
Crim Media Projekt is a german society (owner: Roald Christensen) which is one of the first company to produce a D-50 soundbank not distributed by Roland. They also proposed a second half-soundbank (I don't know if it has been commercialized or if it was just a project). Any additional informations about it or would be much appreciated!
(Many thanks to Pete South and Glyn Spaulding for their contributions).
| "Vol. 1" (programmed by Roald Christensen) | Patchlist |
| "Vol. 2" (programmed by Roald Christensen - half-bank) | Patchlist |
SARDONIC SOUNDS
Sardonic Sounds is an american company (San Francisco, California - owner: Gregory Simpson) which was one of the earliest third-party synth sounds developer company created in the mid-1980's. They produced a single unique soundbank for the Roland D-50.
| Sardonic (programmed by Gregory Simpson) | Patchlist | Image |
ELTEKON
Eltekon Productions is an american society (Garden City, Michigan) which edited five D-50 ROM cards as the "Soundblocks" Series (programmed by Rich Rozmarniewicz). I collected five volumes of it through the years (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution). "Analog", "Digital", "Effects" are three of them (I'm not sure of the title about the soundbank that I named "Pop/Rock" but, please, correct me if I'm wrong!).
Fifth volume here has no name and essentially contains compilation patches from four other cards. I may think that it is not the real fifth volume but a compilation card edited later. It seems that it exists one other volume which seems to have been named "Orchestral".
Any additional informations about it or - best of all - a sysex version of it would be much appreciated!
| "Analog" (programmed by Rich Rozmarniewicz) | Patchlist | Image |
| "Digital" (programmed by Rich Rozmarniewicz) | Patchlist | Image |
| "Effects" (programmed by Rich Rozmarniewicz) | Patchlist | Image |
| "Pop/Rock ?" (programmed by Rich Rozmarniewicz - I'm not sure about the title...) | Patchlist | Image |
| "Mix - Best Of" (programmed by Rich Rozmarniewicz) | Patchlist | Image |
PATCH/WORKS
Patch/Works Music Software is an american society (New York - owner: Jed Weaver) which produced three D-50 ROM cards as the "D-SPECTRUM" Series.
| D-Spectrum "Volume 1" (programmed by Jed Weaver) | Patchlist | Image |
| D-Spectrum "Volume 2" (programmed by Jed Weaver) | Patchlist | Image |
| D-Spectrum "Volume 3" (programmed by Jed Weaver) | Patchlist | Image |
BEACHTOWN SOUNDS
If my informations are correct this ROM card has been developed and distributed by an american musician named Will Brady (Laguna Beach, California) at the end of the 80's. Please, correct me if I'm wrong!
| Beachtown Sounds | Patchlist | Image |
STEPHANE PIGEON
Stéphane Pigeon is a belgian keyboardist who worked for Roland in the past. He commercialized five D-50 ROM cards distributed by Roland Benelux and gathering his own programmations (many thanks to him for his contribution). Some of his sounds have also been included into the V-Synth preload soundbank.
(Many thanks to the internaute who kindly sent to me the ROM cards images).
| ROM Volume 1 (commercialized with 48 patches only - Banks 7&8 are empty) | Patchlist | Image |
| ROM Volume 2 | Patchlist | Image |
| ROM Volume 3 | Patchlist | Image |
| ROM Volume 4 | Patchlist | Image |
| ROM Volume 5 | Patchlist | Image |
SOUNDSATIONS!
SoundSations! is an american company (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan) which is proposing a ten D-50 soundbanks set on floppy disk. The best way to obtain it, is to keep an eye from time to time on eBay US auctions.
| "Big Band" | Patchlist | Image |
| "FX" | Patchlist | Image |
| "New Age 1" | Patchlist | Image |
| "New Age 2" | Patchlist | Image |
| "New Age 3" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Orchestral 1" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Orchestral 2" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Rock 1" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Rock 2" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Top 40" | Patchlist | Image |
MAARTISTS
Maartists is an american society (Duluth, Georgia) which distributed D-50 RAM cards as the VolumePack Series with original preloaded sounds on it.
I refound this file in my collection, sent a few years ago by a friend of mine. Now, I'm sure that there was at least another volume named VolumePack "D Card" (many thanks to the internaute who kindly mentioned it to me). Any further informations about it or - best of all - a sysex version of it would be much appreciated!
| VolumePack card #1 | Patchlist | Image |
CHRIS SOUNDS
I just read a little advertising insert in an old Keyboards issue about this soundbank.
I have no more informations about it, but I may suppose that it was a D-50 soundbank sold himself by an independant musician or sounddesigner at the end of the '80s (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his constribution). Any further informations about it would be much appreciated!
| Chris Sounds soundbank | Patchlist |
SVEN GODIJN
Sven is a swedish keyboardist who participated to the D-50 Virtual Editor program development. He also produced two D-50 soundbanks that he sold in the past via the D-50 VE website.
Since 2020, these soundbanks are sold by belgian website Encounters Media (Oudenaarde).
| "Analog Power" | Patchlist | Order It |
| "Power Synth" | Patchlist | Order It |
ULTREEN MIDI LABS
Ultreen is an american website (Houston, Texas) which developed a D-50 soundbank ("Atmospheres Vol.1") distributed via the Net a few years ago.
Now, it seems that they gave up to sell it.
| "Atmospheres Vol.1" | Patchlist |
NEW MAN STUDIOS
New Man Studios is an american company (Dallas, Oregon - owner: James Newman) which produced four D-50 ROM cards.
There was no name or title on it, but each card has its own color. I only got the violet ROM card (wich is certainly volume 1) and I don't know color of two others as I get it as sysex files.
Soundbank which has been distributed as first volume was also sold by D-Data Soundvertrieb (Germany, Wesseling) as the "D-50 New World Set 1".
New Man soundbanks were also distributed in Europe by Käng-Kong Productions (Germany), Synthe Diffusion (France) or Music Software Exchange (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution).
Any additional informations about the missing one or - best of all - a sysex version of it would be much appreciated!
| Set 1? | Patchlist | |
| Set 2? | Patchlist | |
| Set 3? (violet ROM card) | Patchlist | Image |
XTREM SOUND
XTrem Sound is a german company (Köln - owner: Harmut Wessling) which produced one D-50 ROM card (programmed by Hartmut).
(Many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution).
| "Synth, Space & EFX" (programmed by Hartmut Wessling) | Patchlist | Image |
VERTIGO
I know nothing about this set: just that it is named Vertigo and that it includes four D-50 soundbanks. Any additional informations about it are welcome!
| Volume 1 | Patchlist |
| Volume 2 | Patchlist |
| Volume 3 | Patchlist |
| Volume 4 | Patchlist |
MIDIMOUSE MUSIC
MIDImouse Music is an american society (Welches, Oregon). They produced four D-50 ROM cards as the Sonicflight Sounds Series.
| Sonicflight Sounds Vol.1 | Patchlist | Image |
| Sonicflight Sounds Vol.2 | Patchlist | Image |
| Sonicflight Sounds Vol.3 | Patchlist | |
| Sonicflight Sounds Vol.4 | Patchlist |
SURPRISE
I know nothing about this set: just that it is named Surprise and that it includes three D-50 soundbanks. Any additional informations about it are welcome!
| Volume 1 | Patchlist |
| Volume 2 | Patchlist |
| Volume 3 | Patchlist |
CINASCOPE
I have no serious informations about it, but it seems that this soundbank have been commercialized in the USA as the Cinascope Studio D-50 soundbank (programmed by Paul Naton). It was perhaps a MIDImouse Music pre-production soundbank. Please, correct me if I'm wrong!!
| Cinascope Studio (programmed by Paul Naton) | Patchlist |
DR. T'S MUSIC SOFTWARE
Dr. T's Music Software is an american society (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts - owners: Bob Melvin & Emil Tobenfeld) which produced several Atari editors/librarians programs as the Caged Artist's Series.
This original soundbank was included with their D-50 editor program.
| Atari Caged Artist's Serie D-50 editor soundbank | Patchlist |
MOSAIC
MOSAIC soundbank (programmed by Marc Jorgenson, USA) is certainly one of the first soundbank published for the D-50 (August 1987 - D-50 was three months old). It seems to be in fact a pre-production soundbank as it's incomplete (48 patches) and several of the sounds are availabe in the Roland PN-D50 ROM cards.
| MOSAIC soundbank (programmed by Marc Jorgenson) | Patchlist | Image |
SUPERIOR SOUNDS
I know nothing about this company (country? city? owner?) excepted that they produced at the end of the 80's at least one D-50 soundbank named "Vol. 1"
Any additional informations about it are welcome (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution).
| "Vol .1" | Patchlist |
CARL JOHNSON
These are new D-50 soundbanks programmed and commercialized in 2013 by Carl Johnson (USA).
For personal reasons, Carl unfortunately stopped to sell it at the end of October 2014.
| "Descent Into Madness" | Patchlist |
| "Voltage Drift" | Patchlist |
RUSH SOUND DESIGN
Rush Sound Design is a scottish society (Glasgow - owner: Mark Rushbury) which commercialized in 2014 a D-50 soundbank named "Soundtracks" and in 2023 a new one called "Soundtracks 2 Epsilon" (both programmed by Mark).
| "Soundtracks" (programmed by Mark Rushbury) | Patchlist | Order It |
| "Soundtracks 2 Epsilon" (programmed by Mark Rushbury) | Patchlist | Order It |
JAMES REYNOLDS
James Reynolds is an american sounddesigner who programmed the SSU D509R "Atmospheric Textures & FX" soundbank in the early 90's.
In 2011, he edited a new volume named "Atmospheric Textures & FX - Vol.II". You can find it from time to time on eBay.
He also created a D-50 programmer "Virtual PG-1000" that you can order on eBay or Reverb websites.
| "Atmospheric Textures & FX - Vol.II" | Patchlist |
VUKAN STOJANOVIC
Vukan is a serbian musician (Belgrade) who commercialized his D-50 personal programmations in 2015 via a YouTube video demo.
| "Wolfang S. 02" | Patchlist | Order It |
CL-PROJECTS
CL-Projects is a belgian website (owner: Franck Dierickx) which is essentially selling Kontakt libraries. They edited two D-50 soundbanks programmed by Franck:
- "Linear Universe" (2016)
- "Linear Galaxy" (2017)
| "Linear Universe" (programmed by Franck Dierickx) | Patchlist | Order It |
| "Linear Galaxy" (programmed by Franck Dierickx) | Patchlist | Order It |
NANOMAALIA
Nanomaalia (Ants Säde) is an estonian musician who commercialized his D-50 personal programmations in 2014 as the "Producer 01" soundbank.
Since 2020, this soundbank is also available on the Synthonia website.
| "Nanomaalia - Producer 01" (programmed by Ants Säde) | Patchlist | Order It | Order It |
BARB & CO
Barb & Co is a french society (Mésanger - owner: Stéphane Garganigo) which is developing products for several synthesizers.
They produced in 2017 an original D-50 soundbank named "Nexus-D" programmed by Yvo and available as sysex file via their website.
| "Nexus-D" (programmed by Yvo) | Patchlist | Order It |
ESPEN KRAFT
Espen is a norwegian musician who commercialized in 2018 his work. He programmed a 32 new original patches soundbank for the D-50,
rather oriented Synth-Pop/Synthwave/Italo Disco musical styles.
| "32 Original Retro Patches" (programmed by Espen) | Patchlist | Order It |
C-LAB SOFTWARE
C-Lab Software is a german society (Hamburg) which released a D-50 editor called Explorer 32. It included an original soundbank named "Aktiv 1" programmed by Udo Hilwerling, who is the author of "Musik Aktiv's Partial-4" (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution).
| Explorer 32 "Aktiv 1" (programmed by Udo Hilwerling) | Patchlist |
COMMAND DEVELOPMENT
Command Development is an american society (Los Angeles, California) which released an Atari ST D-50 editor called "D50 Command". It included a four soundbanks set named "Stocks 1-4". Stock 1 file is in fact the Roland PN-D50-00 internal factory preload soundbank (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution).
| "Stock 1" (duplicate from Roland PN-D50-00 internal factory preload soundbank) | Patchlist | Image |
| "Stock 2" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Stock 3" | Patchlist | Image |
| "Stock 4" | Patchlist | Image |
INHALT
Thanks to the Roland D-05 Boutique, a new commercial soundbank has been produced in 2018 by an american society named Inhalt (city? owner?).
This soundbank is 100% compatible with the Roland D-50 synth model.
| "Artist" | Patchlist |
ULTIMATE PATCHES
Ultimate Patches is an american company (Great Falls, Montana) founded in 2015 which commercialized in 2019 a 4 soundbanks set for the Roland D-05 fully compatible with the D-50/D-550 models.
| "Volume 1" | Patchlist | Order It |
| "Volume 2" | Patchlist | Order It |
| "Volume 3" | Patchlist | Order It |
| "Volume 4" | Patchlist | Order It |
HEEMY
Raheem Hosein (aka Heemy) is a musician who programmed in 2019 an astonishing D-50 soundbank.
He is selling it himself via a YouTube video. Please, listen to his demos. They sound great!
| "Heemy's" (programmed by Raheem Hosein) | Patchlist | Order It |
PULSOPHONIC
Pulsophonic is a french website (owner: Johan Decanis, sounddesigner and composer) which is proposing soundbanks for diverse synths. They published in 2020 a D-50 soundbank named "New Born".
| "New Born" (programmed by Johan Decanis) | Patchlist | Order It |
LFO STORE
LFO Store is a russian website which is proposing soundbanks for hardware and software synths.
They produced in 2023 a D-50 soundbank programmed by Nick Klimenko named "Linear Legacy".
| "Linear Legacy" (programmed by Nick Klimenko) | Patchlist | Order It |
MUSIC-X
Music-X is an english company (London) which developed and distributed an editor program which came with a 16 patches demo soundbank (many thanks to Glyn Spaulding for his contribution).
| "Demo Patch 1" | Patchlist | Image |
UNKNOWN
Here are ten unknown origin D-50 commercial soundbanks. Any informations about it (producer or distributer names) are welcome!
| Unknown 1 | Patchlist |
| Unknown 2 | Patchlist |
| Unknown 3 | Patchlist |
| Unknown 4 (Käng-Kong Productions soundbank - read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
| Unknown 5 (Käng-Kong Productions soundbank - read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
| Unknown 6 (read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
| Unknown 7 (read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
| Unknown 8 (read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
| Unknown 9 (read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
| Unknown 10 (read patchlist for more details) | Patchlist |
MANYMIDI PRODUCTS
ManyMIDI Products is an american society (Beverly Hills, California - owner: Elmo Peeler) which developed huge sound libraries for several synth models.
Their D-50 library is constitued of two sets for a total of 2'194 patches.
All are organized in specific categories (Pianos, Brass, Strings, Organ, Bells, Percus,...).
| ManyMIDI D-50 Set#1 - Rhythm Section/Percussion/FX (24 soundbanks - 1'037 patches) | Patchlist | Order It |
| ManyMIDI D-50 Set#2 - Orchestral/Synth (30 soundbanks - 1'157 patches) | Patchlist | Order It |
MUSITRONICS
Musitronics is a german
society (Darmstadt - owner: Oliver Schwarz) which developed two different expansion board cards for the D-50:
-
The M.EX which extended the D-50 as a multitimbral synth and added two
internal soundbanks (total of 3x64 internal patches=192). They
delivered it with two preloaded soundbanks (see below) programmed by
Oliver Schwarz placed into "Internal X" and "Internal Y"
additional soundbanks (the common internal memory contained in fact the
Roland PN-D50-00 internal factory soundbank).
- The PCM.EX which added 50 new PCM waveforms and permitted to build drum kits
Both expansion board cards can be used together
- The PCM.EX which added 50 new PCM waveforms and permitted to build drum kits
Both expansion board cards can be used together
| Soundbank 1 | Patchlist |
| Soundbank 2 | Patchlist |
BOOKS COLLECTION
Books/publications (alphabetical order):
| D. Walker "64 Patches for D-50/Vol.1" | D. Navarro "128 sons Originaux pour D-50" | Roland "D-50 Creative Book" |
DAN WALKER
Dan Walker published two Roland D-50 books: the first one about programmation basis and tips and the second one with 64 original patches to program.
This soundbank is extracted from this last one named "64 Patches For D-50/Vol.1" (Ed. Alexander Publishing).
| Volume 1 | Image | Patchlist |
DIEGO NAVARRO
Diego is a french keyboardist who published a 128 original D-50 patches book named "128 Sons Originaux pour D-50" (Ed. Oscar Musique - 1988).
| Volume 1 | Image | Patchlist |
| Volume 2 | Image | Patchlist |
D-50 CREATIVE BOOK
Here is a book named "D-50 Creative Book" published by Roland Corporation (1988) and adapted by Jeff Burger. It contained over 50 pages with detailed explanations about D-50 functions and programmations. It also included 9 new original patches to program with comments.
| D-50 Creative Book | Image | Patchlist |
| D-50 Synthesis Description | D-50 Famous Examples | D-50 Personal Patches | D-50 Video Demos |
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