Ostrich 7765

Ostrich 7765 has moved to the monorepo Ostrich != Emu, where it lives with its siblings: instruments/ostrich-7765. New versions and downloads are published there. This repository is archived and stays as it is; its releases remain available.

The sounds of four sample-based Roland drum machines of the 1980s as a VST3/CLAP plugin and a standalone program: TR-505, TR-626, TR-707 and TR-727. A non-commercial fan project.

Download the latest release for Windows or Linux, free of charge. How to install it.

First release, still growing. The TR-505, TR-626 and TR-707 play, each with its panel, the TR-626's pitch, vintage timing and mono outputs. The TR-727 waits for its sound ROMs. See ROADMAP.md.

It is not a sample player. Ostrich 7765 reads the machines' original sound ROMs (your own images) instead of playing recordings of them: a recording always carries the recording hardware with it, and a set of samples knows nothing of how the machine plays them. Around the ROM data it rebuilds, in part, what each machine does with it: sample rates and the order in which the sounds are read, accent from the velocity, envelopes, which sounds share a voice and cut each other, levels and panning, and (for the TR-707) the analogue voice board with its filters. All of it is worked out from the ROMs, firmware, documentation and measurements of real units (analysis/). It does not run the machines' firmware, and it has no sequencer: the sounds are played by MIDI.

You need your own ROM images. This repository contains no Roland data and never will.

Install

1. On the release page, under Assets, download Ostrich7765-Windows.zip or Ostrich7765-Linux.zip and unpack it.
2. Copy the folder Ostrich7765.vst3 to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ (Windows) or ~/.vst3/ (Linux), and let your music program scan for new plugins. The zip's INSTALL.txt also covers CLAP and the standalone program.
3. Open Ostrich 7765, go to a machine's tab, click ROM IMAGES ..., then CHOOSE A ROM FILE ... and pick one of your ROM images or a zip of them. The panel shows what it found. Which files each machine needs: roms/README.md.
4. Send MIDI on channel 10 for the TR-505, 11 for the TR-626, 12 for the TR-707. The pads and notes are on each machine's page.

What it does

• Four machines in one plugin, each on its own tab and its own MIDI channel (TR-505 10, TR-626 11, TR-707 12, TR-727 13; set on the SETTINGS page), all playing at the same time. The TR-727 is prepared but needs its sound ROMs, of which no dump is public.
• A panel per machine: a column per group of sounds with its LEVEL, its PAN (starting where the unit has it) and its pads (each with its MIDI note; click one to hear it), and the machine's VOLUME. The TR-626 also has its PITCH per sound (-7..+7, as on the unit; it sets the pad clicked last), the TR-707 HIGHS, from the circuit as documented to a recording of a real unit (analysis/TR-707.md). Two looks, VINTAGE (the units' beige) and DARK, chosen on the SETTINGS page.
• 16 mono outputs besides the stereo mix: at the foot of each column, MIX or OUT 1-16. A column on an OUT leaves the mix; several columns can share one. Switch the OUT on in your host, or the column stays silent.
• Vintage timing (per machine, on by default): each note as late and as uneven as on the unit: the MIDI line, the TR-707's 2.8 ms grid, the spread measured on the TR-505 and TR-626 (analysis/TIMING.md).
• Flam: while a key note of the machine is held (SETTINGS, default A0), each note gets a softer hit before it, with the four intervals of the units.

Formats: VST3, CLAP and a standalone program on Windows (64-bit); VST3, CLAP and a JACK standalone on Linux. No macOS build yet.

Building

BUILDING.md. What is known about the hardware: analysis/. What is planned: ROADMAP.md.

Licences

Ostrich 7765 is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later (LICENSE). Third-party code and its licences: THIRD-PARTY.md.

"Roland", "TR-505", "TR-626", "TR-707" and "TR-727" are trademarks of Roland Corporation. This project is not affiliated with Roland.