Pardon the dust. I have changed some things around with the website: got some new carpet, changed the drapes, a different couch…

Hopefully I’ll get everything back up and running here in a short time. Watch for other content as I backfill and bring over my older stuff. Also be prepared for things to change or move around.

This was a track originally written on the fly for a video presentation, but they ended up not using the music. Still I thought it stood pretty well on its own.

The downloadable SysEx file is the original factory sounds and settings for the D-20 from Roland. A lot of users lose these when they reinstall batteries or have a freeze or any problem. Sometimes people also tweak the sounds so much they lost the originals and are unable to get them back to where they used to be. Please note that you will need some sort of SysEx or MIDI library program to get the patches from your computer to the synthesizer.

I was recently moving some things around in my setup and I was trying to get my rack box nice and close the the keyboards for easy editing. I planned everything out, laid out all cables and cords, got the box all locked up and got everything transferred over to its new location successfully. As I was taking the front cover off my rack box, I lost my grip, and happened to catch it as it was hanging off the data entry/control knob on my Proteus 2000 module.

As I started powering everything up and playing around a bit with my synths, I noticed that the control knob on the Proteus 2000 wasn’t acting right…it lost its “click” demarcation between two choices, and the knob had a definite sickly wiggle. Since this is my primary synthesizer, I was pretty upset at myself for breaking it.

I did remember that there was a spare parts site I found a while ago that had a lot of specific E-MU parts. Fortunately, I did find two different options for replacing the module, one requiring soldering and some more in-depth know how, and another that was the complete board assembly that literally just plugs into where the old one is. Since the board assembly was on sale (and due to an aversion to solder my musical instruments), I opted for the plug & play option.

I seem to be writing a lot more lately about repair than actually using musical equipment, so I will post more in-depth here if people are looking for some info on how to do this. Suffice to say, it wasn’t terribly difficult, but requires some considerable deconstruction and reconstruction to get everything installed. On the plus-side, I know that all my connections are clean and secure now, as well as having all chassis screws nice & snug. Also everything functions just as it should after reassembly and booting up.

If you happen to be looking for some replacement parts, I would strongly recommend EPR electronics (http://www.eprelectronics.com/). This isn’t an ad or anything for them, I can just vouch that they’re a legitimate company that was good to deal with. It’s also a much better option than trying to buy an old working/not working Proteus 2000 just for one part. They did supply me with a genuine E-Mu part, and brand new as far as I was able to tell.