Dumping MKS-50 Patch and Tone Data to MIDI Quest

Sound Quest MIDI Quest 10 XL is a powerful patch editor and librarian for vintage synthesizers, but depending on the specific synth you're working with, there are often a number of manual steps involved in loading data from your device into the MIDI Quest application. Here are complete instructions for getting all patch, tone, and chord data from a Roland MKS-50 into MIDI Quest 10. The steps for dumping data from an Alpha Juno 1 or Alpha Juno 2 are probably similar, just slightly simplified due to their lack of patch banks or chord memory.

The MKS-50 has two patch banks (A and B) and two tone banks (a and b). MIDI Quest can only deal with one bank at a time. So to load the entire set of patches and tones from your device, you’ll have to follow these steps twice, choosing the correct bank option each time. Also note that there are two patch and tone banks, but only one Chord Memory bank. You can skip that one the second time around.

1. After confirming that your MKS-50 MIDI settings are correct in MIDI Quest, click the Get button. MIDI Quest will open a window that says: Roland MKS-50 Patch Bank
2. On the MKS-50, press the DATA TRANSFER button, then use the PARAM controls to select Bulk*Dump (do not use Bulk-Dump) and use the VALUE controls to select the patch bank you’d like to load (P-A or P-B).
3. Press WRITE. MIDI Quest will load the selected bank and the screen will now say Roland MKS-50 Patch.
4. If you don't want to load an individual patch now, click Cancel in MIDI Quest and skip to step 6. Otherwise, press TUNE / MIDI on the MKS-50 and use the PARAM controls to select TX PATCH APR, then use the VALUE controls to select ON.
5. Press TONE to exit the MIDI menu, then press PATCH, and then enter the number of a patch to select. (For example, 1, 1 will select patch A11, PolySynth1.) MIDI Quest will now say it is receiving Roland MKS-50 Tone Bank.
6. Press DATA TRANSFER and use PARAM to select Bulk*Dump. Use VALUE to choose the tone bank you wish to load (T-a or T-b).
7. Press WRITE. MIDI Quest loads the bank and then says it’s receiving Roland MKS-50 Tone.
8. If you don't want to load an individual patch now, click Cancel in MIDI Quest and skip to step 10. Otherwise press TUNE / MIDI on the MKS-50 and use PARAM to select TX TONE APR, then use VALUE to select ON.
9. Press PATCH to exit the MIDI menu, then press TONE, and then enter the number of a tone to select. (For example, 1, 1 will select tone a11, PolySynth1.) MIDI Quest will now say it is receiving Roland MKS-50 Chord Bank.
10. Press DATA TRANSFER and use PARAM to select Bulk*Dump. Use VALUE to choose CM.
11. Press WRITE. MIDI Quest loads the bank and then says it’s receiving Roland MKS-50 Chord.
12. If you don’t care about loading a specific chord memory selection, press Cancel in MIDI Quest now. Otherwise, press TUNE / MIDI and use PARAM to select TX C.M. APR, then use VALUE to select ON.
13. Press TONE to exit the MIDI menu, then press PATCH, and then enter the number of a patch to select. (For example, 1, 1 will select patch A11, PolySynth1.) Note- the patch you select must already have the chord mode you wish to upload applied to it. You only get one chance to select the patch.
14. Use PARAM to select ASSIGN MODE, and then use VALUE to choose C.M.
15. Use PARAM to select CHORD MEM NO. and then use VALUE to choose a specific chord slot.