roland mc50 with the 788

I'm thinking of buying a roland mc 50--for real cheap to use with my dr5 and was wandering if it could be used with the 788 aswell.I have no experience with sequencers but have been told its very easy to learn and use.I have lots of material -and for live i dont like using a regular cd--
any input would be greatly appreciated-- Including other options and sequencers-I dont want anything too complicated --dont care about too many bells and whistles Thanx

[Atwork]

How are you planning to use it? I have a Yamaha RM1x which I think is a great sequencer. I've used it with the 788, thought not connected up to it, just using the RM1x to run all my Midi instruments and record them on the 788.

I was thinking of taking the recorded drums bass and backup guitar and some keys and dumping them onto it--no??for live backup.I have heard the sequencer is very easy to use.I this a good way to go?--Eventually I would like to incorporate musicians but meanwhile-perhaps myself and a singer--
What other options do I have-Someone mentioed recording to a Roland 1824 hard disk recorder as they have 8 direct outs on the back...
P.S. Im going to look into the yamaha RM1x
thanku --

[Atwork]

I don't think connecting a sequencer to the 788 would help you. Unless there's something I don't know about, or have misunderstood, connecting a sequencer to the 788 would give you no more functionality than pressing PLAY on the 788.

From what I know of the 788 I can't see it in a live setting. You'd have to wait for each backing track to load. I'm not sure it's that robust.

The Roland 1824 would be a very expensive piece of gear to take to live gigs.

A while a go I thought of using a Tascam 424 as a backing band. I never did, but I think it would have worked. The quality probably wouldn't have been as good.

Another alternative would have been a sequencer connected to a sampler. An old one like the Akai S2000 can be had quite cheaply. If it has the individual Outs board connected then you have eight separate outputs.

When I asked for peoples' advice on all this on another board a while back, most people recommended using a CD player, which I know you're already doing and are not too happy with.

If I was going to do this myself I'd go for the simplest and cheapest option - a used Tascam 424 or Fostex equivalent bought on Ebay, fingers crossed that the heads weren't too worn. Or even a 414 as it's much smaller and lighter.

Hope that's of use.

Thanx for the input Atwork--I did go thru a phase of using a Sony minidisc 4 track which had 4 direct outs.I had the backup all on minidiscs-It did a good job-but I think you're right --cd is probably the best way to go I can,t see reverting to cassette style 4 track-and a sampler + sequencer is just too expensive right now.