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Roland FA-06 and FA-08


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The ergonomics of the 73 make left hand organ so much more comfortable. And for the clav....

Good point about the clav, if that's a factor.

 

For LH organ, I guess if you're trying to simulate a dual manual via a split, the extra keys can help. I'd be more inclined to use the 88 beneath as a lower manual if needed, but it's all a compromise of some sort.

 

Of course, if the SK1-73 had a low E, it would be a lot more useful for general LH bass use, too.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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CEB, after 31 years together, it's in my best interest to tell her. Don't ask how I know this... :) The adage "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" doesn't work here.

 

Tony, a couple months won't hurt- sucks about the unexpected stuff. We just bought a new bike for my wife too, she's got a bad knee and didn't feel safe on 2 wheels. It was either no riding ever again (she won't set foot on my Concours!) or go to 3 wheels. So, she opted for a Can-Am.

 

There will be gigs that I'll use the SK1 for piano parts- blues band stuff where I only bring 1 board and play mostly organ but might need piano/EP on a few songs, and I have some other settings where I would only bring the Nord in. I don't think a 61 would cut it for that. If I didn't have that need, I'd probably go right for the XK1c.

 

The MOXF isn't really an upgrade over the S70XS to me. It's not really a weight factor, more of a functional one. There are features it has that the XS doesn't have, but the Roland has those, plus the sampler pads are a definite plus for the Floyd band since I use the SP404SX now to trigger samples. I can port those right over and not need to bring the SP out anymore. Plus, I'm intrigued with the SN sounds, I like what I've heard of them, and I've always been a Roland fan but their 88 note workstations were always too far up the food chain for me. I've always sort of had the "what can I get for around $2000" type of mind set. After weighing my needs, I think the SK is something I can immediately work into my rig with little difficulty, have an improved organ sound with all of the tweaks and custom stuff guys like Jim have available, and hey, who doesn't like a Hammond?

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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There will be gigs that I'll use the SK1 for piano parts- blues band stuff where I only bring 1 board and play mostly organ but might need piano/EP... I don't think a 61 would cut it for that. If I didn't have that need, I'd probably go right for the XK1c.

...

The MOXF isn't really an upgrade over the S70XS to me. It's not really a weight factor, more of a functional one. There are features it has that the XS doesn't have, but the Roland has those, plus the sampler pads

Sounds like a good plan, those choices do sound perfect for you! Kind of a shame to go from two boards with aftertouch to none, but I guess you really don't use it much.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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The ONLY thing I'll miss. I do use AT, especially on the Nord, but it's not really a dealbreaker.

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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$hit. I was ready to pull the trigger. Overhead garage door sprung/exploded/crashed when I tried to open it last nite. THANKFULLY, it did not damage our cars or motorcycles. It did however cost $700. Just dropped over $2k on car repairs for my youngest son, spent a lot more than that on my wife's bike for Christmas. Saw I still have a few K in medical bills from January.

 

Looks like this might have to wait a couple months.

 

Damn, brother....it's time for good karma to start smiling on you. Glad you weren't hurt. I had a garage spring get away from me once, and the distance it went before hitting a wall scared the crap outta me.

 

 

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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THe pads are a selling point for me too, for the same reason: I use an SP202 sampler which I look forward to retiring.

 

Likewise for me too. There are so many things in our show I could use those pads for to make life easier on a gig.

 

 

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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$hit. I was ready to pull the trigger. Overhead garage door sprung/exploded/crashed when I tried to open it last nite. THANKFULLY, it did not damage our cars or motorcycles. It did however cost $700. Just dropped over $2k on car repairs for my youngest son, spent a lot more than that on my wife's bike for Christmas. Saw I still have a few K in medical bills from January.

 

Looks like this might have to wait a couple months.

 

Damn, brother....it's time for good karma to start smiling on you. Glad you weren't hurt. I had a garage spring get away from me once, and the distance it went before hitting a wall scared the crap outta me.

 

 

. . . yeah, there's a lot of tension in those springs; they can be pretty dangerous! As an aside, always hire someone else to do that work, no matter how handy you are. It's pretty easy to get maimed/seriously injured, so let someone who knows what they're doing take the risk!

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Why does the FA have 16 MIDI tracks then? Seems like a missed opportunity if the only intent is to save your sequencer sketches as a SMF to export into a DAW.

You can render each track as a .WAV file for export as well.

 

dB

Thanks dB...this is a really great feature of the FA. Roland has really packed in a great feature set at the FA series' very attractive price point.

 

That said, the focus of my open ended question was more about the FA MIDI controller capabilities (there's the 16 MIDI tracks as well as external MIDI device real-time control with the six user-assignable Sound Modify knobs). I think you wrote you are reviewing the FA. If so, can you check the FA Sequencer Song Mode/Studio Set mode if users can define external MIDI TX channels, program numbers, MSB/LSB banks and CCs (for MIDI controller functionality).

 

It may be as others have said that the intent of the FA is a more self-contained/streamlined workstation where you can develop ideas using the on-board goodies and then offload projects to DAWs for further production.

 

Thanks again, C :wave:

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can you check the FA Sequencer Song Mode/Studio Set mode if users can define external MIDI TX channels, program numbers, MSB/LSB banks and CCs (for MIDI controller functionality).

 

You mean check to see if you can set the MIDI RECEIVE channels for each part, and whether they can accept program and bank select.

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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can you check the FA Sequencer Song Mode/Studio Set mode if users can define external MIDI TX channels, program numbers, MSB/LSB banks and CCs (for MIDI controller functionality).

 

You mean check to see if you can set the MIDI RECEIVE channels for each part, and whether they can accept program and bank select.

Hi Tony,

Maybe we're talking about the same thing...maybe not???

 

The focus of my question about the FA is using it as a MIDI controller of external gear where FA TX MIDI 1-16-> External MIDI devices 1...N RX MIDI 1-16.

 

Specifically, I mean for each of the 16 MIDI tracks, can each MIDI track send (TX) note/controller data to a user defined MIDI channel number, each with its own specific program and bank number. (Where MIDI Receive channel is set on the desired external device(s).

 

The Motif/MOXF line and Korg M3/M50/Krome line can do this.

 

If this can be done on each of the FA 16 MIDI tracks, than the FA could control both internal sounds and (when FA MIDI track is set to external TX) any other MIDI synths, modules EFX or routers, etc.

 

Does this make sense or did I miss something. Apologies if I am not clear. Regards, C :wave:

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Like I have posted numerous times in this thread, the FA WILL NOT transmit program or bank select info in Song mode.

 

Maybe they will do an OS update (the rep I talked to has already formally asked for it) but there is no promise or whiff of intent to add that feature.

 

But as of now, the FA does not have that capability.

 

I agree this is a feature that should be there, which is why I posted about it in the first place. But to be clear, the FA will not do that now.

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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I think you wrote you are reviewing the FA.

Yes, I have one here I'm reviewing for Keyboard mag. :thu:

 

Sorry I haven't posted more about it in this thread...I'm not sure how much it's cool for me to talk about an instrument I'm reviewing during the review process.

 

Like I have posted numerous times in this thread, the FA WILL NOT transmit program or bank select info in Song mode.

Actually, as far as I can tell, the FA doesn't even send note data to external devices when playing back recorded tracks in sequencer mode.

 

I hooked it up to my Sub Phatty, and when I played Part 1 (set to channel 1) from the sequencer page, the Sub Phatty (also set to Channel 1) triggered fine...but when I recorded a track and played it back, the Sub Phatty did not trigger. :idk:

 

Here's what's weird about that - each track has a TYPE setting, and the two selectable options are PAD and MIDI...so you'd figure it would send MIDI info out the MIDI out jack from each track....but it doesn't seem to.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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as far as I can tell, the FA doesn't even send note data to external devices when playing back recorded tracks in sequencer mode.

I'm a little confused about the modes... It was mentioned earlier that there are two modes: Voice and Song. If you're doing splits and layers in live performance, does that mean you're using Song mode? Or does it support splits/layers in Voice mode? And does it transmit MIDI Note On/Note Off in both Voice and Song mode, assuming you're not playing back tracks?

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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There are 3 modes, voice, split/layer, and song. If voice and split/layer have the same capability, that's at least a point in favor. It's hard to believe there is no midi transmission in song mode, a big miss on Roland's part.

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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There are 3 modes, voice, split/layer, and song.

Not exactly.

 

Single, Dual, Split and Studio Set. You do not have to be on the sequencer page to use a Sound Set. Sound Sets let you assign up to 16 parts to any channel(s) - like a Combi/Performance...

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/davebryce/IMG_2509_zps6f9296fa.jpg

 

...and yes, the FA does transmit note data and program changes in Studio Set mode.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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There are 3 modes, voice, split/layer, and song.

Not exactly.

 

Single, Dual, Split and Studio Set. You do not have to be on the sequencer page to use a Sound Set. Sound Sets let you assign 16 parts to any channel - like a Combi/Performance...

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/davebryce/IMG_2509_zps6f9296fa.jpg

 

...and yes, the FA does transmit note data and program changes in Studio Set mode.

 

dB

 

OK, I knew there was a dual type "layer" mode. Good to know that in the studio set that midi is sent, I'd be using that live. That really removes any ah crap feeling I had with the no midi in sequence mode since I don't do much live sequencing.

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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There are 3 modes, voice, split/layer, and song.

Not exactly.

 

Single, Dual, Split and Studio Set. You do not have to be on the sequencer page to use a Sound Set. Sound Sets let you assign up to 16 parts to any channel(s) - like a Combi/Performance...

 

...and yes, the FA does transmit note data and program changes in Studio Set mode.

Oh! Then it sounds like this "problem" we've been talking about--playing and controlling additional MIDI devices during live performance--may not be a problem at all!

 

How many Program Changes can be associated with a Studio Set?

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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dave when is your review going to be published?

I dunno. It just went to Roland for fact check, so probably the next issue after the Crystal Method one that just came out.

 

FWIW, I did the Crystal Method interview. :thu:

 

How many Program Changes can be associated with a Studio Set?

No idea. I didn't try changing Studio Sets with it connected to multiple units - I just changed programs on Part 1 in the first Studio Set, and it changed the program on my Sub Phatty.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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Roland posted the manual and MIDI Implementation Guide (36 pages....wow).

 

Here's the relevant info on MIDI TX of channel and program number:

 

n = MIDI channel number: 0H - FH (ch.1 - 16)

pp = Program number: 00H - 7FH (prog.1 - prog.128)

* These messages are transmitted when Tone, Drum Kit or Studio Set is selected.

* But not transmitted when Transmit Program Change parameter (SYSTEM SETUP: MIDI)is OFF.

 

The MIDI Implementation chart (manual, page 119) indicates that the sequencer section DOES Transmit MIDI note data AND program change numbers (1-127). So dB may have found a bug in his test with the sequencer setting, recording or transmitting MIDI note data.

 

Regards, C

 

 

 

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Yes the manuals are out just had a quick skim though.

 

http://www.roland.com/support/article/?q=manuals&p=FA-06

 

The good: on page 63 it says it has these modes for the sequencer (more or less the same as the Fantom G)

 

Value Explanation

INT The internal sound engine of the FA is played.

EXT An external sound module connected to the MIDI

OUT connector is played.

BOTH Both the internal sound engine and the external

sound module are played.

OFF The track does not output data.

 

It also appears the sequencer has range of editing tools, which I didn't expect, which at first glance seems similar to the Fantom G. No mention of RPS though.

 

The bad news (or I couldn't find any mention) is that the External Part screen/functions in the Fantoms Live/Studio mode seems to be completely missing! I hope that is not the case, as it makes controlling external gear alongside the internal sounds a breeze on the Fantom. Not sure if these features have been moved in the DAW control section and renamed...

 

Also there is scant mention of seamless sound change (which the Fantom supports in Live Mode) but it does mention patch remain in the system settings. I would still like to know if an entire studio set can be changed without sound dropouts. I'm guessing no.

 

Details on the Studio sets are pretty thin, like how the outputs work etc. Also seems like ext audio cannot be processed through a usual MFX block (like on the Fantom G).

 

Need to read more and actually play one...

Roland Fantom G6, D-70, JP-8000, Juno-106, JV-1080, Moog Minitaur, Korg Volca Keys, Yamaha DX-7. TG33, Logic Pro, NI plugs, Arturia plugs etc etc
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The good: on page 63 it says it has these modes for the sequencer (more or less the same as the Fantom G)

 

Value Explanation

INT The internal sound engine of the FA is played.

EXT An external sound module connected to the MIDI

OUT connector is played.

BOTH Both the internal sound engine and the external

sound module are played.

OFF The track does not output data.

 

They're right, of course....

 

My unit didn't come with a manual, and I couldn't find that setting. I called Roland US to ask them about it, and they told me they didn't have the book yet either, but they didn't see how to do it either.

 

Glad to hear it is in there. :thu:

 

dB

 

 

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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The good: on page 63 it says it has these modes for the sequencer (more or less the same as the Fantom G)

 

Value Explanation

INT The internal sound engine of the FA is played.

EXT An external sound module connected to the MIDI

OUT connector is played.

BOTH Both the internal sound engine and the external

sound module are played.

OFF The track does not output data.

 

They're right, of course....

 

My unit didn't come with a manual, and I couldn't find that setting. I called Roland US to ask them about it, and they told me they didn't have the book yet either, but they didn't see how to do it either.

 

Glad to hear it is in there. :thu:

 

dB

 

 

Great stuff. I guess this is all happening very quickly. BTW on the Fantom G series on the sequencer there is a column Out Assign, which can be scrolled through to select the output of the track. That Fantom has the same settings as the FA (with the addition of "phrase").

 

I wonder if you could try something Dave, and see if the patch remain works when you change studio sets?

Roland Fantom G6, D-70, JP-8000, Juno-106, JV-1080, Moog Minitaur, Korg Volca Keys, Yamaha DX-7. TG33, Logic Pro, NI plugs, Arturia plugs etc etc
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I wonder if you could try something Dave, and see if the patch remain works when you change studio sets?

It does not.

 

It works well if you're changing patches within the Studio Set or Sequencer page - even if you switch parts - but not if you change the Studio Set.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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