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How to send click from Roland JUNO-STAGE to drummer?


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Things were quite easy when I was using Korg X50. It boasts two arpeggiators, so I've made a metronome-like pattern, and routed one of those arpeggiators to "Individual 1" output, from where the click went to drummer's mini-mixer. Our drummer uses E-drums, and while main output of his drums goes straight to the main mixing console, the headphones output goes to his personal mini-mixer, where it is mixed with aforementioned click track and monitor signal which comes from the main console. This way he can hear himself, click, and all others, and is able to balance these sounds to his own taste.

Now, the JUNO-STAGE provides neither additional outputs, nor two arpeggiators. It has SONG/CLICK OUTPUT though. So what I did is I've created a very long midi file with just one track with minimum volume. Then I set up SONG/CLICK OUTPUT for click (in JUNO_STAGE system settings), copied the midi file to a flash drive, put the flash drive into JUNO-STAGE, and when I start to play the midi file via JUNO-STAGE internal player, the click signal goes to SONG/CLICK OUTPUT. The tempo of the metronome could be changed via tempo settings of JUNO-STAGE.

This setting works fine in general, but there are some glitches which I don't understand and don't know how to avoid. Maybe I took an altogrther incorrect approach?

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What's the purpose of the click? Are you doing arpeggios or echoes where things need to be in sync? Doesn't sound like you're doing sequences if you're just using one for a click. If it's just for the drummer's benefit to keep his timing, why is that your responsibility? There are tons of metronome apps he could be using on his own that he could control himself.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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What's the purpose of the click? Are you doing arpeggios or echoes where things need to be in sync?

Yes, arpeggios are the thing. I'd like to keep the drummer in sync with it. When there's no arpeggio, the drummer can control his tempo with an ultra-small metronome I've bought for, like, $4 or so.

metronome.jpg

 

 

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Can you describe the glitches in more detail? Loses tempo? Misses clicks? Goes spastic?

Well, first of all there's a performance preferred tempo vs default tempo issue. E.g. performance preferrable tempo is 130 bpm, while default tempo is 120 bpm. Tempo of midi file with a click track is 120 bpm as well, but it supposed to be played in the performance preferrable tempo. But sometimes it's played in 120 bpm instead of what's written in performance settings.

Another glitch is click routing. You all remember song "The Final Countdown" by Europe. The band I'm leading played the song last summer on a couple of parties. Since the band lost a solo guitarist again (not the first time, and I'm afraid not the last either), the famous guitar solo originally played by John Norum was being played on keyboard. I've decided to make two performances, one for the whole song save guitar solo, and another for solo, with a pad for a left hand and guitar-like lead for a right hand. There's more than enough time to switch from the former perfromance to the latter, and barely enough to switch back in the end of solo, but that's OK. Suddenly I've found out that when I switch from the former performance to the latter (before guitar solo), the click sound goes not only to the SONG/CLICK OUTPUT, but also to a main output, so the audience is hearing it!

Since I've did not use arpeggiator in the song, I've just stopped to use the click track in it, but the problem might surface again, so I'd like to know why it happens and how to prevent it.

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I'd imagine the JUNO-STAGE is similar, maybe almost identical in architecture to my JUNO-G. (same time period, roughly the same soundset)

 

Is the click track simply recorded on MIDI track 10 in the song? Or is it a built-in feature of the STAGE?

 

In the former case, if you switch a performance, the routing of the click track has to be configured in BOTH performances I believe, because the MIDI song is always playing back through the patches and settings saved in the current performance. Meaning, if you had a piano recorded and playing back on MIDI track 1, and you switch performance and in the new performance track 1 is set to a guitar patch, well the playback piano would also change to guitar. So the click track routing has to be saved in both performances. And don't even think of switching to Patch mode during a song because that resets the tempo to 120.

 

I would never switch performance during playback of a song because it also resets the tempo to that of the new performance, and even if the tempo is the same the metronome might glitch out for a sec.

 

Oh, and get a new guitarist :)

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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I'd imagine the JUNO-STAGE is similar, maybe almost identical in architecture to my JUNO-G. (same time period, roughly the same soundset)

Yes, they are quite similar, but unfortunately there are significant differences. First of all, JUNO-G boasts 4 outputs which audio signal could be routed to in a lot of different ways. JUNO-STAGE, alas, has got only two outputs plus song/click output (stereo) where nothing could be routed to. It only can be switched to song mode, when the audio/midi from intenal player goes to this output while keyboard sounds go to the main output, and click mode, when the metronome click of midi file from internal player goes to this output while the midi music from the file goes to the main output together with keyboard sounds.

Is the click track simply recorded on MIDI track 10 in the song? Or is it a built-in feature of the STAGE?

It's in the song, which is very long and otherwise empty. Unfortunately, JUNO-STAGE does not have a built-in metronome. Or I did not find it yet.

And don't even think of switching to Patch mode during a song because that resets the tempo to 120.

I'd never do that, but thank you for this bit of information I did not know of.

I would never switch performance during playback of a song because it also resets the tempo to that of the new performance, and even if the tempo is the same the metronome might glitch out for a sec.

Well, in my experience swithcing the performances did not reset the tempo (it was stored as 130 bpm in both performances), and I did not notice any glitch in clicks, but the metronome suddenly became heared in FOH, which was a b-i-i-ig setback as you can imagine.

Oh, and get a new guitarist

I was under an incorrect impression that finding a guitarist will not be a problem since almost everyone seems to be playing guitar at some stage of their life. I could not be more wrong!

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Based on that info and a quick glance at the manual I believe that the MIDI file should not even contain the click, because even though there's not a feature named "Metronome", the click is indeed generated by the STAGE.

The metronome that went out to FOH was probably the one recorded in the MIDI file.

315.png.60f907df19a847dec4d9dca780703de3.png

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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Based on that info and a quick glance at the manual I believe that the MIDI file should not even contain the click, because even though there's not a feature named "Metronome", the click is indeed generated by the STAGE.

The metronome that went out to FOH was probably the one recorded in the MIDI file.

A good idea, I'll certainly check it. But as far as I remember the velocity of the only track in the MIDI file has been set to 5 or even 1 (of 127), so the track shouldn't be heared in FOH anyway. But I'll check or do it again from scratch.

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