Roland RD-88: BANK CMN

[Kathleen]

If this topic is already covered, please point me to it. Otherwise, the SOUND LIST from the Roland site lists the SCENES, and TONES, and describes the BANK for the TONES. I get all the BANKS listed, except for the CMN, which I am guessing means COMMON, but that may be a faux pas on my part. I would really like to incorporate some the of sounds listed in the BANK CMN section, but I cannot find them. Please help!!

 

Thank you!

[Doerfler]

Welcome to the forums, Kathleen. I know nothing myself about the internals of the RD-88, but check out this video from Piano Man Chuck and see if he talks about it . If not, send him a PM, I would bet he knows the answer to your question.

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3060423/rd-88#Post3060423

[Kathleen]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had watched it, emailed him, he replied that his own RD-88 was unavailable, and to ask on this very forum! Apparently great minds think alike!!

 

I will watch it again, however. Seeing how it's a fairly long video, one of my puppy dogs could have distracted me at the exact moment it was mentioned. Thank you again for responding.

[Doerfler]

hopefully someone on this forum who owns an RD 88 will eventually respond.

 

Try to contact Ed Diaz : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-diaz-b65bb216

 

maybe try here also

 

https://forums.rolandclan.com/viewforum.php?f=62

[AnotherScott]

Just to be clear, according to the manual, for each zone, you should be able to select any of 11 tone banks: SN PR-A, SN PR-B, RD-88, PR-A, PR-B, PR-C, PR-D, PR-E, COMMON, USER, EXZ001... Are you saying that you can choose any of the other ten, but Common (CMN) does not appear as an option?

[allan_evett]

I will have to check, hopefully later today. I think I saw some CMN Tones pop up on my RD, while programming some Scenes a couple of weeks ago. Could be thinking of my Fantom 7 though; the entire list of CMN Tones does appear there.

Will keep you posted

[Kathleen]

Oh, gosh. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. This is new to me so I appreciate all the posts. Afterthougt edit: Maybe I haven't found ANY of the BANKS, just the SCENES associated with the BANK buttons

 

I cannot seem to find the last three listed by AnotherScott. COMMON, USER, and EXZ001. Probably Operator Error. Is there something besides the square buttons numbered 0-9? Should I use the SHIFT Key?

 

Allan Evett - thanks. I was hoping you would respond.

 

Thanks, Doerfler. I saw one video by Ed Diaz. He seems very kind and knowledgeable.

[Kathleen]

HEY!!! I think I found what I needed. With a SCENE displayed, you arrow down into a TONE. After which you toggle BANK and CATEGORY with the ENTER KEY. Then you can arrow on through the BANKS. Is that it?

 

Thanks again to everyone.

[allan_evett]

HEY!!! I think I found what I needed. With a SCENE displayed, you arrow down into a TONE. After which you toggle BANK and CATEGORY with the ENTER KEY. Then you can arrow on through the BANKS. Is that it?

 

Thanks again to everyone.

 

 

We're apparently a small contigency of RD-88 players, but we're all trying to figure out this instrument. It's unique, that's for certain. Where else could one find high-quality up-to-date sounds, above average control features, built-in speakers and a front panel interface straight out of 1992?

I've grown to like this keyboard; a lot, actually. It's a fun combination of very useful stuff and it sounds great.

 

I ended up being out all day and haven't been able to get onto the keyboard, but I believe that's the sequence I used to get to all of the banks. I should have the RD-88 set up tomorrow morning, and can confirm that then.

[allan_evett]

I was able to spend some time with my rig this morning. Yes, arrowing down to the Tone within a Scene, then toggling Bank and Category with the Enter key does the trick. I was able to access the 'Common' bank, within each category.

 

I left a message with Ed Diaz from Roland this past Saturday, inviting him to visit this thread and the review thread in the MPN GearLab area. Any insights we can get from Roland would be great; hoping to see some tutorials soon.

[Kathleen]

Cool.

 

I wrote up a "how-to" about Scenes, Tones, and Parameters, and I *think* I have it correct. (I intend to write one about The Sound List now that I have it figured out for the most part). Anyhoo, if you check it out, let me know if I am incorrect on any points and I will revisit it.

 

https://discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/Understanding-Scenes-Tones-and-Parameters-on-the-Roland-RD-88-Digital-Piano

[LX88]

Hey gang

 

I finally got to demo an RD88.

 

The interface was not intuitive to me. I was only able to get to the first sound in each category

 

The first Supernatural sample is definitely different than the. FP 10. I got recently

 

The first rhodes option seemed a bit strange...kind of midrangy but I couldn't get to any other options.

 

Was surprised to see it at my local. GC. They are really uptight about demos because of Covid

[Kathleen]

Hi LX88. That was exactly my struggle. I finally figured it out and Allan concurred that is his tactic as well. I wrote a little overview blurb on a bloggy site (see above link) and I intend to make a detailed Sound List blurb this week. My local GC did not have it, but a local shop did. I know GC is struggling, but I was happy to support a local store.

[allan_evett]

The interface threw me for a loop, as well. Plus, several of the piano variations had slightly shortened decay portions, which put me off at first. aellison62 - another RD-88 owner here - noticed the same thing. He came up with a piano Scene that combined one of the concert grands and a pop piano; that sound 'carries through' better. I also did a single Tone concert grand Scene with some EQ and filter tweaks, plus a slightly lengthened decay on the amp envelope. It's a fairly bright, clear sound that carries well in a band mix, but also seems to work okay for solo playing.

 

When the RD-88 was first announced, I tentatively planned on selling my Roland FP-50. Seemed a good idea, as the lack of control features often got in my way. Eventually I sold the FP, then ordered the RD. About three weeks in, I almost sent the RD-88 back and replaced it with a Casio PX-560. The PX-560 is of similar sound quality, with a wide variety of solid synth tones as well. The pianos are Steinway-based samples, so it has a different vibe. The display on the PX-560 is far better than that of the RD-88 - an approx. 3 x 5 touchscreen. But after coming off of a church accompanying gig with a provided Casio PX-S3000 (very similar soundset to the PX-560), I decided that I still preferred the Roland SN sound, plus the Z-Core engine (I've had a Fantom 7 for about a year now). So despite the underwhelming display, it appears I'm digging in along with the rest of you. And it appears for now that we're somewhat on our own with this machine. I think that between the pandemic and being spread thin with product support coverage, Roland is not going to be post-sale supporting the RD-88 too much. Plus, with the FA series going into its 7th year - IIRC - I suspect that the company's keyboard product focus is likely going to a Fantom 'trickle-down' Zen-Core replacement for the FA series.

[LX88]

Allan

 

Wouldn't the Casio also have short decay issues on the piano sample?

 

That has been my experience with most Casios.

 

I did buy an FP 10 during Costco madness...and love thatbparticulat Supernatural sample. I have a feeling Roland pulled it off the market because it was too competitive with more spend boards.

 

Also...have anybody you gotten into the piano partner app?

Assuming that it is included on RD88...

 

God I hate typing on phones...no laptop at the moment...

[LX88]

By the way the FP 10 has few if any decay issues on the piano sample unlike Casio..Yamaha Motif and P series etc.

 

In general the Supernaturals are pretty good overall but some of the earlier versions seemed to emphasize upper register harmonics.

 

I would like to spend more time a/b ing the RD 88 and FP 10 but Guitar Center discourages such things currently.

[allan_evett]

Allan

 

Wouldn't the Casio also have short decay issues on the piano sample?

 

That has been my experience with most Casios.

 

I did buy an FP 10 during Costco madness...and love thatbparticulat Supernatural sample. I have a feeling Roland pulled it off the market because it was too competitive with more spend boards.

 

Also...have anybody you gotten into the piano partner app?

Assuming that it is included on RD88...

 

God I hate typing on phones...no laptop at the moment...

 

 

Yes, I have noticed the short decay issue with various Privias over the past decade or so. The PX-560 and PX-S3000 seem to have improved in that area, but not any better than the current state of the RD-88 pianos. I haven't noticed short decay issues with Yamaha AWM2 piano tones (even with original AWM samples, which I still have in a 1987 TX-1P module). I normally use Yamaha DP tones or Ravenscroft 275 for recording, for the reasons above. The Roland SN and PCM Tones work better live for me, though I've used Yamaha plenty of times too. The Roland sound has a certain 'spark' live. I read somewhere that there's a slight built-in EQ boost at 6K in their piano tones; that could have something to do with it.

 

I haven't had a chance to play the FP10. Did that SN sample have a signicantly better decay than the RD-88? You did mention an improvement over particular Casio and Yamaha piano tones, so I was curious as to how much better the FP-10 decay is.

 

I just checked out the Piano Partner app page. The RD-88 isn't listed as a compatable device, unfortunately.

[AnotherScott]

A related advantage of the RD-88 over the PX560... the ease with which you could grab/integrate an alternate piano sound, if you end up liking, say, Korg Module Ivory or Ravenscroft on your iPad better than the piano sound in your board. I always thought the lack of even basic MIDI zoning capabilties (i.e. being able to specify MIDI Output with Channel and Program Change as an Upper or Lower part) was the most disappointing thing about the PX-560.

[allan_evett]

A related advantage of the RD-88 over the PX560... the ease with which you could grab/integrate an alternate piano sound, if you end up liking, say, Korg Module Ivory or Ravenscroft on your iPad better than the piano sound in your board. I always thought the lack of even basic MIDI zoning capabilties (i.e. being able to specify MIDI Output with Channel and Program Change as an Upper or Lower part) was the most disappointing thing about the PX-560.

 

 

Yes, a solid advantage of the RD-88; it's a very capable 3-zone controller. I've already tried the iOS version of Ravenscroft 275, also IK Multimedia's/Hammond's B-3X. So if stronger pianos and tonewheel organs were needed for a single-keyboard situation, it would be possible to accomplish that with an RD-88 and iPad.

 

Figuring out the USB-MIDI button toggles - that go along with the external zone assignment process - was a cryptic chore. Think I got it right for the external-only Scene I created recenty - at least for a single zone. For anything more involved, I'd likely call tech support, as the manual has some very un-helpful sections. Looks like Roland also went back to 1991 for some of the technical writing on this one

[Kathleen]

Hey - Im making another write up about that very thing. I will post in a new thread with an appropriate name. Later today, I hope.

[Kathleen]

FYI's, I made a new thread: Roland RD-88 Articles. Let me know if you find errors or corrections, or if you found them useful. (2 articles)

[Greg Mein]

So we bought the RD-88 last year just before our NYE gig. We had it sort of figured out and usable. It's actually my wife who uses this keyboard and today she's trying to figure out how to save a sound (bagpipes) from the CMN into a favorites location/bank whatever it is? She's having trouble, is it not possible to do this? Any help appreciated!

 

I sure do miss the old Roland keyboard days when there were Banks, Patches and user locations with a jog wheel and usable display. That seemed like it began to change when I bought the FA-08.

[Ibarch]

The Favourites feature is for shortcuts to scenes, not sounds (tones). 

 

So, to save a tone, you need to create and save a scene, then add this to favourites. 

1. Find an empty (initial) scene. 

2. Set the selected sound for bagpipes into zone 1. 

3. Rename the scene and save it. 

4. Press Favourite [Bank] button then your chosen bank number, from 0 - 9

5. Press and hold the Favourite [On] button and the choose the number to save to, from 0 - 9.

 

 

[Greg Mein]

21 hours ago, Ibarch said:

The Favourites feature is for shortcuts to scenes, not sounds (tones). 

 

So, to save a tone, you need to create and save a scene, then add this to favourites. 

1. Find an empty (initial) scene. 

2. Set the selected sound for bagpipes into zone 1. 

3. Rename the scene and save it. 

4. Press Favourite [Bank] button then your chosen bank number, from 0 - 9

5. Press and hold the Favourite [On] button and the choose the number to save to, from 0 - 9.

 

 

Thanks, we got it! My wife is currently doing all the keys in our band and doesn't have the history with these things that I do. Problem is they've changed a lot and the things I know about Roland keyboards seems to be a bit obsolete these days.

[Ibarch]

Once the scene/zone/tone design is understood, everything should slot into place. Roland use this on other boards too such as the Fantoms.

 

Whilst the RD-88 offers a lot, the programming interface is poor. Menu upon menu, no jog wheel, no touch screen, a tiny display. It makes it harder to setup that it should be. Plus the lack of any proper library app for a computer. It isn't even possible to backup/restore individual scenes, it is all or nothing. 

 

Take a look at the Fantom 0 series for how it should have been done. 

[Greg Mein]

9 minutes ago, Ibarch said:

Once the scene/zone/tone design is understood, everything should slot into place. Roland use this on other boards too such as the Fantoms.

 

Whilst the RD-88 offers a lot, the programming interface is poor. Menu upon menu, no jog wheel, no touch screen, a tiny display. It makes it harder to setup that it should be. Plus the lack of any proper library app for a computer. It isn't even possible to backup/restore individual scenes, it is all or nothing. 

 

Take a look at the Fantom 0 series for how it should have been done. 

I still have the FA-08 that I was using in the last band I was in. It's different from past Roland keyboards I've had but sure is a lot easier to work with than this thing!