Anybody using a Roland A-pro Midi Controller to run hardware?

[stoken6]

7 hours ago, Jr. Deluxe said:

sound stick

What is this?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Baldwin Funster]

Cheap but sound good. I've used these for over 5 years with Windows, Ipad, and Android.

 

Sabrent usb sound adapter at Amazon

[Delaware Dave]

My Code 61 has the ability to assign different control maps within the banks of the preset.  Like a Hammond Sk1 or a Nord Electro series, one button push alters the 9 sliders to control upper, lower or pedal drawbars.  I cant imagine that the 800Pro doesnt do the same thing.

[Baldwin Funster]

1 hour ago, Delaware Dave said:

My Code 61 has the ability to assign different control maps within the banks of the preset.  Like a Hammond Sk1 or a Nord Electro series, one button push alters the 9 sliders to control upper, lower or pedal drawbars.  I cant imagine that the 800Pro doesnt do the same thing.

I've learned to never underestimate Roland's ability to miss the mark when it comes to implementing common sense functions. Roland has some great keyboards that,  after you own them awhile, leave you crying out in the night WHY, WHY, Roland didn't you just do this? 

[Reezekeys]

6 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

My Code 61 has the ability to assign different control maps within the banks of the preset.  Like a Hammond Sk1 or a Nord Electro series, one button push alters the 9 sliders to control upper, lower or pedal drawbars.  I cant imagine that the 800Pro doesnt do the same thing.

 

Imagine it. The a300/500/800-pros don't let you assign a button or pad to change control assignments; you have to use the "value" knob at the top left. It's an endless encoder that's detented so you can "feel" each increment/decrement. IMO it's workable for switching back & forth between two consecutive control assignment presets, but certainly not as ideal as being able to assign a button or pad to change assignments. Since I never use my A800 standalone with hardware, it's a non-issue; I can make all the different assignments I want in Plogue Bidule and switch between them in any number of ways.

[Reezekeys]

1 hour ago, Jr. Deluxe said:

I've learned to never underestimate Roland's ability to miss the mark when it comes to implementing common sense functions.

Like.... semitone transpose?

 

🙂 

[Al Coda]

20 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

My Code 61 has the ability to assign different control maps within the banks of the preset.  Like a Hammond Sk1 or a Nord Electro series, one button push alters the 9 sliders to control upper, lower or pedal drawbars.  I cant imagine that the 800Pro doesnt do the same thing.

 

On the Edirol (by Roland) PCR 300,500,800 and Roland A-xxx Pro series,- you use "upper" and "lower" buttons to switch Midi channels, p.ex. #1 and #2 for upper and lower manuals of a software organ clone,- and for the pedals it´s possible to use a real pedal connected to MIDI-In and on Midi channel #3.

Now, when assigning the same Midi-port for keys and the controllers,- the controllers move w/ flipping Midi-channels #1 and #2.

For the pedals you´ll have to use the presets of p.ex. IK MM B3-X.

 

But for the manuals, it only works when the to the single set of drawbars assigned Midi CCs are identical for upper and lower manual of the software organ clone !

Unfortunately,- w/ B3-X this isn´t the case,- instead a different set of Midi CCs is used for upper and lower as also pedal drawbars.

That´s why it needs  2 (or 3) different control maps in addition.

I guess, in a live gigging situation, it will be uncomfortable if not unoperatable to switch between upper and lower manuals using the "upper" and "lower" buttons of the A-800 Pro and simultaneously turn the data encoder to select the related control maps,- which by nature requires 2 hands.

 

So, I´ll be fine playing upper and lower manual alternately w/ the A-800´s "drawfaders" assigned to upper manual and program the pads to switch 8 to the user programmable lower manual presets related virtual black preset-keys for lower manual and using Midi Prg changes in addition to switch global presets of B3-X.

Because the A-xxx Pro offers 2 software Midi ports,- in theory,- dedicated controller elements can control stuff on different Midi channels.

According to the manual, this is an essential feature necessary for many DAWs.

That´s what I learned yesterday when trying out the new toy and read the manual in depth.

I´ll have to set up the required Midi CCs for B3-X, the Midi notes for the pads and will try soon.

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[Reezekeys]

11 hours ago, Al Coda said:

Because the A-xxx Pro offers 2 software Midi ports,- in theory,- dedicated controller elements can control stuff on different Midi channels.

 

?? I guess I must be misunderstanding something because obviously different midi channels can share the same port, no? TBH I haven't found much of a reason to use two ports on my laptop rig. All controllers & keys, using a multitude of channels, go out port A and everything is working fine. I guess there are some specialized situations where it's advantageous to use two ports – I'm ready to be educated. Of course this only applies to USB midi, not 5-pin.

 

There are more idiosyncrasies I'm discovering about my A800 Pro; this is funny considering I've owned one for ten years! The "omni" mode is a new one (to me) - it instantly makes all notes and controllers – i.e., every bit of midi this keyboard sends – come out a single channel you set, regardless of the channels each controller was originally programmed to send on. Another function whose utility leaves me a bit perplexed!

[Al Coda]

7 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

 

?? I guess I must be misunderstanding something because obviously different midi channels can share the same port, no? TBH I haven't found much of a reason to use two ports on my laptop rig. All controllers & keys, using a multitude of channels, go out port A and everything is working fine. I guess there are some specialized situations where it's advantageous to use two ports – I'm ready to be educated. Of course this only applies to USB midi, not 5-pin.

 

There are more idiosyncrasies I'm discovering about my A800 Pro; this is funny considering I've owned one for ten years! The "omni" mode is a new one (to me) - it instantly makes all notes and controllers – i.e., every bit of midi this keyboard sends – come out a single channel you set, regardless of the channels each controller was originally programmed to send on. Another function whose utility leaves me a bit perplexed!

 

read A-800 Pro manual page #71 > Appendices > Two MIDI Ports

 

extraction:

the A-PRO will be able to use two MIDI output ports (PORT 1 and PORT 2). Each controller of the A-PRO can be assigned to send its MIDI
messages to either port.

 

To me, that means,- every single physical controller of the A-800 can be distributed across 2 MIDI ports (= 2 sets of 16 MIDI channels).

If I understand correctly, these 2 ports are software ports and physical Din MIDI ports are a different story.

 

The OMNI implementation is interesting,- I´ll have a look into that.

 

But before I can do, I´ll need a repair.

When my A-800 Pro arrived, I recognized the S6 slider not working propperly and I see a tiny piece of black plastic inside the sliders housing.

Something broke, possibly by transport.

It makes the slider unusable,- slider doesn´t go down to zero and other values behave unreliable too.

There´s no way to get that piece of plastic out of the slider w/o damaging more.

My PCR-300 needs a new slider too and we repair inhouse,- so once we got the for both the keyboards identical parts, it will be fixed relatively quick.

 

☺️

 

A.C.

 

 

[Reezekeys]

A controller can be assigned to output on port 1, port 2, or both. However, you can't have a single controller output on different midi channels according to port. It's simply a routing scheme. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point? The manual describes using the second port to control a DAW mixer, which I can see. For just playing an instrument plugin, two ports isn't really an advantage imo. As you can see from the manual on page 66, both ports 1 and 2 are merged when using the DIN midi output.

 

3 hours ago, Al Coda said:

There´s no way to get that piece of plastic out of the slider w/o damaging more.

 

I've had my A800 apart many times, just recently to replace the encoder ("value" knob) - luckily it's a standard Alps part with the mfr part number shown in the A800 service manual, US $1.50! You can easily separate the top case and unscrew the board with the sliders. Most screws just go into plastic, so repeated disassembly will strip the holes – I'm down two or three screws on my bottom case now. No big deal, this A800 stays home.

 

I'm considering buying a used A300 for parts - I've seen a few for $99. I could use a new main board for my "home" A800 since my 3x replacing the USB jack has ruined the board there and it no longer passes data via USB. Also, one of the pushbuttons takes a lot of force to activate - I removed that particular board, took apart the membrane switch assembly, and cleaned with alcohol but it didn't fix it.

[Al Coda]

1 hour ago, Reezekeys said:

A controller can be assigned to output on port 1, port 2, or both. However, you can't have a single controller output on different midi channels according to port. It's simply a routing scheme. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point?

 

Well,- I meant, it might be possible assigning one or several controller(s),- push-button, slider or pad,- to p.ex port #1 and on a (user selctable ?) Midi channel,- and a different controller or several different ones to port #2 on the same or a different Midi channel.

I´ll have to find out.

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[Reezekeys]

Yes, within a control map, each individual controller can be set to transmit on any of the 16 channels independently, and go out either or both ports 1 and 2. The channel assignment is made in the edit box of each individual controller, not on the "port" level. Of course it's still easy to do what you want - assign controllers of your choice to a different channel and set them to only go to port 2, for example.

 

I don't know what you use to host B3X but maybe you can assign a button on the A800 to switch your midi stream between two instances of B3X - and use the first instance only for your upper manual, with the second having your lower manual settings on its upper manual. This way you can use the same CC numbers, just routed to two different B3X instances that you instantly switch between. This is very easy in Plogue Bidule. Of course you might then have issues with jumps in the sound when moving the faders, after switching to the other instance! No way to do this on the A800 without some compromises, unfortunately.

[Al Coda]

3 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

Yes, within a control map, each individual controller can be set to transmit on any of the 16 channels independently, and go out either or both ports 1 and 2. The channel assignment is made in the edit box of each individual controller, not on the "port" level. Of course it's still easy to do what you want - assign controllers of your choice to a different channel and set them to only go to port 2, for example.

 

thx for confirmation !

 

3 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

I don't know what you use to host B3X

 

I check out everything using B3-X standalone !

What works "standalone" works later in a host anyway.

I also use latest Reaper on my Win 10 Pro laptop.

On my (Win 7 Pro S1 64Bit) DAW, I use multiple hosts,- also Studio One Pro 4.6, Reason 11.4.3 and I also tried Tracktion.

All 3 introduce some issues running in Win7 when using processor graphics (iGPU), Reaper doesn´t !

 

I might jump on Mac M1 once NI Komplete Ultimate CE is natively M1 ready,- but that can´t be expected before version 14 unfortunately.

I got a friend´s confirmation Studio One Pro 5.x runs excellent on Mac Studio (M1).

 

3 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

This is very easy in Plogue Bidule

 

Plogue Bidule is on my list,- I already tried the demo.

It´s very flexible and would complement the modularity of my S|C Scope/XITE environment nicely.

Will it ever reach version v1.0 ?

 

best

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[Reezekeys]

It's actually easier than I thought with Bidule, you don't need two instances of B3X, just two presets of the "Multi CC Remapper" shown here. Preset #1 is a "thru", lets all CCs go through unchanged. Preset #2 remaps the A800's sliders to the CC #s of the other manual. The "CC To Params" module is for assigning a button or pad on the A800 to toggle between the two presets. You can similarly add a re-channelize module to change the midi channel of notes to the channel used by the other manual as well. So, one button or pad on the A800 will instantly switch you between upper and lower B3X manuals. Easy! If you have the demo of Bidule and want to give this a try anytime, lmk and I can email this layout file if you want.

 

[Al Coda]

Wow ! That´s gold !

Thanks a lot !

 

I downloaded latest demo a few hrs ago and I´ll shoot you a PM w/ my email adress.

 

Just a question,-

are these Bidule versions still beta ?

I was always careful because of reading v0. xxxxx ... .

In fact, forumite "hardware", who unexpectedly died last month (R.I.P Jimmy !) already aroused my interest in Bidule by using it to an excess w/ his S|C Scope/XITE DSP rig in combination w/ uHe synths, Pianoteq and 3rd party Kontakt libraries.

 

thx again,-

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[stoken6]

15 minutes ago, Al Coda said:

forumite "hardware", who unexpectedly died last month (R.I.P Jimmy !)

Oh no, how sad. RIP. 

 

Do you have any more info (that you are comfortable sharing)? Age, cause of death, next of kin/family etc.?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Al Coda]

9 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

Do you have any more info (that you are comfortable sharing)? Age, cause of death, next of kin/family etc.?

 

PM

 

☺️

 

A.C.

[Telantas]

On 6/3/2022 at 11:58 AM, Tusker said:

It sends midi through the din out. I've used the A500 as a small hardware synth controller. I used it monotimbrally for leads and basses. It has an ac adapter. No problems.

Hi, I am picking an A-500Pro up on Saturday to control a hardware synth. I have a question about the AC adapter. The page on the manual that explains how to use this keyboard with a hardware synth says that I will need to use an AC adapter. However, I was wondering if plugging the USB to a USB adapter (whike usin the 5-pin midi to control the synth) wouldn't work. Has anybody got any experience with this?

[Reezekeys]

3 hours ago, Telantas said:

I was wondering if plugging the USB to a USB adapter (whike usin the 5-pin midi to control the synth) wouldn't work. Has anybody got any experience with this?

 

This will work fine, I do it all the time. Remember to slide the power switch in the right direction! 🙂 

[Baldwin Funster]

One thing to watch for is the Ax00 pros don't like low power. If the current is too low stuff like the display that shows when a control is moved will flutter on something like slider 6 and won't release the display after 2 seconds like it's supposed to. I had problems like that until I made sure I was feeding the board enough juice.

[Paul Woodward]

Just picked up an early A800. Now I’m aware it can’t do poly AT from the board (that would be a steal), but what does it do with Poly AT?

 

[Reezekeys]

As usual the manual is a little confusing on this. "AFT Mode" shows up only when you assign a pad to play a note!

[Paul Woodward]

Time to make another one of these then....

 

[Baldwin Funster]

2 hours ago, Paul Woodward said:

Time to make another one of these then....

I'd buy a couple pairs of those.

[Paul Woodward]

2 minutes ago, Baldwin Funster said:

I'd buy a couple pairs of those.

I would share the files for free. Just running the first test set off now.

[Paul Woodward]

Just running off the adjustable version of this and finding alternative uses for the stand when the iPad is in the K&M holder....

[Paul Woodward]

As for the A800, I opened the board up today and did the Aftertouch mod, works a treat now and took just 5 minutes.

I am on my third A800 now and I never fail to be impressed by how versatile and robust they are. No wonder Roland haven't really found a better replacement yet.

[Reezekeys]

Yes, I'm on my second A800. The combo of weight, keyboard feel, and features hits my sweet spot – I only wish it was easier to get parts for them. That iPad holder looks very cool and I would like to try it, if you can share those files. I'm not unhappy with my current clip stand but it gets a little shaky when I play, plus this might work to have my old iPad in addition to my current one – I'm wondering if I can use forScore with both, so I can have more than one page up at a time. Just a thought.

[Baldwin Funster]

1 hour ago, Reezekeys said:

I only wish it was easier to get parts for them...

Consider investing in an A300pro for about $160. The motherboard and all parts are the same as the bigger A's so you'll get an encoder, 9 sliders, all the pots, jacks, switches that you'll ever likely need plus a few replacement keys.

[Reezekeys]

Believe me I've thought about doing this. I occasionally got to Ebay and always see a few there for around that price - and they're all in Japan. No thanks.