Roland GALAXIAS | Super Instrument

[plexified]

Super Instrument 

https://www.roland.com/us/products/rc_galaxias/

Press Release :

https://www.roland.com/us/company/press_releases/2023/Roland-Introduces-GALAXIAS/

edit : add press release link.

[gumtown]

Things have moved on a little since the Fairlight CMI exactly 40 years ago.

[arkieboy]

Four parts to a scene, two insert effects per scene ... sounds kind of familiar.  

Feels like the superset of all Zen-CORE features: arpeggiators from Fantom 0x and Jupiter X; all the instrument specific models; I presume the sequencer will derive from the groove boxes.  

Of course we understand from Benedetto that Zen-CORE is a virtual toolkit of synthesiser modules that can be swapped in and out for each other, so this shouldn't be a surprise.

I wonder if this opens up the scene market place - at the moment the Zen-CORE sounds are single parts within a scene.  Processing power permitting you would half expect Galaxias sounds to be deployable to hardware ...

[gumtown]

[BROCKSTAR]

I don't see what is so different about this compared to Zenology? Looks like it's just being repackaged for people who don't know Zenology.

[arkieboy]

I don't see what is so different about this compared to Zenology? Looks like it's just being repackaged for people who don't know Zenology.

A Zenology tone = a part of a scene.  Galaxias supports four parts in a scene.

[Bluesbird]

Looks to be nothing more than a specialized VST host for the existing Roland software catalog requiring an ultimate subscription. Make sure you have a fast computer with adequate ram--some of those ACB models tax the heck out of the CPU (Jupiter 4 for instance). Even if you own a good chunk of their software catalog through lifetime keys, you won't be able to use this new software host to layer sounds--you will still have to buy a subscription. At this point, Roland is just figuring out clever ways to separate you from your money. A quarter of a century of milking the past is enough.

[Kevin M]

I could see this being a really handy way to find/create new sounds using its search features.  However, I wouldn't want to have to pay for an ultimate subscription for that convenience.

[arkieboy]

Zenology and Zenology Pro already have extensive search and classification built in.

And yes, its very helpful in finding something close to what you want when you're faced with thousands of sounds - there are 240 sounds tagged as 'ensemble strings'.

[xogmusic]

Seems to focused mainly to being an instrument for usage in the DAW or standalone.
I'm curious if it has a way to export the scenes for usage on the GM-800? Not covered in the quick start manual nor in the YT demos.

[Bluesbird]

Seems to focused mainly to being an instrument for usage in the DAW or standalone.
I'm curious if it has a way to export the scenes for usage on the GM-800? Not covered in the quick start manual nor in the YT demos.

No, you will not be able to export a scene to the GM-800. Scenes in the Galaxias are built from individual Roland software vst instruments and not Zenology tones. It is a four-slot Roland Cloud vst host, not a GM-800 zencore scene editor.

[aliensporebomb]

Looks like they're trying to do an Omnisphere super instrument.

[arkieboy]

No, you will not be able to export a scene to the GM-800. Scenes in the Galaxias are built from individual Roland software vst instruments and not Zenology tones. It is a four-slot Roland Cloud vst host, not a GM-800 zencore scene editor.

I think if you were disciplined, ignored all of the other models and loaded four Zenology Pro instances into the slots, you could experiment with GM-800 scene configurations.  Select four parts, tweak them until they sound exactly right, export the tweaked parts and then manually recreate the scene in your hardware.  It would be helpful to get your control assigns just right, and maybe switch off bits of a preset you don't want.

It's not going to be a seamless experience, obviously.

[Bluesbird]

I'm not sure what it is they are trying to do other than find a way to get people to buy $200 per year software subscriptions.

It has little resemblance to Omnishpere--it is a vst host! Has more resemblance to Zenbeats than Omnisphere.

You know all those vst instruments that they've been coaxing people to buy?  Those are what is opened in the "super instrument."  But now, to layer those same instruments in Galaxias, that you already own and spent $149 a pop for, you have to buy an ultimate subscription to access the Galaxias host.

With physical modeling synths and MPE coming of age and Roland's experience with harmonic restructure modeling, they would be stupid to rest on their laurels.

Unfortunately, Roland seems to be stuck in the past. I am sure they will release a new version of the VG-8 using the new serial protocal, but that's about it. It will be the same stuff recycled over and over and over and over. That is what they have been doing for the last 25 years, I see no indication that they are going to change.

The exception is the SY-1000, which they failed to support/improve and which hasn't had an update in over a year. It still has a substantial acoustic alt tuning bug and seriously wonky pitch to midi. 

Want to hear an innovating synth? Check Plasmonic out:

https://rhizomatic.fr/

[Bluesbird]

I think if you were disciplined, ignored all of the other models and loaded four Zenology Pro instances into the slots, you could experiment with GM-800 scene configurations.  Select four parts, tweak them until they sound exactly right, export the tweaked parts and then manually recreate the scene in your hardware.  It would be helpful to get your control assigns just right, and maybe switch off bits of a preset you don't want.

It's not going to be a seamless experience, obviously.

Why use Galaxias for that?  Just open four Zenology instances in your daw.

[arkieboy]

Why use Galaxias for that?  Just open four Zenology instances in your daw.

It has (I think) the same overall macro controls for envelopes, tuning, filter etc.  But for the difference between a pro and an ultimate sub, you're absolutely right.

[Matteo Barducci]

Roland Galaxias = Specialized Apple Mainstage

[ITL]

I agree with Matteo; having played around with it a couple of days ago, it seems like Roland's version of Mainstage.

[arkieboy]

Except, if I have a Mac I can own MainStage + ES2 + Sampler + Alchemy + Sculpture + a whole bunch of other stuff as well as the option of using Korg, GForce and Cherry Audio plug-ins for, oh, just a bit more than the price of a month's ultimate subscription ...

Maybe I'm spoiled, and yes there is the Apple tax of being forced to buy premium hardware that I rely on to make music and actually use that awful macOS.  I mean it's been a bit of a life sentence having never worried about hardware OS incompatibility since 2009.  But even then it doesn't really sound like value for money, exactly, does it?

* note the ladels of sarcasm here, I'm a Brit remember, sometimes I mean the opposite of what I say! 

[gumtown]

Love the sound of the "GALAXIAS" name,
 it sounds epic !!

[IMH1234]

Things have moved on a little since the Fairlight CMI exactly 40 years ago.

Would go for the Fairlight over this cloud subscription based ephemera any day - in 40 years there will still be people running and using Fairlights, will there be any support for Roland's current platforms in 4 years? If so, I expect we will need to upgrade to their latest 'improved' software-reliant hardware platform to make use of this

[Elantric]

Would go for the Fairlight over this cloud subscription based ephemera any day - in 40 years there will still be people running and using Fairlights, will there be any support for Roland's current platforms in 4 years? If so, I expect we will need to upgrade to their latest 'improved' software-reliant hardware platform to make use of this

In 1995 I had to maintain three genuine 1983 era Fairlight CMI's at a LA Post production sound design house (Stephen Dewey / Machine Head) 
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0223148/
, it was a major hassle as it relied on tempermental SCSI drives , and required a specific power on sequence , and would NOT  be anything Id want to tour and perform live gigs with - and it was a roll of the dice if it would work each day.

We were always replacing failed cards - luckily in 1995 Fairlight had a facility in LA stocked with spares - we would have been dead and lost without access to replacement boards

In 2016, Fairlight was aquired by Black Magic Design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairlight_(company)

[IMH1234]

it was a major hassle as it relied on tempermental SCSI drives , and required a specific power on sequence , and would NOT  be anything Id want to tour and perform live gigs with - and it was a roll of the dice if it would work each day

I can't disagree with any of this but as a studio only musician who has made a conscious decision to move to a 100% OTB recording/mixing workflow with temperamental vintage gear I stand behind my preferences here. If I was running a modern commercial operation or touring I would certainly have a different view but even then would be looking at reliable rack-mountable and serviceable hardware that would give several decades of useful service after software support is withdrawn