External multi-voice hardware Tone Generators for MIDI Guitarists

Started by sixeight, July 06, 2008, 06:03:15 AM

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chrish

Quote from: arkieboy on November 09, 2017, 02:38:52 PM
It's been posted elsewhere on this site, but for those of you who have stumbled upon this thread through search, the new Roland D05 has an identical midi spec to the Roland D550 - not only (I understand) can you use the PG1000 to programme the unit IT COMES WITH MIDI MONO MODE (AKA guitar synth mode)!!!  Which means with the wealth of great sounds available, if you're using a FTP or a VG99 it is an absolute steal.


I owned a 550 for several years back when it was the dogs: and it really was.  I've heard the unit described as a 'pig with lipstick' because the foundational sound of the oscillators isn't desperately good.  But its what comes out of the L-R outputs that matters and the D50/D550/D05 deliver in spades.



(That's not to say its a great expander for the GR55, its just the D05 and the GR55 share the family sound and you'd probably want to choose something else if you want some new noises to play ...)
good review. I couldn't get through the factory, or was it magazine, product information. My eyes just started to glaze over. ;D

Elantric

http://guitargearfinder.com/guides/how-to/ultimate-guide-midi-guitar-gear-apps-plugins/

http://www.philrees.co.uk/articles/midimode.htm


The Roland D-05 or Waldorf Blofeld work  as a multitimberal Tone Module for MIDI guitar as both support MIDI Mode 4 (or Mono Mode, as it is often called), - important for supporting  6 separate MIDI Pitch bend message at same time  - for MIDI Guitar

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/midi-mode/
QuoteMIDI Mode
By Sweetwater on Dec 16, 1997, 12:00 AM
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One of several ways in which a device can respond to incoming MIDI information. There are two parts to each mode, one defining whether it is monophonic or polyphonic, and the other determining if it is multitimbral or not. Four modes are included in the MIDI spec, and two others, Multi Mode and Mono Mode (for MIDI guitar) were developed later.

Omni On/Poly – Device responds to MIDI data regardless of channel, and is polyphonic. (See WFTD "Polyphonic")
Omni On/Mono – Device responds to MIDI data regardless of channel, and is monophonic. This mode is rarely, if ever, used.
Omni Off/Poly – Device responds to MIDI data only on one particular channel, and is polyphonic. This is the normal mode for most keyboards that are not functioning multitimbrally.
Omni Off/Mono – Device responds to MIDI data only on one particular channel, and is monophonic.
Multi Mode – Used by many devices for multitimbral operation. An expanded version of Mode 3, Multi Mode allows the device to respond to several independent MIDI channels at once, with each being polyphonic. (See also WFTD "Multitimbral")

Mono Mode – Used for MIDI guitar applications, Mono Mode is an expanded version of Mode 4, allowing for six Omni Off/Monophonic channels to be used at once, one for each string of the controller. This allows for better tracking, independent pitch bend per channel, and a separate sound or patch assignment per channel.

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/mono-mode/234

Mono Mode (Part 6)
Getting the Most from Mono Mode
by Rick Davies

You may have your heart set on a specific MIDI guitar controller, but do you know which kind of synth voice unit to combine it with? Rick Davies offers some interactive advice.


In past issues we've looked at how various instruments behave when receiving MIDI data in Mode 4. This month we'll do a bit of the same, but with a specific breed of controller in mind: the guitar.


MIDI AND GUITARS have yet to sort out all their differences, but there are many MIDI guitar controllers available now, and for guitarists daring enough to dive into such systems, there is more to consider than just the type of controller; the synthesiser at the other end of the MIDI cable has to get along with your guitar controller in ways which may not be obvious at first.

Any MIDI controller can generate note events, and any MIDI-equipped synth will interpret these notes with little problem (usually). But to make the synth respond to the nuances of a musician's guitar-playing, other aspects of MIDI data come into play besides the Note On/Off messages which get the sounds happening.

Before continuing, I'd better stress that this article does not address the tracking delay problems for which so many guitar controllers are notorious. What is of importance is how well-suited some synths are to guitar controllers, and what to listen for when you're out looking either for a new system, or for some additional synth voices.

Some synth manufacturers have started implementing features which make their machines suitable for guitar controllers, generally making expressive playing more effective. Other synths may not be ideally set up for guitar controllers, but with a bit of consideration, and understanding MIDI Mode 4 (or Mono Mode, as it is often called), satisfying results can be obtained.

There are, of course, guitar synths which feature built-in voices like the Roland GR700 and, most recent, the Stepp DG1. Yet even with these systems, it may be of interest to add other sound sources via MIDI.

It's helpful to understand that until recently, most synthesisers have been designed with keyboard controllers, built-in or external, in mind. Guitars are able to play many notes at different positions on the fretboard, unlike keyboards which have only one key per note, so there are many times when guitarists will play the same note on two strings at the same time. If only one of these strings is muted, only one of the identical notes stops, not both.

One would hope, then, that a synthesiser reacts in a similar manner while playing a guitar controller. This may happen, but there is a catch: the synth must either be a bit clever, or you must tell it which string is being played or muted with each note message sent out over MIDI. We'll consider these two possibilities one at a time.

As mentioned earlier, some manufacturers did not have guitar controllers in mind when they designed the MIDI implementation of their synths, so it is often assumed that a sustaining note must be turned off before it can be re-triggered. That is, you have to stop playing a note before you can play it again. On a guitar, however, that is only the case if you are playing the same note on the same string. Some keyboard synthesisers can sound a note twice if it is played from the keyboard and also received over MIDI at the same time. But if two identical Note On events are received one after the other, as may happen when using a guitar controller, then some synths may play the note twice, while others may play the note only once.

To make matters even stranger, if either of the identical notes is muted, some synths will respond by switching off both notes. But if a synth has its wits about it, it keeps track of incoming notes, and switches them off one by one as Note Off messages are received. The Oberheim Matrix 6/6R is one such synth.

There's good news and bad news, though. The good news is that some synths like this can play several identical notes even while in MIDI Mode 1 (Omni On/Poly), which is convenient because as soon as you start working in Mode 3 or Mode 4, you have to start watching your MIDI channels, and this may be more work than many first-time MIDI users will want to involve themselves with. The bad news is that when a synth has received several identical Note On messages, the ensuing Note Off messages are typically applied to sustaining notes in the order in which they were triggered. Thus, even if the last note played is the first to be muted on the guitar, the first note played may be the one turned off on the synth. If the dynamics of identical notes are similar, this effect may not be perceived, but if one string is played harder than the other, the dynamics of the synth's voices will not follow your playing accurately.

There is a way around all of this, of course. As mentioned earlier, the misunderstandings between guitar controllers and synthesisers can be sorted out if, along with the note number and velocity, each Note On/Off message also specifies the string played. Fortunately, many MIDI guitar controllers can assign each string to an individual MIDI channel (1-16), and more synths than ever are now implementing MIDI Mode 4 (Omni Off/Mono).

In Mode 4, the receiving synth assigns one voice to one MIDI channel, and thus acts as several monophonic synths. This is similar to the way a guitar behaves; each string can be considered a monophonic voice. When the guitar controller transmits note messages on an individual channel for each string, and the receiving synth is in Mode 4, there is no confusion about which note to turn off.

A synth in Mode 4 can still get confused if two identical notes are received on the same channel, though. So make sure that your guitar controller transmits on separate channels, because if it doesn't, one of the synth's voices is going to go crazy trying to play all the polyphonic information coming in.

Note also that there are some interesting (non-MIDI spec, perhaps?) implementations of Mode 4 going around. For example, a Prophet 2000 in Mode 4 can handle polyphonic information received on one channel by assigning it to any available voices, so even if the guitar controller transmits on separate channels, each string is treated as a polyphonic source. You never know; it could come in useful sometime.

Typically, guitar controllers and synths also differ in the ways they can deal with several channels of MIDI data, specifically the channel numbers themselves. Currently, most synths assign their internal voices to consecutive MIDI channels when in Mode 4. For example, a six-voice synth with its basic channel set to 3 would transmit and receive over channels 3-8. Many guitar controllers, on the other hand, can assign any channel to each string. This can be useful for driving several synths over MIDI, or if the receiving synth has more than six voices. For example, since the Prophet 2000's 16 samples are assigned to MIDI channels 1-16 in Mode 4, a guitar controller could play any six of these samples simply by assigning each string to the appropriate channel.

Mode 4 also comes in handy when dealing with pitch-bend messages. Pitch wheels, joysticks, and the like are examples of monophonic performance controls on synths which affect all voices simultaneously. The equivalent on a guitar is the whammy bar. Some MIDI guitar controllers, such as the Ibanez MC1, feature assignable whammy bar-like controllers which don't actually change the string tension, but can be programmed to create the desired effect over MIDI. To control a synth's pitch, these bars should be assigned to the pitch-bend controller over MIDI. When the receiving synth is in Mode 1, this does the job just fine. But put the synth into Mode 4, and the MIDI channel assignment of the pitch-bend controller becomes crucial, as does the synth's Mode 4 implementation.

For a start, many synths in Mode 4 respond to pitch-bend messages on individual MIDI channels by pitch-bending individual voices. Such synths are well suited to guitar control because they can respond to individual string bending. For example, if the guitar controller and synth have matching MIDI channels, then bending a string assigned to channel 4 will cause the synth voice assigned to that channel to shift in pitch. The same would apply to the remaining five strings and synth voices.

So if pitch-bend messages on the six channels affect each synch voice individually, how can the whammy bar bend all six voices at once?

Answer 1: by transmitting pitch-bend messages on six channels. (Slow, sloppy, and too obvious.) Answer 2: by transmitting a pitch-bend message on the channel just below the synth's basic MIDI channel. (Fast, simple, and perhaps unexpected.) That is, if the synth receives on channels 3-8, then a pitch-bend message on channel 2 will affect all six voices simultaneously.

Pitch-bend messages received on channels 3-8 still affect each voice individually. Only a handful of newer synths, such as the Prophet VS, use this "Basic Channel minus 1" method in Mode 4, but word has it that other instruments will adopt it in future.

To summarise, Mode 4 plays a major part in getting the most expression out of any synth being driven by a MIDI guitar controller. It's worth checking out synths and controllers for some of the features mentioned in this article, so listen for notes being cut off, and demand individual string-bending capability as well if possible.

Mode 4 may not be essential for everything you intend to do with your synth, but it can make all the difference in the world when combined with a versatile MIDI controller. If you're just beginning to look into guitar synths, take the time to check out a synth's MIDI implementation before taking the plunge, regardless of the guitar controller you choose.

admin

WaveBlaster clone
https://www.serdashop.com/DreamBlasterX2



Description
DreamBlaster X2 Advanced WaveBlaster + USB Synth

Have a look at the user manual
http://serdaco.com/downloads/X2/X2_Documentation/DreamBlaster%20X2%20User%20Manual.pdf
- Small formfactor midi PCB : 65mm x 38mm size
- Black color PCB
- Dream 5000 series synth chip with 81 voices polyphony, high quality effects engine
- Waveblaster compatible connector for use on soundcards (such as Soundblaster 16, Audician 32, ESS AudioDrive, Aureal Vortex 2 and many others...) and DIY projects.
- It will also work on instruments that accept waveblaster cards, such as Oberheim MC2000, Korg NS5R and Terratex Axon AX 100
- Super low latency <1ms
- 64mbyte flash for soundbank data
- USB MIDI in (Class compliant midi device, works on windows XP without drivers)
- stereo line out using a high quality 24 bit DAC   
- Preloaded with a high quality 16 megabyte Dream General MIDI soundbank (http://dream.fr/pdf/Serie5000/Soundbanks/GMBK5X128.pdf)
- DreamBlaster Preset editor / USB uploader tool for advanced customization/tweaking.

Downloads available at http://serdaco.com/downloads/X2/

https://hackaday.com/2017/01/21/dreamblaster-x2-a-modern-midi-synth-for-your-sound-blaster-card/



https://www.excelvalley.com/product/waveblaster-midi-interface-board/


admin



Quote from: Elantric on May 10, 2013, 09:22:04 AM
Just to add a few more possible solutions for external tone generators

The Yamaha MO-6, MO-8

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/synthesizers/mo/mo8/?mode=model





Roland PMA-5 (battery powered) - basically a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 with MIDI Sequencer you can hold in your hand and already has a solution for Assigning different Alt Tunings on every PMA-5 patch!


http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/aug96/rolandpma5.html?print=yes


SoundQuest PMA-5 Editor
http://www.squest.com/Windows/Instruments/RolandPMA-5/


--

And i felt it worth while to repeat the info I already posted last January in the massive FTP thread

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=5188.msg54380#msg54380


Also I will point out a few more details.

Some of this may appear as useless trivia, but I will explain never the less.
One must remember back in the late 1980's to late 1990's  - Creative Labs Soundblasters were THE defacto standard for PC audio, and the Soundblaster16 sold millions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_16

It had a 26 pin  expansion header for an optional "Waveblaster" board, which was essentially a MIDI triggered ROMpler and gave the PC its first taste of playing sounds that resembled real instruments.
Even Brian Eno wrote music spcifically composed on the SoundBlaster AWE
http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/discog.html
Due to the millions of SoundBlaster16 cards installled in Every new Dell computer, Soon there was a new market for third parties to build a better version of the WaveBlaster.

Roland had SCD-10 and SCD-15 - which had the Roland SC-55 SoundCanvas sound engine on a small "WaveBlaster" compatible board.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Sound_Canvas
Trivia -  The Roland Sound Canvas was the basis for Apples "Quicktime Instruments". Apple got the credit, but Roland provided the multi-sampled sound libraries that responded to touch response. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTime

At a NAMM show in the mid 1990's I saw a Kurzweil "WaveBlaster board that was never released in USA at the Young Chang booth.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~wz4k-tnk/digital/summit.html



This eventually ended up as the hardware synth engine on a Turtle Beach Pinacle Sound card. 

http://retrosoundcards.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/turtle-beach-pinnacle-rev-f-turtle-beach-pinnacle-rev-d/
http://alasir.com/software/multisound/


Turtle Beach had their "RIO Waveblaster card that also supported external DRAM, for holding PCM samples


Yamaha re-engineered a compatible Waveblaster board they marketed as the "DB50XG"  -
XG Synth engines were Yamaha's  version of the Roland Sound Canvas. These were far more plentiful in the 1990's when Andras Szalay designed a "Waveblaster Header" inside the Axon AX-100 - but the internal AX-100 code was written specifically to support the NRPN RPN control addresses of the DB50XG.


In Asia Yamaha marketed a "DB60XG" Waveblaster board, but in America, Yamaha only sold the DB60XG as an internal PC ISA card - in an attempt to persuade PC makers to buy Yamaha, not Creative labs products. The whole Yamaha PC sound IC division was run out of the same building in San Jose where Dave Smith ran Sequential Circuits prior to bankruptcy.


So move to the present time, and we find that "WaveBlaster boards are not available from any source.
The 2005 RoHS /Weee initiative killed off all "non Lead Free" electronics,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive

and Many Many electronic companies either merged , regrouped, or re-tooled existing product lines for  Lead Free, or ceased production.
But Yamaha decided to get out of the IC business, as the Lead Free costs were too high.
Terratec did the math and ceased Axon production too - not because they could not find buyers, but because the Lead Free retooling costs were too prohibitive.



Two years ago Andras Szalay was inquiring on MIDI guitar forums if anyone had specs for the current "chinese clone" equivalent to the Yamaha DB60XG "waveblaster board , which was the final replacement for the long discontinued DB50XG.

The DB50XG was the internal Hardware MIDI Synth engine for the Axon AX-100, and the secret to its FAST low latency internal hardware synth engine.



The DB50XG shared the same internal Yamaha XG Synth engine as the Yamaha MU-10 (Battery Powered)
http://www.megatrade.ru/English/mu10.html



Some links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_XG


Should you locate an old WaveBlaster compatible board, here is a link to a Japanese site with plans on putting it in a box for use as a stand alone MIDI Tone generator 

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~wz4k-tnk/digital/summit.html






and a recent English tutorial on "DB-50XG In a box

http://www.joebrown.org.uk/wp/?p=3124
First take a look at the specifications listed alongside. Look familiar? Well, to Waveblaster fans probably, as this is the spec. of the Yamaha DB50XG daughterboard, a phenomenally successful product in a long line of excellent audio/MIDI offerings by Yamaha.

For a while now, I've come across articles on using a second-hand DB50XG (or clone) as a stand-alone synthesizer, and last week, I took the plunge and ordered a board from Hong Kong via ebay. The supplier sent me an email saying delivery would take up to 20 days, actually it took 2 days. I drew up a schematic in Eagle, and made the whole unit, including a printed circuit board and separate power-supply yesterday. The result is now soak-testing on my bench.

What's my first impressions? I'm blown away with the sheer quality of the sounds Yamaha have produced, and I'm only sorry I didn't jump in earlier. In fact I'm thinking of building another, so as to run both in parallel for a really rich sound.
For once, this project contains no PIC and no software, and uses purely conventional components. (no SMD)

Links to the zipped Eagle project, and details of suppliers can be found at the foot of this post.









Years ago Roland even marketed their own Roland SCD-15 "WaveBlaster Board which had Sound Canvas type tones

of course the Yamaha XG was the typical Waveblaster board installed in most Axons 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Wave_Blaster
While the original Waveblaster greatly improved upon the acoustic quality of the SB16's built-in FM-synthesis, the acoustic quality of its instrument-set was poorly regarded.[by whom?] By the general public. By the time the SB16 reached the height of its popularity, competing MIDI-daughterboards had already pushed aside the Waveblaster. In particular, Roland's Sound Canvas daughterboards (SCD-10/15), priced higher than Creative's offering, were highly regarded for their unrivalled musical reproduction in MIDI-scored game titles. (This was due to Roland's dominance in the production aspect of the MIDI game soundtracks; Roland's daughterboards shared the same synthesis-engine and instrument sound-set as the popular Sound Canvas 55, a commercial MIDI module favored by game composers.) By comparison, the WaveBlaster's instruments were improperly balanced, with many instruments striking at different volume-levels (relative to the de facto standard, Sound Canvas.)[citation needed]

Since 2000, Wave Blaster-capable sound cards for computers are becoming rare. In 2005, Terratec released a new Wave Blaster daughterboard called the Wave XTable with 16mb of on-board sample memory comprising 500 instruments and 10 drum kits. In 2014, a new compatible card called Dreamblaster S1 was produced by the Belgian company Serdaco. In 2015 that same company released a high end card named Dreamblaster X1, comparable to Yamaha and Roland cards. In 2016 DreamBlaster X2 was released, a board with both waveblaster interface and USB interface.



https://www.serdashop.com/DreamBlasterX2
DreamBlaster X2 Advanced WaveBlaster + USB Synth

Have a look at the user manual
http://serdaco.com/downloads/X2/X2_Documentation/DreamBlaster%20X2%20User%20Manual.pdf
- Small formfactor midi PCB : 65mm x 38mm size
- Black color PCB
- Dream 5000 series synth chip with 81 voices polyphony, high quality effects engine
- Waveblaster compatible connector for use on soundcards (such as Soundblaster 16, Audician 32, ESS AudioDrive, Aureal Vortex 2 and many others...) and DIY projects.
- It will also work on instruments that accept waveblaster cards, such as Oberheim MC2000, Korg NS5R and Terratex Axon AX 100
- Super low latency <1ms
- 64mbyte flash for soundbank data
- USB MIDI in (Class compliant midi device, works on windows XP and higher, without drivers)
- stereo line out using a high quality 24 bit DAC   
- Preloaded with a high quality 16 megabyte Dream General MIDI soundbank
- Advanced MIDI commands spec available.
- DreamBlaster preset editor / USB uploader tool for advanced customization/tweaking.

Downloads available at http://serdaco.com/downloads/X2/

Sound Demo's here on soundcloud : http://soundcloud.com/dreamblaster

Please note: There are some older soundcards with a Waveblaster compatible header but don't have an MPU401 interface. Instead there is only the SoundBlaster MIDI standard supported so the games that run with the X2 module are limited. Also you need SoftMPU to emulate the MPU401 interface in this case. Visit http://bjt42.github.io/softmpu/ for further information and a list of compatible games.

Some MIDI game tracks played on the X2 :



https://hackaday.io/project/19497-dreamblaster-x2-midi-synthesizer


admin

Quote
Should you locate an old WaveBlaster compatible board, here is a link to a Japanese site with plans on putting it in a box for use as a stand alone MIDI Tone generator

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~wz4k-tnk/digital/summit.html

List of Multitimberal WaveBlaster Boards

Aztech CS9233
Creative WaveBlaster (CT1900)
Creative WaveBlaster II (CT1910)
Diamond Multimedia Monster MIDI Rev B/Rev C (4MB version)
Ensoniq Soundscape DV rev B
Gallant GMW-1000
Hizon DB333 (Formosa 16bit AudioStar Wave)
IBM S-W1/C (KD020102 & KD020103)
Korg Ai20 (AKA Trust Korg Super Sound Module / Guillemot Korg Wave Upgrade)
Magic Wave Table
MPB-000028
NEC XR385
Orchid Wave Booster 4FX
Pine PT-2030 Vivaldi Xtra Wavetable Daughterboard
Roland SCB-55
Shark Multimedia Tsunami
Shuttle HOT-243Y
Terratec DREAM GSWAVE
Terratec MiniWaveSystem (SOWT-11 Ver1.0)
Terratec MiniWaveSystem (SY/TTWT-11M V1.0)
Terratec MiniWaveSystem (WT64 V1.0)
Terratec WaveSystem Professional (SOWT-24)
Terratec WaveSystem SCW001-2 (MPB-000004) (Formosa OEM)
Terratec Wave XTable
Turtle Beach CancunFX
Turtle Beach Kurzweil HOMAC
Turtle Beach Rio Rev 3.0
X Technology TopWave 32 (XTOP-005)
Yamaha DB50XG
Yamaha DB51XG
Roland SCB-7


All above can fit on this adapter

Waveblaster Module MIDI Interface Board - Sound Card Wavetable
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32853752449.html?spm=2114.12010615.8148356.6.1713b1edhW8DfW


https://www.serdashop.com/Webwinkel-Category-8896355/RETRO-Soundcards.html


admin

A better Hardware Synth for MIDI guitar is the Roland D-05  - which does work well for MIDI Guitar



https://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/D-05_ParameterGuide_eng02_W.pdf


More Synths for MIDI Guitar which support MIDI MONO MODE

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=50.0


https://www.roland.com/us/products/d-05/




admin


admin

Quote from: Elantric on August 10, 2012, 07:51:36 AM
With the pending release of the Fishman Tripleplay, and VG-99 , GR-55 owners who want to broaden their sonic palette of tones. its proper that we have a referennce thread to discuss the Synth Engine options for those who do not want to use a softsynth or a laptop

External Multi-voice hardware Tone Generators for MIDI Guitarists

As a refresher - this link sheds light on whats possible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI

While any old keyboard with a MIDI input jack may be used for MIDI guitar, the ideal candidate for External Multi-voice Tone Generators must support "MIDI Mono Mode", where each guitar string may be assigned a separate MIDi channel.  This allows each string to have separate bending expression ( Country riffs, Steel Guitar) . In the world of MIDI, if you bend 6 guitar strings in different directions, or apply  hand vibrato to only certain strings and not others, you will need a synth that can map each guitar string to a unique MIDI channel. This is also required to accomplish string range  / Fretboard range tone splits   

Remember there are many options for external PCM synth sounds

Roland Sound Canvas

http://analog-relics.com/2012/06/19/roland-sc-55-sound-canvas-part-1/

Details on the full range of Sound Canvas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Sound_Canvas

Roland SD-50 Mobile Canvas ( same synth engine as GR-55)
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=1090


Roland Sonic Cell
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=897


ROLAND  JV2080, JV1010, JP8000, XP80


Overview of old Yamaha MU modules ( these are like Roland Sound Canvas on steroids, use the Yamaha XG format and popular XG Edit)

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/en/product/1017294

More details

http://tastenpaar.de/motif/YamahaSeminars/www.cyber-bp.or.jp/yamaha/devzone/english/library/sw/sw03.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_MU-series

Yamaha VL-70M
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/tone-generators/vl70-m/?mode=model
http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/en/product/1017294

Yamaha Motif Rack XS
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/tone-generators/motif-rack_xs/?mode=model


Roland Juno-G ( a real sleeper synth, not to be confused with any other Juno!)

The Juno-G  is a poor mans Fantom X that can take a Roland SRX module (SRX "Ultimate Keys"  is my fave and installed in my Juno G) and can do most Everything a Sonic Cell does and More.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Juno-G
http://tweakheadz.com
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLSRX09

http://tweakheadz.com/reviews.htm

Juno G Review
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov06/articles/junog.htm

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/1098844-need-help-hacking-boss-ds-330-dr-synth.html
QuoteOriginally Posted by robotunes View Post
You need the Roland SoundCanvas GS Advanced Editor, also known as GSAE. The latest version is 4.0e, I think.

Just for you,I've tracked down a copy here but I can't vouch for whether it's malware-free so good luck. Hope you get it sorted.

The Boss DS-330 / Roland SC33 is a damn good rompler if you know how to use it. Sound Canvas synths have an undeserved bad rep. To get the most out of it, layer different sounds by setting multiple parts to the same MIDI channel. Detune parts using the Fat parameter and then to each part apply varying amounts of vibrato, semitone tuning, cutoff amount, pitch LFO, panning, volume, and amp release time. You will come up with the most beautiful '90s pads that to me sound better than today's overproduced-sounding pads. But that could just be me. Other people may think the pads sound great but don't sound modern enough. To each his own.

THERE ARE NO PRESETS, so you have to save each synth set-up as a bulk sysex message if you ever want to recall that set-up again. To learn how, read the manual.

You can do it via menu diving but that is for indefatigable spelunkers only (like myself). Or you can do it with GSAE, but it helps to understand the parameters of each part before you start exploring. Read the manual, read the manual, read the manual.

I fell in love with the Sound Canvas synths in the mid-'90s. Bought an XP-10, which is an SC55mkII. That, coincidentally, is the guts of the Boss DS-330 / Roland SC-33. Check your unit's faceplate near the LCD's bottom-right corner. If there is only a General MIDI logo there, you have pretty much an SC55. If you have the GS and the General MIDI logos there, you have the updated mkII version. 4 notes of extra polyphony (28 total) and a few extra tones.

I now have a treasured SK88-Pro, which is basically an SC880 with a keyboard. While I usually do sound design via menu diving, when I'm in a rush I'll use GSAE. And I think I've used GSAE with the XP-10 (i.e., DS-330) but I don't remember for sure. Anyway I'm pretty sure it will work — the editor has an SC55mkII mode which should include all the DS-330 parameters except Fat, iirc.

Anyway, explore the hell out of it if you still have it! Don't give up on this overlooked little gem.

https://web.archive.org/web/20031030084928/http://www.musictech.co.za/Downloads/GSAE401.exe

admin

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/depth-midi-functions-of-roland-sound-canvas/
In Depth Midi Functions of the Roland Sound Canvas
Article #14398 Updated on Apr 27, 2007 at 12:00 AM
On most SoundCanvas models, you can access a variety of advanced functions via front-panel button sequences. Controlling the SoundCanvas through MIDI, however, offers substantial advantages — not only for models with limited front-panel access, but for sequencing and live applications on all models. For example, since edits can't be saved in the SoundCanvas itself, to save the edits you make from the front panel in micro edit of part edit, you must do a part or bulk system-exclusive (sys-ex) dump into your sequencer. That's fine if that particular dump will take care of the whole song, but if you want to make substantial changes in instrumentation, effects, or tunings in the middle of a song, sending the dump back to the SoundCanvas may cause unacceptable interruptions in playback. Using smaller controller and sys-ex messages will enable you to create more expressive performances and take greater advantage of Roland's GS parameters. Small sys-ex messages are also a heck of a lot easier to edit once they're in your sequence.

The tips that follow will introduce you to many highly musical avenues to explore when programming your SoundCanvas. Everything presented here will work on the following Roland products: SoundCanvas models SC-33, SC-55, SC-55mkII, and SC-155; the Boss DS-330 Dr. Synth sound module; the JV-30 and JW-50 synthesizers; the SCC-1 GS sound card; and the VE-GS1-01 GS expansion board for the JV-1000 music workstation.

(The following models, released after the original publishing date of this article will also respond to GS programming: SC-50, SC-88, JV-35, JV-50, W-50, SCD-15, RA-30 and RA-95.)

I. MIDI CONTINUOUS CONTROLLERS
Using continuous controllers is an easy way to begin exploring some of the hidden features of your SoundCanvas. Once you know which controllers access which features, you can experiment with them by entering the controller numbers and values into your sequencer's event list and then playing the data into the SoundCanvas.

You're probably already familiar with controllers such as modulation (CC1), volume (CC7), and pan (CC10), and the SoundCanvas of course responds to them. For some added finesse, however, let's take a look at some special controller tricks and what you can do with Registered and Non-Registered Parameter Numbers (RPN and NRPN).

A. Mono and Portamento. If you want your SoundCanvas to go retro and sound a bit more analog, select a synth sound, such as #82 Saw Wave, and use continuous controllers to set part 1 to mono mode and add portamento . . . instant vintage synth! You may also want to add some chorus to fatten it up a bit. Send the following data values on the MIDI channel of the part that you want to edit:

CC126 Value 1 Mono On
CC65 Value 127 Portamento On
CC5 Value 40 Portamento Time

B. Volume and Expression. Another important aspect of successful sequencing with the SoundCanvas is the relationship between volume (CC7) and expression (CC11). Roland recommends using volume to set the maximum level for each part. Use this to set the initial balance of your sounds. Expression can then be used as a controller for adjusting volume between 0 and the level set by CC7. This allows you to retain a lower level, yet still have a full range of expressive control over your mix. It's also very handy when you want a part's maximum level to be an irregular value, such as 71. Using only CC7, it can be difficult to return a slider or pedal exactly to 71. However, if you assign the slider to CC11, you simply run the slider to the top, and the Level will return to 71.

C. Pitch-Bend Sensitivity. Registered Parameter Numbers CC100 and CC101 define the RPN functions, which include pitch-bend sensitivity, fine tuning, and coarse tuning. Use data entry CC6 (MSB — most significant byte) and CC38 (LSB — least significant byte) to set the values for the registered parameter you choose. (MSB and LSB commands allow two 7-bit data words to be used to send a single 14-bit word. "Most" and "least" simply refer to which byte is sent first.) Again, be sure to enter these MIDI messages into your sequence on the proper MIDI channel for the part you intend to edit. The SoundCanvas has a default pitch-bend range of a whole-step, which is fine for most musical uses. But to get a real bluesy string bend on a guitar part, a ribbon-bender effect on a synth lead part, or realistic fall-offs on brass stabs, you'll need to increase the Pitch-Bend Range. You can set the bend range for an individual part to up to two octaves by inserting these messages into your event list:

CC101 Value 0
CC100 Value 0
CC6 Value X

X is the number of half-steps, from 0 to 24, to which you want the SoundCanvas to respond. CC101 and CC100 tell the SoundCanvas that pitch-bend is the parameter you want to adjust.

D. Coarse Tuning. The coarse tuning parameter lets you change the pitch of the SoundCanvas in half-steps over a four-octave range. Since all registered parameter functions affect only the channel on which they are sent, you can transpose just the parts you want to, and leave others unaffected. This lets you transpose a piece to suit a singer's range, while leaving the drum and sound effects parts at their original pitch. On the other hand, you may want to tune the drums up or down to fatten or tighten them up, and leave the other parts untouched. If you try to do this by transposing your entire sequence, the note numbers in your drum tracks will be transposed as well, yielding some unexpected and possibly undesirable results. Add the following message to the event list of each track you wish to transpose:

CC101 Value 0
CC100 Value 2
CC6 Value X

X can be any value from 40 to 88, with 64 being standard tuning, and each number higher or lower than 64 representing a half-step up or down.

E. Fine Tuning. The pitch of standard tuning has not been consistent over the years, and indeed, many ensembles and orchestras today choose pitch references other than A=440Hz. With the Fine Tuning registered parameter function, the SoundCanvas can be tuned to match any modern or historical pitch level. Here's the basic message:

CC101 Value 0
CC100 Value 1
CC6 Value X

For standard A=440Hz tuning, X=64. For each increment of X, the pitch of the SoundCanvas changes approximately 1.5 cents (a cent is 1/100 semitone), giving you a range from 415.3Hz to 466.2Hz. Here are the messages for three common historical pitch references (note that A=415Hz requires a coarse tune message to get beyond the 415.3Hz bottom limit). Insert them in each track you wish to tune.

A=430Hz A=460Hz A=415Hz
CC101 Value 0 CC101 Value 0 CC101 Value 0
CC100 Value 1 CC100 Value 1 CC100 Value 2
CC6 Value 36 CC6 Value 115 CC6 Value 63
CC101 Value 0
CC100 Value 1
CC6 Value 62

F. Synthesis Editing. The SoundCanvas synthesis engine comes alive with the NRPN controllers CC98 and CC99. Eight NRPNs let you control basic synthesis functions, and five are for editing the level, pitch, pan, reverb, and chorus amount for individual instruments within a drum kit.

Listed below are the synth editing NRPNs, their controller numbers, and their value ranges. A value of 64 is the default setting. You can raise or lower any of the values ±50; values above 64 will increase the effect, and values below 64 will decrease it. Some sounds may not respond as you'd expect because the ROM value is already maximized. For instance, if a sound's factory default for filter cutoff is already wide open, adding +50 to it will have no effect. In this case, lowering the cutoff by -50 should produce a noticeable effect. Note: On some SoundCanvas instruments, you must first enable the device to receive NRPNs by sending a GS reset message (see the final tip in this article). The CC6 values of 64 are default settings, and 14 and 114 are the allowable minimum and maximum, respectively. (See Figure 1, page 3)

Fig. 1.
CC99 CC98 CC6
Vibrato Rate 01 08 14 – 64 – 114
Vibrato Depth 01 09 14 – 64 – 114
Vibrato Delay 01 10 14 – 64 – 114
Filter Cutoff 01 32 14 – 64 – 114
Resonance 01 33 14 – 64 – 114
TVF & TVA Attack Time 01 99 14 – 64 – 114
TVF & TVA Decay Time 01 100 14 – 64 – 114
TVF & TVA Release Time 01 102 14 – 64 – 114

To slow the attack time of a particular part, insert the message below into your sequencer on the MIDI channel the part is set to respond to. For a slower attack, X should be a value between 65 and 127.

CC99 Value 01
CC98 Value 99 (TVF & TVA Attack Time)
CC6 Value X

To get a musical wind instrument vibrato, try this message on a flute sound.

CC99 Value 01
CC98 Value 8 (Vibrato Rate)
CC6 Value 72
CC99 Value 01
CC98 Value 9 (Vibrato Depth)
CC6 Value 78
CC99 Value 01
CC98 Value 10 (Vibrato Delay)
CC6 Value 100

G. Drum Instrument Editing. NRPNs let you tweak any individual sound in a SoundCanvas drum kit. In this case CC99 defines the function, CC98 specifies the note number, and CC6 sets the value. The following table shows these controllers and values. (See Figure 2)

Fig. 2.
CC99 CC98 CC6
Drum Pitch Coarse 24 Note number 0 – 64 – 127
Drum Level 26 Note number 0 – 127
Drum Pan 28 Note number 00 = random
01 – 64 – 127
Drum Reverb send 29 Note number 00 – 127
Drum Chorus send 30 Note number 00 – 127

Try changing the pitch of the snare drum assigned to E2 with these messages:

CC99 Value 24
CC98 Value 40
CC6 Value 70

Once these NRPNs reside in your sequence, you can easily make subtle or drastic changes to any of these parameters by altering the corresponding CC6 value.

II. SYSTEM-EXCLUSIVE
Sys-ex commands allow you to alter the entire sonic makeup of your SoundCanvas by typing a data string into your sequencer's sys-ex list. If you haven't used sys-ex before, check out the "What the Hex?" sidebar on page 6 for a tutorial on how it works with the SoundCanvas. (The first five bytes in the messages below, F0 41 10 42 12, are a header for all SoundCanvas sys-ex messages. The F0 is a sys-ex status byte, and the rest of the message consists of data bytes.) In all of the following examples, we have computed the checksum for you, so all you have to do is enter the data. Roland MC-series sequencers with Super MRC automatically compute the checksum when you enter 00 just preceding the F7 (end of exclusive) message. Refer to Section III for more info on checksums. A. Two Rhythm Parts. Enabling a second part for rhythm lets you mix the Jazz and Jazz Brush Kits, for example, combine the Electronic kit with the Standard kit, or use the SFX Kit along with any of the other drum kits. The first message below will change part 11 to drum part 2, after which you can send a program change on channel 11 to call your second drum kit. The second message changes part 11 back to a normal part.

F0 41 10 42 12 40 1A 15 02 0F F7
F0 41 10 42 12 40 1A 15 00 11 F7

B. Controller Routing. A common misconception is that the SoundCanvas doesn't respond to aftertouch. It will actually receive both channel and polyphonic aftertouch, but first you need to assign aftertouch to a destination. All told, the SoundCanvas can accept six control sources: modulation, pitch-bend, channel and poly aftertouch, and two assignable MIDI controllers. What's more, each of these can have up to 11 simultaneous destinations: pitch, filter cutoff, and amplitude, and rate, TVF depth, TVA depth, and pitch depth for each LFO. For a complete list, check addresses 40 2n 00 through 40 2n 5A on the MIDI Implementation Chart in your instrument's owner's manual. Note that the "n" in these addresses is the part number. The following message enables aftertouch to create volume swell and add a bit of vibrato on part 1:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 21 22 78 50 06 2F F7

Try this on #49 Strings to add a little intensity, or on a lead sound, such as #88 Bass & Lead. For other parts, change the second digit of the address byte (the sixth data byte, 21, in the above example) as needed. Note for hex-heads: When specifying parts, Roland uses 1 for part 1, 2 for part 2, and so on up through part 10, which is specified using 0. Parts 11 through 16 are specified with the hex digits A through F.

C. Alternate Scale Tunings. Through sys-ex, you can tune individual pitches to create scales that stray from the equal-tempered path. All kinds of historical and ethnic tunings are possible, and since a message affects only the part to which you send the string, you can even have interesting fusion effects like an ethnically tuned solo accompanied by an equal-tempered band. Increasing the value of any single data byte (the 12 bytes following the six address bytes) raises or lowers the pitch one cent, and standard equal temperament is represented by 40 (hex). These parameters are located with the Micro Edit functions on the MIDI implementation pages of the SoundCanvas manual. As with all Micro Edit functions marked in the manual with an asterisk, you must send the data for all addresses within the parameter; in this case, you must send data for all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, even if there are notes that you aren't changing. The following example, set for part 1 (as denoted by the second digit in the sixth data byte), is one of many Arabic tunings, and it is effective with #16 Santur.

F0 41 10 42 12 40 11 40 40 72 40 40 0E 40 40 40 0E 40 40 0E 53 F7

D. Changing Effects. There's a lot more to the effects capabilities of the SoundCanvas than most people realize: There are eight different reverbs, each with eight variations, plus two delays and a flanger. You can edit effect parameters, such as reverb master level and time, plus chorus rate, level, and feedback. You can use CC91 and CC93 to control the amount of reverb and chorus per part, but the master levels default to 50%. With sys-ex you can increase the level as well as edit all the effect parameters. For a complete list of editable parameters, consult addresses 40 01 30 through 40 01 3F on the MIDI Implementation Chart. Here's how to select Room 2 reverb, and max its master level:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 30 02 04 00 7F 0A F7

Here's how to max out the master levels and increase reverb time:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 33 7F 60 2D F7

This message switches chorus to flanger:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 38 04 03 F7

The chorus level for each part defaults to 0, so you'll have to boost its level in order to hear the flanger.

E. Turning Channels Off. When using more than one sound module with a sequencer, you may want to thin out the orchestration by turning off a part or two on your SoundCanvas. Let's say you want to have a piano module respond to MIDI channel 1 and the SC-55 to channels 2 through 16. Since the SoundCanvas listens on all 16 channels, you must use a short sys-ex message to turn part 1 off:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 11 02 10 0D F7

Any of the 16 parts can be turned off using the part numbering given in Figure 3 (page 5).
Fig. 3. The SoundCanvas listens on all 16 MIDI channels. Use the sys-ex messages in this chart to turn off individual parts.

Part 1: F0 41 10 42 12 40 11 02 10 1D F7
Part 2: F0 41 10 42 12 40 12 02 10 1C F7
Part 3: F0 41 10 42 12 40 13 02 10 1B F7
Part 4: F0 41 10 42 12 40 14 02 10 1A F7
Part 5: F0 41 10 42 12 40 15 02 10 19 F7
Part 6: F0 41 10 42 12 40 16 02 10 18 F7
Part 7: F0 41 10 42 12 40 17 02 10 17 F7
Part 8: F0 41 10 42 12 40 18 02 10 16 F7
Part 9: F0 41 10 42 12 40 19 02 10 15 F7
Part 10: F0 41 10 42 12 40 10 02 10 1E F7
Part 11: F0 41 10 42 12 40 1A 02 10 14 F7
Part 12: F0 41 10 42 12 40 1B 02 10 13 F7
Part 13: F0 41 10 42 12 40 1C 02 10 12 F7
Part 14: F0 41 10 42 12 40 1D 02 10 11 F7
Part 15: F0 41 10 42 12 40 1E 02 10 10 F7
Part 16: F0 41 10 42 12 40 1F 02 10 0F F7

F. Splits and Layers. For live performance, use your sequencer and sys-ex to instantly create complex splits and layers — even on keyboards that don't have zoning capabilities or can't transmit on multiple channels. First we assign part 2 to MIDI channel 1. To do this, create a sys-ex string in which part 2's address, 40 1n 02 with n=2, is followed by the data byte 00, which denotes MIDI channel 1. (Part 1 is already assigned to MIDI channel 1, so we don't have to tinker with it.) We now assign the parts to specific keyboard ranges using the Key Range Low and High addresses (40 1n 1D and 40 1n 1E). Now select tones for each part with the Tone Number address (40 1n 00 and 01; two bytes required). This is great if you want to play a bass and piano break in the middle of a song. Leave out the Key Range messages and you have an instant layer.

First, assign part 2 to MIDI channel 1:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 12 02 00 2C F7

Now let's use modulation to control the level of the sound on Part 2. We'll assign modulation to amplitude and turn the pitch modulation off, like this:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 22 02 7F 40 00 5D F7

You can use this example to fade in a string sound over a piano sound.

G. Voice Reserve. This parameter lets you assign a minimum number of voices and a hierarchy for each part, so that if the number of notes in a sequence exceeds the unit's polyphony, it will borrow voices from the lower priority parts and keep the higher ones playing. If two parts are assigned the same number of voices, the lower-numbered part will take priority. The SoundCanvas has a default part priority where part 10 (the drum part) is highest, followed by parts 1 through 16 in ascending order.

The following message reassigns the voice reserves for parts 9 through 16, reserving a minimum of three voices each on parts 9, 11, and 12, and two each on parts 13 through 16:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 10 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 03 03 02 02 02 02 6C F7

H. GS Reset. This message will reset the SoundCanvas to its factory default condition. In the case of the newer SoundCanvas instruments, such as the SC-55mkII, you must send this message before using the NRPNs to program your sounds. Insert this message at the beginning of every song, in order to wipe the palette clean:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 7F 00 41 F7

The best thing about this message is that you don't need to worry about messing up your SoundCanvas by entering any of the other messages in this article incorrectly. It will always return you to a clean condition. So have fun with your MIDI hacking!

III. WHAT THE HEX!
MIDI messages can be notated numerically in one of three ways: binary, decimal, or hexadecimal. The method the microprocessors in your MIDI equipment prefers is binary, in which each of the eight bits in a data byte is represented by either a 0 or a 1. You, though you may not realize it yet, prefer to use the decimal system, in which each of your ten fingers is represented by an Arabic numeral, the familiar 0 though 9. Hexadecimal notation (or "hex," as it is affectionately known), makes working with MIDI messages easier than either of the other two systems. Hex is base 16, with the rightmost column being the "ones" column, and the column to the left being the "16s." Our decimal system only has 10 symbols for representing numbers, but hex must have 16. To accommodate these six unrepresented values, we use the letters A through F to represent the values from 10 through 15 decimal. A value of 16 appears in hex as 10. (Some publications use an "H" after a hex number, to make it easy to tell the difference between 10 in decimal and 10H, which would be 16 in decimal.)

Contrary to popular belief, the engineers who invented the hex system did not have eight fingers on each hand. They did, however, have plenty of eight-bit bytes in binary to worry about. Since four digits of binary can represent a total of 16 different values, we can quickly translate an eight-digit binary number into a two-digit hex number. It's easier to recognize status bytes and MIDI channels when they are in hex notation; consequently, it's easier to keep track of MIDI messages when inserting them in a sequencer track or programming your SoundCanvas in Micro Edit mode, which displays all parameters in hex.

MIDI system-exclusive messages contain hexadecimal representations of a given instrument's internal parameter settings. The SoundCanvas's sys-ex messages are divided into three sections: header, body, and end. The header is virtually identical for most of the sys-ex messages you'll use with the SoundCanvas. It simply identifies this message as sys-ex data for a Roland GS instrument.

F0 Begin sys-ex
41 Roland ID
10 Device ID
42 GS Model ID
12 Data Set Command

The body consists of a three-byte address, any number (up to 256) of data bytes, and the infamous Roland checksum. Each editable parameter in the SoundCanvas has its own sys-ex address. This allows you to send a sys-ex message to a specific address without bothering the neighboring parameters. Look for the Parameter Base Address near the back of your SoundCanvas manual, then find the table labeled Patch Parameters for the addresses used in these examples.

For our first example, we'll change the reverb from the Hall 2 default setting to delay. Under Patch Parameters, Reverb Macro is listed next to the address 40 01 30. We enter those numbers as our three-byte address.

40 \
01 Address
30 /

The address is a starting point for the data bytes to enter memory. The first data byte is entered at that address, and the remaining data bytes automatically flow to the following address locations. For Reverb Macro, the manual indicates there are eight choices, of which delay is number 06, so 06 becomes our first and only data byte.

06 Data

Next, we need to compute a checksum for this message. The checksum is used to protect your SoundCanvas from receiving corrupted data by ensuring that the address and data bytes follow a precise mathematical formula. Corruption is usually not a problem when creating small messages, as in these examples, but can be when one missing byte in a bulk dump can ruin a dozen of your favorite patches! Here's a simple translation of the checksum formula:

80 – (sum of address bytes + sum of data bytes) = Checksum

If the sum of the address and data bytes is greater than 80 (hex), the result will be a negative checksum. In that case, subtract 80 from the address and data sum as often as necessary until the sum is less than 80, so that the subtraction that computes the checksum yields a positive result. For our example, we have:

80 – (40 + 01 + 30 + 06) = Checksum
80 – 77 = Checksum
09 = Checksum

But hypothetically, if the sum of the address and data bytes had been greater than 80 (hex):

80 – (80 + 40 + 01 + 40 + 06) = Checksum
80 – 107 = Checksum (negative, so subtract 80)
80 – (107 – 80) = Checksum (still negative, so subtract 80 again)
80 – (87 – 80) = Checksum (positive) 79 = Checksum

So our body now becomes:

40 \
01 Address
30 /
06 Data
09 Checksum

If you're new to hex, you may be confused to see an equation like 80 – 77 = 09. You may find it easier to convert all the values to decimal, perform the subtraction, and then convert back. In this case, 128 (equal to 80 hex) minus 119 (equal to 77 hex) equals 9.

The checksum is followed by the end-of-exclusive byte F7. Our entire message would be:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 30 06 09 F7

For the SoundCanvas, there is a slight variation on this message format when we want to address parameters for a single part. Look in the Patch Parameter addresses in the manual to find:

40 1n 02 Rx Channel
40 1n 03 Rx Pitch-Bend

Notice all the addresses past this point have an "n" in the second address byte. In hex, the 16 SoundCanvas parts are numbered starting with 1. For part 1, n=1, for part 2, n=2, and so on. For part 10, n=0, after which part 11 is numbered A and so on. For this example, let's say we want to change part 1 from MIDI channel 1 to channel 16, and not have it respond to pitch-bend messages. First, we use the same five-byte header, followed by the appropriate starting address as shown in the Patch Parameter list — with n=part 1 — and two data bytes, since we're changing two consecutive parameters:

Header F0 41 10 42 12
Address 40 11 02
Data 0F 00

Our checksum for this message would be:

80 – (40 + 11 + 02 + 0F + 00) = Checksum
80 – 62 = Checksum
1E = Checksum

Yielding:

F0 41 10 42 12 40 11 02 0F 00 1E F7

Matteo Barducci

--

---> Matteo Barducci

gumtown

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

GuitarBuilder

Perhaps I missed it, but I didn't see any references to Eurorack Modular Synths.  If you want variety, this is the place!  All you need is a simple MIDI Input module like this one:

https://www.detroitmodular.com/eurorack/bastl-instruments-1983-alu.html

Once the MIDI info (note, gate, velocity, etc) is imported, you have over 7,200 modules to choose from to craft your own multi-voice tone generator.  If you get tired of it, all you have to do is swap out modules; you don't get stuck with a pile of hardware synths!

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/modules/browser?SearchName=&SearchVendor=&SearchFunction=&SearchSecondaryfunction=&SearchHeight=&SearchTe=&SearchTemethod=max&SearchBuildtype=&SearchLifecycle=&SearchSet=all&SearchMarketplace=&SearchIsmodeled=0&SearchShowothers=0&order=newest&direction=asc

I have several synths in portable cases, ready for live work.  They are airline carry-on legal, so they can go on the road easily.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

mooncaine

What about a Roland GAIA SH-01? I can't tell from the MIDI chart whether it does the kind of MIDI mono that guitar synthesists want (independent string bending). Do you think it has that?

arkieboy

You might want to lock your wallet and throw away the key before you read on, if this is accurate.  Haven't had chance to go to the manufacturers websites to confirm


Sequential Prophet 6/OB6 (via recent firmware upgrade) and Deckard's Dream are MPE compatible.


https://www.musicradar.com/news/5-music-technology-products-that-you-probably-didnt-know-can-use-mpe?fbclid=IwAR0ohGm9IMlYupkRfGHWv3dNKmeJJlOssWzaYFqupFgHQlpxAT5KA5gsik0


OMG
Main rig: Barden Hexacaster and Brian Moore i2.13 controllers
Boss SY1000/Boss GKC-AD/Boss GM-800/Laney LFR112

Other relevant gear: Line 6 Helix LT, Roland GR-33, Axon AX100 MkII
Oberheim Matrix 6R, Supernova IIR, EMu E5000, Apple Mainstage, Apple Logic, MOTU M4

AlakaLazlo

I can confirm that the OB6 now responds to MPE.  But it can't do midi-mono mode, so no voice per string.
Hexstainocaster, Fender Strat and Electric XII, Godin ACS, Axon AX50 - Moog One, IIP and Mini, SEM, Dot.Com/Moon/STG/FSFX 110, Cubase Pro, 2xMR816, HR824, NS10M, Komplete, Omnisphere/RMX/Trilian, Z3ta+, Analog Lab, Slate MTi2, ML1 and Everything Bundle, Social Entropy Engine, ESQ1, DX7, Lavalamp.

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: AlakaLazlo on February 11, 2021, 01:10:09 PM
I can confirm that the OB6 now responds to MPE.  But it can't do midi-mono mode, so no voice per string.

Bummer!
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

gumtown

I picked up two devices last year, both support mono mode midi, so you can have a different tone per string, and I think they both support split keys,
so you can have two or more tones per string and define the position up the fretboard where they range to and from.

One is the Roland Sonic Cell, this one has the two additional hardware SRX ROM tone modules.




and the other is a Roland Fantom XR (rack version of the Fantom X synth)
The XR also does 1GB of user loaded Samples

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

gumtown

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

paganskins

Quote from: gumtown on February 11, 2021, 02:32:32 PM

One is the Roland Sonic Cell, this one has the two additional hardware SRX ROM tone modules.


Gumtown, how are you feeding midi note info from guitar into the Sonic Cell, FTP or Roland guitar to midi and how's the tracking etc?

Looks of interest for my needs. Thanks

gumtown

Quote from: paganskins on February 12, 2021, 02:48:32 AM
Gumtown, how are you feeding midi note info from guitar into the Sonic Cell, FTP or Roland guitar to midi and how's the tracking etc?

Looks of interest for my needs. Thanks
I have a GR-55 and a SY-1000.
The SY-1000 has the advantage of patch midi send, so obscure bank selections can be sent to directly select the SRX module banks.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Chumly

Quote from: gumtown on February 11, 2021, 02:32:32 PM
I picked up two devices last year, both support mono mode midi, so you can have a different tone per string, and I think they both support split keys, so you can have two or more tones per string and define the position up the fretboard where they range to and from.

One is the Roland Sonic Cell, this one has the two additional hardware SRX ROM tone modules and the other is a Roland Fantom XR (rack version of the Fantom X synth). The XR also does 1GB of user loaded Samples
Hi Gumtown,

How are you finding your two newer hardware solutions? I still have yet to get a versatile, do-all ROMpler module to use with my FTP gear.  I think I would prefer the Roland Inegra-7 as compared to most others, but the price on eBay seems to have skyrocketed over the last while. The Fantom XR and the Sonic Cell both seem interesting, but whether they would end up being as cost effective and versatile as the Roland Inegra-7 I do not know. Why did you get them both considering there must be a fair amount of overlap?  Is there much advantage to Ver. 2 of the Fantom XR versus Ver.1?  Have you found much use for the Sonic Cell's two SRX expansion boards? Did your Fantom XR come with any SRX expansion boards and/or the Sample Tools Expansion Kit?

The Fantom XR display seems to be problematic, and I think it's quite a bit older than the Sonic Cell but on these two points I am not entirely sure.  I do know that for live FTP use, I prefer a hardware ROMpler instead of a laptop, even though a laptop has the potential to render more realistic sounds than a hardware ROMpler.
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman