Roland FR-7/FR-5 Musical Instrument User Manual


 
Parameters
V-Accordion
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73
Set this parameter to “Off” if the external instrument
should not double the notes you are playing on the
Treble or Bass keyboard.
Octave
(–3~0~3) Here is a parameter that allows you to
transpose the Note-on messages transmitted by the
section in question (if “Note” is set to “On”) up to
three octaves up or down.
This can be used for songs where an accordion regis-
ter of the Treble section (for example) should be dou-
bled by a piccolo flute played by an external module
whose notes would be far too low if they were used
as is. As stated above, each MIDI note has a unique
number. This parameter allows you to add (or sub-
tract) 12 (“1” octave), 24 (“2” octaves) or 36 (“3”
octaves) to (from) the note numbers generated by
your playing.
Another application for this parameter could be to
use the bass notes you play on the FR-7/FR-5 both as
(accordion) bass and counter-melody played by a
digital piano, for example. In this case, you probably
need to transpose the Bass register 3 octaves up.
CC00, CC32, PC
(Off, 0~127 for CC00 & CC32; Off, 1~128 for PC)
Here are three messages that belong together. The
“oldest” message is called “program change” or “PC”
for short. It has been around since the inception of
the MIDI standard. It is used to select sounds or
memories on the receiving instrument simply by
recalling another sound (or memory) on the trans-
mitting instrument.
What you set here is transmitted to the FBC-7’s MIDI
OUT port whenever you select the register you are
currently editing. (You can set separate addresses for
each register.) This allows you to cause an external
module to select the sounds that match the accor-
dion, etc., sounds you defined.
Select “Off” if a register should not send CC00, CC32
and/or PC messages.
Why are there three messages? When the MIDI stan-
dard was developed, some 20 years ago, 128 memo-
ries seemed a lot, which is why it was decided to use
a dedicated message type (program change) for
selecting memories on an external device.
The entire MIDI standard evolves around the magic
number “128”. Given that there is no way of expand-
ing that number, so-called Bank Select messages
were later added to accommodate the growing num-
ber of memories (modules with more than 2,000
sounds are quite common these days).
At the time, neither CC00, nor CC32 had dedicated
functions and so these two control change messages
were picked for bank selection.
Two bank addresses (“MSB” and “LSB”) with 128 pos-
sibilities each, plus 128 Program Change numbers
provide 128 x 128 x 128 values= 2,097,152 possible
memories.
Transmitting only Bank Select messages does nothing
at all, while working only with program change mes-
sages means that you are limited to the 128 memo-
ries of the currently active memory bank.
To switch banks and select a memory on the external
module you need to transmit:
A value for control change CC00 (MSB)
A value for control number CC32 (LSB)
A program change number
See the manual of the receiving MIDI instrument for
the MSB and LSB values it supports.
Be aware that this system allows you to send pro-
gram change numbers to an external instrument that
lie outside the range of the FR-7/FR-5’s registers (1~
14 for Treble, 1~7 for Bass/Free Bass/Orch. Bass, 1~22
for Orchestra). Such “excess” program numbers are
ignored by the FR-7/FR-5 when you transmit them
back (from a sequencer, for example). Example: if you
select PC= 49 and transmit that value to a sequencer
(to select a strings sound on an external module, for
instance), the external module behaves as you expect
when the sequencer track transmits that value. If you
then decide to use the FR-7/FR-5’s ORCHESTRA sec-
tion for your string part, that section will not switch
sounds (because it only recognizes program numbers
1~22).
Note: If PC is set to “Off”, the CC00 and CC32 values are not
transmitted (CC00/CC32 must always be followed by a pro-
gram change number).
Volume
(Off, 0~127, Default: 100) This parameter allows you
to specify the volume value (CC07) to be transmitted
by the register whenever you select it while playing.
That way, the MIDI instrument you are controlling is
automatically set to the desired level. Remember that
selecting “0” silences the receiving MIDI instrument.
Select “Off” if the register should not transmit this
message. Note that the FR-7/FR-5 does not execute
this message if it is returned to the FR-7/FR-5 via the
external device’s “Soft Thru” function.
Panpot
(Off, 0~127, Default: 64) This parameter allows you
to specify the Pan value (CC10) to be transmitted by
the register whenever you select it while playing.
That way, the MIDI instrument you are controlling
automatically selects the desired stereo position. “0”
correspond to hard left, “64” to dead center, and
“127” to hard right. Note that the FR-7/FR-5 does not
execute this message if it is returned to the FR-7/
FR-5 via the external device’s “Soft Thru” function.
Select “Off” if the register should not transmit this
message.
Reverb
(Off, 0~127, Default: 40) This parameter allows you
to specify the Reverb Send Level value (CC91) to be
transmitted by the register part whenever you select
it. Selecting “0” will set the receiving MIDI instrument