Roland w-50 Owner's Manual page 4

INTRODUCTION
Thank you and
congratulations
on your choice
ot
the
Roland/RODGERS W-50.
Thanks
to
its
wide range
of high-quality
sounds and
its
easy-to-use controls, the
W-50
is
sure
to satistv
most everyone; Irom
beginner
lo
seasoned
professional.
Moreover,
it
c
an
easily
be used
to
create
ensemble
elle(
ts,
by
making
use
ot
its
multi-timbral capabilities
in
order
lo tee! certain
that
you
t\rv
1'amiliar
with every outstanding leature
this unit otters,
and
to
be assured
ot
continuing
sat-
tsf.ic
lion
for
years
to
come,
please take the time to
read through
this
manual.
FEATURES
•
High-Quality Sounds
A
wealth
of Preset
Tones and
Drum
Sets
are
provided.
Whether
it
be
rich
organ sounds,
strikingly
realistic
acoustic
sounds or synthesized sounds,
the
W-50
has
them
•
16-Part Multi-Timbral Capability
The
W-50
is a
16
Part
multi-timbral synthesizer
thai
is
capable
of taking
full
advantage
ot
MIDI.
When com-
bined with
a
sequencer
or
computer,
it
otters
a
broad
range
of
compositional
and performance
possibilities.
•
General
MIDI/GS
Support
The
W-50
is
compatible with both the
General MIDI
System and
Roland's
GS
Format.
Any
music data
that
complies with
the
General
MIDI System/GS Format can
be reproduced
accurately
on
this unit.
•
56-Voice
Polyphony
The
GS
Sound Generator produces 28
voices,
while
the
Organ Sound
Generator provides another
28
for a total
of
56 polyphonic
notes.
With
this
many
voices
at
your
dis-
posal,
you
should be able
to
create
some
really
incredible
orchestrations.
•
Four
Key
Modes
The
W-50
offers a total
of four different
key modes: Dual,
Split,
Octavel, and Octave
2.
These can
enhance
the
unit's
creative possibilities
and allow
you
to
add
'fatness'
to
sounds.
•
Easy
Operation
The
unit's
buttons and
sliders
have
all
been designed
to
allow easy access
to
its
sounds and
functions.
While
enhancing
operational ease, they allow
direct,
immediate
c
ontrol
over
the
sound
editing process.
•
Performance
Button
The
PERFORMANCE
button can be used
to
obtain
instan-
taneous
changes
in
the
W-50's
settings
(a
convenient
per-
formance
function).
•
Realtime
MIDI
Control
The
W-50
is
equipped with three
sliders
which
act as
MIDI
controllers.
They
allow
you
to
apply realtime
expression
to
song
data.
•
'Minus-One' Playback
This feature allows
you
to
mute any
part
in
the perfor-
mance
data
(whether
it
has arrived
at
MIDI
IN or
is
played by the
SMF
Player
on
the
W-50) and
then play that
part yourself.
•
SMF
Player
The
W-50
is
equipped with an
SMF
Player
which
sup-
ports
Standard
MIDI
Files.
This
means
that in
addition
to
providing playback
of
what
has
been recorded on
the
W-
50,
it
can also
playback music
data created
on
some
other device.
Concerning
Symbols Used
In
This
Manual
In
the interest of simplicity, this
manual
uses the
symbols
below
to
help explain the instrument's operation:
•
Words
or
numbers
with Bold indicate panel buttons.
For
example,
PRESET
refers to
the Preset button,
whereas
TONE
GROUP
1
indicates the button
for
Tone Group
1
•
Wherever arrow symbols
appear,
such
as
PART </>,
or
PARAMETER
*/>-,
it
means
that
you
should press
one
or the
cither
of
such
buttons,
whichever
is
appropriate
for
the
situation.
When
two buttons are
shown
like this:
LEVEL+PAN,
it
means
that
you should
press
PAN
while holding LEVEL.
Pages
to
which you can
refer for
further
information
are
indicated by:
(•" p. **).
©
1994
ROLAND
CORPORATION
All rights reserved.
No
part of
this
publication
may
be reproduced
in
any form without the written
permission
of
Roland
Corporation.