Roland Fantom-X User Manual
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Roland Fantom-X User Manual

Roland Fantom-X User Manual

Recording music on the fantom-x
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Workshop
Recording Music on the Fantom-X
No. 5 in the Fantom-X Workshop Series
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  • Page 1 ®ÂØÒňΠ™ Workshop Recording Music on the Fantom-X No. 5 in the Fantom-X Workshop Series...
  • Page 2 © 2004 Roland Corporation U.S. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Roland Corporation U.S.

  • Page 3: About This Booklet

    Each booklet covers a single topic, with easy-to-follow we’ll explain them.) explanations, procedures and illustrations. Have fun learning When it’s time to mix a song, the Fantom-X’s onboard mixer to master the Fantom-X in convenient bite-sized pieces. and effects help you achieve the perfect, CD-ready final mix.
  • Page 4 PLAY button, it sends the MIDI data components communicate. (It’s also how the Fantom-X talks to the Fantom-X’s sound generator, and it sounds as if you’re to other instruments). playing the keyboard, pads, and so on.
  • Page 5 Fantom-X, each channel’s data can play its own individual patch or rhythm set. In the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual, a track is called a “phrase track.” We simply call it a “track” in this booklet.
  • Page 6 Playing a Part Performances are also important when playing live, since they allow you to split the Fantom-X keyboard, and to layer sounds, as described in the Each of the sound generator’s 16 instruments in Performance Workshop series booklet Performing with the Fantom-X. That’s also where mode is called a “part.
  • Page 7 One Song at a Time The most typical way to record—and probably the most fun— is to simply play your music on the Fantom-X keyboard or pads A single Fantom-X song can be loaded at a time. Only when a song is loaded can you record new material or edit the and capture it all in realtime, as the metronome ticks or the song plays.

  • Page 8: Before You Record

    Before You Record As a result, a song’s length in time is pretty much irrelevant as a When it’s shipped from the factory, the Fantom-X is set up so measure of its size. A 24-hour song with a sparse arrangement that it automatically loads its demo song at startup.

  • Page 9: How To Record

    You’re likely to begin the process of creating a song in the a song from memory. Fantom-X in one of two ways. You’ll start recording a song in: • Patch mode—when you come up with a new song idea If, however, you’d like to record using another time signature:...
  • Page 10 If you don’t like what you’ve recorded and would like to quickly get rid of indicator flashes, and the Realtime Rec Standby window it, use the Fantom-X’s Undo feature. If you’re in Patch mode, press PATCH/ opens to let you set up for recording. If you’re already RHYTHM—if you’re in Performance mode, press MIXER or LAYER/SPLIT—...
  • Page 11 Metronome Mode parameter’s value to Off or PLAY-ONLY, as nothing there yet, so you’re not combining your new described in the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual. You can also switch it off in the recording with anything.) Tempo window, as we’ll explain.
  • Page 12 Tempo Rec Sw—When this parameter is turned on, the You can quantize a recording later on if you prefer. This allows you to try Fantom-X records any changes you make to the song’s different quantization values at your leisure, a good idea if you’re not sure tempo as it plays when you: of the Input Quantize note value to select.
  • Page 13 We’ll decribe saving a song later. To see the tempo you’ve set, look at the Fantom-X display. Many of its screens have a Tempo readout where you’ll see “...
  • Page 14 The Realtime Recording Window • Using the REC button—When REC’s red indicator is lit, and not blinking, recording is underway. To enter Rehearsal When you start recording by pressing the Realtime Rec mode, press REC once so its indicator flashes. To exit Standby window’s F8 (Start) button or PLAY, your song starts Rehearsal mode, press REC again so its indicator stops playing and the Realtime Recording window appears.
  • Page 15 Performance Mixer1 and 2 screens. The patterns played by the Fantom-X’s rhythm generator are called ”rhythm Select the desired patch or rhythm set for the part. patterns.” We use this term to differentiate them from the patterns we’ve 2.
  • Page 16 When you’re punching manually, you don’t have to use your hands to do so. stop, you “punch out. ” You can connect a pedal to the Fantom-X PEDAL CONTROL jack and punch In the Fantom-X, you can: in and out with your foot while your hands work the keyboard or pads. For more details, see Page 171 of the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual.
  • Page 17 MIX in Step 5. • REPLACE—your pattern calls replace any other data You can use the Fantom-X’s Undo feature if you’d like to discard the entire recorded on the track. set of pattern calls you’ve just finished recording on a track.
  • Page 18 The Song Edit Screen • Song name—shows the onboard name of the song. • Current measure—shows your current location in the song The Song Edit screen is the main place you work on by measure number. a song once you’ve begun recording. To display the •...

  • Page 19: Track View

    MIDI—to send the track’s MIDI data only to the When data’s been recorded for a MIDI channel, the name of the patch or Fantom-X’s MIDI OUT jack so that it’s sent to connected rhythm set used by the corresponding part appears at the left of the MIDI external MIDI devices, but produces no sound from data—this is the patch or rhythm set that plays the displayed data.

  • Page 20: Naming A Song

    “.mid,” as we’ll see. When you back up your song on a computer connected to the Fantom-X via USB, you’ll identify the song by this file name. To learn about backing up your song, see the Workshop series booklet Smart Storage in the Fantom-X.
  • Page 21 Navigating a Song with Locate Positions 1. In the Locate window, press F7 (Set) so it lights red—the You can use the Fantom-X’s Locate feature to bookmark four Jump 1-4 buttons change to Set 1-4 buttons. places in a song. Jump immediately to any of these four “locate positions”...
  • Page 22 Jumping to Locate Positions Set the Repeat Times parameter to determine the number of times the looped song section is to play back, from INF (for “Infinite”), or 0 times to 99 times. Locating with the SEQUENCER Buttons We recommend setting Repeat Times to INF, since you can always halt Hold down SHIFT and press: playback by pressing the STOP button.

  • Page 23: Activating Looped Playback

    Clearing a Song 2. Press F5 (Perf List). The Fantom-X can hold one song at a time in its work RAM, described in detail in the Workshop series booklet Smart Storage in the Fantom-X. Before you can record a new song, you’ll need to clear the current song.
  • Page 24 Though they look like real-world mixing consoles, the Fantom-X. Performance Mixer1 and 2 screens—just like so many other Fantom-X screens—contain parameters whose values you can The Performance Mixer Screens adjust by turning the VALUE dial. Each part’s parameters are arranged in a vertical part strip that looks like a channel strip The Performance Mixer1 and 2 screens provide a studio- on a mixing console.
  • Page 25 Configuring Realtime Control Assigning the Pads to a Part The same realtime control of Fantom-X sounds that adds so The Fantom-X pads are always assigned to one of the much to their expressiveness in Patch mode is also available in performance’s parts—this part is referred to as the “pad part.
  • Page 26 F2 (↓) and/or F1 (↑) to select and set up each of the • Knob 1-4 (the four REALTIME CONTROL knobs) Fantom-X’s realtime controllers. When a box is checked, its part responds to the corresponding controller. The Part View Screens The Part View screens present the performance’s part...
  • Page 27 For a complete list of the part parameters, as well as a On the Patch List screen, press F3 (Favorite) to display your favorite patches as described in the Workshop series booklet The Sounds of the Fantom-X. description of each parameter, see the chapter called “Creating...
  • Page 28 What’s Where On both the Performance Mixer and Part View screens, parameter names often appear in abbreviated form to save onscreen space. As befits an onscreen mixer, the Performance Mixer1 and 2 screens contain mixing-related parameters as well as some of the most important part parameters.
  • Page 29 Part Attack Time Offset Attack channel for each part, whether MIDI data’s coming from an external source or the Fantom-X keyboard or sequencer. By default Parts 1-16 are Part Release Time Offset Release associated with MIDI Channel 1-16. This parameter is what establishes...
  • Page 30 Effects are a critical element in most modern songs’ arrangements, and the Fantom-X is an effect-processing powerhouse. To learn about the Fantom-X effects, and how to set them up for a song’s performance, see the Workshop series booklet The Fantom-X Effects.

  • Page 31: Saving Your Song

    Fantom-X Song Files 1. Press SAVE/LOAD—the Save/Load Menu The easiest, safest and most foolproof way to store a song is to appears. save it as a Fantom-X song file. A Fantom-X song file contains: • all of your recorded data •...
  • Page 32 6. When you’ve finished naming the song file, press F8 on or play the song in an external device. If you plan to use the (Write)—the Save Song window appears. song only in the Fantom-X, save it as a Fantom-X song file.
  • Page 33 All SMFs sport a .”mid” file extension at the end of their names. as described in the Workshop series booklet Performing with the Fantom-X. It’s also a good idea to save the song again as a Fantom-X song 3. The first character position is underlined, so turn the VALUE file just for safekeeping.
  • Page 34 9. Press F8 (Save As SMF). Editing Tool This Tool: 10. The Fantom-X asks if you’re sure you want to proceed. Data Thin removes unnecessary or redundant MIDI data in a Press F8 (Exec) to finish storing the SMF. track or pattern to preserve space in work RAM.
  • Page 35 Here’s an easy way to set Range Min and Max. Highlight the Range Min Full name and explanation of currently selected tool. value and, on the Fantom-X keyboard, play the lowest key you want to edit. When you display the Track Edit window, the currently selected tool is in Highlight the Range Max value and play the highest key you want to edit.
  • Page 36 Correcting Notes’ Timing One of the handiest features of the Fantom-X sequencer is that you can try In the classic “grid” form of quantizing, each note is moved to out your quantizing settings before committing to them. Press PLAY while the nearest occurrence of the selected note value, as if there’s...
  • Page 37 It’s not uncommon to need different quantize settings for different recorded phrases. If a setting works for one section but not another, use The Fantom-X contains 71 built-in groove templates that can the Measure parameter to quantize different sections separately.
  • Page 38 To transpose recorded notes: Extracting MIDI Channel Data 1. On the Song Edit screen, press F7 (Track Edit). The Extract tool allows you to separate the data from multiple 2. Press 3, 4, 5 and/or 6 to highlight “Transpose, ” and MIDI channels recorded in a single track or pattern by moving then press F8 (Select)—the Transpose window appears.
  • Page 39 Each event’s details are presented in a horizontal strip: As its name suggests, the Fantom-X’s Microscope editing takes you down to the finest level of detail, allowing you to work Event...
  • Page 40 4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to make any additional changes to When you sample beat loops or import them—as described in the event. the Workshop series booklet Sampling on the Fantom-X—you assign the loops to pads in a rhythm set or to the keyboard keys in a patch.

  • Page 41: Loading Songs

    The Song List screen appears. data, its performance and the patches and rhythm sets the If you’ve saved your song as a Fantom-X song file along with the samples performance uses. it requires using the Save Song + Samples feature, select F5 (Load S+S) The patches and rhythm sets in a .svq file are loaded into the Fantom-X’s...
  • Page 42 6. Press F8 (Exec) to finish loading the track or pattern. Fantom-X asks if you’re sure you want to proceed. The Fantom-X’s Quick Play feature is a great way to find a tracks you want When you load a song, it replaces the currently loaded song from the to load into the current song since it allows you to preview songs stored in Fantom-X’s work RAM.

  • Page 43: Quick Play

    Quick Play The Fantom-X’s Chain Play feature can play the song list’s songs in order without loading them—see the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual for details. With the Fantom-X’s Quick Play feature, you can quickly listen to a song in the song list without stopping to load it.

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