RD700NX and Bass Pedals

Forum for RD-700GX, RD-700NX and RD-800
Post Reply
Dexteris
Posts: 3
Joined: 07:14, 22 February 2015

RD700NX and Bass Pedals

Post by Dexteris »

I have a RD700SX which is currently being repaired and so have been using a RD700NX temporarily. With the RD700SX I have been using a Roland PK-5 midi pedal unit for bass which has been working fine.
However, with the RD700NX I can't seem to find a way to access any of the other midi channels other than the 4 layer sounds. (I have been using midi channels 5 and14 which I can access on the SX and set these to bass sounds.)
Does anybody know how to get at the other channels on the NX and set and adjust them to other sounds?
Currently when I play a bass pedal all I get is a piano sound.
torhus
Posts: 76
Joined: 21:38, 17 March 2012

Re: RD700NX and Bass Pedals

Post by torhus »

I think you need to use MIDI to select sounds on the NX for channels 5-16. If the pedal board can't do that, you need to use one of the internal layers for the bass sound (set Part Mode to 16PART in the System menu).
howardS
Posts: 1759
Joined: 03:22, 10 March 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: RD700NX and Bass Pedals

Post by howardS »

Torhus is right on this, Dexteris. It appears that on the SX you could select the tone assigned to each part as described on page 71 of the manual for the SX. On the NX, however, you cannot do that locally. According to page 88 of the manual for the NX it seems that you need to send patch change information to the NX to change up the sound of the additional layers. The only option to do it locally is to use one of the internal layers as torhus suggested.
Dexteris
Posts: 3
Joined: 07:14, 22 February 2015

Re: RD700NX and Bass Pedals

Post by Dexteris »

Thanks for the replies. It is unfortunate that Roland has limited access on the NX. In the majority of the programs that I have set up, I use all four layers and hate to sacrifice one of them for bass. Of course, in a live performance where there is a bass player, this isn't an issue.

One other issue I have with the NX (not a question but an opinion) is the lack of a number lock.
On the SX, with the number lock on, you can easily call up 100 settings by just punching in the number of the program. On the NX, you have to use that wretched wheel to scroll through the Live Sets or have 40 of them assigned to banks (plus 10 more if you just use USER and use the 0 to 9 Live Set buttons to give you programs 01, 21, 41, 61 etc).
Personally, I find this more challenging than simply punching in a number during a live performance. But I suppose, there are those that are wiser and more mentally agile than me that feel this bank assignment procedure is better.
Hopefully my old SX can be repaired and I can stop my whining. (A cautionary note: use a surge protector on your keyboard power input. I didn't and think I got a power surge which "blowed it up real good.")
howardS
Posts: 1759
Joined: 03:22, 10 March 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: RD700NX and Bass Pedals

Post by howardS »

I agree that a numlock live set recall would be great but I suspect we will never see another firmware update for the RD700nx. You can use favourites though and you can also change the default patch for each category as I described on this thread. If you are going to use the favourites you might want to try my suggestion for a workaround as a way to organize favourites.

Regarding the patch change for the extra layers, I think you may also be able to change the patches externally and then save that in a song file which you could later play on the RD. Well, that's what it seems to say on page 69 of the manual though I have not tested it myself. Assuming it works then you could call up the patches using a song song file which would presumably just contain patch change information. It sounds like a lot of work but may be worthwhile ...assuming you aren't able to repair your RD700sx.
Post Reply