ribbon controller octave up/down

[Rockitman]

by default the ribbon controller only takes a note up a step or down a step. I want to program it to do a whole octave, but the manual and the parameter guide are no help. Anyone here know how to do this? Also, does Roland have tech support voice to help me with things like this?

[Tom Williams]

It can be done at either the "part" level or the "tone" level.

Part-level pitch bend adjustment is simpler: for each active part, go to Pitch -> Bend Range and set it at 12. See Parameter Guide page 9.

Alternatively, you could set the above to "tone," which gives you more granularity and complexity.
When it's set that way, drill down to each active tone within an active part, go to the "Common" parameters section, to find three parameters: "Bend Range Up," "Bend Range Down," and "Bend Mode." If you go that route, set both Up and Down to 12. (Some folks like to set the Up range to 2 for pitch bends, and set the Down range somewhere between 12 and 48 to do a "Dive Bomb" effect.
See Parameter Guide page 21.

[Rockitman]

i'm really sorry Tom. You lost me at "part" or "tone" level. I don't care what patch is playing, when I slide my finger on the ribbon up or down, i just want that patch to go up or down 1 octave. This parameter guide is speaking Greek to me. I thought I had to follow instructions for Ctrl Ribbon on page 13 which does not show any octave value.

[Tom Williams]

Okay, so let's back up a step or two. Since I don't know you, please don't be offended if the questions appear condescending. I'm really just trying to establish common context for the discussion.

• Are you aware that there is an AX-Edge voice editing utility that only runs on tablets and phones (Android or iPad)?
• Do you have any past synth programming experience?

If the answers to both of the above questions are "no," your chances are pretty slim, as the AX-Edge is not really set up to be easy to learn to program. In fact, it's one of the hardest synths to customize, which is probably why this section of the forum gets so little traffic.

The "Part" level -- simpler -- editing may be accessible from the Edge's front panel with Menu, Arrow, and maybe a few other buttons. I'm not sure, because I always use an Android tablet to edit my Edge.

The "Tone" level -- deeper and more comprehensive -- is only available through the tablet/phone based external editor.

[Rockitman]

I am aware now and have just downloaded the app to my iPhone. I do not have synth programming experience. I started out with a Yamaha S90 and got so frustrated trying to figure things out, I sold it for a Roland RD700sx. Have since sold him and now have a Roland 2000. I have a Roland Lucinda keytar as well and just bought the Ax Edge as my Lucinda has seen better days. The Lucinda was pretty straight forward to "doing" things like simply changing the ribbon to do an octave pitch bend. I appreciate you taking the time to help. With all that said, how does one really learn about this keytar? Besides asking questions to people like you on this forum, are there more immediate learning resources? The parameter guide and owners manual just leave me asking more questions.

[Rockitman]

I really want to do this one thing for now, an octave pitch bend up and down for all patches. I am pulling my hair trying to go by your instructions, and I'm missing something. Yes, the Bluetooth is connected, although I see no instructions on how to use the editor in the manual or parameter guide. I don't understand what it means when it is set to Tone. I do not see Bend Range UP or Bend Range Down. Only Bend Range. Do I set Bend mode to Normal? so many questions. I wish I could send this keytar back to Sweetwater and get my money back. Things shouldn't be this hard to do!

[Tom Williams]

It looks like the basic "Bend Range" parameter can be drilled down to via the AX-Edge buttons without resorting to the editor. Check out the Owner's manual, page 16, "Editing a program." (I am not sure of this, as I do not have my AX-Edge in front of me at this writing.)

If you make it to Bend Range on either the AX Edge display or the editor, you're almost there. Set that to 12 and set Bend Mode to Normal.

--- --- ---

I sort of agree that things shouldn't be this hard to do, but consider this: let's say there are 100 different things that determine a whole synth sound -- and that half of those 100 things are just on/off, and the other half are values from 0-100. (This is hypothetical -- I suspect the numbers are actually much _larger_ on the AX Edge.)

This means the number of combinations available are 100-to-the-power-of-50, times 2-to-the-power-of-50, totaling something like 1 followed by 115 zeroes. Yes, really. So let's give Roland a break if the thing you're working on isn't on the top of the menu.