Using the A-800 PRO to control other MIDI keyboards

Forum for gear from other manufacturers
Post Reply
rangerrick57
Posts: 3
Joined: 19:51, 12 January 2016

Using the A-800 PRO to control other MIDI keyboards

Post by rangerrick57 »

Hello all,

While I've used MIDI to combine sounds from two or more keyboards and also for recording, I am a complete newbie to using a MIDI controller to control OTHER keyboards (in addition to a sound module). My live setup for any gig I've had up til now has never required more than 2 keyboards and I just select what patches I need on each keyboard before each song. However, I will be going on the road with a show that will require me to automate selection of the patches I need prior to starting each song. I know this is possible but no clue how to do it. I'll be using a 4 keyboard setup (see below), one being an A-800PRO (not purchased yet) that I hope to use to accomplish this. This may be old school for many of you but a totally new thing for me. If the controller cannot do this, another option I'm thinking would be to do it from a laptop and in that case I need advice as well. Thanks for your help!!!

My setup will be:

Roland RD-800 (for pianos and e-pianos only)
Yamaha MOXF6 (for synths, horns and strings)
Roland V-Combo VR-769 with Motivator (for B3 and other organs)
Roland A800-PRO Controller with Integra-7 sound module (for synths, strings, effects)
User avatar
PauloF
Posts: 4201
Joined: 02:35, 16 January 2006
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Contact:

Re: Using the A-800 PRO to control other MIDI keyboards

Post by PauloF »

rangerrick57 wrote:Hello all,

While I've used MIDI to combine sounds from two or more keyboards and also for recording, I am a complete newbie to using a MIDI controller to control OTHER keyboards (in addition to a sound module). My live setup for any gig I've had up til now has never required more than 2 keyboards and I just select what patches I need on each keyboard before each song. However, I will be going on the road with a show that will require me to automate selection of the patches I need prior to starting each song. I know this is possible but no clue how to do it. I'll be using a 4 keyboard setup (see below), one being an A-800PRO (not purchased yet) that I hope to use to accomplish this. This may be old school for many of you but a totally new thing for me. If the controller cannot do this, another option I'm thinking would be to do it from a laptop and in that case I need advice as well. Thanks for your help!!!

My setup will be:

Roland RD-800 (for pianos and e-pianos only)
Yamaha MOXF6 (for synths, horns and strings)
Roland V-Combo VR-769 with Motivator (for B3 and other organs)
Roland A800-PRO Controller with Integra-7 sound module (for synths, strings, effects)

Will you be using any sort of layering between the 4 synths, or just want to use them alone but to be able to choose the patches at the same time for all of them for each song ?
kiskadar69
Posts: 40
Joined: 06:09, 16 July 2022

Re: Using the A-800 PRO to control other MIDI keyboards

Post by kiskadar69 »

It is possible.
The Roland A-800PRO has 13 programmable buttons (B1..B4, L1..L9) and 8 programmable pads (A1..A8). You can assign a MIDI message of up to 24 bytes to each of these buttons/pads, so you can program them to send out several different Program Change (and Bank Select) messages (each on its own MIDI channel) in sequence with a single press of the button/pad.
If 21 buttons/pads is not enough, multiply by 19, because that's how many Control Maps the A-800PRO has in its memory.
kiskadar69
Posts: 40
Joined: 06:09, 16 July 2022

Re: Using the A-800 PRO to control other MIDI keyboards

Post by kiskadar69 »

It is also recommended to use a MIDI Thru Box with at least four MIDI Thru outputs.
Connect the MIDI Out of the Roland A-800PRO to the MIDI In of the MIDI Thru Box.
Connect the first MIDI Thru of the MIDI Thru Box to the MIDI In of the Roland RD-800.
Connect the second MIDI Thru of the MIDI Thru Box to the MIDI In of the Yamaha MOXF6.
Connect the third MIDI Thru of the MIDI Thru Box to the MIDI In of the Roland V-Combo.
Connect the fourth MIDI Thru of the MIDI Thru Box to the MIDI In of the Roland Integra-7.
Post Reply