Creating or importing arpeggio patterns

[ayryq]

Hi,
I just got my FA-06 keyboard a couple days ago. I spent a few minutes getting frustrated at the arpeggios, specifically the "AG" acoustic guitar ones.

I see that I can import a SMF to get new arpeggios, but I have trouble imagining how that might work. Nor can I find any documentation at all as to how one would make one of these files.

Lets say I want a guitar strum of some particular rhythm using the notes I play. I could use a PC to make a midi file approximating what I want for one particular set of notes (say, C major), but how does the arp know to use the notes I actually played? And how do I program additional motifs or variations?

I guess I can just make a smf and see what happens, but I thought I'd check if anyone had tried this, found the documentation, or given up.

Also, I was wondering if the Twiddly Bits "midi samples" available here (http://secure.keyfax.com/mm5/merchant.m ... ode=Guitar) are usable on the FA as a live arpeggio.

Thanks,
Eric

[bennyseven]

create or import smf on track 1 then go to ARP and press shift+IMPORT. Don't forget to store in a user location.

[ayryq]

create or import smf on track 1 then go to ARP and press shift+IMPORT. Don't forget to store in a user location.

Yes, I found how to import the smf, that is documented in the Roland manual. What I'm unclear on is encapsulated in your first word, "create..."

For example, lets say I want the 5-note chord played in measure one to generate the arpeggio in measure two:

arp example.jpg (6.41 KiB) Viewed 4422 times

So I can create a midi file containing measure two. But what if I play a different set of five notes, or six or three notes? Will it work anyhow? I'll have time to try it out later today, maybe.

[cello]

If you've notated it you can export the pattern as an SMF (certainly Sibelius can do this). The SMF is then the file you import to the FA asp user section.

[ayryq]

Either I was being misunderstood or no one knows. So I did some testing as follows:

I used musescore to generate a midi file from the phrase pictured above. In spite of all references being to a "SMF" file, the file must be named with ".mid" for the FA to read it. (Musescore generates type-1 MIDI files so I had to find an additional utility to convert to type-0.)

Importing the style gives interesting results. First of all, if I select "phrase" for Motif, I get exactly what I've transcribed built on a single note. So if I play a middle "C" on the keyboard, I get the whole phrase as shown above. If I hold an E, I get the phrase transposed to E Major. If I hold more than one note, it ignores all but the last-played one.

If I select "auto1" for Motif, I get exactly what I was hoping for (namely, the phrase shape/order and rhythm, but using the played notes), so long as I hold at least 5 notes (which my example requires). More than five notes and the highest notes are ignored. Fewer and there are gaps in the phrase.

Other settings (up, down, note order, auto2) give unpredictable results which remind me of my original phrase without being precisely right. They ignore the note order I've provided and instead use the basic rhythm I supplied while rearranging the notes.

There are no "variations" available to me and I'm not sure how I'd make one.

My next experiments will involve exporting midi files generated by Band-in-a-Box, to see if I can get some realistic rhythms that way.

[BobF]

Did you ever get further with this?

I would sure welcome a begin to end tutorial on user arp pattern creation

[mwtzzz]

Either I was being misunderstood or no one knows. So I did some testing as follows:

I can verify that the remainer of your post is also what I have to do with my Juno-Gi. Create a Midi file using Musescore. Save it. Convert it to midi type 0 using another program (I don't remember the name offhand.) Import that into the arpeggiator. I haven't done much with it other than to confirm that it will play the notes I wrote exactly as written with the lengths and rests as I wrote them. Also confirmed that if I added staccato's in Musescore, then on the Juno-Gi arpeggiator I will have to turn up Accents to 100% for those notes to be played as staccato.

Other things I plan to test is whether the arpeggiator respects the key or the intervals (transposes it as previous poster mentioned0, depending on which you note you start from, and what if any differences there are between choosing different Motifs ("auto1" "phrase" etc.) and how this affects holding down keys.

In any case, it's a powerful and very useful feature.

[mwtzzz]

Did you ever get further with this?

I would sure welcome a begin to end tutorial on user arp pattern creation

Here's how it works:

Playing a single note works as follows:

Press one note and "Phrase" motif plays exactly what you have written respecting the intervals from that starting note and respecting the note lengths and rests that you have written. If you wrote an ascending major scale, then all you have to do is play/press one note and it will play an ascending major scale starting on that note. It does not matter which key you wrote it in. The intervals from the starting note are what are respected.

Other motifs will do nothing except play that single note with the note lengths and rests (rhythmic pattern) that you have written.

Pressing multiple notes simultaneously on the keyboard works as follows:

"Phrase"motif will ignore all notes except the one you pressed first and will treat that note as previously described.

"Auto1" motif will replace each of the unique notes in the sequence you have written with each of the unique notes you have played, and then it will play the sequence using your played notes instead of the written notes.

"Auto2"motif will do the same except it reverses your sequence.

In other words, Auto1 and Auto2 respect the "shape" of your sequence.

Here's how to create and use an arpeggiated sequence:

1. Open MuseScore, write the notes and set the bpm.
2. Export as midi file.
3. Open Midi Formatter > File > Midi File
4. select as 0sourcefilename.mid
5. press Format
6. Copy the 0<filename>.mid file you just created to your Roland keyboard
7. Open the arpeggiator and import the file
8. Select Motif Phrase, play a single note and hear what happens
9. Select Motif Auto1, play a single note and hear what happens
10. Select Motif Auto1, simultaneously press multiple notes and hear what happens

[nathbeadle]

Thanks mwtzzz for such a great write up, very helpful and insightful.. Cheers!

[mwtzzz]

You are welcome nathbeadle