Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Forum for the JD-XA.
zombietactics
Posts: 251
Joined: 21:51, 12 July 2016

Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by zombietactics »

Please see this as a request for suggested fixes & updates, not a gripe fest.

I intend to rollup well-worded suggestions into a Change.Org petition to Roland. (Previous efforts seem to have gotten results in petitions to Korg and DSI).

My first suggestion,to be used as an example:

SEQUENCER FUNCTIONALITY
Problem:
Presently the sequencer functions of the JD-XA do not match those of the JD-Xi, the "little brother" of the JD-XA. Being that the JD-XA is marketed as Roland's "flagship" synthesizer, this is a glaring oversight.

Solution:
Minimally the JD-XA sequencer needs to be able to match the JD-Xi in its ability to switch between sequences live. Additionally, the JD-XA should have some sort of "song mode" ability by which the sequencer can be made to play lists of sequences in order.
.
.
User avatar
richardbates1
Posts: 389
Joined: 19:58, 19 July 2013

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by richardbates1 »

zombietactics wrote:Please see this as a request for suggested fixes & updates, not a gripe fest.

I intend to rollup well-worded suggestions into a Change.Org petition to Roland. (Previous efforts seem to have gotten results in petitions to Korg and DSI).

My first suggestion,to be used as an example:

SEQUENCER FUNCTIONALITY
Problem:
Presently the sequencer functions of the JD-XA do not match those of the JD-Xi, the "little brother" of the JD-XA. Being that the JD-XA is marketed as Roland's "flagship" synthesizer, this is a glaring oversight.

Solution:
Minimally the JD-XA sequencer needs to be able to match the JD-Xi in its ability to switch between sequences live. Additionally, the JD-XA should have some sort of "song mode" ability by which the sequencer can be made to play lists of sequences in order.
I second that! I hardly ever use the sequencer because of it's limitation.
I use the arppegiator allot but not the sequencer, that's a shame.
zombietactics
Posts: 251
Joined: 21:51, 12 July 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by zombietactics »

(second suggestion)

ANALOG SECTION ENHANCEMENT
Problem:
Presently the Analog synthesizer section operates in one of two mode . It is either 4 x individually-programmable monophonic synthesizers, or a single, 4-voice "polystack" where all 4 voices use the same patch/program. Part of the amazing sound quality of early analog synthesizers (like the Oberheim 4-voice) was because they functioned as 4-mono synths, with different settings each, able to be played polyphonically. Having slightly different LFO rates, filter cutoffs, portamento rates, IFX settings, etc. (for each voice in a polyphonic "stack") results in HUGE warm sound quality unmatched by current synthesizers.

Solution:
Implement a second polystack mode, whereby all 4 voices retain their individual parameters. An added plus would be the ability to create two, 2-voice duophonic setups in a similar fashion.
.
.
zombietactics
Posts: 251
Joined: 21:51, 12 July 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by zombietactics »

(third suggestion)

ENHANCED PERFORMANCE CONTROL FOR DIGITAL SECTION
Problem:
Presently, the Digital section has a very limited range of realtime performance control options. As an example, AfterTouch can only be used to control Filter CutOff or Amplitude. The Analog section, by contrast, has an extremely flexible and powerful "Matrix Control" system. The disparity is confusing, as well as crippling the Digital section from using what are typical performance options (like LFO Pitch modulation controlled by Aftertouch).

Solution:
The Digital section should have it's own Matrix Control options. For sake of clarity the Analog section options should be renamed MATRIX CTRL A1,etc, and the Digital section labeled MATRIX CTRL D1, etc.
.
.
JD Knight
Posts: 57
Joined: 01:37, 3 March 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by JD Knight »

i second all of this.

Don't know what happened, for a while it looked like Roland would take care,
spitting out Axial Banks, so please, come on now, Roland!

And please give us 16 bar patterns or better 24.

You had 8bars on the MC 303 20 Years ago!
zombietactics
Posts: 251
Joined: 21:51, 12 July 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by zombietactics »

(fourth suggestion)

ENHANCED "CATCH + LATCH MODE"
Problem:
The "Catch + Latch" mode for the Pitch-Benders is an incredible feature, and as far as I know unique to Roland. For those who have not tried it, this feature causes only the last note played to be affected by Pitch-Bend. The problem is that it is only available to affect Pitch-Bend.

Solution:
Expand this feature so that it can be applied with other controllers ... After-touch, Mod Wheels, etc. This would definitely place the JD-XA in a league of its own regarding live performance control, and offer a viable option for those wanting to have something in-between per-channel and (polyphonic) per-note After-touch.
.
.
FirstAxis
Posts: 23
Joined: 21:06, 10 January 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by FirstAxis »

Absolutely behind this! Also the notes stored in the sequencer should be able to trigger the arpeggiator (or am I missing a trick here?).
zombietactics wrote:Please see this as a request for suggested fixes & updates, not a gripe fest.

I intend to rollup well-worded suggestions into a Change.Org petition to Roland. (Previous efforts seem to have gotten results in petitions to Korg and DSI).

My first suggestion,to be used as an example:

SEQUENCER FUNCTIONALITY
Problem:
Presently the sequencer functions of the JD-XA do not match those of the JD-Xi, the "little brother" of the JD-XA. Being that the JD-XA is marketed as Roland's "flagship" synthesizer, this is a glaring oversight.

Solution:
Minimally the JD-XA sequencer needs to be able to match the JD-Xi in its ability to switch between sequences live. Additionally, the JD-XA should have some sort of "song mode" ability by which the sequencer can be made to play lists of sequences in order.
.
.
Coorec
Posts: 33
Joined: 12:20, 23 December 2015

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by Coorec »

I second the ideas and would sign such a petition. However, wehn it comes to polite wording you should avoid words like "glaring oversight".

However, lets not ask for every detaily thing and individual wish. I'd rather focus on the main 4 - 5 and try to get a reaction from Roland first before expanding on the idea.
JD Knight
Posts: 57
Joined: 01:37, 3 March 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by JD Knight »

so what would be the 3 or 4 most important issues for you all that should be adressed?
User avatar
richardbates1
Posts: 389
Joined: 19:58, 19 July 2013

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by richardbates1 »

JD Knight wrote:so what would be the 3 or 4 most important issues for you all that should be adressed?
For me number one is upgrading the sequencer, adding " song mode" and being able to switch from one pattern to another.
User avatar
cello
Posts: 1487
Joined: 11:47, 1 August 2011
Location: Glasgow, UK

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by cello »

Would love to see a sequencer update!
JD Knight
Posts: 57
Joined: 01:37, 3 March 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by JD Knight »

can we see the sequencer upgrade as one combined issue of the 3 or 4?

collected from various threads:

including
-pattern change gap
-longer patterns (please at least 16bars, 24 would be better),
-Chain/song mode
- Ability to go from one sequence program to the next with out the sequencer stopping
- Plays Modes -
(1. FWD - start to end and repeat
2. BKWD - play in revers from end to start
3. ALT - alternate - i.e.: ping pong (fwd/bkwd with a series of motif based trigger options)
4. Skip Step - any inactive steps are not played as rests but skipped so the next note plays (if this could be activated and allow for the muting and unmuting of sequencers steps as it plays you'd get some great on the fly variation)
5.Random - plays steps in a random fashion or add a probability option on the other play modes to do so.)
-Global transpose mode allowing sequences to be transposed live via the keyboard and also enable transpose to be disengaged for any tracks that have percussive sounds active.

anything else for the sequencer thout could be done and is not unrealistic?
glynbo
Posts: 48
Joined: 20:03, 20 February 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by glynbo »

Sequencer update and a Editor.
OneOfManyPauls
Posts: 93
Joined: 11:41, 3 May 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by OneOfManyPauls »

I'd use it more if it had a decent editor - I find it a pain menu diving with the tiny screen and lack of data entry knob, and although it has tons of knobs and sliders, there are so many parameters at play across the different parts that they're pretty much always out of sync with the actual parameters they represent.

The sequencer doesn't bother me much personally as I have that covered with external hardware and DAWs - but I get why it'd make sense to at least be on par with the jd-xi.
zombietactics
Posts: 251
Joined: 21:51, 12 July 2016

Re: Petitioning Roland for JD-XA updates.

Post by zombietactics »

It's important to keep in mind that the list of "wants" should be limited only to bringing the JD-XA in line with competitive instruments from other manufacturers or previous "flagship", performance-based synthesizers.

To this end, I'll be aggressively culling suggestions which belong to more of a "workstation class" instrument, as they would be logically beyond the scope of the intended use cases.
Post Reply