Thunder/ lightning and rain

Forum for Roland FA-06/08
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Flavorkeys
Posts: 59
Joined: 23:44, 29 March 2014

Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Flavorkeys »

Has anyone found/ created a good thunder program for the FA series? I searched this forum and only found a reference to a thunder program on an Integra exp.
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by stevel »

I seem to remember finding them in an EXP collection but I don't think they're listed as a single patch and are instead in one of the "menu" type patches which, like drum kits, are a different sound on each or a number of keys. I did a quick scan through the ones in EXP 03 just now though but couldn't find them...

I do recall that I couldn't find a good wind sound and I thought I did in one of the EXPs. I'm just not sure which one now. World Collection makes the most sense for it though...

There are the GM versions in the keyboard already.

If they're not good enough, and there aren't any on the EXPs, your best bet is going to be to sample them in.

Heck, even if you can find them onboard or with an EXP, it's still worth it to sample them to the pads so you can have them all together and easy to find again.
Gatorjohn
Posts: 96
Joined: 15:39, 3 July 2016
Location: N E Florida

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Gatorjohn »

Under PCM synth tones:

623 Thunder
624 Windy
651 Thunder2

GM2 tones:

222 Rain
223 Thunder
224 Wind
Flavorkeys
Posts: 59
Joined: 23:44, 29 March 2014

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Flavorkeys »

Gatorjohn, I checked PCMS synth tones 623, 624, and 651 on my FA06 and they are saxes and a lead. Are you talking about the Integra?
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by stevel »

Gator John is talking about the "tones" themselves - the samples that make up the patches.

If you go to PCMS sound 1, which is the 128 Voice Piano, press and hold Shift and then press the button for Tone Edit, it will take you to the edit screen.

Scroll to "wave" and you'll see "wave group", "wave no." and so on.

You'll see something at the top that says "sw select" (sample waveform select) and 1, 2, 3, and 4 across from that. The green line is probably under 1 but you'll see a purple dot after 2. That means that out of the four possible "partials" (as Roland calls them) only #2 is turned on. And if you look down in the wave no column you'll see that it's set to 13, and if you look towards the bottom you'll see something that reads:

Partial 2 INT-A 13: ac Piano 2 Pa.

Now, if you scroll down to that column in wave no, you can scroll up and down through the numbers.

If you scroll all the way up to 623 you'll have Thunder. And you should hear it.

This is how you make sounds (and tailor them to your liking).

You could make the changes and save this as a new patch (though it's probably the same sample that's used in the GM2 patch).

Don't save it over the 128 Voice piano patch though or you'll never get that back without being able to compare all the parameters to someone else's FA or loading in a backup you made. If you do save it, you want to save the patch you've created using an empty user patch.

In theory, if you knew what you were doing, you could start with an "init tone" that was "blank", and pick both Thunder waveforms and put them in partials 1 and 2 and turn them on. When you press a key you get both sounds at the same time which could give a better effect (or not).

This is actually a good way to learn how to edit synth sounds, but at the same time, for practical purposes, you're better off to do something like try an effect on an existing patch, or again, sample something in from elsewhere.

I should mention something here: AFAICT the "GM2" patches are made of decent quality samples that are no worse than any other samples in the keyboard. IOW, in the old days using a GM patch meant it was bad samples, usually only 1 partial (but see, the PCMS 128 Voice piano is just a single partial too) and were usually far cheesier sounding than the other sounds in the synth.

But these here seem to be a pretty good quality level. They're far better in comparison to the other PCM sounds than they used to be, to the point now where I'd simply say they're just other PCMS sounds and not anything "lesser" in any way.

So if they work, don't be afraid to use them.

You might also try something like using the GM Patch, playing 1 note, then adding a 2nd note in later, and sampling what you play. Then you can just press one sample pad and get the entire "progression" of the thunder sound you've created. So you figure out how to play the thunder or wind effect to make it more like you want it, then record that all as a sample.

HTH,
Steve
Gatorjohn
Posts: 96
Joined: 15:39, 3 July 2016
Location: N E Florida

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Gatorjohn »

The sounds I found were from the FA sound list PDF that's on their support manuals pg.
Flavorkeys
Posts: 59
Joined: 23:44, 29 March 2014

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Flavorkeys »

Ok, got it now, thanks for the in depth explanation, it really helped !!
husker
Posts: 39
Joined: 03:52, 16 February 2017

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by husker »

Holy crap I wish I knew as much about these boards as Steve.
Paul99
Posts: 117
Joined: 18:05, 23 June 2017

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Paul99 »

husker wrote:Holy crap I wish I knew as much about these boards as Steve.
Yeah, Steve is about to be a walking encyclopedia. You can ask him about anything. I bet he can even forecast the weather.... ;-)
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by stevel »

Paul99 wrote:
husker wrote:Holy crap I wish I knew as much about these boards as Steve.
Yeah, Steve is about to be a walking encyclopedia. You can ask him about anything. I bet he can even forecast the weather.... ;-)

Looking out my window right now, it's raining. I think it will probably be sunny sometime in the future.
Paul99
Posts: 117
Joined: 18:05, 23 June 2017

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Paul99 »

stevel wrote:
Paul99 wrote:
husker wrote:Holy crap I wish I knew as much about these boards as Steve.
Yeah, Steve is about to be a walking encyclopedia. You can ask him about anything. I bet he can even forecast the weather.... ;-)

Looking out my window right now, it's raining. I think it will probably be sunny sometime in the future.

I knew it, I knew it!!!!!! The guy has knowledge of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! ;-)
Gatorjohn
Posts: 96
Joined: 15:39, 3 July 2016
Location: N E Florida

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Gatorjohn »

Yeah, Steve is about to be a walking encyclopedia. You can ask him about anything. I bet he can even forecast the weather.... ;-)[/quote]


Looking out my window right now, it's raining. I think it will probably be sunny sometime in the future.[/quote]


I knew it, I knew it!!!!!! The guy has knowledge of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! ;-)[/quote]

Wonder if he knows anything about muffler bearings? ;-)
Paul99
Posts: 117
Joined: 18:05, 23 June 2017

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by Paul99 »

Of course Steve knows about muffled bearings. One of his hobbies is all about knowing car mechanics. One great step for us to learn, peace of cake for Steve. So, you never doubt Steve's knowledge! ;-)
cda
Posts: 263
Joined: 23:04, 8 August 2014

Re: Thunder/ lightning and rain

Post by cda »

This thread is really funny! But seriously, Steve has posted really helpful insights. Good work, fella!
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