Which sax is this?

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tcastlejr
Posts: 16
Joined: 17:50, 30 September 2017

Which sax is this?

Post by tcastlejr »

So I was surfing around on youtube trying to listen to some songs made by the fa series boards. I came across a video that I thought the sax sounded pretty good. Now, he says its a supernatural sound but, as far as I know and can read, the fa doesn't have supernatural sax's. Here is the video if you want to have a listen.

I'm thinking that he downloaded this from Axial in an EXP or patch. Does anyone know which exp or patch would have this sound (I understand you don't know for sure which it is...)?? Or which one has any great sounding saxes?

As a side note, I'm beginning to wonder if my style of music is conducive to this workstation... Seems a LOT of people like rap and EDM with this machine... I'm more a traditional music kinda guy. The song he plays is a great example but I like acoustic sounds A LOT. Guitars, steel guitars (can't find one at all), mandolin, fiddles and violins. I play southern gospel music (think country-ish if you don't know what that is). Lots of piano, bass, acoustic rhythm guitars etc.

Anyhoo... I look forward to any help. Thanks

Tom
BlakeL50
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Joined: 07:08, 2 February 2016

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by BlakeL50 »

This piano has all of the types of sounds you mentioned. Some of them are hidden away so you can't find them simply with the quick navigation buttons.

Highlight the name of the part/instrument you want to change and press enter. It'll open a menu and you can navigate the sounds much much more easily. I didn't know there were pop fm pianos for two years of owning this thing lol.

You will find your mandolin under plucked/stroke. Your acoustic guitars will be under Ac. Guitar which has supernatural as well as pcms tones. Your Fiddle and Violin are under Solo Strings.

There are also the expansion packs but I don't know which one I would recommend, maybe the strings collection?
BlakeL50
Posts: 13
Joined: 07:08, 2 February 2016

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by BlakeL50 »

Sorry forgot the first part of your question. You can use the same menu to navigate to Sax, there are 26 presets, so far 0622:XV DynoTenor sounds pretty close, either that or the Alto sax?

Edit just to mention the sax aren't super natural, they are PCMS which honestly I tend to prefer to the supernatural tones.
Paul99
Posts: 117
Joined: 18:05, 23 June 2017

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by Paul99 »

I play in a straight rock 'n roll band. I use acoustic piano, electric piano, several organs, brass and one sax. The sax is from EXP02 called 0233:Cool Sax. I think it sounds great.

But I get your point: the FA has a lot of "modern" sounds (about 500 monophonic lead sounds which I would
never use), so if you don't look closely you might get the idea it is a "modern" music peace of equipment. I can assure you: it is not! It just has all the sounds you can imagine. But you have to experiment! Download the expansion packs. There are for piano, string, brass etc. You also have to consider that the FA sounds brilliant together with other musicians. I don't think the FA will be bought by a real piano player! It does not well as a solo instrument. It is a"social" instrument in the way it needs other musicians to play well.

So remember: the FA is not a great solo piano, it is not a great solo organ, it is not a great string or brass machine, it is not a great bass, it is not a great guitar and it is not a great vocalist. It is all in one, when used wisely together with other musicians. And consider the incredible low price for all this! When you want more, you just need to buy dedicated instruments for all the sounds you want. It sounds better, but you also pay a lot more plus the more weight you have to carry!
Joe P
Posts: 159
Joined: 21:44, 20 November 2014

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by Joe P »

Tcastle,

Paul is right in many respects. I have used mine as solo piano (cocktail jazz), musical pit orchestra (strings, a lot of French horn, acoustic bass, symphonic sounds, horn section etc. etc. ) and mostly in a rock band context with Pink Floyd specialty (Wurlitzer, vocal chorus, synthesizers, clavs), and also pop duo with splits using left hand bass.

It is so tweakable and so easily tweaked, that you should be able to do just about anything you want.

In the pit, we also had real strings. In that environment, they were indistinguishable from the FA08 to the point where I thought I was inadvertently triggering the FA strings during parts where I was either not playing or playing other sounds. And I am only playing through a Mackie Thump12A!

Good luck!
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by stevel »

tcastlejr wrote:
As a side note, I'm beginning to wonder if my style of music is conducive to this workstation... Seems a LOT of people like rap and EDM with this machine... I'm more a traditional music kinda guy. The song he plays is a great example but I like acoustic sounds A LOT. Guitars, steel guitars (can't find one at all), mandolin, fiddles and violins. I play southern gospel music (think country-ish if you don't know what that is). Lots of piano, bass, acoustic rhythm guitars etc.

Tom
Tom, each year when a new synth comes out, the manufacturer tries as best they can to create sounds that are very "current" - so with EDM being such a big genre - AND - it being a synth driven genre, it's only natural (maybe even SUPERNATURAL!!!) that Roland would want to build a device that appeals to all the EDM wannabes :-)

The World Music Collection EXP (3 I think) has additional string instruments like you mention, most much better than the presets.

But, FWIW, synths have never handled acoustic stringed instruments in the guitar family very well becuase the way you play the instruments causes so many subtle variations it just nearly impossible to get all those nuances on a key-based instrument (I play both guitar and keyboards so am very familiar with this issue).

There is a Super Natural acoustic guitar part and if you go in to edit it it has things like strum speed (I think it might be the S1 or S2 buttons that do it).

I took this sound and put it on one of the chordal accompaniment things (or maybe the arpeggio) and got a pretty decent emulation of strumming - actually, the most realistic I've ever heard from a synth without going into a sequencer and doing a LOT of editing.

But I'd say the FA is definitely "EDM leaning". However, there are plenty of other sounds available especially with the EXPs.

It was funny because I put in the EXP 10 which is the Orchestra Collection, then I swapped it out for the World Collection and when I did I realized how few orchestral instruments there are in the FA - like only one or two plain solo violins, one viola, and things like that.

But I guess they figure if you're planning to do the epic hollywood film scoring, you'll load up the EXPs for the job.

This is why I didn't need EXP 01 - to me it just duplicates a lot of what is already there. EXP 02 (Keyboards) and 03 (that's World I think) add a lot of useful "rock band" type instruments, and EXP 10 adds a lot of orchestral instruments.

Right now I have EXP 02 and the World collection in mine, plus Synth Legends Pure which I feel rounds out this keyboard nicely - built in EDM sounds, good Keyboards beyond what it comes with (which are super good) and then more Guitars (which I need for a current project and the stock ones just weren't doing it) and then more "old school" synth sounds.

To me, the EDM type sounds will be clichéd in another couple of years - just like the "hits" my old D-5 had, and the "Rave" sounds my old Sound Canvas had (yet for some reason, these sounds STILL show up on modern instrument like the FA!).

But the "core" sounds will always be around. And the FA has enough of these - especially with the expansions - to make it really worthwhile.

So just because it's "geared toward" EDM and such, doesn't mean you have to use it that way. It can do a plain old piano just as good as the next keyboard. Just do like me and don't use the wickywickywubbywubby sounds!
Paul99
Posts: 117
Joined: 18:05, 23 June 2017

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by Paul99 »

stevel wrote: Just do like me and don't use the wickywickywubbywubby sounds!
So that's what they are called? ;-)
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tcastlejr
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Joined: 17:50, 30 September 2017

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by tcastlejr »

Thank you everyone for posting. I appreciate the help and 'encouragement' regarding the FA. I'm not disappointed.. just a little lost :)

@stevel You said:
There is a Super Natural acoustic guitar part and if you go in to edit it it has things like strum speed (I think it might be the S1 or S2 buttons that do it).

I took this sound and put it on one of the chordal accompaniment things (or maybe the arpeggio) and got a pretty decent emulation of strumming - actually, the most realistic I've ever heard from a synth without going into a sequencer and doing a LOT of editing.
I was wondering if you'd elaborate on this. I too play the guitar so I'm rather picky about rhythm guitar... but if you found a solution that's even workable, I'd love to emulate it.

Again, thanks everyone.

Tom
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tcastlejr
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Joined: 17:50, 30 September 2017

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by tcastlejr »

Or if anyone else knows how to do this... please feel free to post.

Thanks!
Tom
Skijumptoes
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Joined: 11:08, 21 June 2010

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by Skijumptoes »

Use the arpeggiator built in to the FA, and set the motif to 'phrase' mode, and simply pick one of the guitar presets (There's also variations of each preset too via the 'variation' control).

You can also combine with the chord memory feature on the FA to play one finger chords.
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Lunar
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Joined: 13:38, 23 October 2014

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by Lunar »

Also worth noting that the Chord Memory is velocity-sensitive. If Rolled Chord is turned on, it can be set to up, down or alternating and the harder the key is pressed, the faster the "roll", play softly and you get better separation between the notes. It's really designed for the pianos, but you can get some nice Pink Floyd-type atmospheric strums with it.
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tcastlejr
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Joined: 17:50, 30 September 2017

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by tcastlejr »

Well... I wanted to pop in and say thanks for those of you that responded. I'm pretty lost still. I'm spending time reading the manual and watching youtube but I'm just not understanding what I need to do.

Maybe sometime in the future, stevel will have the time to post a step by step of what he referred to in his post. I pm'd him but he's probably too busy to bother. <shrug>

At any rate, I really do appreciate those that took time to reply... I apologize for my denseness.

Tom
scramble
Posts: 88
Joined: 20:21, 16 November 2007

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by scramble »

tcastlejr wrote:As a side note, I'm beginning to wonder if my style of music is conducive to this workstation... Seems a LOT of people like rap and EDM with this machine... I'm more a traditional music kinda guy. The song he plays is a great example but I like acoustic sounds A LOT. Guitars, steel guitars (can't find one at all), mandolin, fiddles and violins. I play southern gospel music (think country-ish if you don't know what that is). Lots of piano, bass, acoustic rhythm guitars etc.
I've never done rap or EDM with the FA. The FA is fine for the music you want to do, but if you are as serious about acoustic sounds like guitar and fiddle as you say you are then no synth is ever going to satisfy. I would never dream of doing a whole acoustic guitar part on a synth. You'd use a real acoustic guitar. For the odd guitar line here and there in a song you could get away it, but that's about it.

But for piano, bass and drums the FA is good. But you have to know how to play or program the parts appropriately. I never play or program drums myself because I'm not a drummer and I won't do a good a job as a real drummer. It's also pretty hard to get a good fiddle or sax lead on a synth, sax players don't solo like keyboard players, and you just don't get the sort of expression on a keyboard that real players do with a real instrument, unless it's something you've really worked on. And even then I'd use a sample library rather than a synth. (The sax playing on that video isn't bad, but it's still not the real thing, and so it gets tedious after a while.)

Getting a different sort of synth like a Kronos or Motif or Kurzweil isn't going to solve anything. They'll give you similar quality sounds. The rest is up to you, but bear in mind that being a one-man band is a very difficult thing.

Edit: Just noticed that you said 'I too play the guitar so I'm rather picky about rhythm guitar'. If you play guitar then why on Earth would you want to do your guitar parts on a synth? Just record yourself playing guitar.
Skijumptoes
Posts: 681
Joined: 11:08, 21 June 2010

Re: Which sax is this?

Post by Skijumptoes »

The new Yamaha Genos has really impressive natural/acoustic sounds - particularly the guitars strum really nice.

However, look at the price vs the FA.

I think the FA is targeted to the wider sound palette than just an EDM/Synth unit (I.e. look at the System 8 and JD-XA/Xi's. which are targeted there).

It's just that to get good acoustic guitars you really have to be able to play them well, and in some instances be clever how you layer the sounds - you pay the money for something like the Genos and it has larger sample library and clever multi arp's to help you get there quicker.

The playing/emulating of how a guitarist plays/strums is really key in achieving a good sound.

Also, the Steel guitar presets are in the PCMS banks of Ac.Guitar group - And there's more on the axial site, of course.

And did you try the arpeggiator set to phrase mode?
jimmy
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Re: Which sax is this?

Post by jimmy »

Skijumptoes wrote:It's just that to get good acoustic guitars you really have to be able to play them well
I think this is the key, for example selecting an SN-A acoustic guitar and then pressing the "Preview" button it sounds amazing, but there's no way I can play a pattern like that. Then again Yamaha's line has always been a little bit better with the acoustic solo instruments than Roland imo (though overall sounds a bit more plasticy which is why I went for the Roland). I have noticed with the FA-08 weighted keys it's actually a bit harder to do Guitars than on a synth-action as well, so I might use my other synth keyboard with MIDI for those.
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