Roland Fantom-G Series Instruction manual

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© 2009, 2010 Roland Corporation U.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of Roland Corporation U.S.
FGWS09
Manipulating Sounds in Realtime
®ÂØÒňήWorkshop
Fantom-G Workstation Keyboard

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About the Workshop Booklets
Roland’s Fantom G6, G7, and G8—the Fantom-G family—set a new standard
for excellence in workstation keyboards, with spectacular sounds and
incredible built-in effect-processing muscle. A beautiful full-color LCD
display and innovative performance features make getting around a pleasure
and make the G6, G7, and G8 a dream to play. For recording, the Fantom-G
contains a powerful 152 MIDI/audio track sequencer. Each Fantom-G can
also host two Roland ARX SuperNATURAL™ cards whose breakthrough
modeling technology provides sounds with amazing sonic detail, expressive
possibilities, and sound-design opportunities.
Each Fantom-G Workshop Series booklet focuses on one Fantom-G topic,
and is intended as a companion to the Fantom G6/G7/G8 Owner’s Manual.
This booklet requires Fantom-G Operating System v1.30 or higher. You can
download the latest Fantom-G O.S. for free from www.RolandUS.com.
About This Booklet
Although the Fantom-G’s patches and effects are pretty spectacular as they
are, the ability to shape and change them as you play—in“realtime,”in other
words—makes them even more expressive. This booklet explains how to
take advantage of the Fantom-G’s potent array of realtime controllers.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that deserves
special attention—that’s the reason it’s labeled with one of the following
symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid
possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
Clicking or Pressing
As explained in the Power User Control Fantom-G Workshop booklet, you
can perform most operations on the Fantom-G using either a connected
mouse—sold separately—or the Fantom-G’s own front-panel controls.
If you’re using a mouse: If you’re using the Fantom-G’s controls:
You select parameters and objects with
a left click. You change the selected
parameter’s value by turning the scroll
wheel. You can often display a menu by
right-clicking an object.
You select parameters and objects with the
3, 4, 5, and 6buttons. Change a
selected parameter’s setting by turning the
Value dial or by pressing DEC and INC.
Left click Right click
Scroll
wheel
Value dial
In any situation, the best method to use is always simply the one that feels
most natural to you.
Going forward, when we want you to click an onscreen button or its
physical counterpart—your choice, of course—we’ll simply tell you to“click”
the button. The same mouse-centric logic will apply to any other virtual
versus physical control issues we encounter. If there’s only one way to do
something, we’ll tell you so. Beyond that, remember that whether you use a
mouse or the Fantom-G’s built-in controls is entirely up to you.
Hot Links
Each Workshop booklet is meant to be read in order from beginning
to end. However, if we mention an upcoming section—and you see
this arrow—you can click the arrow to jump there immediately.

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What Is Realtime Control?
When we use the term “realtime control,” we’re referring to instantaneous
changes you make to a patches and their PFX as you play. “Realtime
controllers” are the physical tools you use to make those changes.
The types of realtime changes you can make are nearly infinite—you
can alter pretty much any aspect of a patch or effect in realtime on the
Fantom-G. This allows you to create sonic textures that are uniquely your
own, truly personalizing the sounds your Fantom-G produces.
Some Basic Ideas
We’re Not Talking Keyboard Here So Much
The main realtime device with which you control with
Fantom-G sounds is, of course, its keyboard. Though it is
technically a controller, it’s not our concern right now.
In this booklet we’ll be talking about realtime controls designed for sliding,
turning, poking, stomping, and waving your hand at (seriously), all of which
allow you to manipulate your sounds in a very tactile way. The Fantom-G’s
realtime-control setup is highly customizable since which controllers feel
the best to you is such a personal issue.
The Mechanics of Realtime Control
Realtime control requires two elements: a realtime controller, and the thing
it controls.
The realtime controllers—
• As a slider, knob, etc. is moved, it can
produce MIDI Control Change, or “CC,” messages.
•
play sounds in the case of the D Beam.•
cause certain other things to happen.•
The thing being controlled—• Patch and PFX parameters can be
programmed to respond to particular Control Change messages, so
their values change in response to a realtime controller producing that
message. There are lots of other things the realtime controllers can
control, too, as we’ll see.
The Fantom-G Realtime Controllers
Here’s an introduction to the Fantom-G’s realtime controllers. We’ll explain
how to set them up a bit later.
The Control Knobs
and Control Sliders
To the left of the Fantom-G display you’ll find the
realtime control knobs and sliders you can use
when it makes sense to change a sound by twisting
a knob or pushing something up and back.
The Pitch Bend/Modulation Lever
The Pitch Bend/Modulation lever is located to the left of the keyboard, and
allows you to change a sound in two ways. When you
• flip the lever left or right—you bend the pitch of
notes downward or upward, respectively. The
further you flip the lever, the greater the amount
of bending. You can set both the maximum
amount of pitch bend, and also decide the type of
notes that should to be bent by setting the pitch-
bend mode.
push the lever forward—
• you apply modulation,
which means “change,” to the sound you’re using.
Typically, sounds acquire vibrato when you push
the lever forward, though you can change this.
When you let go, the lever returns to its original
position, and modulation’s no longer applied.
The response to lever movements is programmed for each patch. See the
Editing Fantom-G Patches and Rhythm Sets Workshop booklet to learn more.
The lever can also be used for other realtime control, as we’ll see.

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The S1 and S2 Switches
These two switches, located above the Pitch Bend/
Modulation Lever, are suited to switching things on
and/or off.
The D Beam
The D Beam is an infrared sensor that tracks the position of your hand as it
moves above the sensor. It converts this information to control data, with
which you can do three kinds of things. You can:
trigger a pad using the D Beam—
• so that the Fantom-G acts as if you’d
struck the pad. What happens depends on the current pad mode, the
pad you’ve selected, and what the pad is set up to do.
use the D Beam as a mono synth—
• playing notes by moving your hand
over the D Beam.
• manipulate some aspect of the current sound with the D Beam—as it
converts your gestures to MIDI Control Change values or other data.
To select the behavior you want, press the desired
button to the right of the D Beam so it flashes. Press
a flashing button to turn off the D Beam.
As you move your hand down closer to the
D Beam sensor, its effect increases. As you move
up and away, it decreases. You can see how close
you are in the lower right-hand corner of the Live
Play and Single Play screens, and on the Studio Play
screen when realtime controllers are visible.
The green bar shows how
close in your hand is.
Viewed from the side,
this is the area above the
D Beam in which you can
move your hand.
Foot Controls
You can gain foot control of various things in the Fantom-G by connecting
an expression pedal such as Roland’s EV-5 or EV-7, a damper pedal like the
Roland DP-10, DP-8, or DP-2, or a footswitch such as the FS-5U or FS-5L.
An expression pedal—
• produces a continuous stream
of Control Change messages that allow you to adjust
or set parameter values as desired when the pedal’s
connected to the rear-panel FOOT PEDAL CTR-1 or -2
jack.
A damper pedal—
• acts as a sustain pedal when it’s
connected to the rear-panel FOOT PEDAL CTR-1 or -2
jack. The DP-10, DP-8, and DP-2 are ideal for this.
A footswitch—
• is a simple on/off control for various
features and settings. When it’s connected to the HOLD
jack, it acts as a sustain pedal. (The DP-2 and FS-5U are
momentary on/off toggle switches, while the FS-5L
latches in an on or off position.)
Keeping an Eye on Realtime Control
The Live Play and Single Play screens always show your realtime controllers
and their current values in the lower area of the screen.
In Studio mode you can toggle display of realtime controllers using the
F6 button to toggle between Studio Play views, one of which shows the
realtime controllers.
EV-5
DP-10
FS-5U
Since the D Beam works with (infrared)
light, it works best when it’s not used in
direct sunlight. You can adjust its sensitivity
for special lighting conditions using the
System Setup DBeam Sens parameter.

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Realtime controllers in Live mode affect any patch whose Keyboard
switch is turned on.
Setting Up Something to Control
To get a patch or its PFX to respond to realtime control the way you want,
you’ve got to program it to respond to the Control Change messages you’ll
set a realtime controller to generate.
There are other things the realtime controllers can manipulate that
don’t involve Control Change messages. We’ll discuss them, too.
Setting Up Patch Parameters for Realtime Control
We explained the basic processes for programming sounds in the Editing
Fantom-G Patches and Rhythm Sets Workshop booklet, so we’ll focus here on
the realtime control setup parameters.
Select a patch.
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Pressing the PATCH button once or twice, navigate to the Patch Pro2
Edit screen.
The type of data that manipulates patch parameter values is called
a “control source.” It can be a MIDI Control Change message or a few
other things, as we’ll see. You can set up as many as four control
sources for the realtime control of any patch. Each control source can
manipulate the values of up to four of the patch’s parameters.
Let’s set up Control 1 for this patch to show how this works.
Use F2 (Group/Down) to select the Control 1 parameter group.
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You’ll begin by setting the Control 1 Source parameter to the desired
value. You can select
OFF—
• so that Control 1 is turned off.
a MIDI Control Change message—
• to use Control Change data
produced by one of the realtime controllers.
PITCH BEND—
• to use data produced by moving the Pitch Bend/
Modulation lever left and/or right.
AFTERTOUCH—
• to use data produced by pressing down into the
keyboard.
SYS CTRL1-4—
• to use the type of data selected as one of the four
system controls. We’ll explain the System Controls on Page 11.
VELOCITY—
• to use the data produced by the force with which
you play the keyboard.
There are other Control Source values you can select, but they’re not
realtime controllers in that they don’t involve realtime interaction.
If you select PITCH BEND, you’re using the Pitch Bend/Modulation lever
as a general-use controller. To set it up in its standard pitch-bending
role, have a look at the patch’s Pitch parameter group.

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Since we’re concerned with setting up the use of a realtime controller4
here, select a Control Change message—we’ll select CC74 (Cutoff) for
our example.
We’ll set up just one patch parameter for control now, just to show
you how it’s done. Each parameter controlled in realtime has its own
subgroup of parameters.
Use the Control 1 Destination 1 parameter to select the parameter
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you want to control. We’re going to select the filter cutoff (CUTOFF)
for simplicity’s sake.
Here’s something important to understand: You can use absolutely
any CC message to control any patch parameter. We’re using CC 74
(CUTOFF) here to control the patch’s cutoff (brightness) value only to
make things simple. CC 74 is typically used for the filter cutoff value,
but when you’re setting up realtime control in the Fantom-G, you’re
free to use any Control Change message for any purpose.
The Control 1 Sens 1 parameter allows you to set how subtle or6
radical you want the effect of realtime control on the destination
parameter to be. We’ll leave it at + 10 for now.
The Sens parameter can have a plus or minus value. With plus values,
the higher you push a slider or turn a knob, the greater the amount
of change is applied. With negative values, the opposite occurs. This
lets you increase one parameter’s value while lowering another’s with
a single realtime controller movement.
The four Control 1 Switch 1 values allow you to turn realtime control7
of individual tones within the patch on or off. We’ll leave them on.
Now that we’ve set up all of the parameters for controlling one
parameter in this patch, we’ll stop. To control other parameters,
repeat Steps 4-7 for them now.
The patch is now set up for realtime control. If you like, you
can jump ahead to setting up the realtime controls, where
you can program one up to generate the type of control
source data you selected in Step 4.
To preserve your realtime control settings, save the patch as described
in the Saving Your Work on the Fantom-G Workshop booklet.
If you find that—after setting up a patch and the realtime controller
you want to use—the patch isn’t responding to realtime control, check
its Part View MIDI Rx Filter parameters to make sure that response to
the type of control you’re using hasn’t been disabled.
Setting Up a Patch’s PFX for Realtime Control
Select the patch or part whose PFX you want to set up, and then, in:1
Single mode—• click F5 (PFX).
Live mode or Studio mode—
• press the EFFECT (ROUTING) button,
and then P2 (PFX).
Here we’re
going to be
controlling the
speed of the
rotary-speaker
effect using
modulation.
For controlling PFX in realtime, the setup is much the same as it is
with realtime patch control, but simpler. With PFX, you can have up to
four control sources, each one of which can control the value of one
of the current PFX’s parameters. Each control has its own set of three
parameters: Source, Destination, and Sens.

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Select the first control source using the 1 Control parameter. You can2
select
OFF—
• to turn off the control.
a MIDI Control Change (“CC”) message—
• to use Control Change
data produced by one of the realtime controllers.
PITCH BEND—
• to use data produced by moving the Pitch Bend/
Modulation lever left and/or right.
AFTERTOUCH—
• to use data produced by pressing down into the
keyboard.
SYS CTRL1-4—
• to use the type of data selected as one of the four
System Controls. We’ll explain the System Controls on Page 11.
Set the 1 Destination parameter to select the parameter whose value
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you want to manipulate using the first controller.
Set the 1 Sens (for “Sensitivity”) parameter to determine the strength
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of the change produced by realtime control, and whether higher
values produce the greatest amount of change, or lower values do.
Set up the other three possible PFX realtime control sources if you
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want to.
The PFX is now ready for realtime control.
Save your settings by saving the patch to which the PFX belongs—see
the Saving Your Work on the Fantom-G Workshop booklet.
Setting Up the Realtime Controllers Behavior
In the following sections, we’ll explain how to configure all of the
Fantom-G’s realtime controllers except the Pitch Bend/Modulation lever,
whose behavior is programmed within each patch as we noted earlier.
The Control Setting Screen
Most of the remaining realtime controllers are configured on the Control
Setting screen. (The foot pedals are set up on the System screen.) To get
to the screen, click F4 (Control) on the Live Play, Single Play, or Studio Play
screens.
Navigating the Control Setting Screen
Each realtime controller has its own group of
parameters. To display a controller’s settings,
select it on the left side of the screen using F1
(Group/Up) and F2 (Group/Down).
You can also jump at any time to the Control
Setting parameters for a specific realtime
controller by holding down the SHIFT button
and moving the controller.
Storing Realtime Controller Settings
The way you store your settings on the Control
Setting screen depends on the mode you’re in. In
Single mode—
• you store realtime controller settings by clicking F7 (Sys
Write).
Live mode—
• realtime controller settings are unique to each live set, so
you store them when you save the live set.
Studio mode—
• realtime controller settings are saved in each studio set,
so you store them when you save the studio set.
You can learn how to save live sets and studio sets in the Saving Your
Work on the Fantom-G Workshop booklet.

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Who Controls the Controllers?
Since every live set and studio set has its own D Beam, control knob, control
slider, and S1 and S2 switch settings, each live set or studio reconfigures
these controllers as it’s selected. There may be times, however, when you’d
prefer that the controllers behavior stays put as you select new live sets or
studio sets. For this reason, each of these controller has a System parameter
that lets you set how it acts when a new live set or studio set is selected.
For the:
D Beam—
• set the D Beam Assign Source parameter on the System
Pedal/DBeam tab.
Control knobs—
• set the Knob Assign Source parameter on the System
Knob/Slider tab.
Control sliders—
• set the Slider Assign Source parameter on the System
Knob/Slider tab.
S1 and S2 switches—
• set the Switch S1/S2 Assign Source parameter on
the System Switch S1/S2 tab.
In each case, the parameter can be set to:
TEMP—
• so that the controller’s behavior changes with each live set or
studio set you select.
SYS—
• so that the controller always uses the system settings that Single
mode uses.
Setting Up the Control Knobs
Each knob’s Knob Assign parameter allows you to set the knob to:
OFF—• so the knob does nothing.
a MIDI Control Change number—
• so that it transmits values for that
Control Change message.
Other Control Knob Uses
Each control knob can also perform one of a variety of special jobs. You can
set its Knob Assign parameter to
AFTERTOUCH—
• so that turning the knob generates the same type of
aftertouch data produced by pressing into the keyboard.
PITCH BEND—
• so that turning the knob produces pitch-bend data.
ARPEGGIO ACCENT—
• so you can adjust the level or accents and note
lengths in arpeggios using the knob.
ARPEGGIO SHUFFLE—
• so the knob can raise or lower the amount of
shuffle feel in an arpeggio.
ARPEGGIO OCT UP and DOWN—
• so that the knob raises or lowers the
pitch of an arpeggio in octave steps, respectively.
MASTER LEVEL—
• so the knob can lower the overall level of the Fantom-G
down from the volume ceiling set with the VOLUME knob.
DIGITAL/USB INPUT LEVEL—
• so that knob can trim the level of live audio
coming into the Fantom-G from its digital input or USB connection.

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Setting Up the Control Sliders
Set each control slider’s Slider Assign parameter to:
OFF—• so the slider does nothing.
a MIDI Control Change number—
• so that the slider transmits values for
that Control Change message.
Other Control Slider Uses
Each control slider can also perform the following other jobs. Its Slider
Assign value can be set to
AFTERTOUCH—
• so that moving the slider generates the same type of
aftertouch data produced by pressing into the keyboard.
PITCH BEND—
• so that turning the slider produces pitch-bend data.
ARPEGGIO ACCENT—
• so you can adjust the level or accents and note
lengths in arpeggios by moving the slider.
ARPEGGIO SHUFFLE—
• so the slider can raise or lower the amount of
shuffle feel in an arpeggio.
ARPEGGIO OCT UP—
• so that the slider raises the pitch of an arpeggio in
octave steps.
ARPEGGIO OCT DOWN—
• so that the slider lowers the pitch of the
arpeggio in octave steps.
Setting Up the S1 and S2 Switches
You can choose both the type of message generated when you press the S1
or S2 button, and also each button’s behavior.
Set each S button’s Assign parameter to
OFF—
• to turn the button off.
a MIDI Control Change number—
• so that the S button transmits a single
value for that Control Change message.
Set each S button’s Assign Mode parameter to
LATCH—
• so the switch acts as an on/off toggle switch.
MOMENTARY—
• so that the switch acts as an On switch only for as long
as it’s held down.
When the Assign parameter is set to a Control Change message, the On
value it transmits is 127, and the Off value is 0.

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Other S1 and S2 Switch Uses
AFTERTOUCH—• so that pressing an S button generates a value of 127 or
0 in all three modes, according to the Assign Mode setting.
MONO/POLY—
• so that the switch toggles the Mono/Poly switch for the
currently selected part in all three modes.
PFX SWITCH—
• so that the switch toggles the PFX for the currently
selected part on and off in all three modes.
MFX SWITCH—
• so that the switch toggles the input’s MFX processor on
and off in Live and Single modes.
MFX 1 SWITCH—
• so the switch toggles MFX 1 on and off in Studio
mode.
MFX 2 SWITCH—
• so the switch toggles MFX 2 on and off in Studio
mode.
CHORUS SWITCH—
• so that the switch toggles the global chorus on and
off in all three modes.
REVERB SWITCH—
• so that the switch toggles the global reverb on and
off in all three modes.
MASTERING SWITCH—
• so that the switch toggles the mastering effect on
and off in all three modes.
MASTER KEY UP—
• so that the Fantom-G’s master tuning moves up by
one semitone each time the switch is pressed.
MASTER KEY DOWN—
• so that the Fantom-G’s master tuning moves
down by one semitone each time the switch is pressed.
SCALE TUNE SWITCH—
• so that the currently selected part’s custom scale/
tuning is toggled on and off from the S switch.
Setting Up the D Beam
This parameter selects the job you’d like the D Beam to perform. It can be
set to OFF, PAD TRIGGER, SOLO SYNTH, or ASSIGNABLE. When it’s set to OFF,
no D Beam settings are displayed. When the parameter’s set to some other
value, the Fantom-G presents the available options.
When the Control Setting screen’s visible, you can press any of the D
Beam’s three buttons to jump straight to its associated parameters.
Using the D Beam as a Pad Trigger
When you use the D Beam as a pad trigger, you swipe your hand across the
D Beam sensor to “strike” the pad, and move it out of the way to stop.
Here are the D Beam’s parameters when you’re setting it up as a trigger for
one of the Fantom-G’s dynamic pads:
Beam Trigger Pad—
• With this parameter, you select the pad you’d like to
trigger from the D Beam.
Beam Trigger Velo—
• Set how hard you’d like the D Beam to “strike” the
selected pad using this parameter.
Beam Trigger Mode—
• This sets the triggering of the D Beam to
LATCH—
• so the D Beam acts as an on/off toggle for the pad.
MOMENTARY—
• so that the pad is “struck” for only as long as you
hold your hand in the D Beam.

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Using the D Beam as a Solo Synth
The D Beam can also act as a two-oscillator, monophonic—meaning “one
note at a time”—programmable synthesizer. The parameters on this screen
allow you to customize the synth’s sound.
This screen contains a small subset of the parameters we discussed in
the Editing Fantom-G Patches and Rhythm Sets Workshop booklet. To
learn more about what the D Beam synth parameters do, check out
that booklet and the Fantom-G Owner’s Manual.
Using the D Beam as an Assignable Realtime Controller
The Assignable mode allows the D Beam to generate Control Change
messages for shaping a sound in realtime, and also to do a few other
things.
The Assignable mode D Beam parameters are:
Type—
• This parameter selects the type of data the D Beam produces.
When it’s set to
OFF—
• the D Beam doesn’t do anything.
a MIDI Control Change number—
• the D Beam transmits values for
the selected Control Change message.
AFTERTOUCH—
• the D beam produces aftertouch data that
makes the current part’s sound respond as if you were digging
down into the keyboard.
BEND UP—
• you can bend the pitch of the current part’s sound
upward by lowering your hand down into the D Beam sensor.
BEND DOWN—
• you can bend the pitch of the current part’s
sound downward by lowering your hand down into the D Beam
sensor.
ARPEGGIO ACCENT—
• you can adjust the level or accents and note
lengths in arpeggios using the D Beam.
ARPEGGIO SHUFFLE—
• the D Beam can raise or lower the amount
of shuffle feel in an arpeggio.
ARPEGGIO OCT UP and DOWN—
• the D Beam raises or lowers the
pitch of an arpeggio in octave steps, respectively.
Range Min and Range Max—
• These parameters set how low and high,
respectively, you want the D Beam to be able to set the value of
whatever it’s controlling.

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Setting Up Foot-Pedal Control
Setting Up a FOOT PEDAL CTR Jack Pedal or Switch
Here’s how to set up a foot pedal or footswitch connected to the FOOT
PEDAL CTR-1 or-2 jack.
Press the MENU button.
1
Click F2 (System)—if the Pedal/DBeam tab isn’t2
already selected, click F1 (Group/Up) until it is.
You’ll set up foot control using the CONTROL
PEDAL parameters in the middle of the screen.
Each jack—and therefore each connected
pedal—has its own pair of parameters that
allow you to configure the pedal’s behavior.
The Control Pedal Assign and Polarity Parameters
The Control Pedal Assign and Polarity Parameters parameters work
together.
The Control Pedal Assign parameter—
• selects the thing you want the
pedal to do.
The Control Pedal Polarity parameter—
• set the part of the pedal that
produces the maximum effect. When Polarity’s set to STANDARD, the
effect of the pedal becomes greater as you press the front of the pedal.
When Polarity’s set to REVERSE, pressing the back of the pedal produces
the maximum effect.
We’ve provided the Polarity setting for two reasons. First, if you have
a non-Roland pedal and it’s producing the maximum effect when you
press the back of the pedal, you can make it behave like a Roland
pedal by setting Polarity to REVERSE. Second, there may be times when
reversing the action of a pedal just feels more natural to you.
Here are what the Control Pedal Assign values get you.
OFF—
• so the pedal does nothing.
Using an expression pedal, you might want to set Control Pedal Assign to:
a MIDI Control Change number—
• so that it transmits values for that
Control Change message.
AFTERTOUCH—
• so that the pedal generates the same type of aftertouch
data produced by pressing into the keyboard.
BEND UP, BEND DOWN—
• so that pressing the pedal causes the pitch of
the current sound to bend upwards or downwards, respectively.
Using a footswitch, you might want to set Control Pedal Assign to:
START/STOP—
• so that you can start and stop the sequencer by foot
without removing your hands from the keyboard.
TAP TEMPO—
• to set the Fantom-G’s tempo by tapping it out with your
foot. This allows you to control the speed of the sequencer, rhythms,
arpeggios, RPS phrases, tempo-based effects and so on.
PROG UP, PROG DOWN—
• so you can select the next or previous sound,
live set, or studio set, depending on your current mode. This can be very
handy onstage when you’ve stored your stuff in the order in which you
need it when you perform.
USER GROUP UP, USER GROUP DOWN—
• to select the next or previous
User Group item, respectively, using your pedal.
FAVORITE UP, FAVORITE DOWN—
• so you can select the next or previous
Favorite, respectively, using your foot.

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PANEL SWITCH—• so you can use your pedal as if it’s one of a variety of
important front-panel buttons on the Fantom-G. When Assign is set to
PANEL SWITCH, the Panel Switch Assign parameter becomes active and
can be set to:
OCT UP, OCT DW—
• so the footswitch behaves like the +OCT or
-OCT button, respectively. Typically, you’d set one footswitch
to act as one of the buttons and a second footswitch to act like
the other.
ARP SW—
• so pressing the footswitch is like pressing the
ARPEGGIO button.
CHD SW—
• so the footswitch acts as the CHORD MEMORY
button.
INC, DEC—
• to use the footswitch as an INC or DEC button.
SHIFT—
• so pressing the footswitch is like pressing the SHIFT
button. This can turn two-handed operations on the Fantom-G
into faster one-handed procedures.
ENTER—
• to press the ENTER button with the footswitch.
EXIT—
• to use the footswitch as an EXIT button.
SKIPBACK—
• so you can trigger Skip Back sampling with a
footswitch.
ROLL—
• to use the footswitch as the DYNAMIC PADS area’s ROLL
button.
HOLD—
• to use the footswitch as the HOLD button.
Setting Up a Hold Pedal
There aretwo parameters that control the behavior of a footswitch connected
to the rear-panel HOLD jack. A Hold pedal is usually used for adding sustain
to your notes. Here’s how the Hold Pedal parameters work.
Press the MENU button.
1
Click F2 (System)—if the Pedal/DBeam tab isn’t already selected, click2
F1 (Group/Up) until it is.
The Hold Pedal parameters at the bottom of the screen control the
behavior of the hold pedal.
Typically, you’d set Hold Pedal Polarity to3 STANDARD when you’re
using a Roland pedal, and REVERSE to get a non-Roland pedal to
behave like one.
The Continuous Hold Pedal parameter, when it’s set to ON, supports
4
half-pedaling when you’ve connected a DP-8 or an expression pedal
to the HOLD jack. Half-pedaling allows you to control the depth of
your notes’ sustain.
System Control 1-4
The Fantom-G’s System Controls allow you to simultaneously change the
realtime control source for multiple sounds without having to go in and
re-program each one individually. Here’s how this time-saving tool works.
There are four System Controls, each of which has been assigned a control
source. By default
System Control 1—
• is set to CC01: Modulation (MIDI Control Change
01).
System Control 2—
• is set to Aftertouch.
System Control 3—
• is set to CC:02 Breath (MIDI Control Change 02).
System Control 4—
• is set to CC04: Foot Type (MIDI Control Change 04).
A patch or PFX can be programmed to use a System Control as its control
source, placing it under the control of whatever’s assigned to the System
Control.
When a control source is designated as a System Control, and the
System control is selected as a patch parameter’s control source...
...then the System Control’s control source acts as the patch
parameter’s control source.
MIDI Control Change
01: Modulation System Control 1 Patch Control Source 1
is assigned to... which acts as...
MIDI Control Change
01: Modulation Patch Control Source 1
as System Control 1, acts as...

14
If you change the control source assigned to the System Control, you
therefore automatically change the control source of any sound set to use
it.
All of the factory patches are set by default to use System Controls 1-4 as
their four control sources. As a result, it’s easy to change a control source
for all of these patches at once by simply changing a System Control to
whatever it is you want to use.
As you program your own patches, you can use something other than
the default assignment as a System Control’s control source if you prefer.
Changing your mind about what you want to use in all of your patches at any
time is a trivial matter, thanks to the helpful System Controls.
Here’s how to assign a System Control Source:
Press the MENU button.
1
Click F2 (System).2
Use F2 (Group/Down) to select the System Ctrl parameter group.3
Set the desired System Control’s System Control Source parameter to4
the desired value.
The End
We hope you’ve found this workshop helpful. Keep an eye out for other
Fantom-G Workshop booklets available for downloading at www.RolandUS.
com.