Roland Fantom-X User manual

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The Fantom-X Experience
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No. 1 in the Fantom-X Workshop Series
Workshop

© 2004 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.

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About the Fantom-X Workshop Series
The Fantom-X Workshop Series is a collection of booklets
describing how to get the most out of some of the exciting
features of the Roland Fantom-X family of products. Much of
what’s discussed in the series also applies to the Fantom-S
keyboard and, to a lesser degree, the original Fantom.
Each booklet covers a single topic, with easy-to-follow
explanations, procedures and illustrations. Have fun learning
to master the Fantom-X in convenient bite-sized pieces.
Other Booklets in the Fantom-X Workshop Series
• The Sounds of the Fantom-X—A tour of the Fantom-X
sounds in Patch mode.
• The Rhythms of the Fantom-X—Exploring the pads, drum
sounds and rhythms of the Fantom-X.
• The Fantom-X Effects—This booklet helps you get the most
out the powerful effects processing in the Fantom-X.
• Recording Music on the Fantom-X—Learn how to record
your music in the Fantom-X’s full-featured sequencer.
• Sampling on the Fantom-X—Capture loops, vocals, noises or
any other sound with the Fantom-X’s advanced sampling
capabilities.
• Smart Storage in the Fantom-X—Learn all about the
Fantom-X’s storage options for samples and other data.
• Performing with the Fantom-X—Splits, layers, realtime
controllers and more make the Fantom-X hot onstage.
• Making a CD of Your Fantom-X Music—Learn how to turn
your Fantom-X music into a final audio CD.
• Advanced Fantom-X Recording Techniques—Learn how
to use time-based effects, record arpeggios, work with
mastering effects and record realtime patch tweaks.
About This Booklet
One of the best things about the Fantom-X is the inspiring way
in which all of its elements come together to make the creative
process such a complete musical experience.
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While each of the other booklets in the series covers one area
in depth, we felt there had to be one that brought all of the
pieces together. That’s what this booklet is about.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that
deserves special attention—that’s the reason it includes 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 or yourself.

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Getting Ready
You’ll want to listen to the Fantom-X as you go through this
booklet, so plug a pair of headphones into the Fantom-X
PHONES jack—you’ll need headphones with a 1/4” plug—or
connect the Fantom-X‘s A (MIX) L (MONO) and R outputs to
the left and right inputs, respectively, of your mixer or other
monitoring system.
For more about connecting the Fantom-X to headphones or your audio
system, see your Fantom-X Owner’s Manual.
You’ll also need to connect the Fantom-X to a grounded AC
power source using the supplied power cord, and then turn
the Fantom-X on, of course.
Patch Mode
Press PATCH/RHYTHM. The Fantom-X display
looks like this:
When you press PATCH/RHYTHM, you put the Fantom-X in
“Patch mode,” where you can select and play single patches. A
patch is a Fantom-X sound.
We’re referring to a patch as simply a “sound” here so as not to get too
caught up in tech details for now. However, a patch can actually be an
amazingly complex, multi-faceted thing. To learn more about patches,
check out The Sounds of the Fantom-X booklet in the Workshop series.
The Fantom-X also has a Performance mode, designed for working with
multiple patches at the same time, and for recording.
If you’ve already stored some of your own patches in the Fantom-X, the
patch name you see may be different that the one shown here.
The Basic Fantom-X Tools
Let’s take a moment to get comfortable with the display and
the controls you’ll use to get around on the Fantom-X.
The Fantom-X’s Color Display
The display is your window into all Fantom-X operations,
providing information and constant visual feedback.
The F Buttons
Beneath the display are eight “F buttons,” labeled “F1-F8.” The
buttons interact with what’s on the display, so their functions
change depending on what you’re up to. Each F button’s
current job is shown on the display directly above the button.
In the Workshop series, when we refer to an F button, we put
its current function in parentheses, as in “F1 (Patch List).”

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The Cursor Buttons and the VALUE Dial
Many Fantom-X displays contain multiple settings, each
of which is called a “parameter.” Before you can change a
parameter’s value, you must select it. When a parameter’s
selected, it’s highlighted, as shown here.
Right now, the patch number “001” is highlighted in blue, and therefore selected.
To select a parameter and change its value:
1. Press the appropriate CURSOR 3, 4, 5 and/or 6 button
until the parameter is highlighted.
2. Turn the VALUE dial to choose the desired value.
The VALUE dial
We’ll see how these controls work together in a little while.
The Keyboard and Pads
In a sense, the Fantom-X is like two instruments in one: a
synthesizer and a drum machine, and both of these instruments
are always available. At any time you can:
• play a patch on the keys.
• play a rhythm set on the drum pads.
(If you’ve had your Fantom-X for much more than a few
seconds, you’ve probably already discovered this.)
In Patch mode, the keyboard typically plays a single patch
up and down its entire length. The pads, on the other hand,
typically play a “rhythm set.” A rhythm set is a special type of
patch in which each pad plays its own sound.
If you want, you can play a rhythm set on the keyboard—so that each key
plays a different drum or percussion sound—or play a normal patch on the
pads—so that the same sound plays on all pads, at different pitches.
Selecting Patches and Rhythm Sets
To Select a Patch for the Fantom-X Keyboard
1. Press F7 (Part Kbd) so “Kbd” turns light blue on the display,
if it isn’t already.
Nothing changes when you press F7 if the keyboard part was already
selected. In real-world keyboard patch selection, though, the process
begins with this button-press.
2. Press F1 (Patch List). The Patch List display appears, as
shown on the next page.

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3. Press F2 (↓) and/or F1 (↑) to display the type of patch
you’d like to select.
4. Turn the VALUE dial to select the desired patch.
5. Press F8 (Select) to confirm your choice.
You can also select patches according to the memory locations in which
they’re stored. See the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual to learn more.
For the purposes of this booklet, select the Soft Pad category and Patch
USER: 022, named “Motion Pad,” before proceeding.
To Select a Rhythm Set for the Fantom-X Pads
1. Press F8 (Part Pad) so “Pad” turns light blue on the display.
2. Press F1 (Patch List). The Patch List display appears.
3. Press F2 (↓) and/or F1 (↑) to display the desired rhythm
set bank.
The Fantom-X stores factory “preset” patches and rhythm sets—as well
as your own “user” patches and rhythm sets—in groups called “banks.” To
learn more about banks, see the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual.
4. Turn the VALUE dial to select the desired rhythm set.
5. Press F8 (Select) to confirm your choice.
For the purposes of this booklet, select the User bank and Rhythm Set
USER: 001, named “StudioX Kit1,” before proceeding.
A Brief Realtime Detour
The current patch, “Motion Pad” responds in interesting ways
to the Fantom-X’s realtime controllers. Press F7 (Kbd) and play
the keyboard:
• Push the modulation lever located to the left of the
keyboard forward, and then release it to hear how vibrato
can be added to the sound, and then removed.
• Press ASSIGNABLE beneath the D Beam so it lights, and
move your hand up and down over the D Beam to hear
what it does to the pitch of the patch’s various elements.
• In the REALTIME CONTROLLERS area, press the button
beneath “ASSIGNABLE” repeatedly until the ASSIGNABLE
LED lights. Turn the four REALTIME CONTROL knobs as you
play—hear how each changes the sound in some way.
The Fantom-X offers extensive realtime manipulation of its sounds. For
more, see your Fantom-X Owner’s Manual and the Performing with the
Fantom-X booklet in the Workshop series.
When you press the D Beam’s and REALTIME CONTROL knobs’ ASSIGNABLE
buttons, the display shows you what the realtime controls are currently
programmed to do.

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Meet the Beats
The Fantom-X contains a full-featured drum
machine, perfect for jamming and songwriting.
1. Press RHYTHM so it lights.
You’ve turned on the Fantom-X’s built-in beat box.
2. Notice how the top two rows of pads are now dark, while
the other pads remain lit.
When a pad is lit, it plays a drum or percussion sound.
So, why have Pads 9-16 gone dark? When a pad goes dark,
it’s set to play a rhythm pattern.
3. Hit Pad 9—its pattern plays and Pad 9 flashes.
The harder you strike a pad, the louder its rhythm plays.
4. Now strike other unlit pads to hear different patterns.
Rhythm groups allow you to assemble collections of rhythm patterns.
There are built-in rhythm groups and you can create your own, as described
in the Workshop series booklet The Rhythms of the Fantom-X.
5. Note how the Fantom-X switches between patterns
without losing the beat. Mix and match patterns to create
your own rhythm arrangements.
6. Find a pattern you like and let it play.
You can press the TEMPO button and turn the VALUE dial to change the
rhythm pattern’s tempo if you like. Press F8 (Close) when you’re done.
7. Play along with the pattern on the keyboard. This isn’t just
fun—it’s also often a great way to start writing a song.
We’ll leave the rhythm playing for now. However, when you want to stop a
rhythm, press RHYTHM again so it’s not lit.
10. Jam a bit to find something you’d like to record. If you’d
like to select a different patch, press F1 (Patch List) and
do so, as described earlier.
Clearing the Demo Song
When you first purchase the Fantom-X, its demo song loads
automatically. To clear it from song memory so you record
your own song in the next section of this booklet:
1. Press SONG EDIT.
2. Press F3 (Song Clear) and then F8 (Exec).
You can set the Fantom-X so it doesn’t automatically load the demo at
startup. See Page 234 of the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual.
Recording a New Idea
The Fantom-X is always ready to record when inspiration
strikes. It’s designed to let you record a new idea fast.
1. Press REC, for “RECORD.”
All of the recording-related buttons are grouped together on the Fantom-X panel.

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The Realtime Rec Standby window pops open and the
Fantom-X metronome starts playing.
You may or may not be able to hear the metronome, depending on how
loud your rhythm is. It’s not important in our tutorial, but the metronome’s
handy when you’re not playing along with a rhythm. (You can also disable
it if you prefer, as described in the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual.)
The parameters in the Realtime Rec Standby window allow you to customize
your recording session in a variety of ways. These parameters are described
in the Workshop series booklet Recording Music on the Fantom-X.
The Count In parameter is set to 1 MEAS—for “one
measure”—so when we proceed to Step 2, you’ll hear four
beats of the rhythm pattern go by before you should start
playing. At the fifth beat, perform your idea. Ready?
2. Hit PLAY, located just to the left of the REC button. The
Realtime Recording window opens.
At Beat 5, you’re on.
3. Once you’ve played the idea, press STOP. That’s it—you’ve
recorded your playing.
4. Press RHYTHM to turn off the rhythm pattern.
5. Press RESET, and then PLAY to hear your idea.
We didn’t want to distract you earlier, but when the Realtime Recording
window is open, you can rehearse without recording. Once you’ve made
a recording, tools in this window also allow you to erase notes and other
things in realtime, and re-record, or “punch in,” anything you’d like to fix.
These tools are described in the Workshop series booklet Recording Music
on the Fantom-X.
Undoing Your Work
If you’d like to start over again, you can “undo” your recording.
1. Press MENU—a menu pops open in which UNDO/REDO is
already selected.
2. Press ENTER.
3. Press F8 (Exec) to complete the Undo procedure.
4. Now that you’re back to Square One, press RHYTHM and
hit the desired pad to resume playback of your rhythm
pattern, and then repeat the steps in the previous section
of this booklet.

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About Recording on the Fantom-X
The Fantom-X records your playing in its “sequencer.” A
sequencer captures MIDI data that the keyboard and rhythm
section produce. When it plays back this data, your performance
is reproduced.
The sequencer doesn’t actually record audio—it records MIDI
data, instructions that tell the Fantom-X how to recreate your
performance. You can do all sorts of things to refine your music
by editing this captured MIDI data. You can fix the timing of
your performances, add or remove notes, and much more.
While the Fantom-X sequencer doesn’t record audio, its sampler certainly
does, as we’ll see later.
Once you’ve recorded something, you can move over to
the sequencing area to add more instrumentation, or even
sampled vocals. See the Workshop Series’ Recording Music on the
Fantom-X to learn more.
The Arpeggiator
The Fantom-X’s built-in arpeggiator produces repeating note
patterns called “arpeggios.” These repeating lines can provide
the basis for dance grooves, or supply texturing to any other
kind of music. The arpeggiator is also great for producing
automatically-generated, smart bass lines for any chord.
Before we check out the arpeggiator, turn VALUE to select
User: 001 UltimateGrand again.
1. Press ARPEGGIO so it lights.
2. Hold down a handful of notes on the keyboard—listen to
how the arpeggiator takes the notes you’re playing and
uses them in the currently selected arpeggio.
3. Let go of the keys.
4. Hold down SHIFT and press ARPEGGIO to display the
Arpeggiator editing screen.
On this screen, you can select a different arpeggio—
referred to as a “style”—or even create your own.
5. If the Style parameter isn’t highlighted, press 5 until it is.
6. Hold down some notes on the keyboard with one hand.
7. While you’re holding down the notes, turn the VALUE dial
to select different arpeggio styles. Listen to how they can
do many different things with the same notes.
8. When you’re done experimenting, press ARPEGGIO once
more to turn off the arpeggiator.
The arpeggiator uses the same tempo as the Fantom-X rhythm patterns and
sequencer, so when you use the sequencer, rhythms and the arpeggiator
together, they automatically stay perfectly in time with each other.
To learn about using the arpeggiator with the Fantom-X sequencer,
check out the Advanced Fantom-X Recording Techniques Workshop series
booklet.

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Skip Back Sampling
As you probably know, the Fantom-X contains a powerful
sampler. What you may not know is that it’s always listening to
what you do on the Fantom-X.
This means that you never need lose a sudden flash of
musical brilliance again. When you’ve just played something
unexpected and great, the Fantom-X’s powerful Skip Back
Sampling can easily retrieve it for you as a new sample.
1. Select a patch you’d like to play.
2. Play anything you like on the keyboard, for about 10
seconds.
3. Press the blue SKIP BACK SAMPLING button.
The Fantom-X goes back in time and creates
a new sample from the last 10 seconds of
your playing.
Skip Back Sampling can be pre-set to grab anywhere from the last 5 to 40
seconds of music. 10 seconds is the default setting.
4. When the Fantom-X has captured your sample, it displays
the Assign to Pad screen on which you can select a pad for
playing the newly captured sample.
To automatically keep the sample’s tempo in time with rhythms, arpeggios
and the sequencer, press F1 (Tempo Sync) so it lights red.
5. You can select any pad by striking it or by pressing
3, 4, 5 or 6 to highlight the pad onscreen—the
currently selected pad turns orange on the display.
Strike a pad to preview what’s currently assigned to it—this’ll help you
quickly find the pad you want to use.
7. Once you’ve picked out a pad, press F8 (Exec)—the
Fantom-X asks if you’re sure you want to proceed.
8. Press F8 (Exec) again to finish assigning the new sample
to the selected pad. Once the process is complete, the
Fantom-X takes you to the Sample Edit screen in case you
want to refine the sample by editing it.

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If you’ve turned on Tempo Sync, press F2 (Sample Param) and set the
sample’s original tempo, or “BPM.”
9. Strike and hold down the pad you selected in Step 5 to
hear the new sample.
You can work with the sample just as you would any other
Fantom-X sample: playing it, or even using it as the basis for
a song.
Check out the Sampling on the Fantom-X Workshop series booklet to learn
more about sampling.
Skip Back sampling captures not only the sound produced by
keyboard, but your rhythms and arpeggios as well.
To avoid losing a sample when you turn off the Fantom-X, you must save
it. To learn how to save a sample, see the Workshop series’ Sampling on the
Fantom-X.
The End
We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour of the Fantom-X. Check
out the other Workshop series booklets, as well your Fantom-X
Handbook and Owner’s Manual. We’re confident you’ll have a
great time with the powerful, inspiring Fantom-X.
For the latest Fantom-X updates and support tools, visit the Roland U.S.
Web site at www.RolandUS.com. If you need personal assistance, call our
amazing Product Support team at 323-890-3745.