Roland Fantom-X User manual

1
Advanced Fantom-X
Recording Techniques
®ÂØÒňΙ
No. 10 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.
2

3
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 Fantom-X Experience—A quick tour of how the major
Fantom-X creative tools interact.
• The Sounds of the Fantom-X—A tour of the Fantom-X
sounds and 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.
About This Booklet
This booklet contains a collection of sequencing tips for the
advanced Fantom-X user. You’ll learn how to lock sounds to
a song’s groove, work with the Fantom-X’s mastering effect,
incorporate arpeggios in a song, automate patch and rhythm
set edits and use the Fantom-X with an external sequencer.
This book requires a general understanding of the Fantom-X sequencer.
The Workshop series booklet Recording Music on the Fantom-X can teach
you what you’ll need to know.
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.

4
Synchronizing Sounds and Effects to the Beat
The internal clock that drives the Fantom-X sequencer can do
more than simply manage the tempo of a song—it can also
lock animated, pulsing patches tightly into a song’s groove. In
dance-oriented music, synchronization can suddenly snap an
entire arrangement into startling, propulsive clarity.
The sounds in the Fantom-X’s Pulsating patch category are
excellent examples of patches that contain rhythmic elements
you can synchronize to a song’s beat. If you’re not familiar with
the Pulsating patches, check them out—they’re among the
most interesting patches in the Fantom-X.
Typically, the Pulsating patches sound the way they do because
an:
• LFO (for “Low Frequency Oscillator”)—is changing, or
“modulating,” one or more tone parameters in a cyclic
fashion. An LFO typically raises and lowers, or vice versa,
a parameter’s value repeatedly as a note sounds. The
modulated parameter may be the:
• Tone Fine Tune—that re-tunes the tone’s pitch in cents
(100ths of a semitone).
• Cutoff Frequency—that sets the brightness of the
sound.
• Tone Level—that sets the tone’s loudness.
• Tone Pan—that sets the tone’s stereo placement.
Patch architecture and tones are explained in the Workshop series booklet
The Sounds of the Fantom-X and in the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual.
• effect—is subjecting the patch to some sort of rhythmic,
animated effect processing.
To learn about effects and effect editing in general, see the Workshop
series booklet The Fantom-X Effects.
Analyzing a Pulsating Patch
In the next few sections, we’ll presume you’ve found a patch you want to
lock into your song’s tempo. If you’re programming your own patch, skip
ahead to “Synchronizing a Patch.”
Before you can sync a patch to a song’s tempo, you’ve got to
figure out what’s producing its animated sound.
Essentially, you’re looking for the LFO or effect setting that
creates the rhythmic element you want to synchronize. As you
come across a setting that looks like it may be the culprit, try
adjusting its value to see if you’ve hit the bullseye or not.
The following sections require a working knowledge of patch and effect
editing, and of effect routing. See the Workshop series booklets The Sounds
of the Fantom-X and The Fantom-X Effects.
Looking for LFO Action
1. In:
• Patch mode—select the desired patch.
• Performance mode—select the part that plays the
patch you want to synchronize.
2. Press PATCH EDIT.
3. Press F2 (↓) and/or F1 (↑) to select the LFO1 tab.

5
4. At the top of the screen, the yellow buttons show the
patch’s active tones. Check the LFO settings for each one.
The currently selected tone’s LFO parameter values appear in black. While
other tones’ values are gray, you can still see their LFO settings. If you want
to adjust a non-selected tone’s value to see if it’s the one that’s causing the
patch’s animation, use 3 and 4 to select the desired tone.
5. Examine the settings of the four bottom parameters. If:
• Pitch Depth—has a value other than zero, the LFO’s
modulating the Tone Fine Tune parameter.
• TVF Depth—has a value other than zero, the LFO’s
modulating the tone’s Filter Cutoff parameter.
• TVA Depth—has a value other than zero, the LFO’s
modulating the Tone Level parameter.
• Pan Depth—has a value other than zero, the LFO’s
modulating the Tone Pan parameter.
6. Press F2 (↓) and repeat Step 5 for LFO 2.
7. If you’ve found the source of the patch element you
want to synchronize, make note of it for the procedure in
“Synchronizing a Patch.” If not, proceed to “Scoping Out
the Effect.”
Scoping Out the Effect
Examining a Patch’s MFX in Patch Mode
1. Press EFFECTS, and then press F3 (MFX 1/2). If your patch
is assigned to the:
• keyboard—press F3 (MFX 1/2) so that “MFX 1” at the
top left of the screen is black.
• pads—press F3 (MFX 1/2) so that “MFX 2” at the top left
of the screen is black.
2. Any parameter that has “Rate” in its name may be the
source of the rhythmic element you want to synchronize.
If you find such a parameter, make note of it for the
procedure in “Synchronizing a Patch.”
Examining a Patch’s MFX in Performance Mode
1. Press MIXER and go to the Performance Mixer2 screen.
2. Note the MFX processor the patch’s part is assigned to,
labeled as “FX1,” “FX2,” or “FX3” onscreen.
3. Press EFFECTS, and then press F2 (MFX Struct). The MFX
Structure screen tells you if your patch is going through
more than a single MFX processor.
4. Press F3 (MFX 1/2/3) as necessary to select the patch’s MFX
processor screen(s).
5. Any parameter that has “Rate” in its name may be the
source of the rhythmic element you want to synchronize.
If you find such a parameter, make note of it for the
procedure in “Synchronizing a Patch.”
The Synchronizable Chorus Processor
If you haven’t yet found your rhythm source, press F5 (Chorus).
If 01 Chorus is selected, check out its Rate value. If 02 Delay is
selected, check out its Delay Left, Right and Center values.

6
Synchronizing a Patch
Whether you’re dealing with an LFO or an effect, a parameter
that causes a patch to change rhythmically has the word “Rate”
in its name.
To synchronize the rhythmic element to your song’s tempo, set
the relevant Rate parameter to a beat—or note—value. This
synchronizes the element to a song’s tempo.
If you’re not sure of the note value you want, experiment with different
values.
Locking Tone LFOs to a Song Tempo
1. On the Patch Edit LFO1 or LFO2 tab, highlight the relevant
Rate parameter and set it to the desired note value. (A
value from 0-127 will not synchronize the LFO to a song’s
tempo.)
The Rate Detune parameter is inactive when Rate is set to a note value.
As you can see, an LFO can behave in a variety of ways. To learn about
LFO programming, see the Fantom-X Owner’s Manual. In this book, we’re
concerned only with an LFO’s Rate parameter.
Locking Effects to a Song Tempo
1. An effect Rate parameter has two values, as shown here.
2. Highlight the value on the right and set it to NOTE.
3. Highlight the value on the left and set it to the desired
note value.
Saving Your Work
If you’re in Patch mode, save the patch to user or card memory
to preserve your changes. If you’re already working in a song
in Performance mode, your changes will be included the next
time you next save the song to user or card memory as a
Fantom-X song file.
The Fantom-X Mastering Effects
To learn about the Fantom-X effects in general, see the Workshop series
booklet The Fantom-X Effects.
In addition to its MFX, chorus and reverb processors, the
Fantom-X has a dedicated mastering processor that’s designed
to provide the final touch to a song’s sound.
The mastering processor’s primary goal is to make your song’s
mix sound as full and strong as possible by “compressing” the
mix. Mastering compression is utilized in the production of
virtually all commercially released CDs.
The mastering effect operates on sounds routed to the Fantom-X A output
pair, either directly or through the MFX, chorus or reverb processors.
How the Mastering Effect Works
A compressor lowers the volume of any signal that rises
above a specified level. Since most signals rise and fall in level,
compression helps smooth out extreme volume changes to
make the overall sound more even. It also allows you to make
your mix as loud as technically possible.

7
The mastering effect employs “multi-band” compression in
which the mix is divided into three frequency ranges. This
affords you the opportunity of using differing amounts of
compression for the mix’s:
• bass—or LO range.
• middle—or MID range.
• treble—or HI range.
You can set the dividing point between the LO and MID ranges, and
between the MID and Hi ranges.
Each of the three compression bands has the same set of five
parameters that determine the manner in which it responds
to your mix. You can set each band’s parameters manually, or
use any of the five factory-programmed presets. You can also
create your own user preset.
Working with the Mastering Effect
1. Press EFFECTS.
2. Press F8 (Effect Sw) to display the Effect Sw (“Effect Switch”)
window.
3. If it’s not already lit, press F6 (Master) to light the Master
indicator in red.
4. Press F8 (Close) when you’re done.
5. Press F7 (Mastering) to display the Mastering screen.
The meters show the
mix’s overall level.
6. If you wish to change the frequencies to be controlled by
the MID compression band, set:
• Split Frequency High—to set the highest frequency
controlled by the MID band.
• Split Frequency Low—to set the lowest frequency
controlled by the MID band.
Try adjusting these values if you’re having trouble achieving satisfactory
results using the three bands’ compression settings.
7. If you’d like to try the preset settings, press:
• F1 (Hard Comp)—to apply a high degree of compression
to the low, middle and high frequency ranges of your
mix.
• F2 (Soft Comp)—to apply a subtle amount of
compression to the low and middle frequency ranges
of your mix while strongly compressing the high-
frequency range.
• F3 (Lo Boost)—to boost the level of the mix’s bass
content.
• F4 (Mid Boost)—to boost the level of the mix’s middle
frequencies.
• F5 (Hi Boost)—to boost the level of the mix’s treble
content.

8
8. To set up the compressor bands, select and adjust each
band’s parameters as desired:
• ATTACK—sets the speed at which compression begins
when a signal exceeds the Threshold value.
• RELEASE—sets the length of time for which compression
remains in effect after a signal exceeds the Threshold
level.
• THRESHOLD—sets the level above which compression
is applied to the signal.
• RATIO—sets the amount of compression, with higher
values resulting in more extreme compression.
• LEVEL—sets the overall level of the individual
compression band.
Since you can set the volume of each frequency range with its LEVEL
parameter, you can tweak the overall frequency balance of your mix using
the mastering effect.
You can save your settings as the mastering effect’s user preset. To do so,
press F7 (System Write). Once stored, you can apply your user settings to
any mix by pressing F6 (User.) The mastering effect’s settings exist on their
own—they don’t belong to any patch, rhythm set or performance.
Using Arpeggios in a Song
The Fantom-X has a built-in arpeggiator for playing a repeating
series of notes. Each of these series is called an “arpeggio,” or
more officially in the Fantom-X, an “arpeggio style.” There are
128 preset arpeggio styles, and you can store up to 128 of
your own. The arpeggiator can be used in either Patch mode
or Performance mode.
When you play the keyboard, the currently selected arpeggio
style uses notes you hold down as the basis for the note series
it produces.
Arpeggiator Styles and the Arp Motif Setting
An arpeggio style contains a rhythm and a series of harmonic
intervals—the number of semitones between notes—that
spell out a melodic and/or chordal phrase that can play in any
key. It doesn’t contain any actual notes—you supply those
with what you play on the keyboard.
The manner in which the arpeggiator plays a style depends
on the currently selected Arp Motif value. We’ll point out this
parameter in “Selecting and Playing Arpeggios in a Song.”
• Most Arp Motif values organize your notes in a specific
pitch order, and they’re played using the currently selected
arpeggio style’s rhythm. The arpeggio style’s own melodic
phrase is ignored, using your notes instead.
• If the Arp Motif parameter is set to Phrase, each note you
play triggers the arpeggio style’s phrase, which begins at
the pitch you play. If you play two notes simultaneously,
the lower note triggers the phrase.
You can program up to 128 of your own arpeggio styles. The process is
very similar to the creation of rhythm patterns, described in the Workshop
series booklet The Rhythms of the Fantom-X. The Fantom-X Owner’s Manual
also contains information on creating arpeggio styles.
The Arpeggio Part
To play or record an arpeggio in a song, the desired sound’s
part must be designated as the arpeggio part.
Once an arpeggio’s been recorded, the sequencer plays its notes, so the
part no longer has to be the arpeggio part. At that point, you can designate
another part as the arpeggio part in order to record a new arpeggio there.
You can designate the arp part from the Performance Mixer2
screen or on the Arpeggio (Performance) screen.

9
Designating the Arp Part from the Mixer
1. Press MIXER.
2. Press F6 to display the Performance Mixer2
screen.
3. Turn on the desired part’s Arp Part switch.
Selecting and Playing Arpeggios in a Song
1. With the currently designated arp part selected, hold
down SHIFT and press ARPEGGIO to display the Arpeggio
(Performance) screen.
Change the currently selected arp part on this screen by setting the Arp
Part parameter as desired.
2. Press the ARPEGGIO button so it lights—once ARPEGGIO
is lit, you can audition the currently selected arpeggio
style by playing the Fantom-X keyboard.
3. Highlight the Style value and turn the VALUE dial to select
the desired arpeggio style.
4. Select an Arp Motif. Three commonly used motifs are:
• Up (_ )—When you hold down two or more notes, they
play in low-to-high order using the arpeggio style’s
rhythm.
• Down (_ )—When you hold down two or more notes,
they play in high-to-low order using the arpeggio
style’s rhythm.
• Phrase—When Phrase is selected, the arpeggiator
style uses each successive note you play as the starting
pitch for its note series.
For a complete list of the Arp Motif values, see Page 130 of the Fantom-X
Owner’s Manual.
5. Set the other arpeggio style parameters as desired. Set:
• Oct Range—to automatically add notes from other
octaves to the arpeggio style. When Oct Range is set
to 0, the arpeggio style plays only the notes you strike
on the keyboard. Positive values (+1, +2 or +3) add the
same notes in higher octaves. Negative values (-1, -2 or
-3) add the same notes in lower octaves.
• Arp Accent—to adjust the dynamics of the arpeggio
style’s note events. Reduce the style’s dynamic range
with negative values, or exaggerate it with positive
values.
You can adjust the Oct Range and Arp Accent parameters using the
REALTIME CONTROL knobs. Press the REALTIME CONTROL switch so its
ARP/RHY indicator lights, and turn the ARP RANGE and ARP ACCENT knobs
as desired.
• Arp/Rhythm Grid—sets the note value of the arpeggio
style’s rhythm steps. Adjust this parameter to pack
more or less arpeggio notes into a measure. “L” and “H”
values add a light or heavy shuffle feel, respectively.
• Arp/Rhythm Duration—sets the duration of the
arpeggio styles’s notes to make them more or less
staccato than originally programmed.

10
The Arp/Rhythm Grid and Arp/Rhythm Duration values are shared by the
arpeggiator and the Fantom-X’s rhythms.
• Arp Velocity—sets the playback velocity, and therefore
volume, of the arpeggio style. Choose REAL to reflect
the velocity with which you strike the keys, or a fixed
velocity setting (1-127).
The settings for the arpeggio style parameters are saved in the song’s
performance when you save the song in a Fantom-X song file.
6. Hold down the desired notes on the keyboard to hear your
arpeggio.
To lock in the notes you’ve played—allowing you to let go of the keys
without stopping the arpeggio—press the ARP HOLD button so it lights.
7. Hold down other notes as desired to alter the arpeggiator’s
sound in realtime.
Recording an Arpeggio in a Song
1. Select the desired part and set up the arpeggio as previously
described.
2. Press ARPEGGIO to light its indicator if it isn’t already lit.
3. Navigate to the location in the song at which you want the
arpeggio to begin.
4. Press REC to display the Realtime Rec Standby window.
5. Set Count In to WAIT NOTE to ensure that the arpeggio’s
recorded in perfect time with the song.
6. Set the window’s remaining parameters as desired.
7. When you begin playing the keyboard, recording starts.
8. Continue playing notes into the arpeggiator to create your
recording as desired.
9. Press STOP when you’re done.
Automating Patch and Rhythm Set Edits
As noted in the Workshop series booklet Recording on the
Fantom-X, the Fantom-X sequencer can record changes you
make to a sound using the onboard realtime controllers: the
REALTIME CONTROL knobs and switches, and the D Beam.
The Fantom-X lets you go far beyond this, in fact. Its sequencer
can record and play back changes you make to any parameter
in the Fantom-X using the VALUE dial, the INC/DEC buttons or
the F buttons. Simply record a track or pattern as you make
your changes, and they’ll all be captured for playback.
The possibilities for this feature are pretty much endless, but
here are a few ideas to get you thinking. You can record:
• a patch-editing session—in Patch or Performance mode.
When you play back what you’ve recorded, you’ll hear the
evolution of your patch. You can find the song location at
which the patch sounded the best and save the patch in
its state at that point.
• the muting and un-muting of parts as a song plays—to
automate the turning off and on of part sounds in a song.
• the selection of a series of patches or rhythm sets—to
automate the changing of a part’s patch or rhythm set as
the song plays.
• changes to a part’s output parameters—sending the part’s
sound to different effects in different sections of the
song.
• changes to any parameters in a part’s sound—so that the
sound changes and evolves over the course of a song, or
from section-to-section. You could change a patch’s tone
structure, for example, or switch between highpass and
lowpass filters, or change the behavior of its LFOs. Any
sonic change you can produce using patch and rhythm set
parameters can be recorded and played back.

11
Why It Works
Each time you edit a parameter on the Fantom-X using the
VALUE dial, the INC/DEC buttons and the F buttons, a string
of System Exclusive—or “Sys Ex”—values are transmitted.
These MIDI Sys Ex values are in a language specific to the
Fantom-X—hence the “Exclusive” part of “System Exclusive.”
As with any other sort of MIDI message, the Fantom-X
sequencer can record and play back Sys Ex messages. During
playback, the Sys Ex messages you recorded during editing
are played back, invisibly reproducing your actions, and thus
recreating your edits.
How It Works
This is simple—just turn on the transmission of Sys Ex data
during operation of the VALUE dial, INC/DEC buttons and F
buttons.
1. Press PATCH/RHYTHM, LAYER/SPLIT or MIXER.
2. Press MENU, highlight “System” and then press ENTER.
3. Press F2 (↓) and/or F1 (↑) to display the MIDI tab.
4. Set Transmit Edit Data to On.
5. Press F8 (System Write).
When you start recording and then change parameter values,
they’re captured in the currently selected track or pattern.
When you’re done recording parameter edits, turn off Transmit Edit Data.
This shuts off the production of now-unnecessary MIDI data and prevents
the accidental recording of other edits. It has no effect on the playback of
your already-recorded edits.
Using the Fantom-X with an External Sequencer
While its own internal sequencer is powerful, the Fantom-X
can also serve as a master MIDI controller and multitimbral
MIDI sound module for use with an external sequencer such
as one on a personal computer. You can record notes into
the sequencer using the Fantom-X keyboard and pads as the
sequencer plays the Fantom-X’s sounds.
You can also play commercially available General MIDI and General MIDI 2
sequences on your computer using the Fantom-X’s sounds.
In the following sections, we’ll describe how to use the
Fantom-X with a computer-based sequencing program.
Create a Reception Performance
Create a Fantom-X performance that contains the sounds
you want to use, with each sound assigned to its own part—
remember to set up the performance’s effects as well.
The purpose of this reception performance is to respond to
MIDI messages received from the external sequencer. Set it up
just as you would if you were recording on the Fantom-X. You
can tweak it as your arrangement evolves.
To learn about setting up a song’s performance, see the Workshop series
booklet Recording on the Fantom-X.
Make sure all Keyboard Switch checkboxes on the Performance Layer
screen are turned off.
Be sure to save your reception performance to user or card memory as
described in the Workshop series booklet Performing with the Fantom-X.

12
Configuring the Performance for MIDI Reception
1. Press MIXER, F2 (Part View) and then F7 (External). On
this screen, you can set the reception behavior of your
performance. Set:
• Rx—to switch each part’s MIDI reception on, as shown
by a checkmark, or off as desired. By default, MIDI
reception for all parts is enabled.
• Ch—to set the MIDI channel to which each part
responds. The default values route MIDI Channels 1-16
to Parts 1-16, respectively.
The remaining parameters on this screen enable the transmission of
various MIDI messages when you first select the performance. Each of
these parameters should be set to OFF. You can leave the setting of the
numerical BankSel value as it is.
The MIDI Connection
Physical MIDI Connections
You can connect the Fantom-X to a computer for MIDI
communication in either of two ways. You can use:
• MIDI cables—connected to a MIDI interface attached to
your computer.
• an A/B-type USB cable—connecting the Fantom-X and
computer directly.
About Using a MIDI Interface
To learn how to set up and configure a MIDI interface, see the documentation
for your MIDI interface, computer and sequencing software.
If you’re playing into the
external sequencer from the
Fantom-X keyboard and/or
pads while you’re using the
Fantom-X sounds, you’ll need two-
way MIDI communication between
the Fantom-X and the sequencer. This
requires two MIDI cables. Connect the
MIDI OUT jack of the Fantom-X to the
desired MIDI interface MIDI IN jack, and
the corresponding MIDI OUT jack on the
interface to the Fantom-X’s MIDI IN jack.
If you’re just using the Fantom-X’s sounds—and not its
keyboard or pads—simply connect the desired MIDI OUT on
the interface to the Fantom-X’s MIDI IN jack.
USB MIDI Mode
The Fantom-X can exchange MIDI data with a computer using
a single USB cable directly connecting the Fantom-X and the
computer.
The Fantom-X can communicate via USB with USB-supporting computers
using the following operating systems: Windows XP/2000/Me or higher,
Mac OS 9.04 or higher, or Mac OS X.
MIDI communication via USB requires a little bit of setup,
described in the following paragraphs.
In order for the Fantom-X and computer to communicate via USB,
start by installing the necessary driver software on the computer.
You’ll find this software—along with installation instructions in a
“Read Me” file—on the Fantom-X Editor CD that shipped with
your Fantom-X.

13
To configure the Fantom-X for MIDI communication via USB:
1. Make sure there’s no USB cable currently connecting the
Fantom-X to the computer.
2. On the Fantom-X, press MIXER, and then press MENU.
3. Turn the VALUE dial to select System, press ENTER, and
then press F2 (↓) or F1 (↑) to select the USB tab.
4. If USB Mode is set to STORAGE, turn the VALUE dial
clockwise until the confirmation window appears, and
then press F8 (OK) to proceed. Press F8 (System Write) to
store your new setting.
5. Turn off the Fantom-X and turn on your computer—let it
finish starting up before proceeding to Step 7.
6. With an USB A/B-type cable, connect the A-type USB plug
to a USB jack on your computer, and the other end to the
B-type USB jack on the Fantom-X.
USB A plug USB B plug
7. Turn on the Fantom-X.
When USB communication is turned on, do not unplug the USB cables
connecting the Fantom-X and the computer.
Setting the Fantom-X’s MIDI Parameters
Navigate to the parameters in the following sections by
pressing MIXER and MENU. Highlight “System” and then press
ENTER. Press F2 (↓) and/or F1 (↑) to display the desired tabs.
Setting The Local Off Switch
When you play the Fantom-X keyboard or pads into a
sequencer playing Fantom-X sounds, the required two-way
MIDI communication can cause the double-triggering of notes
on the Fantom-X.
First, the notes are
played directly from
the keyboard or pads.
Then data orginally
sent from the keyboard
or pads returns to the
Fantom-X from the
sequencer.
The two notes are heard almost at the same time—a “flam” in
drumming terms. The recommended way to work is to trigger
notes only once, from the sequencer.
To do this, navigate to the Fantom-X System Sound tab where
you’ll find the Local Switch parameter. Set this parameter to
Off so that MIDI messages generated by Fantom-X’s keyboard’s
and pads are sent only to the MIDI OUT jack and not to the
Fantom-X’s internal sound generator.
If you’re not using the Fantom-X keyboard or pads with your external
sequencer, you can leave the Local Switch parameter set to On.
The MIDI Tab
The MIDI tab contains quite a few MIDI-related parameters.
Just a few of these have to do with using the Fantom-X in our
current application. They’re all located in the Receive section:
• Receive Program Change—When this parameter’s switched
on, the Fantom-X can change patches and rhythm sets in
response to received MIDI Program Change messages.
• Receive Bank Select—When this parameter’s switched on,
the Fantom-X can change patch and rhythm set banks in
response to received MIDI Bank Select messages.
• Receive Exclusive—Turn this on to enable receipt of System
Exclusive messages.

14
• Receive GM System On—If you’re playing General MIDI
sequences on your computer, you can remotely select the
GM patch and rhythm set banks when this parameter’s
turned on.
• Receive GM2 System On—If you’re playing General MIDI 2
sequences on your computer, you can remotely select the
GM 2 patch and rhythm set banks when this parameter’s
turned on.
• Receive GS Reset—When this parameter’s on, the
Fantom-X responds to received GS Reset messages by
resetting the current performance’s parts to default level,
pan, chorus and reverb values.
Selecting a Part for Recording
When you record into an external sequencer from the
Fantom-X keyboard or pads, you’ll do so in Performance mode.
The nature of your sequencer determines the part you should
select on the Fantom-X for sending data to the sequencer.
• Some sequencers transmit MIDI data using the same MIDI
channel on which it’s received. If you’re using this type of
sequencer, select the Fantom-X part whose sound you
wish to play. This sends your MIDI data to the sequencer
on the part’s MIDI channel. When the data comes back
from the sequencer, the desired part plays.
• Many sequencers allow you to select the channel on
which MIDI data is to be transmitted. You can send data
to the sequencer on any MIDI channel, and then select
the channel on which you want the data sent back out.
The currently selected part on the Fantom-X makes no
difference in this case.
The End
We hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of power tips for
the Fantom-X sequencer. 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
exciting, 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.