RD2000 DecayStrings sound settings that cause fade while holding down keys

[bobbykeys]

I have done a lot of searching and reading to learn better how to use the RD2000, many things not explained well. A question I have is the DecayStrings tone number 0345 actually does fade away while holding down the keys, but only after a somewhat long time. I want to be able to 1. find out how it is done and 2. how to change it to fade sooner.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

Have you looked inside the Tone Designer feature to see what parameters you can change?

Also the separate manual Parameter Guide gives details of all the voicings and what and how to adjust them.

 

[bobbykeys]

Thanks for the help, I have looked at Tone Designer, also Edit and the problem is I don't know what parameter needs to be changed, if it can be changed. Anything I have tried doesn't make the desired change, to make it fade over time. So frustrating to me.
And the guide shows three things: MSB, LSB, PC (figured out is Most Significant Bit, Least Significant Bit but what is PC primary clock or something?)

 

[Biggles]

When you go into Tone designer what parameters are available to be adjusted?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

MSB, LSB, and PC are the three parameters which select a specific voice or tone.

MSB and LSB are actually general terms that can apply to various parameters which require two data bytes, but in this context they represent the Most Significant Byte (MSB) and Least Significant Byte (LSB) of the Bank Select parameter, which is used to select a particular Bank of voices or tones.

The PC value is the Program Change number, which is used to select a particular Program (MIDI-speak for voice or tone) within the currently-selected Bank.

 

[happyrat1]

Actually I haven't looked at any manuals for the RD2000 as of yet but what I assume you are looking for are the envelope controls.

ADSR... Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release...

Actually I'm not sure if the MIDI spec even supports those parameters. It might be a SYSex parameter.

First thing to check in your manual is Envelope or ADSR capabilities.

My Juno DS has these dedicated controls so I really don't see why Roland wouldn't include it on the RD2000 unless they felt it would be too close to the FA series and compete against itself.

[EDIT} I just scanned the manual and found the section on Editing Sounds. Pages 20-21. (Really cr*ppy manual btw.)

Actually ADSR controls are not mentioned at all but they are clearly marked on the control panel and what you are talking about is SUSTAIN and RELEASE.

These 2 parameters control the duration and slope of the decay envelope of the played note. ie. Decaying Volume Levels.

If you really want to learn more about how these sounds are created and synthesis in general there are plenty of textbooks online and in print to lead you down the rabbit hole. Most of these are written by musicians for musicians so the math is pretty simple and basic and the explanations sufficient to inspire any budding sound designer.

If you still need a more definitive answer, I'd advise contacting Roland Support and enjoying the 8 weeks til they answer by hacking your wonderful new keyboard's operating system

Gary

 

[bobbykeys]

Thanks for helping me. Interestingly, I stumbled upon the DecayStrings start the fade right away! Can't figure out how it is done. Looking at the Pedal settings, the DecayStrings settings, which of course have the pedals, but I am now trying to find which "thing" is triggered by the pedal that causes the fade when the pedal is pushed. Anybody that has this tone, if you could look and help me figure this out, it would be great. I wan't to apply or use the ability with other instruments/strings. Interesting that when the sustain pedal is pressed that the strings start to fade but the piano/other sounds sustain as normal. Neat effect!
Happyrat1, the manual/s are not as helpful, they leave out critical information that one has to figure out.

 

[Biggles]

Not quite what you seek but the master of all things Roland is Ed Diaz, he produces their Product Support videos such as this.

Roland - RTV - RD-2000 Tutorials

RD-2000 Tutorials

www.roland.com

The series many help in filling in any gaps you may have with the RD.

Ed is also on many Facebook Groups so asking there or at rolandclan may get a response from someone who knows the ins and outs of an RD better than I.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Just a thought, which may or may not be helpful...

On my PSR-E models I've had to figure some things out by recording specific actions in a User Song, then looking at the MIDI events that were recorded in the User Song to see which events were being used to do certain things.

If using the pedal to control the DecayStrings is something that can be recorded in a song, you might try making a short recording where you play a few keys with the voice in question and then use the pedal to trigger the decay effect right away. Then you can try to export the recording to a MIDI editor so you can inspect the events in it.

On my PSR-E models, many of the things I was interested in could not be exported in a normal MIDI file, so I had to save the entire memory as a Backup File, then search for the User Song within the memory backup. It turned out that the actions I was interested in were being done with Sequencer-Specific Meta Events, which are a special type of System event that are specific to a particular device (sequencer, keyboard, etc.) or family of devices (such as a given line of models). Meta Events can only be used in MIDI files; they cannot be transmitted within a stream of live MIDI events, because the Status Byte for a Meta Event in a MIDI file is the same as the Status Byte for a System Reset event in a MIDI stream! And since the particular Meta Events that were being used were Sequencer-Specific, they would only work on Yamaha models that are designed to respond to them as intended, hence they couldn't be exported from an internal User Song to an external MIDI file that wouldn't be able to work as intended on some other make and model of keyboard.

Anyway, if your RD2000 has an onboard song sequencer that lets you record, you might see if the pedal can be recorded, and whether the DecayStrings responds properly when the recording is played back. If it does, then you can see whether the recording can be exported to an external MIDI file.

Or you might even try something simpler-- connect to a computer and monitor the MIDI as you play, and see if the pedal produces MIDI events, and if so, which ones.

 

[bobbykeys]

Not quite what you seek but the master of all things Roland is Ed Diaz, he produces their Product Support videos such as this.

Roland - RTV - RD-2000 Tutorials

RD-2000 Tutorials

www.roland.com

The series many help in filling in any gaps you may have with the RD.

Ed is also on many Facebook Groups so asking there or at rolandclan may get a response from someone who knows the ins and outs of an RD better than I.

Thank you!!