Roland JUNO-D arpeggio on external MIDI: is this even possible?

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Hi everybody
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Here's my setup: I've created a performance for this upcoming gig. Part 1 is some Piano + String in Dual mode, which is going to be a main keyboard part for the song (BTW it's "Felicita", an Italian hit song very popular through Europe some 36 years ago). Part 16 is some Synth Bass, which is going to be played in Arpeggio mode through the whole song.
I've created a dedicated Arpeggio User Template for this bass line, playing 1/12 triplets with +1 octave range, which corresponds to the original song. When it's played from keyboard, everything is OK.
But I've intended something else. Since the keyboard part, which is played with Piano + Strings, is quite busy, I was going to connect my additional MIDI keyboard (CME U-Key 49) to my JUNO-D, set MIDI keyboard to Channel 16, press PHRASE/ARPEGGIO button on JUNO-D, and let bass player play his part on MIDI keyboard, using JUNO-D as a sound module. Everything went smoothly, but when I press aforementioned PHRASE/ARPEGGIO button, nothing happens. The synth bass sound, initiated by MIDI keyboard, is not affected by arpeggio, though the piano+string sound played directly on JUNO-D is.
A while ago I've read an Owner's Manual for Roland RS-5, which is a predecessor to JUNO-D, and that manual explicitly says that RS-5 Arpeggiator does not process external MIDI signal. Is this the same with JUNO-D? The manual is not clear. Or do I miss something?
 

SeaGtGruff

I meant to play that note!
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I would guess that it's also true with the Juno-D. If it actually is possible, there might be something in the MIDI reference, which is typically a separate document from the owner's manual. That would presumably be for using MIDI messages to control/play an arpeggio, which might require some special Roland SysEx messages. On the other hand, another possibility might be where you're simply sending Note events to the Roland and you want the Note events to be processed by the arpeggio. If that's something that's possible, it might be mentioned in a reference manual, which is often a separate and longer document from the more basic owner's manual-- at least, that's the case with many Yamaha keyboards. This second sort of possibility usually involves going into the keyboard's detailed MIDI Receive settings and assigning one or more of the incoming MIDI channels to one or more specific parts on the keyboard, such as the accompaniment or style parts. I haven't looked at the documentation for the Juno-D myself, but hopefully my comments have given you some ideas of where to look.
 
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Hi
Thank you for detailed answer. Well, I've checked the MIDI Implementation manual of JUNO-D, and it seems that one can read and write arpeggio parameters via MIDI, but I was not able to find any command that switches it on and off. Also there's no such thing as a reference manual for JUNO-D (or any other Roland synth), which is a pity, because the Owner's Manual for it desires a lot to be better. I was able to find Service Notes, but these are for servicemen, not for us mere mortals.
So it seems to be that the poor bass player will have to impersonate arpeggiator all those 3 minutes while the song goes. Well, that's good for timing and groove skills.
 

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