Untitled

Firstly, lets go through a brief history of synths...

Before the digital age, synths used to be Analogue and used electrical voltages to create and shape sounds (ie, the more electricity you apply the louder or brighter the sound gets).

Digital synths use similar principles but instead they are controlled digitally..

The Roland XP/JV is one of the most diverse group of digital synths in todays world, the industry standard. Give yourself a pat on the back for a fine choice of synth. :-)

Now lets break down to the basics of sound sythesis... the fundamental building blocks of the Roland XP/JV........

Your Roland synth consist of the following Controls for shaping sounds:

DCO - Digital Control Oscillator (The sound waveform)

TVA - Time Varient Amplifier (The volume)

TVF - Time Varient Filter (ie. Cutoff Filter)

LFO - Low Frequency Oscillator (ie. WahWah Filter)(

Tone Structure(Routing the sound through ring modulators)

EFX - Effects (Reverb, chorus, echo)

DCO (Digital Control Oscillator)

This contains the heart of a sound (the waveform). It can be either a sampled instrument (like a Piano), or an electronic sound (like a Sine Wave). Basically it controls the pitch and playback of a waveform. The Roland has hundereds of DCO waveforms divided into seperate banks.

Roland XP/JV

-2-4 | Group | Number
TVA | INT-A | 191(Trumpet 2B )

TVA (Time Varient Amplifier)

This controls the amplitude/loudness of a sound. The sound can be shaped through an ADSR(Attack Decay Sustain Release) envelope. Use a fast attack for sounds like basses leads and hits. A slow attack for pads and strings. Can respond to velocity (how hard the keyboard is hit).

TVA Section of the Roland XP/JV

1--4 | Level | Pan | V-Sens | V-Curve
TVA | 118 | L28 | +48 1/

TVF (Time Varient Filter)

Controls the Cuttoff Frequency and the Resonance. The TVF filter also has an ADSR envelope. And can also respond to velocity.

TVF Filter of the Roland XP/JV

-2-4 | Type | Cut | Res | Keyfollow | EnvDepth
FILTER | LPF | 68 | 48 +10 +48

LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)

TVA

Time Varient Amplifier. This controls the volume/loudness of a waveform. The volume can be shaped through something known as an "ADSR envelope".

ADSR (Attack Decay Sustain Release).

Take a look at your TVA envelope settings. If your eyes are still fully functional you'll see something like this.....

T1 T2 T3 T4 L1 L2 L3
| 0 | |39| |43| |38| |120| |90| |16|

EFX (External FX)

The Roland XP/JV has 41 types of effects, and a seperate reverb, chorus section.

Tone Structure

The best way to understand this section is to think back a few decades ago when "modular synths" were found in some hi-tech studios. These were synthesizers that resembled cooking stoves, with stacks of connectors, knobs and trails of wires looming around them...

To alter a sound you had to unplug one end of a jack-jack cable and insert the other end to another point through something known as a "patch bay". This was a slow and tedious process. The Roland XP/JV simplifies this using something known as "Tone Structure".

Tone Structure

12-- | Type W1----------F1-A1 | Booster
STRUCT | 1 | W2-------------F2-A2 | +6

Try to picture a modular synth and you'll get the idea of how this function works. W1 is the waveform... ------ is the path of a waveform. And the F1 and A1 are the Filter and Amplitude of waveform 1.

Tone Structure

12-- | Type W1----------F1-A1 | Booster
STRUCT | 1 | W2-------------F2-A2 | +6

Those are the bare essentials. Click here to return to the Index

TVA

Those are the bare essentials. Click here to return to the Index

TVA

Those are the bare essentials. Click here to return to the Index

TVA

Those are the bare essentials. Click here to return to the Index

TVA

Those are the bare essentials. Click here to return to the Index

TVA

Those are the bare essentials. Click here to return to the Index