This matter bugs me ever since I got full access to the Internet.Roland(unlike Korg)doesn't seem to care much for the developement of patches and banks for their line of synths,leaving the programming and tweaking to the user.I am not a sound designer,I am a composer.So what am I supposed to do if I need a lot of "etherical" pads and "fantasy" effects for my new age ambiental music?Turn to Korg who excels in this area?I would not as I am a constant Roland user,since the times of my first D20 and going through XP50,XP60 and my current XP30.From all the browsing on the web all I got was 32 patches for XP30,and that was on a scandinavian(as I remember)Roland site.You will say it is not their interest to develop patches since they need to promote the expansion boards.This may be so ,but I think it should be their duty to offer more to the customer who invested in their products and chose Roland over some other brand.And this wouldn't be so hard anyway,putting a few sound designers to a couple of hours of work extra a day.I feel that whith the exceptional sound quality of the samples much more could be done that the presets even on the expansion boards.Shouldn't Roland do this?

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[b]D'auk o-la[b]

I don't really feel this is Roland's duty. And even now I've got tons of patches I'll probably never use. Only dissappointing thing is that because the international community of xp30 users is too small (and Roland could fill this gap by sound developement) no user patches are created that use expansion waveforms of the session/techno/orchestral boards.

Maybe they ought to...... but the simple fact is (from what you said) they don't! If Korg does and you want that sort of thing..... you may have to go with a Korg sytnh (it's not like Korg's aren't good synths!!) If one company excels in a certain area, it's kind of ridiculous to complain about another company not excelling in that area........ one company cannot possibly excel in every area, I'm willing to bet that there are some things that Roland does better than Korg. Seeing as I'm a Roland user myself, I could probably name a few too. It's up to the consumer to decide what features they need more (I chose the XV-88 over something like a Triton because I needed a better feeling keyboard and better acoustic samples) So just look at the whole picture.


And YES, you can get more patches for whatever kind of music you want to do with the huge SR-JV libary of expansion boards, sure you have to pay for 'em.... but it is work after all to make patches and new samples. There's my $.02, hope it made some sense!

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Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hi Zeratul,

I agree with Bungle that I don't feel it is Roland's duty. In regards to the XP-30, I'm not sure how many sounds come with it. I own an XV-5080 which comes with many banks of presets already out of the box (User bank + Banks A thru H). This is without any expansion boards.

I, too, have a ton of patches. I always have tight deadlines so I haven't even listened to all of them (I also own a few other keyboards and modules).

Anyway, if the stock XP-30's sounds don't do it for you, why on earth did you buy it? I'm assuming that you have other uses for it. If you don't have the inclination to program these types of sounds yourself and can't find any to buy, then maybe you should buy a Korg keyboard. You could maybe pick up an 01/W which will do many of the types of sounds that you're looking for. There are 3rd party sound developers out there as well that you can try which may offer sets like this. Don't want to buy any but want them for free? Well, Korg won't help you out much either when you're looking for new sounds not present on your keyboard. I own a Trinity Plus and any of the extra patch banks for it from Korg must be bought. They are not freely downloadable.

Anyway, I don't mean any offense by my post but there are options for you in the form of 3rd party sound developers (check out the Roland section of this site at the bottom of the page I believe) or you could get a used 01/W by Korg.

HTH,
fv

\\This matter bugs me ever since I got full access to the Internet.Roland(unlike Korg)doesn't seem to care much for the developement of patches and banks for their line of synths,leaving the programming and tweaking to the user.I am not a sound designer,I am a composer.So what am I supposed to do if I need a lot of "etherical" pads and "fantasy" effects for my new age ambiental music?\\


Ouch. You bought the wrong synth. Better not to stick with one brand of synth, no matter what. Next time shop around before you buy.
Roland makes stuff with good pianos , pipe organs and flutes, but not much else.

The Clavia synths and Korgs are excellent for ethereal and fantasy sounds. The drums sounds on these synths are also an incredible strong point.


I was a hard core roland user too. I would only look at rolands. Then I decided to try something else, and my eyes have opened.

Also, Korg isnt exactly helpful in releasing new patches and combinations. Fortunately, there are some great people making these for the users. The xp-30 is a nice synth, to be sure. Just don't expect it to do new-age, ambient, or electronica very well.


The Triton patches are all user re-rightable, every one.

First of all I am sorry if somebody was offended by the "crudeness" and "rudeness" of some parts of my post (words like "Roland's duty","they must"etc.),this came by my not so good undersanding of english language nuances,and lack of vocabulary-english isn't by far my native tongue.All I was saying is that with the GREAT quality the samples have on every Roland sound board a lot more COULD BE DONE,and by who better if not Roland them selves.You were talking about comercial patches,yes those are great(actually I got a patch from the Fairlab site that amazed me)but they are written all of them(Kidnepro etc.) for the JV internal sounds,none of them takes full advantage of the whole setup(session,orchestral,techno) that is found on the XP30.

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[b]D'auk o-la[b]

Arvon 45

What do you mean the XP30 is no good for ambient/new age. Its perfect for it. Ive had a JV2080 and now a XV5080 and I have a Korg.
I admit the Korg comes with more of these sounds out of the box, but the Rolands go places Korg will never go. It is down to programming, and true, any patches i've got from the net arent exactly what i've needed.

Programming is the key and yes time consuming, but if you want any sound, i swear the JV/XV series are capable of coming up with something close or better than you can imagine. Of course there are better tools for certain applications, but come on, the JVS etc are probably the most versatile synths anywhere.

Zeratul, isn't that a character from Starcraft? Anyway, you're absolutely right about Fairlab. Great programming as far as the demo's are concerned. It's a shame that they are so very expensive. That's why I want to learn some serious programming myself. The question is: "does anybody know of any books on how to program on JV/XP synths?". I know some basics but I want to carry it further. learn about FM synthesis and stuff, not just changing waveforms and adding some effects and filters.

Bungle "Zeratul, isn't that a character from Starcraft?"
RIIIGHT! I used to play it a lot(I still do);it is a great game.
About the book on programing JV XP I found something here http://www.synthony.com/Products/instructional/instruments.html

"With this book, you will hear and read about the different models, which expansion boards you can do with, learn how to handle and program your synth like professionals do. Including CD-ROM with audio demos and shareware." At least that's what they say.

see u

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[b]D'auk o-la[b]

The XP/JV/XV-series are MADE to be programmed. Creating the sounds you need is part of creating music on these machines. It is almost like asking why it is so hard to create good music on the XP.

When it comes to programming on the XP, it really is not that difficult. But of course, doing complex things on complex systems can never be made easy.

If you want simple, buy an accordion. Instant access to all the 4 sounds. They even sound the same anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Just my opinion....

Stig