Hello All
I have just got a Roland XP-50 from a friend
I have no manual for this synth.

I am totally new to the synth and sequencer world, until now I have done software only
music, with loops and sf2's.

Right now I have hooked up the XP via a SBLive with ASIO drivers, into a demo of
Logic Platinum 5. So far so good, after fiddling around with the XP, I can play the
GM instruments and record in Logic.

But I do not know how to get the sounds from the XP into Logic, I want to use the techno
sounds I have on a couple of floppies and the
sounds from the Pop expansion board in the synth. Right now I can only use these sounds
on the XP itself.

I hope this is not too simple for user's in this forum, I cannot find a newbie forum.

Thanks
Nat

Sorry it's not Logic 5, it's 4.6

Ok Nat, hold on a sec.....
"now I have hooked up the XP via a SBLive with ASIO drivers, into a demo of
Logic Platinum 5"

right ok......this sounds fine, presumably you have your Midi in/out connected correctly (midi in goes to midi out and vice versa)

"So far so good, after fiddling around with the XP, I can play the
GM instruments and record in Logic."

If you were paying the sounds from the XP50 it would make no difference whether they were GM sounds or not...it is just another soundbank afterall and no different frm the pop expansion board. It sounds to me like you are acually hearing sounds that are coming out of your soundcards onboard synth.
What you need to do is make sure that you have the MIDI on your XP set to Local 'off' and set the appropriate box in Logic Platinum to external MIDI ( I think on the left hand side of the display when you have selected a track rather than it saying PC or whatever double click it and set it to external MIDI.)

"But I do not know how to get the sounds from the XP into Logic"

THis is where I think you may be getting slightly confused. MIDI simply passes mssages between your synth and yor computer and tells each one what to do e.g 'play C5 for 4 seconds gradually getting louder'. It does not actually transmit the sounds. The sounds stay in your synth and the sequencer just tells the synth what to play...it is much like a hightech pianola, whereby you create the music for your synth to play. Many people seem to be disheartened that the sounds don't go into the sequencer but MIDI lets you have virtually coplete control over every parameter of your synth and is therefore incredably powerful. hope this helps

Regards

Dr. O

Thanks for your reply...

All points you made have cleared up some
areas for me. I understand that midi is just
a set of instructions, but as you say I am
a little dismayed by the fact I have no way to reproduce the patches from the the synth
on my PC.

I am pretty sure that Logic is not the best
choice for me with my experience of sequencer software. It seems I am stuck with
creating and playing soundfonts at the moment.

Thanks
Nat

Dear Nat,
Stick with it, Logic is a very powerful sequencer that can be used to replace a whole studio full of gear so it is well worth sticking with. Try to only learn the basics at first and get your setup working correctly. Don't be disheartened by the fact that you can't play the sounds directly from your computer as this is not at all neccacery and will be of no use to you...MIDI is very powerful and easy to tell the Synth what you want it to do. I will explain the process of how i write songs with Logic so you get a picture of what it can be used to do.

First off i will write a rough outline of a song, I'm a keyboard player so i hit the record button and just play each part in realtime. Then i will chop bits up and get rid of bits. I have just been writing a funk song with a funky hammond organ solo, so i will record about 10 takes for the solo and then paste together the best bits.
Next I will quantise the drums (get them all lined up to the exact point in the beat) so that they are exactly how i want them and change the velocity for each drum part so that it sounds more real.
I will do the same for the instrument parts and use controller messages to change the cuttoff and resonance for each part and volume pan etc....
Then If I am using a vocal over the top I will record it in audio over the MIDI arrangement. Then when each MIDI part is to my liking and I have mixed it in MIDI I will record each seperate part of my MIDI arrangement in audio to replace the MIDI. Now i have an audio sequence that I can manipulate with reverbs choruses, virtual fuzz pedals, anything I wish when it is inthe audio domain. When I have a wicked piece of music I will just burn the audio onto CD!!