Roland FR-7/FR-5

Parameters

V-Accordion

Set this parameter to “Off” if the external instrument

should not double the notes you are playing on the

Treble or Bass keyboard.

■Octave

(–3~0~3) Here is a parameter that allows you to

transpose the Note-on messages transmitted by the

section in question (if “Note” is set to “On”) up to

three octaves up or down.

This can be used for songs where an accordion regis-

ter of the Treble section (for example) should be dou-

bled by a piccolo flute played by an external module

whose notes would be far too low if they were used

as is. As stated above, each MIDI note has a unique

number. This parameter allows you to add (or sub-

tract) 12 (“1” octave), 24 (“2” octaves) or 36 (“3”

octaves) to (from) the note numbers generated by

your playing.

Another application for this parameter could be to

use the bass notes you play on the FR-7/FR-5 both as

(accordion) bass and counter-melody played by a

digital piano, for example. In this case, you probably

need to transpose the Bass register 3 octaves up.

■CC00, CC32, PC

(Off, 0~127 for CC00 & CC32; Off, 1~128 for PC)

Here are three messages that belong together. The

“oldest” message is called “program change” or “PC”

for short. It has been around since the inception of

the MIDI standard. It is used to select sounds or

memories on the receiving instrument simply by

recalling another sound (or memory) on the trans-

mitting instrument.

What you set here is transmitted to the FBC-7’s MIDI

OUT port whenever you select the register you are

currently editing. (You can set separate addresses for

each register.) This allows you to cause an external

module to select the sounds that match the accor-

dion, etc., sounds you defined.

Select “Off” if a register should not send CC00, CC32

and/or PC messages.

Why are there three messages? When the MIDI stan-

dard was developed, some 20 years ago, 128 memo-

ries seemed a lot, which is why it was decided to use

a dedicated message type (program change) for

selecting memories on an external device.

The entire MIDI standard evolves around the magic

number “128”. Given that there is no way of expand-

ing that number, so-called Bank Select messages

were later added to accommodate the growing num-

ber of memories (modules with more than 2,000

sounds are quite common these days).

At the time, neither CC00, nor CC32 had dedicated

functions and so these two control change messages

were picked for bank selection.

Two bank addresses (“MSB” and “LSB”) with 128 pos-

sibilities each, plus 128 Program Change numbers

provide 128 x 128 x 128 values= 2,097,152 possible

memories.

Transmitting only Bank Select messages does nothing

at all, while working only with program change mes-

sages means that you are limited to the 128 memo-

ries of the currently active memory bank.

To switch banks and select a memory on the external

module you need to transmit:

• A value for control change CC00 (MSB)

• A value for control number CC32 (LSB)

• A program change number

See the manual of the receiving MIDI instrument for

the MSB and LSB values it supports.

Be aware that this system allows you to send pro-

gram change numbers to an external instrument that

lie outside the range of the FR-7/FR-5’s registers (1~

14 for Treble, 1~7 for Bass/Free Bass/Orch. Bass, 1~22

for Orchestra). Such “excess” program numbers are

ignored by the FR-7/FR-5 when you transmit them

back (from a sequencer, for example). Example: if you

select PC= 49 and transmit that value to a sequencer

(to select a strings sound on an external module, for

instance), the external module behaves as you expect

when the sequencer track transmits that value. If you

then decide to use the FR-7/FR-5’s ORCHESTRA sec-

tion for your string part, that section will not switch

sounds (because it only recognizes program numbers

1~22).

Note: If PC is set to “Off”, the CC00 and CC32 values are not

transmitted (CC00/CC32 must always be followed by a pro-

gram change number).

■Volume

(Off, 0~127, Default: 100) This parameter allows you

to specify the volume value (CC07) to be transmitted

by the register whenever you select it while playing.

That way, the MIDI instrument you are controlling is

automatically set to the desired level. Remember that

selecting “0” silences the receiving MIDI instrument.

Select “Off” if the register should not transmit this

message. Note that the FR-7/FR-5 does not execute

this message if it is returned to the FR-7/FR-5 via the

external device’s “Soft Thru” function.

■Panpot

(Off, 0~127, Default: 64) This parameter allows you

to specify the Pan value (CC10) to be transmitted by

the register whenever you select it while playing.

That way, the MIDI instrument you are controlling

automatically selects the desired stereo position. “0”

correspond to hard left, “64” to dead center, and

“127” to hard right. Note that the FR-7/FR-5 does not

execute this message if it is returned to the FR-7/

FR-5 via the external device’s “Soft Thru” function.

Select “Off” if the register should not transmit this

message.

■Reverb

(Off, 0~127, Default: 40) This parameter allows you

to specify the Reverb Send Level value (CC91) to be

transmitted by the register part whenever you select

it. Selecting “0” will set the receiving MIDI instrument