Roland FR-5b, FR-7b

MIDI functions | MIDI parameters for the various sections/parts

FR-7b/FR-5b V-Accordion

■Note

(On, Off, Default setting: On) The MIDI standard

translates almost all actions performed on a musical

instrument into commands that can be sent to

another instrument. The result of such a transmission

is that your actions are either recorded by a

sequencer or faithfully replicated by the receiving

instrument.

The most fundamental information that travels

across a MIDI cable is related to the notes you are

playing. That information is conveyed using so-called

Note-on messages. (Each note has a unique MIDI

number.)

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) This parameter 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-7b/FR-5b both

as (accordion) bass and counter-melody played by a

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

need to transpose the Bass register 3 octaves up.

■CC00, CC32, PC

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

PC) These three messages belong together. The “old-

est” 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 memo-

ries on the receiving instrument simply by recalling

another sound (or memory) on the transmitting

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. Select “Std” to transmit the MIDI

address of the register you assign this setting to (reg-

ister [12], for example, which would then send PC

“12” for CC00= 00/CC32= 00). When you select “Std”

for one of the three parameters (CC00, CC32, or PC),

the other two parameters also adopt the “Std” set-

ting. See the following table:

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-7b/FR-5b’s registers

(see the table above). Such “excess” program numbers

are ignored by the FR-7b/FR-5b 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-7b/

FR-5b’s ORCHESTRA section for your string part, that

section will not switch sounds (because it only recog-

nizes 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).

Note: If one of these parameters is set to “Std”, the register in

question sends its own MIDI address.

Bank Select & Program Change TX “Std”

BANK SELECT PROGRAM

CHANGE Section

MSB CC00 LSB CC32

0 0 1~14 Treble Registers

0 0 1~7 Bass Registers

0 1 1~7 Free Bass Registers

0 0 1~7 Orch Bass Registers

0 0 1~7 Orch Chord Registers

0 0 1~7 Orch FreeBs Registers

0 0 1~22 Orchestra Registers

0 0 1~40 Sets