Roland Piano Overview of the Fantom, How the Fantom Is Organized, Basic Structure, Tones

Overview of the Fantom

of the Fantom

How the Fantom Is Organized

Basic Structure

Broadly speaking, the Fantom consists of a keyboard controller

section, a sound generator section, and a sequencer section.

These sections are internally connected via MIDI.

fig.01-01.e
Playback	Sound
Sequencer	Generator
Section
	Section
Recording	Play
Keyboard Controller Section (controllers
such as keyboard, pitch bend lever, etc.)

Keyboard Controller Section

This section consists of the keyboard, pitch bend/modulation lever, panel knobs and buttons, and D Beam controller. It also includes any pedals that may be connected to the rear panel. The performance information generated when you do things such as press/release a key, or depress the hold pedal is converted into MIDI messages and sent to the sound generator section, sequencer section, and/or an external MIDI device.

Sound Generator Section

The sound generator section produces the sound. It receives MIDI messages from the keyboard controller section and sequencer section and/or from an external MIDI device, generates musical sound according to the MIDI messages that were received, and outputs the sound as an analog signal from the output jacks or headphone jack.

Sequencer Section

This section records operations of the keyboard controller section as MIDI messages, and transmits the recorded MIDI messages to the sound generator section. MIDI messages recorded on the sequencer can also be transmitted from the MIDI OUT connector to allow the Fantom to also control external MIDI devices.

Classification of Fantom Sound Types

When using the Fantom, you will notice that a variety of different categories come into play when working with sounds. What follows is a simple explanation of each sound category.

Tones

On the Fantom, the tones are the smallest unit of sound. However, it is not possible to play a tone by itself. The patch is the unit of sound which can be played, and the tones are the basic building blocks which make up the patch.

fig.01-02.e
Tone	LFO 1	LFO 2
WG	TVF	TVA
Pitch	TVF	TVA
Envelope	Envelope	Envelope

audio signal control signal

Tones consist of the following five components.

WG (Wave Generator)

Specifies the PCM waveform (wave) that is the basis of the sound, and determines how the pitch of the sound will change.

The Fantom has 1,083 different waveforms. All patches built into the Fantom consist of combinations of tones which are created based on these waveforms.

There are four wave generators for each rhythm tone (percussion instrument sounds).

TVF (Time Variant Filter)

Specifies how the frequency components of the sound will change.

TVA (Time Variant Amplifier)

Specifies the volume changes and the sound’s position in a stereo soundfield.

Envelope

You use Envelope to initiate changes to occur to a sound over time. There are separate envelopes for Pitch, TVF (filter), and TVA (volume). For example if you wish to modify the way in which the sound attacks or decays over time, you would adjust the TVA envelope.

LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)

Use the LFO to create cyclic changes (modulation) in a sound. The Fantom has two LFOs. Either one or both can be applied to effect the WG (pitch), TVF (filter) and/or TVA (volume). When an LFO is applied to the WG pitch, a vibrato effect is produced. When an LFO is applied to the TVF cutoff frequency, a wah effect is produced. When an LFO is applied to the TVA volume, a tremolo effect is produced.

LFO is not included in the rhythm tones (percussion instrument sounds).

Overview

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