Roland VA-76 owner manual Record mode, Specifying the key, Quantize, Working with clones, Octave

VA-76 Owner’s Manual—Programming User Styles

Working with clones

On this page, you can activate three clone functions that allow you to record one part and copy it to up to three divisions and three modes each. The “=” sign means that more than one pattern will be recorded.

10.Use the [Mode] field to select the mode(s), and the [Type] field to select the type(s).

Let us use the following display settings, which mean “record the Basic/Original/Major pattern and copy it to all looped divisions”. Thus, by programming one pattern, you will obtain 3 (M, m, 7) x 2 (Bsc, Adv) x 2 (Or, Va) = 12 identical drum patterns!

Note: You can only clone five parts for one-shot divisions because there is no Original/Variation level for Intro, End- ing, To Original, or To Variation: only Basic and Advanced levels (see the illustration on page 164).

Record mode

The [Merge] field allows you to select the recording mode.

Erase (if the [Merge] field is displayed in blue/

gray)— Everything you record will replace the data on the selected track. This mode is automatically selected when you activate the Record function for a track that does not yet contain data. If you select a track that already contains data, the [Merge] field is automati- cally displayed in white but can be switched off so as to overwrite the previous version.

Merge (if the [Merge] field is displayed in white)—

The music or data you are going to record will be added to the existing data of the selected track.

Specifying the key

If you want to use the accompaniment in a musically meaningful way (see “Remarks” on page 171), you have to tell the VA-76 what key you are recording in. That way, everything you play will be automatically transposed to C during Arranger playback, so that when you play a C (major, minor, or seventh) chord in the chord recognition area of the keyboard, you hear a C chord rather than an D chord.

The VA-76 allows you to play in the original (or your favorite) key of the song. But do set the Key parameter to the right value before recording.

11.Press the [Key] field and use the [TEMPO/DATA] dial to set the key.

If you want to play in F#, set this value to F#; to play in A, you must set this value to A, etc.

Note: There is no need to specify the key for the ADrums part since that part is never transposed.

Octave

The field next to [Key] allows you to transpose the keyboard in octave steps, which may be convenient for playing extremely high or low notes – or for using the special “noises” of the new “V” Tones.

12.If necessary, press the [Octave] field and use the [TEMPO/DATA] dial to transpose the keyboard up or down (–4~+4 octaves).

Quantize

Quantize is a function that corrects minor timing problems. See page 142 for details.

Quantize shifts the notes whose timing is not exactly right to the nearest “correct” unit.

Always select a resolution value that is fine enough to accept all note values you play, yet not finer than the shortest note. If the shortest notes of your accompani- ment are 1/16th note triplets, set the Quantize value to 1/16t.

Here is how to set the Quantize function:

13.Press the [Quantize] field and use the [TEMPO/ DATA] dial to specify the quantize value.

The preset value, 1/16, is OK for most situations. If you do not want quantize your music while recording, set this parameter to Off.

Off is a good choice here because you can also quan- tize the part after recording it (see page 180). If you quantize all parts, your User Style may sound too per- fect. Remember that music is all about tiny imperfec- tions, one of which is a somewhat “loose” timing.

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