Important notes

Rear side of the disk

WRITE

(you can save new data to disk)

Write protect tab

PROTECT

(prevents writing to disk)

•Disks containing important performance data for this instrument should always be locked (have their write protect tab slid to the PROTECT position) before you insert them into the drive of another instrument.

•The identiﬁcation label should be ﬁrmly afﬁxed to the disk. If the label comes loose while the disk is in the drive, it may be difﬁcult to remove the disk.

•Put the disk back into its case for storage.

Page 8

Image 8

Roland VA-76 owner manual Important notes

Contents

VA-76 Page Page Features Unpacking your VA-76 Lyrics display Useful options Compatibility note Important notes Important notes Contents Song Composer 16-track, etc Programming User StylesMixer, effects and editing Registrations User Programs FX Types & controllable parameters Miscellaneous Panel descriptions Front panel Jkeyboard Mode section Disk indicatorDisplay Orchestrator button VariPhrase section Super Tones buttonsData button TEMPO/TAP button Floppy disk drive BENDER/MODULATION leverZip drive Ribbon controller Rear panel Setting up and demo songs Set the Volume knob to the MIN positionAudio connections Listening to the demo songs If you selected ALL Demo If you selected Tone Demo If you selected VariPhrase Demo If you selected Style Demo Scratching the surface General ideaEasy Routing quick registration Keyboard parts Start playing on the VA-76 Here is how it is structuredIf you press the As a Soloist ﬁeld, there are two options Master Which button does what? Panel InfoPress the Function Menu button Press the i Panel Info ﬁeld Press the Variation button Using the VA-76’s ArrangerSet the Volume knob to a reasonable level e.g. about 1/4 Press the START/STOP button to start Arranger playback Professional transitions FillIntro & Ending Adding a melody to the accompaniment Changing the tempoBalance if the melody is too soft or too loud If the TEMPO/TAP button does not light, press it Selecting sounds for the right hand Super TonesPlay a few notes in the right half of the keyboard Press another Super Tones button Using VariPhrases One TouchPress the ONE Touch button If you press the third ﬁeld, the display looks as follows Press the Variphrase Melodic button so that it lights Listening to Standard Midi Files Press the Song List ﬁeldPress the Load ﬁeld Press the Play ﬁeld to start playback Feel free to use the performance functions see Minus One playbackOn the Song Composer page, press the Minus One ﬁeld UP1 linked to Song Keyboard Mode clinic Settings affected by the Keyboard Mode Arranger button areVA-76 clinics Arranger and Piano modes Split point in Arranger mode Using the Whole Keyboard ModeOther What are ‘parts’? Switching parts on and off Using the Split Keyboard Mode Tone selection via the front panel Tone clinicSelecting Tones for the Keyboard parts Specify the part for which you want to select another Tone Let us brieﬂy summarize the various Tone categories Tone selection via the display Press the Tone ﬁeld in the displayPress the Part ﬁeld in the lower left corner of the display Press the Tone ﬁeld to return to the Tone selec- tion Press the Variations ﬁeld to call up the following display Press the 8 Trem Organ ﬁeld to select that Varia- tion Selecting different Tone Maps On the Tone selection page, press the Map ﬁeld Alternatively… Drumming on the keyboardWord about the new Tones Setting the Roll resolution speed RollPress the MDR ﬁeld Play a few notes on the keyboard to try out the drum sounds Selecting Drum Sets for the MDR part Select the MDR part Switching on the VariPhrase part See page 59 for how to select Music StylesVariPhrase clinic Selecting other phrases for playing Key Assign Combining/splitting a VariPhrase with another Keyboard partPlaying with the VariPhrases Here’s how to select the Mono mode Press the Mode MONO/POLY button to make it lightTrigger Press the Mono ﬁeld Press Exit to return to the Master Adding realtime expression Things you ought to know about VariPhraseBeam controller Other controllers Realtime VariPhrase control via the display Display now looks more or less as follows Adding effects to the VariPhrase part Reverb and Chorus depthSingle Part/Palette On any of the above pages, press the Single Part ﬁeld Expression clinic Beam ControllerExample Flamenco Roll Move your hand over the eyes while playing something Pitch Bend/Modulation Ribbon controller Touch controlAftertouch Setting the transposition interval via the display TranspositionSelecting the sections to be transposed Transposition is indicated on the Master FC-7 Foot Controller OctavePAD buttons Sustain Footswitch Hold Foot SwitchScale Tuning Expression Foot Pedal Metronome Mode MetronomeMetronome Output Count-In Using live vocals OFF- The count-in function is off You can also add Reverb and Chorus to your voice Single PartYou should now be able to hear your voice Arranger/Music Style clinic Selecting Music StylesStyle selection via the front panel Each Style group contains eight banks Press the Style ﬁeld in the display Style selection via the displayWorking with the Disk Link memories Disk User Orchestrator and Morphing Ejecting the Zip diskOrchestrator Start playing with the newly selected Style Do one of the following See Using the VA-76’s Arranger onMorphing See steps 1 and 2 above Press the 2nd Style ﬁeld Press the Drum ﬁeld in the right columnPress the Bass ﬁeld in the right column Press the 1st Style ﬁeld in the display Song Composer clinic Recording your music Redoing the melody 2nd Trk Listening to your songCount-In and/or metronome Press the Stop √ ﬁeld twice Saving your song to disk If you’re ready, press the Play ﬁeld to start recording If your disk is not formatted either for VA series Your brand-new song a nameInstrument or for MS-DOS, the following message Press the Song Name ﬁeld Enter the name Playing with the User memories Loading VariPhrases, VariPhrase Sets or audio ﬁlesIf you press Single Phrase Press the Phrase ﬁeld in the left column Input Over indicator must never light Sampling your own phrasesSelecting a User memory If you press Phrase Set About the phrase RAM memory Press the Sampling Capture buttonEnter a name for the phrase you are about to cre- ate See Phrase Edit touching up the audio material TruncatePress the Preview ﬁeld to listen to your sample Press the Edit ﬁeld Press Execute to change the level of the selected phrase NormalizeUse the im ﬁelds to set the desired Normalize percentage Press the Encode ﬁeld Encoding the phraseOriginal Key Event Sense Method 2 entering the tempo value right away Insert a Zip disk into the Zip drive and press the ZIP ﬁeld Saving your VariPhrasePress Save Phrase Parameters PitchCoarse Tune Press the Pitch ﬁeld to select the following Amplitude Phrase Ctrl Pan Portamento Time Sw ModeType portamento type Start Global VariPhrase functions Key AssignPlayback Trigger Controller functions for the VariPhrase part Mode Selecting the foot switch function Truly global VariPhrase parametersStyle Linked Phrase Select Pause Sync Settings Sync AdjustHere’s how to set the tempo value Double Speed On BPM Lower Than Upper1 functions More about the Super Tones Upper2 functions UP1 Linked to SongUpper 2 Split Press the Execute ﬁeld to save your choice Press the Options ﬁeld Both must be displayed in whitePress the UP2 Split ﬁeld Tuning Upper2 Coarse and Fine ‘Dynamic’ second split point UP2 to LeftSplitting Upper2 and the VariPhrase part Part and use the VariPhrase part instead so as to That ﬁeld is displayed in white Portamento Upper 1-2 PortamPortam Time Assigning the Lower Hold function Portamento Mode Mono/PolyLWR Hold Key Touch Velocity switching Min and MaxVelocity sensitivity Consider the following example Scale TuningPress a Mem 1~Mem 3 ﬁeld to select a Scale Tuning memory Changing the pitch of other notes Storing your new scaleCustomizing the pitch changes Pitch Edit But let us not return to the Master page just yetPage More about the Arranger Arranger and Music StylesStarting a Music Style Stopping a Music Style Sync Stop Selecting other Style divisionsSync Options Using Aftertouch to select Arranger patterns Fill In Half BarMajor, minor, seventh Use the im ﬁelds to select Arranger Style Morphing part Select the following display Press the Melody Intell button so that it lights Melody IntelligenceOne Touch Ignoring certain One Touch settings Cancel Options While on the One Touch page, press the Cancel Options ﬁeldProgramming your own Tone selections Memorize 100 More reﬁned Arranger settings ARRanger HoldChord recognition area 101 102 Arranger Chord ModeBass Inversion Dynamic Arranger 103 Arranger Options Arranger TempoFill Ritardando RIT and ACC 105 Chord Family Assign, AlteratnWhile still holding those keys, press the CAP- Ture ﬁeld Intro& Ending Alteration Musical Style playback WrapUse the TEMPO/DATA dial to select on or OFF 106 107 Selecting Tones for the Arranger partsAbout the lock Working with Styles on Disk Programming your own Disk Link assignmentsPress the Style button or the Style ﬁeld on the Master Press the Options ﬁeld Press the Disk Link ﬁeld 109 Find locating Styles on a Zip diskPress the Find ﬁeld Rename Style Options 110 Style Delete Press the Delete ﬁeld to call up the followingPress the YES ﬁeld to go ahead and delete the Style 111 Mixer, effects and editing Structure of the Mixer pagesVia sliders on so-called palette pages 112 Volume and pan Global VolumeUse a Single Part About the Audio In part Keybrd Mixer volume of the Keyboard parts Style Mixer volume of the Arranger partsMuting parts PanPot stereo position Output Assign More locksOn the Single Part page, press the Auto/ Man ﬁeld Man Applying Reverb, Chorus, or Delay to a part Effects and EqualizerAbove example, the Keyboard Parts section has been selected 116 Effects settings Press the Reverb ﬁeld and modify the Reverb send levelNumber of types depends on the selected effect Select the effects parameters you wish to edit This is where you can edit the Reverb effects processor Reverb types & ParametersChorus types & Parameters 118 119 Delay types & ParametersEqualizer Using the insertion effect Insertion effect M-FXChoosing the parts to be processed by the equalizer Realtime control via the display FX Selection Mode automatic Tone link for Upper1 121 Assigning the M-FX to a Keyboard part 122 123 Selecting an M-FX typeFX Send processing the M-FX with the other effects VariPhrase and Audio In effects VariPhrase/Audio In Reverb typesVariPhrase/Audio In Chorus types 124 Settings make it slower Modulation VibratoHere are the Part parameters you can edit 125 126 Timbre TVFEnvelope 127 Writing your settings to a User ProgramSee above for what to do then Selecting User Programs Free PanelSelecting a User Program Group, Bank, Number Free Panel memory can be selected in two ways Selecting User Programs using the Downup buttons 129 Automatic functions for User Programs Song & Midi Set LinkLinking a Song to a User Program 130 User Program selection at power-on Linking a Midi Set to a User ProgramIf you don’t want a User Program to be recalled, select Off 131 132 Song Composer the basicsFormatting a disk Song List searching songs on disk Find Before recordingPlay & Search ﬁnding Songs by playing a few notes 133 Song playback functions Lyrics functionPlay the notes of the Song you want the VA-76 to ﬁnd If you make a mistake, proceed as follows to correct Fast Forward, Rewind, and Reset Loop playback MarkersChanging the song tempo Soloing and muting parts Using the metronome Press the Solo ﬁeld again to switch off the solo functionSong/Keyboard-part balance Muting tracks/MIDI channels Song Chains TransposeCompiling or editing a Song Chain Proceed as follows Playing back a Song Chain Display on your VA-76 may look slightly differ- entTo play back a Song Chain, proceed as follows Press the Play ﬁeld to start playback of your Song Chain Chain Mode Song OptionsDeleting a Song Chain Press the Rename or Delete ﬁeld 140 InputPress the Execute ﬁeld to save this information to Zip disk 11.1 16-track Sequencer General considerationsSelecting the 16-track sequencer Tracks and Midi channels 142 Selecting the Recording Mode and the ﬁrst mea- sureExample 1 Recording a track Selecting a Tone or Drum Set Press the Octave ﬁeldPress the Quantize ﬁeld and set the desired reso- lution Press the Tone ﬁeld in the upper left corner Volume Level Recording in Erase or Merge modeRecording in Punch In/Out mode Want some effects? Using two drum tracks 2nd Drum Track Saving your songExample 2 Recording a song from scratch 145 146 Initializing only track 13 for VariPhrase useAll tracks will be initialized as follows Editing 16-track songs Easy editing and useful functions In-depth editing of a 16-track song Available options for ‘Note’Erase 148 Data Type DeleteInsert From/To, Bar, Beat, CPT- See Transpose VelocityBar, Beat, CPT- See From/To & Bar, Beat, CPT- See Gate T ShiftFrom, To, Bar, Beat, CPT, Execute- See page 148 for From, To, Bar, Beat, CPT- See 152 Utility other useful functionsChange 153 Volume, Expression, Reverb, Chorus -127~Copy Mode Replace, Merge- Selects the Copy mode See page 68 for how to enter namesExchange Name Using the Style Converter Style ConverterInitialize General considerations Press the From ﬁeld to go to the next 151 for detailsPress the To ﬁeld to go to the next 156 Edit Lyrics 157 Now you’re all set for the synchronization work Press the Lyrics Synchro ﬁeldPlayback and Lyric synchronization recording start 158 ‘Utility’ functions for Edit Lyrics Deleting a text ﬁle on diskGo to the TXT Import 159 160 Exporting the Lyrics data as text ﬁleSave without Lyrics 161 Header Post EditYou can do this for all 16 song parts 162 Programming User Styles ConceptPatterns Tracks Looped vs one-shot 164 Selecting the track, the Mode, the Type and the Division Recording User Styles from scratchSelecting the User Style Composer Record mode Specifying the keyQuantize Working with clones Tone selection Time signatureLength specifying the pattern length 167 Cloning and edit functions and possible warnings Shared Press the Length ﬁeld. The display now looks like thisPress the BAR ﬁeld As you see the bar values are now surrounded by a box Tempo RecordingAudition your pattern and then keep or redo? Press the Master ﬁeld in the upper left corner Saving your Style to disk Programming other parts and divisionsMuting parts while recording others Naming your User Style Playback in Arranger mode RemarksWorking from top to bottom programming hints Metronome and Count-In Copying entire Styles using Load all tracks Copying existing StylesCopying individual Style tracks 172 Copy mode To use another Style on disk…From Animated clock tells you that the data are being copied Adding or changing settings of existing parts Editing User StylesEditing on the ﬂy by recording Adding notes in realtime 175 On the above display page, select the ADrums trackYou can play on the keyboard to listen to the result Setting the preset tempo LengthSee also Length specifying the pattern length on 176 User Style Edit mode Time SignatureUse the TEMPO/DATA dial to set the desired time signature 177 Erase DeleteFrom Note/Than Note, To Note- See Track, Mode, Type, Division- See page 178 for Insert VelocityTrack, Mode, Type, Division- See page 178 for details From Note, To Note- See Gate T ShiftDetails From, To, Bar, Beat, CPT- See page 178 for details User Style Micro mode ChangeAuditioning the pattern See page 178 for details 182 Move Mix 183 User Style Utility Copy MixCopy 184 185 NameExecute- Press this ﬁeld to copy the data Miscellaneous BeamSelecting the desired parameter Available controllers are 187 188 Pitch BenderModulation Touch Control Ribbon Parameters for Keyboard parts excluding the VariPhrase partBest way to proceed is as follows 189 Sustain Switch CC64 Parameters for the VariPhrase partParameters for Arranger control 190 191 Volume control Expression Press m to have access to the Arranger partsFoot Pedal Expression No function for a part Off 13.2 FC-7 & Pad parameters FX Value 1/2Formant Up/Down 193 Hold Lower1, Hold Lower2, and Hold Lower 1- 2 on Jump to the FC-7 and PAD display page seeUse the TEMPO/DATA dial to select the desired function Off- The PAD button in question has no function at all Global parameters for the entire VA-76 Tone RecallBass Inversion See PAD 195 Main Factory Resume settings Factory ResumeVirtual Band Autorun 196 Midi messages used by the VA-76 MidiMidi in general Control change messages 198 About Midi implementation charts Master Volume Universal System Exclusive- ThisSystem Exclusive messages 199 Preparations for using the Midi functions Receiving Midi data RXTransmitting Midi data TX How-to’s… Keyboard MIDI, Style MIDI, Song Midi What’s next?Local 201 Limit FilterTx Filter page of the Style parts 202 Utilities Midi Midi Sync RX/TXStyle TX Sync Song TX Sync Basic StyleStyle RX Sync, Song RX Sync On/Off NTA Note-to-Arranger Midi parameters Param PartSwtc Rx Velocity, Tx VelocitySoftThru for Local 206 Midi Set selection at power-on Midi SetsSaving a Midi Set Selecting a Midi Set Loading a Midi Set from disk 208 Disk functions AutoloadDisk Load loading data from disk Load Style/copy Style Load User Prg Load Midi SetLoad Phrase 210 Disk Save saving data to disk Save StyleSave Song Save User Program Set Save Midi Set Save PhraseTo save a VariPhrase Set, press the Phrase Set ﬁeld 212 Delete Disk Utility FormatPress the ﬁeld that corresponds to the desired option 213 Copy functions Copying an entire ﬂoppy disk to another ﬂoppyPress the From FDD→ To FDD ﬁeld Display now responds with Insert Source Protected Copying from Zip to ﬂoppy disk example copy- ing Styles 215 Copying other ﬁle types RenameCopying VariPhrases or VariPhrase Sets between disks Press the ﬁeld of the ﬁle you wish to rename 217 Speciﬁcations 218 FX Types & controllable parameters 219 220 Chorus Effects 55 DS→ Delay 221 222 ReferenceTones 223 VA-76 Tones 224 225 UFO FX 226 Tone Map 227 228 229 230 231 232 Drum Sets 233 234 104 235 236 Orchestra Ethnic 237 Gamelan SFX Rhythm FX 238 239 GM2 Analog GM2 Jazz 240 241 GM2 SFX 242 Standard Room 243 HipHop Jungle 244 TR-707 Closed Hi-Hat EXC1 Closed Hi-Hat 245 VA-76 Drum Sets 246 SFX Rhythm FX 247 Rhythm FX CM-64/32L Standard Room Power Electronic 248 249 250 Internal Music Styles 251 Chord Intelligence 252 253 VA-76 Chord Intelligence Midi Implementation Chart 254 255 IndexNumerics 256 Index 257 258 START/STOP 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 Information 266