Roland XP-30 owner manual Basic Operation, Number of Simultaneous Voices, Switching Modes

Chapter 1. Overview of the XP-30

■Number of Simultaneous Voices

The XP-30 is able to produce up to 64 voices simultaneously. The following paragraphs discuss what this means, and what will happen when more than 64 simultaneous voices are requested from the XP-30.

Calculating the Number of Voices Being Used

The XP-30 is able to produce up to 64 simultaneous voices. However this number is not simply the number of notes being played, but depends on the number of Tones used in each Patch. If you are playing one Patch which uses 4 Tones, you will be able to play 16 simultaneous notes. If you are using the XP-30 in Performance mode to play an ensemble, count the total number of Tones used by all the Parts using the following formula.

(currently sounding notes) x (number of Tones used in the Patch being played)

How a Patch Uses Notes

When the XP-30 is requested to play more than 64 voices simultaneously, a currently-sounding note will be turned off to make room for the newly requested note. The note with the lowest priority will be turned off first. The order of priority is determined by the Voice Priority setting.

Voice Priority can be set either to Last or Loudest. When Last is selected, a newly requested note that exceeds the 64 voice limit will cause the first-played of the currently sounding notes to be turned off. When Loudest is selected, the quietest of the currently sounding notes will be turned off.

Normally you will set Voice Priority to Last.

Note Priority in Performance Mode

Since Performance mode is usually used to play an ensemble consisting of several Patches, it is important to decide which Parts take priority. Priority is specified by the Voice Reserve settings. When a note within a Patch needs to be turned off to make room for a new note, the Voice Priority setting of the Patch will apply.

Voice Reserve

The XP-30 has a Voice Reserve function that lets you reserve a minimum number of notes that will always be available for each Part. For example if Voice Reserve is set to 10 for Part 16, Part 16 will always have 10 notes of sound-producing capacity available to it even if a total of more than 64 notes (total for all Parts) are being requested. When you make Voice Reserve settings, you need to take into account the number of notes you want to play on each Part as well as the number of Tones used by the selected Patch.

*It is not possible to make Voice Reserve settings that would cause the total of all Parts to be greater than 64 voices.

Basic Operation

■Switching Modes

The XP-30 contains a large number of functions. In order to organize these functions for easy access, they are grouped into the following modes. The mode that is selected will affect the way in which the sound source operates, how data is shown in the display, and how the function buttons work. Use the Mode buttons to select the mode. The indicator of the selected button will light/blink, and the display will change according to the selected mode.

Sound Source

Selecting Patch mode, Performance mode, Rhythm Set mode, and GM mode will determine sound source operation. One mode always has to be selected.

Patch Mode

In this mode, you can play an individual Patch from the keyboard or modify Patch settings. If you’re using an external MIDI device to control the XP-30 in this mode, it will function as a single-patch sound source.

Performance Mode

This mode makes the XP-30 function as a multitimbral sound source, and Performance settings can be modified. If you’re using an external MIDI device to control the XP-30 in this mode, it will function as a multitimbral sound source.

To modify the settings of a Patch that’s assigned to a Part, hold down [PERFORM] and press [PATCH]. Both button indicators will light.

Rhythm Set Mode

This is how you can play a Rhythm Set from the keyboard and modify the Rhythm Set settings. In this mode, the keyboard will play the Rhythm Set, but the XP-30 continues to function as a multitimbral sound source. So your effects settings of the currently selected Performance will be heard as you play the Rhythm Set. Rhythm Sets are assigned to Part 10 of the Performance. If you’re using an external MIDI device to control the XP-30 in this mode, it will still function as a multitimbral sound source.

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