Creating patches on the Roland SonicCell
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- Quick clip of how I create lead sounds on the SonicCell. I play a random arpeggiator for the background, just to have something to play over. I usually create a patch from scratch, but in this video, I'm just showing how the different wavetables and filter settings affect dramatically on the sound.
I noticed that there's a lot of misconceptions about this synthbox. It's not a preset machine, as Roland advertises it - inside, it has the complete Fantom X engine and an audio player (I use it for long drones, very handy). SonicCell boasts 16 tracks/parts, 3 FX blocks with master reverb and chorus/delay. There's also an audio input and you can assign FX for it if needed.
It is completely controllable and programmable via MIDI (you can see the MIDI messages flashing on the top of the editor window), so you can switch the instrument patches on every part on the fly.
Definitely not underpowered, I've done some really complex tests on it - in this clip, I'm just using 5 tracks for random arpeggiator and beat and playing one of them (badly) on a keyboard.
The only drawback is that there's only one stereo output, having 2 + 2 would've been very handy but it is what it is, I also got it as a crazy bargain of 50€ so I'm not complaining.
The SonicCell can easily do classic Roland sounds as well as warm vintage synths as you can hear from the tweaking I do on the video. If you're into playing Synthwave/Vaporwave live, this is one of the compact options for it, there's a monster inside this box.
Hey man, great video and sounds. I know it’s a few years since you posted but I just picked up one of these s/h with the hope of doing this Berlin school / Ambient techno kinda sounds.
Any chance you’d possibly share your patches, I’m having trouble getting editor going at moment?
Yeah, it's possible. The patches are really simple, I just picked the basic square/saw wave rom samples and applied filter envelopes on them, nothing fancy. Look me up on twitter @thatbonsaipanda and send me a DM and I'll see if I can export a few of them as MIDI SYSEX files for you.
how on win10?
You can use a usb-to-midi adapter or install either the Vista or Windows 8 driver manually to access the SonicCell via usb on Windows 10.
The video was recorded on Windows 10.
when using this as a vst in a daw, can i input midi from the daw through the usb to the sonic cell or do i need a midi cable? i have it working on fl studio but when i press a key it makes no sound. my midi keyboard is usb onlu
When you connect the SonicCell to your computer (assuming Windows 10), it should show up in your MIDI devices list. You can then patch it in your DAW per channel and play using MIDI via USB.
If it does not show up, you can get a USBMIDI cable, like Roland UM-ONE and play the SC via the MIDI cable connection.
If you're using SonicCell's own editor app, make sure to setup the MIDI page so that it points to the SC.
@ThatBonsaipanda thanks! just figured out how to get it working on FL Studio!!
Hi.Soniccell has great sounds but very confusing workflow.I use it as sound module in live performances.I can't figure out how to split keyboard,and this is a serious issue for live music.Is it possible to make a video about this,in the future?And the set up for live performance in general?It would be very helpful.Thank you.
I highly suggest doing the editing on PC using the SonicCell editor. You can select up to 16 patches that can be played either manually or by an external sequencer. SonicCell has two modes: "Perform" and "Patch", where the "Patch" mode is good for editing patches and "Perform" is the live mode that opens up the multitimbral access to the sound module.
Keyboard splitting is available in the "Velocity & Key Range" page and gives you complete control over what range the patch plays.
@@ThatBonsaipanda Thank you!
Use the Editor in performance and select midi, change the rcv channels to how many layers you need. Then select keyboard range to split (or layer). Change the sounds by going to mixer settings and patch list of each channel.
@@bradkeyboards Thanks!
Hey can you use this with the mpc and use the usb from the sonic cell for audio in with the 2.10 update?
You can use the SonicCell as a stereo audio interface, but you can't route the individual parts into separate tracks as the SC lacks audio routing (which is a shame).
@@ThatBonsaipanda It's all good i'll just use it the regular way it does do midi right?And thanks for the reply
can you set key/velocity splits in performance mode?
Yes, on the "Velocity & Key Range" page. But the changes are only for that session so you have to save the patch to get all the settings back - I would've personally favored the Yamaha approach, where the performance mode actually makes duplicates of the patches and the tweaks that you make in the performance are always recalled.
@@ThatBonsaipanda thanks for the help. another question if you don't mind. can we edit a program then save it to a user bank ? so we don't have to overwrite the preset. I guess it is a workaround to the performance mode limitation
@@nixcanpor810 Sorry, I missed this message - yes, there's a separate user patch bank, the original patches can not be overwritten (which is always a weird choice by Roland). I liked the approach better on the Access Virus, where all the patch slots could be written by the user, making the machine feel more "yours".
Hi. Can you help me please. I got a SonicCell too. I can't find the way to save my Effects to my performance. Thanks (directly on the SonicCell I mean not by the computer) You gonna save my life if you can teach me how to save my Effects. Thansk a lot for your Help !!!!!
The effects are saved with the performance patch, so: make your adjustments, then go to the first page of the performance (where you see the row of parts), then press menu and select "write".
You can download the manual from here and see the exact steps >> www.roland.com/global/support/by_product/soniccell/owners_manuals/
Note that I have encountered a bug, where using the PC editor can actually corrupt a performance patch and it will reset effects settings on save (even when saving on the box itself). When this happens, the performance patch is unfortunately just lost and you need to write down all of your part settings and just init wipe the performance patch and start over, sadly.
@@ThatBonsaipanda wow a 1000 thanks. I was corrupted. Just initialise it than retry and it's done. Thanks. You save my life!!!!
Excellent sounds and a quality audio interface, but only for those who do not have Windows 10. For me it is the worst product I have ever purchased, in 2016 two months after I bought my new Sonic Cell at the store I moved to Windows 10 and I was never able to use the module again, because there are no drivers for installation, Roland itself has not released the drivers for Windows 10 until now. I feel stolen, because even at the time my Sonic Cell was under warranty, no one solved the problem or returned the money to me. So I never bought anything from Roland again and I do not advise anyone to buy, it is not worth buying a product and stay with it because you can not use its functions to 100%!
Why dont you use your sonic cell as sound module by connecting midi cable to your midi keyboard? You dont need drivers, usb, os, etc
I agree that it is a pity Roland never updated their drivers, also agreed that you have to be careful if some hardware relies on proprietary drivers. You *can* nowadays use the SonicCell's old Win8 drivers in Win10 thanks to some investigation by tech-savy fans. You have to change a few lines in the text file of the driver, and then (once) disable driver signature enforcement to allow installation. Then it works.
There is a fix for windows 10 by downloading the latest (windows 8.1) change the inf file to delete the not supported line. Windows 10 will nor let you load the new driver without you allowing the change. Copy the link for complete instructions. I am using the SonicCell with windows 10 after this fix l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.soundonsound.com%2Fforum%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D55497%26start%3D30%26fbclid%3DIwAR1lLpYlOQCotn3KW80BqX9Y_PuNLoh7wwLHyQd6v4fcE-6GZd579HhrUM8&h=AT0l2zZ0_RwfFMRSDMG2OSFZb4aghiY__CuTy_E2xFYzgFlBOj_kbK0iNh8LC88uOX7EhhK2GcUj2M5scXg7zE2JAs0j7si7zN4Nx8iWz_5yDxxLFMcIxyQ3nNegMwvMjA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT0_G239_DVzS81t2lnfjqaK2hW6WGEDGQJQOMSCJImpZdi4pnkgrwHI6_AaUzO6ILoYo74wqy9sAb7iMOxfxz9mCxhQcxPyCouvp6CFbW9ATb8UaNFqXbeojbNHYpCBCc96-prPuaojYEy_qCoIl8eTlp0hyzC7XHa8Rdj7m2llZsuD68HXMkvvzZYOi_ru1lDJoVOYzQHMY2BfQfR4dss4-WxwWffTd9bRJCNtG94GOg