Note that I have written two RAP-10 utilities and one SC-7 utility for Windows 95 (located on this web site under Software Programs) which allow you to easily alter some parameters that you would otherwise have to adjust via System Exclusive messages as described in this FAQ.
The questions covered are:Can I use software other than AudioTools?
Do I have to buy an MCB-10 for the RAP-10?
Can reverb/chorus/delay be added to digital audio?
How do I control digital audio parameters using my sequencer?
How can I adjust each individual drum's tuning, pan, etc?
How can I adjust master tuning?
How do I prevent the GM module from playing MIDI channels?
How do I enable aftertouch, and adjust what it affects?
Do I use the Windows MPU-401 device driver with my SCD-10 or SCD-15?
What are the pin connectors on the RAP-10 CDROM connector?
Why is the Volume fader greyed out on Win95's MultiMedia notebook for the RAP-10?
Is there a Windows NT or Windows 2000 driver for the RAP-10?
I tried your RAP-10 Win95 utilities, and I'm having troubles. Help?
How do I reset an SCC-1 (Sound Canvas) to GM mode?
Covers RAP-10.
Yes. Since the RAP-10 ships with a Windows MCI driver, you can use it with any Windows program that works with a Windows compatible soundcard, including CakeWalk. You can also utilize the RAP-10 driver with the Windows MIDI Mapper.
Furthermore, since the RAP-10 supports the MPU-401 UART mode in hardware, you can use it with any MS-DOS software that requires an MPU-401 (UART mode only, not Intelligent mode).
Frankly, Audio Tools is a very questionably written program. It appears to trap some access to the RAP-10 and therefore actually interferes with the operation of other MIDI software used with the RAP-10. Several people have reported that mysterious problems they've had with various MIDI software has disappeared merely by removing Audio Tools from their systems. My recommendation is that you do not install Audio Tools at all unless you absolutely need to use this software. If you're using Windows 95, you should investigate my freely available RAP-10 utilities (located on this web site under Software Programs).
Alternately, you can set some RAP-10 parameters during bootup by creating a text file named RAP10.INI in your Windows directory. When Windows first boots up, the RAP-10 driver will read this text file. It contains several lines which set the Line/Mic Input, Monitor On/Off, Aux Volume, Mic/Line Volume, and WAVE playback of the RAP-10. Here are the lines of text that should appear in RAP10.INI
Mic/Line Gain=Mic ;alternative = Line Monitor=On ;alternative = Off Aux Volume=127 ;range = 0 to 255 Mic/Line Volume=127 ;range = 0 to 255 Wave Volume=60 ;range = 0 to ???In other words, if you change the first line to:
Mic/Line Gain=Line
then the RAP-10 will power up with LINE gain instead of MIC gain. One caveat -- in order to return to MIC gain, you'll have to edit that text file, changing it back to "Mic" and then reboot your computer. Setting Wave Volume is handy for reducing the RAP-10 volume at bootup so that Windows startup sounds don't rattle your walls.
Covers RAP-10.
No, the RAP-10's joystick port is 100% compatible with a Sound Blaster, so any "MIDI Adapter" that works for the SB will work for the RAP-10. For example, I bought a Media Vision MIDIMATE for about $15. The MCB-10 is made out of cast iron, with a heavy duty cable and connectors, and is accordingly overkill and overpriced.
Covers RAP-10, SCP-55B.
Yes. Each digital audio track has its own level for adding reverb/delay and chorus, as does each "part" in the wavetable portion of the card. Each audio track also has its own volume, tuning (in cents, as well as transposing up or down in half steps), and pan (ie, the digital audio goes out the same stereo out jack as the wavetable voices).
Covers RAP-10, SCP-55B.
Yes, but instead of having convenient sliders a la Audio Tools, you'll have to manually enter System Exclusive MIDI events in your sequencer track. Nevertheless, unlike with other audio cards, you can fully control the digital audio playback with just about any sequencer program.
In fact, you don't need MCI commands for that control. Roland had the foresight to add a SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE implementation to the RAP-10 and SCP-55 that allows you to adjust each digital audio track's volume, panning, brightness, chorus level, reverb level, pitch (both in cents as well as transposing by half-steps), and sample rate (11.025, 22.050, or 44.100 KHz) BY SENDING IT SYSEX MESSAGES (which most all sequencers support). So for example, if you want to change the volume of a digital audio track (even while it's playing), you send a SYSEX message to the RAP-10. You just need to know those SYSEX messages, and you can insert them wherever you want in your CakeWalk track, and viola, there's all of the control that you wanted. (In fact, when you move the Audio Tools volume slider, all it's doing is sending those SYSEX messages to the RAP-10. There's no reason why you can't have CakeWalk or any other program that supports SYSEX do the same thing, but of course, you'll have to manually enter the desired SYSEX messages as events in a CakeWalk track. Come to think of it, you should be able to write some CAL routines that will really simplify the process, for example, asking you to type in a volume, and then the CAL routine will create the actual SYSEX event for it).
Now, Roland didn't list the digital audio track's SYSEX messages in the owners manual. No problem. I'm a registered Roland developer, and have the RAP-10 technical docs right here. So, I'm going to tell you how to do this (in excruciating detail).
I'll skip the part about how you enter a SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE event in CakeWalk. Consult your manual for that. Of course, you send the SYSEX messages to the RAP-10's MIDI (out) port, and the RAP-10 automatically recognizes and uses them. So, you may want to reserve a CakeWalk track for just these RAP-10 SYSEX events and set it to output to the RAP-10.
Each digital audio parameter (ie, volume, panning, tuning, etc) has its own "address" where you adjust the setting. For example, there's a certain place (ie, address) within the RAP-10 that you reference to adjust digital audio VOLUME. There's a different place (ie, address) that you reference to adjust the digital audio PAN. The address that you specify tells the RAP-10 which digital audio parameter you wish to adjust. You specify the address within the SYSEX message itself. You also put the new value for that parameter within the same SYSEX message.
Each digital audio track has its own addresses for volume, panning, etc. For example, the left track's volume is at a different address than the right track's volume. So, you have independent control over the two tracks' parameters. If you use the 2 tracks as 1 stereo track (ie, stereo WAVE), then there is a third set of addresses for that. (ie, Think of the RAP-10's stereo digital audio as a third, stereo track).
The format (ie, template) for a SYSEX message is (in decimal bytes):
240 65 16 86 18 [address] [value] [checksum] 247
The address, value, and checksum are the parts of it that you have to fill in yourself (depending upon which parameter you're adjusting, and what value you're setting it to).
The address for the LEFT digital audio track's VOLUME is the three bytes: 2 0 2. The value can be anything from 0 (inaudible) to 127 (loudest).
The checksum is one byte. It is calculated by adding the 3 address bytes and the value byte. If this is over 128, then subtract by 128 until you have a number less than 128. Take this number and subtract it from 128. That's the checksum.
OK, let's construct a SYSEX message to set the LEFT digital audio track's volume to 64 (ie, half volume). Take the above template, and put the "address" 2 0 2 in it, and the "value" 64 in it.
240 65 16 86 18 2 0 2 64 [checksum] 247
Now add up the address and value bytes. That's 2+0+2+64 = 68. This is less than 128. Subtract it from 128, and we have the checksum of 60. Here's the complete SYSEX message:
240 65 16 86 18 2 0 2 64 60 247
The address for the RIGHT digital audio track's VOLUME is the three bytes: 2 0 12.
OK, let's construct a SYSEX message to set the RIGHT digital audio track's volume to 127 (ie, full volume). Take the above template, and put the "address" 2 0 12 in it, and the "value" 127 in it.
240 65 16 86 18 2 0 12 127 [checksum] 247
Now add up the address and value bytes. That's 2+0+12+127 = 141. This is more than 128, so we subtract 128 until we get a value less than 128. The value we get is 13. Subtract 13 from 128, and we have the checksum of 115. Here's the complete SYSEX message:
240 65 16 86 18 2 0 12 127 115 247
Just place these SYSEX events wherever you want to change the volume for a digital audio track (ie, before the MCI "play" event, or after it if you want to change volume during playback). You can use as many of these SYSEX events as desirable (ie, for example if you want to slowly fade the audio out, then put lots of SYSEX events in a row, with decreasing values for the volume).
If you use the digital audio tracks in stereo, then the volume is at address: 3 0 2.
Here are the other parameters for the LEFT track. The Pan is at address 2 0 8. The value can be 1 (hard left) to 127 (hard right). 64 is center position. The Reverb/Delay Level is at address 2 0 9. The value is 0 (no reverb) to 127 (full reverb). The Chorus Level is at address 2 0 10. The value is 0 to 127. The Transpose is at address 2 0 5. A value of 64 means no transpose. Higher values transpose the track UP in half steps. For example, 65 plays the digital audio track a half step up. Lower values transpose the track DOWN in half steps. 63 transposes the track down a half step. The Sample Rate is at address 2 0 4. The value is 0 for 11KHz, 1 for 22KHz, or 2 for 44KHz. (I'm not going to bother detailing the last parameter which allows you to adjust the track's tuning in cents. This requires a slightly different SYSEX message format, and I don't want to get into that unless you NEED to know).
Time for another example. Let's set the LEFT track's PAN to hard left. Take the template and plug in the address 2 0 8, and the value 1. Add up those 4 bytes. 11 is less than 128. Subtract 11 from 128 to get a checksum of 117. Here's the SYSEX message:
240 65 16 86 18 2 0 8 1 117 247
Here are the other parameters for the RIGHT track. The Pan is at address 2 0 18. The Reverb Level is at address 2 0 19. The Chorus Level is at address 2 0 20. The Transpose is at address 2 0 15. The Sample Rate is at address 2 0 14.
If you use the 2 tracks in stereo, here are the other addresses for that. The Pan is at address 3 0 8. The Reverb Level is at address 3 0 9. The Chorus Level is at address 3 0 10. The Transpose is at address 3 0 5. The Sample Rate is at address 3 0 4.
Unlike owners of other sound cards, the RAP-10 owner has all of this control over digital audio tracks using any sequencer that supports SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE events. Write yourself a few CAL routines (ie, for example, one that inserts a bunch of SYSEX events to pan a track across the stereo spectrum, etc) and you'll have an arsenal of special effects for your digital audio that don't require MCI (and don't exhibit some of the difficulties that you have in syncing MCI control with MIDI playback).
Covers RAP-10, SCP-55B, SCC-1B, SC-7, SCD-10, SCD-15, and others.
You need to use the Non-Registered Parameter Number controllers. For a generic discussion of what NRPN and RPN controllers are, and how they may be used, read the article Using Registered and Non-Registered Parameter Number controllers now.
The good news is that your Roland manual lists all of the various RPN and NRPN parameter numbers that the RAP-10 responds to. It shows an example template for each parameter number where the parameter number is already broken up into its 2 pieces. Look up the section where NRPN controller is discussed to see what parameter numbers Roland has defined for what purposes. (On Roland sound cards, often NRPN numbers are used only to adjust settings for individual drums of a kit. For adjusting things such as Reverb and Chorus levels, overall Pan and Volume, etc, there are dedicated controllers for that. For adjusting things such as Voice Reserve, Roland typically uses System Exclusive, rather than Controller messages).
For example, let's discuss how to change the tuning on the Open HiHat drum sound, transposing it down a half step.
If you look under the MIDI Implementation section of your manual (starting on pg 19), you search for the section on NRPN controller (starts on pg 19 and goes to pg 20). At the top of pg 20, you see that there are 5 parameters that can be controlled for each drum sound (ie, key):
Pitch (in half steps)Now, Roland already breaks up the "high bits" and "low bits" of the NRPN parameter number for you. In fact, the "high" and "low" bits aren't really related in the way that Roland uses them (ie, the "high" and "low" bits aren't ever meant to be pieced together to create a parameter number here). Rather, Roland uses the high bits to indicate which one of the above 5 parameters you wish to adjust. The low bits indicate something else totally unrelated to that as you'll see.
To adjust Pitch, the "high bits" of the NRPN number is 18 hex (ie, 24 decimal). To adjust Volume, the "high bits" of the NRPN number would instead be 1A hex (ie, 26 decimal). For Pan, "high bits" is 1C hex (ie, 28 decimal). For Reverb Level, "high bits" is 1D hex (ie, 29 decimal). For Chorus Level, "high bits" is 1E hex (ie, 30 decimal).
For "low bits", you need to know the MIDI note number for the Drum Key that you want to adjust. For example, the Open HiHat is assigned to the A#1 key which is MIDI note number 46. (There is a table called Drum Set Table in your manual which lists the MIDI note numbers for all drum sounds). The desired MIDI note number is the "low bits".
So, to tell the RAP-10 that we want to adjust Pitch for a drum sound, we send the NRPN with the "high bits" of 24. (I'm assuming MIDI channel 10).
185 98 24
Then, to tell the RAP-10 that we want to adjust drum key 46 (ie, the Open HiHat), we send the NRPN with the "low bits" of 46.
185 99 46
Finally, to actually transpose the Pitch down a half step, we use the Data Entry Slider controller to set the tuning. A value of 64 is centered (ie, root pitch) tuning. So, if we want a half step down, we subtract one and send a value of 63. (Pan is calculated the same way -- 64 is centered panning, lower values move left, and higher values move right).
185 6 63
What if you want to set the Volume of the Cowbell to 80? First, to indicate that we want to adjust Volume, we send the NRPN "high bits" of 26.
185 98 26
Second, we need to know the MIDI note number for the Cowbell, which is 56. We send that as the NRPN "low bits".
185 99 56
Finally, to actually set the Volume to 80, we use the Data Entry Slider controller.
185 6 80
Is that all there is to it? Well no. When the RAP-10 first powers up, it defaults to ignoring these NRPN messages. So, you have to enable NRPN recognition by sending the RAP-10 the following SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE message (values are in hexidecimal):
F0 41 10 56 12 01 00 01 01 7D F7
This only needs to be done once when the RAP-10 powers up (or always after the RAP-10 is sent a Turn General MIDI System On system exclusive message).
Covers RAP-10, SCP-55B, SCC-1B, SCD-10, SCD-15, SC-7, and others.
The RAP-10's built-in sound module is multi-timbral. It has 16 "Parts" (ie, 16 distinct entities inside of it, each of which can play one instrument at a time upon any one of the 16 MIDI channels). When the RAP-10 is powered up, the 16 parts are set to the default 16 MIDI channels (ie, Part 1 is the Drum Part, and is set to play all MIDI messages on channel 10, Part 2 plays messages on channel 1, Part 3 plays channel 2, etc). You're undoubtably unaware that the 16 "Parts" of the RAP-10 can be turned off individually via SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE messages sent to the RAP-10. Alternately, a Part's MIDI channel can be changed via a SYSEX message sent to the RAP-10. For example, you can set both Part 2 and Part 3 to play MIDI messages upon channel 2. You can also disable a Part from sounding at all by setting its MIDI channel to "off". You need to send a SYSEX message to the RAP-10. If you have a sequencer program that supports SYSEX, you can manually enter a message in one of your "tracks" (and set that track to output to the RAP-10). (It's even better if you have a RAP-10 Editor program that has "controls" to change a Part's MIDI channel, and the Editor takes care of sending the appropriate SYSEX messages. Anyway, I wrote a RAP-10 Editor for OS/2, and a Win95 RAP-10 Playback Panel, as I'm a registered Roland developer).
Here's the template of the SYSEX message (with values expressed in decimal) to change a Part's MIDI channel:
240 65 16 86 18 1 p# 0 ch sum 247
You need to replace p# with the Part number whose MIDI channel you wish to change (where Part 1 is 0, Part 2 is 1,... Part 16 is 15. Note that the Drum Part is Part 1. The remaining 15 Parts, 2 to 16, are the 15 instrumental parts). You need to replace ch with the desired MIDI channel (where Channel 1 is 0, Channel 2 is 1,...Channel 16 is 15, and to turn a Part off, specify ch = 16). Finally, you need to replace sum with the calculated checksum. The easiest way to come up with the checksum for this particular message is to add p# and ch, add 1, and subtract this from 128.
For example, to set Part 1 (ie, Drums) to MIDI channel 9, replace p# with 0 and replace ch with 8. Checksum is 128 - (8+0+1) or 119.
240 65 16 86 18 1 0 0 8 119 247
Normally, you'll want the 16 Parts each set to their own channel (ie, Drum Part set to Channel 10, Part 2 set to Channel 1, Part 3 set to Channel 2, etc.) which is the RAP-10's default setup. But then you'll probably want to turn off Parts that are set to MIDI channels reserved for your external gear. Use the above SYSEX message for that. For example, let's say that you want to turn off the Part set to MIDI channel 1. By default, Part 2 is set to MIDI channel 1. Replace p# with 1 and set ch to 16 (ie, off). Checksum is 128 - (2+16+1) or 109.
240 65 16 86 18 1 1 0 16 109 247
Of course, at the end of your track, you may want to turn that Part back on (ie, set it back to channel 1).
240 65 16 86 18 1 1 0 0 127 247
The original Sound Canvas (SC-55), as well as some of the other SC models, use a slightly different System Exclusive message to change a Part. For example, in the SC-55, the SysEx message takes the form:
240 65 16 66 18 64 p#+16 2 ch sum 247
Note that 86 is replaced by 66. This indicates a different model number than the RAP-10. Also, the 1 is replaced with 64. When you specify the part number, you need to add 16 to it. For example, if you want part 1, then you specify 17.
Covers RAP-10, SCP-55B, SCC-1B, SCD-10, SCD-15, SC-7, and others.
First, let's talk about MIDI Aftertouch. There are two kinds of "aftertouch" or "pressure"; "Key Pressure", sometimes called "polyphonic aftertouch", and "Channel Pressure", sometimes called "monophonic aftertouch".
While notes are playing, pressure can be applied to all of them. Many electronic keyboards have pressure sensing circuitry that can detect with how much force a musician is holding down keys. The musician can then vary this pressure, even while he continues to hold down the keys (and the notes continue sounding). The Channel Pressure message conveys the amount of overall pressure on the keys at a given point. Since the musician can be continually varying his pressure, devices that generate Channel Pressure typically send out many such messages while the musician is varying his pressure. Upon receiving Channel Pressure, many devices typically use the message to vary all of the sounding notes' VCA and/or VCF envelope sustain levels, or control LFO amount and/or rate being applied to the notes' sound generation circuitry. But, it's up to the device how it chooses to respond to received Channel Pressure (if at all). If the device is a MultiTimbral unit, then each one of its Parts may respond differently (or not at all) to Channel Pressure. The Part affected by a particular Channel Pressure message is the one assigned to the message's MIDI channel.
What's the difference between Key Pressure (which I'll call "AfterTouch" here for brevity) and Channel Pressure? Well, AfterTouch messages are for individual keys (ie, an Aftertouch message only affects that one note whose number is in the message). Every key that you press down generates its own AfterTouch messages. If you press on one key harder than another, then the one key will generate AfterTouch messages with higher values than the other key. The net result is that some effect will be applied to the one key more than the other key. You have individual control over each key that you play. With Channel Pressure, one message is sent out for the entire keyboard. So, if you press one key harder than another, the controller will average out the difference, and then just pretend that you're pressing both keys with the exact same pressure. The net result is that some effect gets applied to all sounding keys evenly. You don't have individual control per each key. A controller normally uses either Channel Pressure or AfterTouch, but usually not both. Most MIDI controllers don't generate AfterTouch because that requires a pressure sensor for each individual key on a MIDI keyboard, and this is an expensive feature to implement. For this reason, many cheaper units implement Channel Pressure instead of Aftertouch, as the former only requires one sensor for the entire keyboard's pressure. Of course, a device could implement both Aftertouch and Channel Pressure, in which case the Aftertouch messages for each individual key being held are generated, and then the average pressure is calculated and sent as Channel Pressure.
OK, back to the RAP-10. The RAP-10 only recognizes Channel Pressure, not Key Pressure. (RAP-10 Parts ignore all Key Pressure messages). All of the sounding notes of a Part are affected equally by a Channel Pressure message. (NOTE: The RAP-10 has 15 Parts plus a Rhythm Part, and these are by default assigned to the 16 available MIDI Channels. For example, Part 1 is the Drum Part, and is assigned to handle everything on MIDI channel 10 by default. Part 2 handles everything upon MIDI channel 1 by default. Part 3 handles MIDI channel 2. Etc. You CAN reassign parts to other channels. For example, you could have two RAP-10 Parts both playing everything upon channel 16. You can also turn Parts off, for example if you didn't want the RAP-10 to respond to particular MIDI channels at all).
Channel Pressure can be used to control any or even ALL of the following 4 aspects of a Part:
Each of the 15 Parts, and the Rhythm Part has its own Channel Pressure settings. For example, you can set Part 1 to get brighter as it receives increasing Pressure. You can set Part 2 to get duller as it receives increasing Pressure. You can set Part 3's Vibrato Amount to increase as it receives increasing Pressure, AND set Part 3's Volume to decrease as it receives increasing Pressure. Etc.
The RAP-10 is designed such that you can alter virtually all of its settings (including digital audio playback settings) by sending System Exclusive MIDI messages to it. If you have some RAP-10 Patch Editor software such as my RAP-10 Editor for OS/2, then the software will likely have some graphical controls that allow you to set the desired effects of Channel Pressure for each Part. The software will take care of sending the proper System Exclusive messages to the RAP-10. If don't have such a tool (and check to see if Audio Tools allows setting Channel Pressure -- it should, but I wouldn't know since I'm a developer, got my RAP-10 sans that Windows software, and wrote my own OS/2 stuff), don't fret. As long as you have a sequencer that lets you manually enter your own System Exclusive events, you can create and enter the desired messages for your sequencer to send to the RAP-10. I'm going to tell you what you need to know to set Channel Pressure for any Part.
I'll skip the part about how you enter a SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE event in your sequencer. Consult your seq manual for that. Of course, you send the SYSEX messages to the RAP-10's MIDI (out) port, and the RAP-10 automatically recognizes and uses them. So, you may want to reserve a seq track for just these RAP-10 SYSEX events and set the track to output to the RAP-10.
Each Part's Channel Pressure settings have their own "addresses" where you adjust the settings. For example, there's a certain place (ie, address) within the RAP-10 that you reference to adjust how Channel Pressure affects Part 1's Filter Cutoff Frequency. There's a different place (ie, address) that you reference to adjust how Channel Pressure affects Part 1's LFO Rate. The address that you specify tells the RAP-10 which Channel Pressure parameter you wish to adjust for which Part. You specify the address within the SYSEX message itself. You also put the new value for that parameter within the same SYSEX message.
The format (ie, template) for a SYSEX message is (in decimal bytes):
240 65 16 86 18 [address] [value] [checksum] 247
The address, value, and checksum are the parts of it that you have to fill in yourself (depending upon which parameter you're adjusting, and what value you're setting it to).
The address to set Part 1's Filter Cutoff is the three bytes: 1 1 4. The value can be anything from 0 (increasing pressure makes the part very dull) to 127 (increasing pressure makes the part very bright). A value of 64 is the middle value, meaning that pressure does not affect Part 1's Filter Cutoff at all.
The checksum is one byte. It is calculated by adding the 3 address bytes and the value byte. If this is over 128, then subtract by 128 until you have a number less than 128. Take this number and subtract it from 128. That's the checksum.
OK, let's construct a SYSEX message to set Part 1's sound to made brighter with increasing pressure. We'll pick some number above 64, for example 90. Take the above template, and put the "address" 1 1 4 in it, and the "value" 90 in it.
240 65 16 86 18 1 1 4 90 [checksum] 247
Now add up the address and value bytes. That's 1+1+4+90 = 96. This is less than 128. Subtract it from 128, and we have the checksum of 32. Here's the complete SYSEX message:
240 65 16 86 18 1 1 4 90 32 247
Let your sequencer send the above message at the start of your song, and viola, Part 1's Filter Cutoff is now affected by Channel Pressure.
Here's a chart showing the addresses of all Channel Pressure parameters for all 15 Parts and the Rhythm Part:
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Brightness 1 1 4 Brightness 1 2 4 Brightness 1 3 4 Volume 1 1 5 Volume 1 2 5 Volume 1 3 5 LFO Rate 1 1 6 LFO Rate 1 2 6 LFO Rate 1 3 6 LFO Speed 1 1 7 LFO Speed 1 2 7 LFO Speed 1 3 7 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Brightness 1 4 4 Brightness 1 5 4 Brightness 1 6 4 Volume 1 4 5 Volume 1 5 5 Volume 1 6 5 LFO Rate 1 4 6 LFO Rate 1 5 6 LFO Rate 1 6 6 LFO Speed 1 4 7 LFO Speed 1 5 7 LFO Speed 1 6 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Brightness 1 7 4 Brightness 1 8 4 Brightness 1 9 4 Volume 1 7 5 Volume 1 8 5 Volume 1 9 5 LFO Rate 1 7 6 LFO Rate 1 8 6 LFO Rate 1 9 6 LFO Speed 1 7 7 LFO Speed 1 8 7 LFO Speed 1 9 7 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Brightness 1 10 4 Brightness 1 11 4 Brightness 1 12 4 Volume 1 10 5 Volume 1 11 5 Volume 1 12 5 LFO Rate 1 10 6 LFO Rate 1 11 6 LFO Rate 1 12 6 LFO Speed 1 10 7 LFO Speed 1 11 7 LFO Speed 1 12 7 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Brightness 1 13 4 Brightness 1 14 4 Brightness 1 15 4 Volume 1 13 5 Volume 1 14 5 Volume 1 15 5 LFO Rate 1 13 6 LFO Rate 1 14 6 LFO Rate 1 15 6 LFO Speed 1 13 7 LFO Speed 1 14 7 LFO Speed 1 15 7 Rhythm (Part 1) Brightness 1 0 4 Volume 1 0 5 LFO Rate 1 0 6 LFO Speed 1 0 7So, for example, let's set the Drum Part's Volume to be increased with increasing Channel Pressure. Pick some value over 64, for example, 127. Now look up the address: 1 0 5. Plug these into the template, calculate the checksum, and our message is:
240 65 16 86 18 1 0 5 127 123 247
Covers SCD-10, SCD-15, or other Roland daughterboard.
No. The Roland daughterboard plugs into a Sound Blaster compatible daughterboard connector upon some host card (ie, the card that the Roland daughterboard plugs into). The computer (and software) communicates with the Roland card through the host's connector (ie, hardware). Unlike the SCC-1 or RAP-10 (or even the SCP-55B), the Roland daughterboard is not a standalone card, and doesn't directly attach to the computer's bus. The daughterboard connects to the host, and it is the host that directly connects to the computer's bus. Therefore, you only need to install the driver for the host card. For example, if you have a Sound Blaster, you install the Creative Labs drivers included with that card. It is the responsibility of the host's driver to pass any software's MIDI data to the daughterboard. Usually, the driver allows "switches" (ie, additional parameters that you can specify on the line with the driver's DEVICE statement in your config.sys file) that you can use to tell the driver to recognize a daughterboard, and use it for MIDI playback (ie, instead of some cheesy FM sounds built into the host). Or, you can use Win95's MultiMedia notebook (MIDI page) to select the "MIDI output" of your host card. (ie, The daughterboard is internally attached to the MIDI OUT jack of the host. Don't select any "WaveTable Synth" choice as that isn't the daughterboard. That's some built-in sound module on your host). In other words, most hosts are pretty dumb. They can't tell when a daughterboard is plugged in, and the driver will ignore it until you tell the driver to do otherwise.
If you try to use the Windows MPU-401 driver, it will look for a standalone card (by default at base address 330 hex) that is MPU-401 compatible (in hardware). Most of these hosts are not MPU-401 compatible in hardware, even though they may even have some sort of MPU-ish (ie, a very poor, incomplete MPU-401 emulation) ports at address 330. The net result is that the MPU-401 driver will either be trying to control hardware that isn't really designed to be controlled by that driver, and/or the MPU-401 driver will be mucking around with the hardware at the same time that the host's driver is mucking around with the same hardware. You should never have two drivers controlling the same hardware simultaneously. Otherwise, you can expect weird things to happen.
Of course, if you did have a real MPU-401 compatible card, in addition to your host with a Roland daughterboard, then you'd be using 2 drivers; the Windows MPU-401 driver and the host's driver. But of course, the two cards would have to be set to use different base addresses and IRQ numbers, and you'd have to tell each driver what is the base address and IRQ of the card that it needs to control. (This is usually done when you install the Windows driver. A "setup" or "properties" screen for the driver allows you to specify base address and IRQ. Of course, you may also need to set jumpers on your card).
Buying an SCD-10 or SCD-15 does not buy you an MPU-401 compatible card like the SCC-1, RAP-10, MPU-401, SuperMPU, MusicQuest cards, etc. Even though the SCD-10 and SCD-15 may have the same waveforms, patch sets, effects, and even system exclusive implementations as the aforementioned MPU-401 compatibles, the daughterboards do not have the same hardware interface to the computer's bus (nor the same audio output section -- they use the host's audio output) as the standalones. If you're using Windows software, this shouldn't matter much to you. (Well, the likely higher noise output from the host's audio output section may make the SCC-1, RAP-10, or external Roland module more attractive, but the way that the card interfaces to the computer's bus is irrelevant as long as you have good drivers for the host).
Covers RAP-10, SC-7, and probably the SCP-55B, SCC-1B, SCD-10, SCD-15, and others.
The master tuning can span +/- 100 cents (ie, upto 100 cents above A440 tuning or 100 cents below A440 tuning). The parameter moves in .2 cents. In other words, each cent is divided into 5 steps -- that's how fine the resolution is on tuning.
The value range for the parameter is 24 to 2024, with 1024 representing A440 tuning. So, if you specify a value of 1025, that's 2 cents higher than A440 tuning. 1026 is .4 cents higher than A440. 1029 is one cent higher than A440. Conversely, below 1024 lowers the tuning below A440. 1023 is .2 cents below A440. 1019 is one cent below A440.
The template for the tuning system exclusive message is (in hexadecimal):
F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 00 [tune1 tune2 tune3 tune4 checksum] F7You need to figure out what tuning value you want. Convert it to hexidecimal. (You can use the Windows calculator in scientific mode to do that). Break up the hexadecimal value into 4 nibbles (ie, take the 4 digits separately. If you only see 3 displayed on the calculator, pad it out with an extra 0 on the left). And calculate the checksum. That gives you the system exclusive message.
For example, assume that you want to raise the tuning 3 cents. Remember that every increment is .2 cents (ie, 1/5 of a cent), so to raise 3 cents, you're going to have to add 3 X 5 to 1024. The value will be 1039. Convert this to hexadecimal -- that's 040F. Break it up into 4 nibbles; that's 0, 4, 0, F. Plug these 4 values into the template above:
F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 00 00 04 00 0F checksum F7
All that's left is to calculate the checksum. For this tuning message, you do that by taking the 4 nibbles, convert them to decimal, add them together, then add 64. If this sum is over 128, then subtract by 128 until you have a number less than 128. Take this number and subtract it from 128. That's the checksum.
For our example, the 4 nibbles plus 64 is 0 + 4 + 0 + 15 + 64 = 83. This is less than 128. We subtract from 128 to get a checksum of 45 (ie, 2D in hexadecimal). So the entire message is:
F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 00 00 04 00 0F 2D F7
Covers RAP-10.
There have been two different standards for CDROM audio connectors, a 4 and a 5 pin connector. The 4-pin connector is now more common, but the RAP-10 used a 5-pin connector. Fortunately, the signals for the pins are identical. It's just that some of the pins on the 5-pin jack aren't used. You merely need a cable that is wired to connect the 4-pin jack to the RAP-10's 5-pin jack. Here's the pin signals on the RAP-10 connector:
Pin #1 - Not used
Pin #2 - Left
Pin #3 - Ground
Pin #4 - Right
Pin #5 - Not used
Covers RAP-10.
Unfortunately, the RAP-10 Windows driver does not support the Windows Mixer API. This means that there is no way for any program (or Win95) to set various RAP-10 settings via the Mixer API. For example, it's impossible for a program to set the RAP-10's Mic/Line input to Line or Mic level, or turn Monitor On or Off, or set Master Volume (which is why Win95 disables that volume slider), or set Aux In or Mic volume. (Fortunately, master volume can be set by sending the RAP-10 a System Exclusive message. But the other parameters cannot be set by programs. The only way to set such parameters is to use Audio Tools, my RAP-10 Win95 utilities, or settings in a RAP10.INI file).
Covers RAP-10.
No, there is no RAP-10 driver for NT nor Windows 2000 (which is really Windows NT 5.0).
Windows 3.1 drivers (which is what the RAP-10 driver is, and also explains why it isn't listed in Device Manager -- Device Manager does not list legacy drivers) and Win95 sound drivers will not work under Windows NT/2000. WinNT has an entirely different driver model. (In Win98 and Windows 2000, MS supports a new driver model that works under both. But you'll need a new driver written to this specification. Older Win3.1 and Win95 drivers still will not work under Windows NT/2000).
The best that you can do is to use the MPU-401 driver that ships with NT/2000. This will give you support for the RAP-10's MIDI In and Out, and internal GM module. But, you'll lose support for the RAP-10's 2 digital audio tracks (ie, WAVE recording and playback).
There is an MPU-401 driver shipped with Win2000, but for some reason, MS didn't include an .INF file to install it. You can Download the MSMPU401.INF file to install this driver. Just save it to disk. Then go into Control Panel's "Add new hardware". Choose to install additional hardware beyond any PnP cards it detects. When it asks if your device is in the list of devices it knows, answer "No". Choose that you wish to select your own hardware from the list. Select the "hardware type" of "Sound, video, and game controllers". Click on "Have Disk" and browse to where you've saved this .INF file. Select that file and it will come up with an MPU-401 option. Select that and Win2000 should install its included MPU-401 driver.
Covers RAP-10.
First of all, you should remove Audio Tools. Audio Tools interferes with the operation of other programs using the RAP-10.
Because the RAP-10 driver doesn't support the Windows Mixer API, in order to get around this, I've had to bypass the driver and go right to the hardware. There are a couple caveats with this.
What happens is that the RAP-10 driver reads any RAP10.INI text file at bootup, and from that point on, whenever any program opens the RAP-10 driver, the driver always sets the RAP-10 back to whatever setting it established at bootup. That's why you keep seeing CakeWalk (ie, actually the RAP-10 driver) defeating some settings made with SetMic (ie, mostly the Line/Mic switch, Monitor On/Off, and perhaps Aux In and Mic volume). SetMic is working behind the driver's back, but as soon as CakeWalk opens the driver (ie, before it begins digital audio play or record), the driver resets these RAP-10 settings. As I said, due to the fact that the RAP-10 driver doesn't fully support the Windows API, there's no way for SetMic to cooperate with the driver and resolve this issue. Therefore, use of a RAP10.INI file may be your only solution, short of obtaining a new RAP-10 driver that supports the Windows mixer API.
Covers SCC-1.
The SCC-1 was made prior to when a standard System Exclusive message was added to the MIDI specification to reset a module to General MIDI mode. Therefore, the SCC-1 uses a proprietary Roland Sysex message for this purpose. (Actually, the SCC-1 is reset into GS mode, which is the General MIDI patch set plus variations). This message is:
F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 7F 00 41 F7
Simply enter this message into your sequencer, and play it back into the SCC-1.
Newer Roland cards such as the RAP-10 use the standard GM Reset Sysex message of:
F0 7E xx 09 01 F7
where xx is the Device ID (or 7F if you wish all modules to respond to this message).