Roland FR 4x and software Soft Arranger

[Ronny 2201]

Hello to all !

Has anybody here tried the Software " soft arranger" with a Roland FR 4x Accordeon ?

Does it work? I want to install this software, but I am not sure If it makes sense to do that.
I do not have to much experience with Midi.
Any help is very useful!

Thank you in advance !

Ronny

 

[JerryPH]

I think Tom was playing around with his 4X and a software arranger. My take is that a good hardware one is basically better, especially if you do any gigging. You save SO MUCH time because you spend your time playing, not programming every detail for every measure.

I know that a lot of people use Apple's "Band In A Box" with some interesting results.

 

[Ronny 2201]

Hi,

For to beware of misunterstanding

I am talking about the software " soft arranger" not about any other arranger, sorry.........

Tried Band in a Box, didn't work for me, don't know why.
Also tried " one man band" and could not get the Roland working with that software.

I know, a solution with an Hardware would be the easiest way, but not very cheap at all.
( Thinking about Ketron SD 40 or SD 90 )

Sorry for my poor english......

 

[Tom]

Hi Ronny,

Yes, I tried out Soft Arranger with the Fr4x a couple of years ago and posted about it here:

Thread 'A software arranger that works! Wow!'

Apr 15, 2022

Well, after many hours of tinkering over the past few weeks (after my practicing of course ) I can finally report that software arrangers are a thing!

Many people on here use hardware arrangers, like the BK7. But what if you want an arranger but don't feel inclined to purchase another piece of expensive or bulky hardware?

In a nutshell, an "arranger" will play a backing track (called a "style") which changes chords based on input from your accordion (or other instrument, but here we're talking cordeens ☺). The arranger can start, stop, play intros or fills, change itself up, and do...

• Tom
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Technology in Music

• 
• 

I don’t think Band in a Box can follow your chords like Soft Arranger can. I haven’t tried One Man Band.

It definitely works, but there was a lot of configuration to be done, most of which I have forgotten. I spent a few hours getting it configured and working, but never really pursued it because of that. Maybe it’s better, and easier to use now.

Good luck!

 

[Airy]

@Ronny 2201
Wenn du Fragen zu MIDI hast und diese lieber auf deutsch stellen magst, schreibe mir direkt/privat in diesem Forum. Bitte erwarte aber nicht, dass ich jeden Tag ins Forum schaue bzw sofort antworte. Leider kenne ich die speziell Software nicht, aber kenne mich recht gut mit MIDI aus und habe auch ein FR4x und will gerne versuchen zu helfen, falls möglich.

 

[JerryPH]

@Ronny 2201
Wenn du Fragen zu MIDI hast und diese lieber auf deutsch stellen magst, schreibe mir direkt/privat in diesem Forum. Bitte erwarte aber nicht, dass ich jeden Tag ins Forum schaue bzw sofort antworte. Leider kenne ich die speziell Software nicht, aber kenne mich recht gut mit MIDI aus und habe auch ein FR4x und will gerne versuchen zu helfen, falls möglich.

For our non-German readers:
"If you have questions about MIDI and would prefer to ask them in German, write to me directly/privately in this forum. But please don't expect me to look at the forum every day or to respond immediately. Unfortunately I don't know the specific software, but I am quite familiar with MIDI and also have an FR4x and would like to try to help if possible."

 

[JerryPH]

I don’t think Band in a Box can follow your chords like Soft Arranger can. I haven’t tried One Man Band.

with BIAB you enter the chords you want in advance, it plays them. No I do not think it can follow MIDI prompts to change keys as you press them on an arranger, thats where an arranger comes in.

I know, a solution with an Hardware would be the easiest way, but not very cheap at all.
( Thinking about Ketron SD 40 or SD 90 )

That is the price for effectiveness, ease of use and portability, but like everything else, no one thing can answer the questions that everyone has, but I will say that once the investment is made, you never look back. I am currently on my 3rd arranger but won't likely go for the newer top of the line ones now... they are INCREDIBLY expensive.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

I had a brief experience with One Man Band and my acoustic with MIDI. I actually got it working — once, but never again. It was just too much trouble to program.

 

[Tom]

There are also other software arrangers that are not free, and may be worth the price if you don’t have to battle to configure them. If anyone has had success with them, I would be interested to know…. For me the rhythms would have to be configurable. I find the canned rhythms generally too much, I need to be able to simplify them to get something I like. I think the most success I have had is one called Impro-Visor, not an arranger but a backing track maker, with configuratable rhythms.

 

[Ventura]

…. For me the rhythms would have to be configurable.

hey Tom,

because PG Music has been doing it for so many decades, there
are just a huge number of pre-programmed background
templates to quickly choose from, and since they are
categorized during installation, not that hard to flip through

once you toss the chords into the "spreadsheet" of the song,
choose a pattern, and hit play you are auditioning the groove..
then remember you can pop a "change" in on any beat that
gives you A or B (b usually being busier)

but the trick to achieve what YOU are referring to is, once you
have the chords right and the overall feel right, you export
the Band in a Box song as a MIDI file

then you load the file into your sequencer/other software
and open channel 10 in a view you are comfortable using,
where you can "see" the "notes" of each drum/cymbal stroke

in the sequencer, it is a piece of cake to mute like all tom-tom
strikes, or just make them 50% softer, or just delete 3 out of 4
strikes to simplify that rhythm track.. you keep your beat
and groove but yes make it less busy and less likely to
distract from the part you are playing live

i don't know if that still is too much time spent for you, but
that is how i suggest you try it next time you mess with it
(presuming you still have BIAB) and if you don't have all the
patterns i can send you a thumb drive or CD burned with them

BIAB has grown and improved over the decades nicely, but at heart
it is still just a simple easy to use tool with good useable results..

hit me up if you want to chat about it

for others reading this thread, it may interest you that
BIAB can also just accept you inputting the "chord" into the
spreadsheet by just grabbing it on your keyboard (it inserts
it step by step) and that lets you put a wild inversion or ridiculously
complex chord in rather than "Fm7" because BIAB analyzes and
understands handles input that way.. so OK not real time
arranging but still pretty cool if you are laying down a groove
to jam over

 

[Tom]

hey Tom,

because PG Music has been doing it for so many decades, there
are just a huge number of pre-programmed background
templates to quickly choose from, and since they are
categorized during installation, not that hard to flip through

once you toss the chords into the "spreadsheet" of the song,
choose a pattern, and hit play you are auditioning the groove..
then remember you can pop a "change" in on any beat that
gives you A or B (b usually being busier)

but the trick to achieve what YOU are referring to is, once you
have the chords right and the overall feel right, you export
the Band in a Box song as a MIDI file

then you load the file into your sequencer/other software
and open channel 10 in a view you are comfortable using,
where you can "see" the "notes" of each drum/cymbal stroke

in the sequencer, it is a piece of cake to mute like all tom-tom
strikes, or just make them 50% softer, or just delete 3 out of 4
strikes to simplify that rhythm track.. you keep your beat
and groove but yes make it less busy and less likely to
distract from the part you are playing live

i don't know if that still is too much time spent for you, but
that is how i suggest you try it next time you mess with it
(presuming you still have BIAB) and if you don't have all the
patterns i can send you a thumb drive or CD burned with them

BIAB has grown and improved over the decades nicely, but at heart
it is still just a simple easy to use tool with good useable results..

hit me up if you want to chat about it

for others reading this thread, it may interest you that
BIAB can also just accept you inputting the "chord" into the
spreadsheet by just grabbing it on your keyboard (it inserts
it step by step) and that lets you put a wild inversion or ridiculously
complex chord in rather than "Fm7" because BIAB analyzes and
understands handles input that way.. so OK not real time
arranging but still pretty cool if you are laying down a groove
to jam over

Thanks Ventura! I’ll have to see if I can find my old cd. It seems like my version is so old I can’t run it on Windows 10. I’d have to buy a new version….

 

[JerryPH]

... and for software, it's pretty expensive ($79 to upgrade all the way to $699US).

 

[Thomas N]

There's a site I have used in the past that I like a lot. Karaoke Version or something along those lines. They have tons of songs and you can edit the checkboxes to remove any parts you don't want to include (I usually omit the vocals and leads), change the key, and then have it saved as a .wav, .mp3, etc. It's around $1 per song but I've used it to store songs on a USB drive on my FR-8X and then play along with.

I have pretty much settled on my BK-7M for arrangers, and I know we're talking about Arrangers and not MIDI or MP3 files, but it's a great way to have really professional backing tracks for songs.

 

[Ventura]

Thanks Ventura! I’ll have to see if I can find my old cd. It seems like my version is so old I can’t run it on Windows 10. I’d have to buy a new version….

depending on space and other stuff it might be useful for,
having an old Win 7 comp around just for music stuff
is easy to do and way cheaper than new versions of software
that now do so many things we could care less about

holler if you want one..

 

[Tom]

depending on space and other stuff it might be useful for,
having an old Win 7 comp around just for music stuff
is easy to do and way cheaper than new versions of software
that now do so many things we could care less about

holler if you want one..

True! Thanks, I think I’m pretty good for now, but if mine dies I’ll ask about those $79 laptops.