ARX-01 Drums: Can't hear data moved to EXP1 Ch 2

12 May 2013, 13:52

I have a Fantom G with the ARX-01 Expansion board. I am sequencing a song using the 'Live Drums" patch. The "open" hi-hat sound (A#2) gets muted by default when you play a "closed" hi-hat sound (either G#2 or F#2), which is understandable given that as a drummer, you can't play a hi-hat open and closed at the same time. However, that being the case, I have a situation where I created a drum pattern that is used throughout the song using the ARX-01 board, that has a closed hi-hat running throughout. At certain times I want the open hat sound to play simultaneously, and that doesn't work on the same channel. The drum pattern is lengthy, so I didn't want to have to go through it and erase every occurance of a closed hat wherever the open hat is being played. So I assigned the open-hat data to channel 2 on the ARX board in hopes that it would play simultaneously and I can't hear it at all. The data is there because I can change the View options and see the open-hat data there. I just can't hear it.

QUESTION: What do I have to do to hear the data I put on any of the 2nd through 16th channels of the ARX board in my sequence? I even thought about re-sampling that data and seeing if that works but you can't apparently re-sample anything at that level. It wants to re-sample the entire phrase.

Re: ARX-01 Drums: Can't hear data moved to EXP1 Ch 2

12 May 2013, 18:33

The ARX 01 has only one midi channel, just like the other two expansion boards so far (Electric Piano and Brass). So there is nothing you can do to hear the data you put on the 2nd through 16th channel, simply because the board lacks multi-timbrality in the real sense of the word (yes, you do have a mixer that can adjust levels etc between percussion sounds, but everything is based on a single midi channel. You can see this by pressing Studio Mode and moving from the Internal to the Exp 1/2 tab. Here you can see only one part, not sixteen, like Internal or External mode).
Sorry...this may be a bummer :)
Theoretically we should see some multi-timbral ARX cards in the future, even the manual says that, but given the circumstances...
It is almost certainly excluded. Fantom G and ARX are dead, almost before they were born.
Hope to be wrong though...

Re: ARX-01 Drums: Can't hear data moved to EXP1 Ch 2

12 May 2013, 20:31

The open hi-hat sound (A#2) is muted because it is set to the same Mute Group as the closed hi-hat sounds (G#2 and F#2).

All of the hi-hats are set to Mute Group 1.

To turn off this muting on A#2: play A#2, press F4 Tone, cursor to Mute Group and change it from 1 to 0.

Re: ARX-01 Drums: Can't hear data moved to EXP1 Ch 2

13 May 2013, 00:38

Thank you both for your valuable input. I certainly don't think Fantom G and ARX are "dead" though. I think they are both incredible products and I'm having a lot of success with them doing what I do. The note about the mute group for the hat on the ARX worked perfectly! That's exactly what I needed. Although in the interim I just went through and erased the closed hat notes in favor of the open ones. I didn't really need the closed notes at that point in time anyway. But if I had thought about the mute group feature as I have used before on the Internal drum kits, I would have put that together myself. Alas, live and learn, right? Great insight on the part of the engineer who wrote that code. He was thinking about that one. Thanks once again to both of you.

Re: ARX-01 Drums: Can't hear data moved to EXP1 Ch 2

13 May 2013, 00:44

Oh and by the way, the kits and the flexibility built in to the ARX expansion card FAR outweigh any limitations it might have in terms of MIDI channels. I have built some killer kits with it and as a drummer turned keyboardist I can really appreciate having a tool that allows you to size, tune, muffle, position the mic, change the "Dpeth" (misspelling intentional because the software has it spelled that way also), and even add "buzz" to the drum! Obviously a drummer was on the team that produced this card. I wish I could get another EXP card if they are as good as the drum card.

Re: ARX-01 Drums: Can't hear data moved to EXP1 Ch 2

13 May 2013, 04:24

ARX-01 is indeed very good. ARX-03 Brass is also outstanding, well worth it if you want to do anything with brass. I didn't get along with the EP card but it has great dynamics, just the tone is a bit odd to my ears, but I may give it another chance, Wish the G had more slots! Shame roland stopped there. The ARX cards are good, but there aren't enough options.