Bank / Program change via Midi-keyboard

eLDeus wrote:

I have Roland SRX Orchestra, Ableton Live with Windows 7 and a midi-keyboard Studiologic VMK-88 Plus with the function to send bank/program change messages.
How can I select sounds in Roland SRX using my midi-keyboard? Thank you in advance.

Hi, eLDeus! Brian from Roland Cloud here. At this time, the MIDI Program Change is unavailable for the instruments of The Roland Cloud Collection. I can add this to our weekly feature request list if you'd like. Thanks!

BrianMcClelland wrote:

At this time, the MIDI Program Change is unavailable for the instruments of The Roland Cloud Collection.

I am still uncertain about the different aspects of cloud/zenology - what different things are and what they are called - so I am not sure what this refers to. I am considering using some of the Roland "cloud-based"/"zenology" sounds in a live gigging environment. But I would need to be able to change sounds during the gig, sometimes even in the middle of a song, and would not want to have to touch the computer to do it. Are there some products among all the online offerings where patch changes CAN be accomplished via MIDI Program Change, while others cannot? Or does changing a sound when using ANY Roland internet-based sound source require using the computer itself to call up the desired sound?

anotherscott wrote:

BrianMcClelland wrote:

At this time, the MIDI Program Change is unavailable for the instruments of The Roland Cloud Collection.

I am still uncertain about the different aspects of cloud/zenology - what different things are and what they are called - so I am not sure what this refers to. I am considering using some of the Roland "cloud-based"/"zenology" sounds in a live gigging environment. But I would need to be able to change sounds during the gig, sometimes even in the middle of a song, and would not want to have to touch the computer to do it. Are there some products among all the online offerings where patch changes CAN be accomplished via MIDI Program Change, while others cannot? Or does changing a sound when using ANY Roland internet-based sound source require using the computer itself to call up the desired sound?

Hi, anotherscott! At this time, the instruments of The Roland Cloud Collection do not feature MIDI program change in any capacity. Changing patches would have to be done from the interface of the instrument from inside your DAW or plug-in host. We have logged and submitted this as a feature request for future updates. Thanks!

Thanks, Brian. I wonder if a way around this might be to assign different Roland cloud sounds to different MIDI channels, and then, if your controller allows you to easily change which MIDI channel you're transmitting on, then you could at least easily switch among a set of 16 different cloud-based sounds right from your keyboard during the performance, without having to touch the computer. Would that work? That is, does the Zenology system allow you to have different sounds assigned to different MIDI channels?

Hi, I use GigPerformer as VST host and there are a few ways to meet your needs. Its a killer piece of software.

beehtree wrote:

Hi, I use GigPerformer as VST host and there are a few ways to meet your needs. Its a killer piece of software.

Can you possibly point me to any info on how to use Gig Performer to call up different sounds from a selection of Roland Cloud modules?

+1 for this request.

I think the ability to receive program change is essential when replacing hardware for plugins.
I want to use a lot of the Roland Cloud plugins to replace my Roland hardware (and also some Roland models I haven't used before)

I struggle to find a good way of using them spontaneous! ...as well as at rehearsal, at stage and in studio.

That is really not possible with RC plugins because selecting patch need to be done by clicking in the GUI with the mouse.
RC plugins always need a good bunch of work of patches all alone, before playing with the rest of the band, to later be able to quick recall the good patches to use.

That wasn't the case with the hardware synths like D-50, JX-8P, JV-series, etc, when they all have a dedicated buttons to select patch at the front and also respond to program change over MIDI.

A lot of other plugins already respond to PC over MIDI, and I have to tell, I tend to use those rather than Roland's just because of that matter! ;(

Because the MIDI protocol is really simple, I think it would be very easy to respond to program change?!
Or some way to load next/previous patches by MIDI CC or +/- keys from the computer keyboard, or just anything would be better that nothing.

Best Regards
Robert

This is an EXTREMELY EASY task for even a basic dev to implement. All Roland dev's would have to do is allow the Increment / Decrement patch buttons, to accept a midi learn function, alike Arturia V-Collection or Spectrasonics plugins. Pretty obvious that after almost 5 years Roland refuses to listen to their customers.

bobbybland wrote:

This is an EXTREMELY EASY task for even a basic dev to implement. All Roland dev's would have to do is allow the Previous / Next patch buttons, to accept a midi learn function

That wouldn't solve my need at all. I want the software to recognize MSB/LSB Program Change commands that I'd send from my keyboard. Previous/Next patch is an entirely different function, and one that has its own uses, but is entirely useless to me. I'm looking for random access, to call up the sounds I want, at any time, in whatever order I want. Previous/Next are pretty useless for live performance, unless you always play all the same songs, in the same order. I don't think I've ever used "previous/next patch" on a keyboard except to audition sounds to find what I'm looking for. But once I find what I'm looking for, I'm not going to want to navigate through a whole bunch of patches to get it again next time, I'll want to set up a command to go right to it.

I can understand that totally, Roland has completely dropped the ball on this. If they claim to emulate the hardware, basic midi should be implemented before anything else.

interesting information

Wow...just wow.

I finally decided to become a Roland Cloud member today and downloaded the XV-5080. I haven't used this module in 17 years. I started going through patches feeling the nostalgia. Then I thought..it would be much easier if I can send program changes to the plugin via my keyboard to go through the patches..and it didn't work. Immediately I thought the issue was my keyboard as program changes would certainly not be left out by Roland.

Then I did a search and found this thread. Wow just wow. How could you ladies/gents leave out this feature?

Here's an article on using Gig Performer to change patches in VSTs, including reasons why their method is actually better than using Program Changes.

https://gigperformer.com/rackspaces-vs-program-changes/

Presumably, this would be a way around this issue with Roland Cloud sound sources. There seem to be numerous advantages, as listed in the article. The downside is there's a bit more initial complication to set things up (compared to if we were able to just send Program Changes directly to the Roland app), and also of course that you need to buy the $169 app. Though the app does add a lot of other functionality, which is especially useful of the Roland app is not the only sound source you are using (i.e. you want to mix and match its sounds with sounds from other VSTs, whether in splits/layers, or in switching from a sound in one VST to a sound in another). Main info at https://gigperformer.com/