Arpeggiator?

[pdjpro]

Hi all,

I am considering buying a Fantom 8. One thing I am struggling to find information about is an arpeggiator. Yes, I have seen the Roland video on arpeggios but what if you want to design your own. Does the Fantom 8 have this capability?

Many thanks in advance

Paul

[PaulGreen]

Not yet but it's often requested so probably will eventually make it into the Fantom.
NB If you need the customizable ARP for performance right away, you may want to look elsewhere. Roland has never been "quick draw mcgraw" getting updates out.

[pdjpro]

Thanks Paul,

To get absolutely every box ticked in one piece of kit is not likely. From what I can see the Fantom is in a different league to Korg Kronos, by comparison the Kronos looks like an antique from user experience perspective.

I really like the TR drum programmer and the fact most workflows can be achieved without having to go deep into menu after menu via the screen really appeals.

I had a go with one last week in a shop, after which I felt like I had taken a rather too much happy juice. Wow, the sounds are incredible and the key bed is just fantastic.

I don't think the lack of ARP is going to stop me ;-)

Paul

[PaulGreen]

Well then you should be quite happy with the Fantom.
While it is a dream machine in most respects, you should be aware that if aftertouch is something you use quite a bit you will be disappointed with the lack of response. This also is well documented and runs through the entire new Fantom line. It's weird in that older Fantoms such as G and X have excellent aftertouch but it takes a gigantic effort to bring in aftertouch on this machine. So far Roland has responded with a wider software adjustment to sensitivity in one of their updates but the hardware problem remains.

[thorr]

Also, if you want to sequence something, you are limited to blocks of 32 measures that you can chain together to make it longer.

The Fantom can't do everything, and some of the stuff it can't do is just plain stupid (like the above). However, it is an amazing machine and the usability is miles better than a Kronos from what I can tell. Watch some of the Roland 4x4x4 Challenge videos on Youtube to see how easy it is to come up with great creative stuff. Paired with a computer and some software, you can pretty much do anything with it (except maybe aftertouch).

[Yannick.fr]

Hi,

You can use the step LFO of the Fantom as an arppegio, it's a bit longer, but it work.
After I agree, a user arpeggio would make this machine almost perfect

[Erenion]

Hi,

You can use the step LFO of the Fantom as an arppegio, it's a bit longer, but it work.
After I agree, a user arpeggio would make this machine almost perfect

Hello Yannick,
I would maybe also add the possibility to play live different arpeggio patterns on different tracks ( like on the Montage for instance).
I also noticed some users asked to have integrated into the fantom the i-arpeggio capability of the jupiter xm/x

[pdjpro]

Thanks for all the replies. As you say, one piece of kit isn't going to do it all.

There are certainly some workarounds for the arpeggiator and for me that is more than enough.

Paul

[FGM]

Yes, circumnavigation is an art to be mastered by the clever composer.

[EdGe]

...one piece of kit isn't going to do it all.

There are certainly some workarounds for the arpeggiator and for me that is more than enough.

Paul

You're right - can't do it all. At least, it should do what its predecessors did!

Although there are no user arp patterns, at least it should have the basics, like up&down, up, down, random...the Fantom is absolutely useless in this sense.

The arp "patterns" are SO useless...I just can't believe it's even called an arpeggiator. It should be called, "Crap Note Pattern Thingy."

Seriously - 128 "patches", with at least 5 variations per patch, and "phrases"...absolutely useless.

Sorry Roland - you F'd the pooch on the arp on this device.

[mndst]

I really would like to see an update that brings custom arpeggios to the Fantom platform. As others also mention the current set of arpeggios is rather useless. For a machine like this a vast amount of custom arpeggios should be available including an editor and/or transform sequence parts into arpeggios.

@Roland can this be added in the near future?

[FGM]

And before Roland goes with it (+1), I would like a little manual dealing with what we already have, since no explanation is available so far regarding those many styles (128) and its variations.

[Xfeten]

...one piece of kit isn't going to do it all.

There are certainly some workarounds for the arpeggiator and for me that is more than enough.

Paul

You're right - can't do it all. At least, it should do what its predecessors did!

Although there are no user arp patterns, at least it should have the basics, like up&down, up, down, random...the Fantom is absolutely useless in this sense.

The arp "patterns" are SO useless...I just can't believe it's even called an arpeggiator. It should be called, "Crap Note Pattern Thingy."

Seriously - 128 "patches", with at least 5 variations per patch, and "phrases"...absolutely useless.

Sorry Roland - you F'd the pooch on the arp on this device.

Look at the motif option in the arpeggio setup, You will find up, down, up&down, random… the classic run modes…

https://youtu.be/h2JuMGGuCGU min 1:42

[EdGe]

Look at the motif option in the arpeggio setup, You will find up, down, up&down, random… the classic run modes…

https://youtu.be/h2JuMGGuCGU min 1:42

Ahh...okay. Thanks. Forgot about that.

Yes...one can get a simple, up/down/up&down in the first Arp patch so descriptively named "Note Value" by selecting different Variations. I suggest changing the Accent from its default 100 to 0, just so you can hear the other notes rather than just the downbeat.

Still, it must be said that whatever engineer thought considering timing divisions as "variations" ought to be demoted...and Accent at 100, by default...

The arp system on the latest Fantom is SO obtuse...it's just to easy to give up, say it sucks, and complain on this forum.

Thank you for the reminder Xfeten. It is possible to get a simple arp on the Fantom.

[EdGe]

...one piece of kit isn't going to do it all.

There are certainly some workarounds for the arpeggiator and for me that is more than enough.

Paul

You're right - can't do it all. At least, it should do what its predecessors did!

Although there are no user arp patterns, at least it should have the basics, like up&down, up, down, random...the Fantom is absolutely useless in this sense.

The arp "patterns" are SO useless...I just can't believe it's even called an arpeggiator. It should be called, "Crap Note Pattern Thingy."

Seriously - 128 "patches", with at least 5 variations per patch, and "phrases"...absolutely useless.

Sorry Roland - you F'd the pooch on the arp on this device.

To correct my comments from the past for others who may read this...

Yes, you can get the tradition, up/down/up&down/random patterns played straight in time with no other rhythmic variation than the note divisions. However, it's not intuitive. It's the first Arp patch called "Note Values"...and it's the Variation parameter that sets the time division.

For some reason, the Accent value on my machine was set to 100, which would all but eliminate notes other than the downbeat...which was confusing me. Because, even in adjusting the variation, I'd only hear the downbeat note and would think, what's the variation? It was confusing until Xfeten pointed out my lack of understanding.

There are arp patches with the name "8th" and "16th" which naturally, I assumed the patch itself dictated the time division, and those do...yet they impart a rhythmic variation and again, put that together with the Accent at 100 on the Notes Value patch, and not hearing the time division "variation", I thought there simply was no up/down/up&down - i.e. traditional arp patterns available.

A few months back, I sat at the Fantom going through all the arps and variations just dumbfounded I could not find a traditional pattern. My mistake.

I can appreciate how much Roland crammed into the arp system, but I think they've over-engineered a basic feature which has basic expectations.

One thing I still don't like is the "Phrases"...they introduce notes outside of the played notes in an unknown (until you go through each and every pattern) interval which may, or most likely note be in the key or mode of your chord structures. I find them somewhat useless.

But, I stand to be corrected. Perhaps those phrase motifs have more use than I give them credit? I look forward to anyone's feedback to point out where I may be also missing this point! :)