Does Roland hate arpeggiators?

[DrGonzo]

Years ago, when the MC 303 was out of the stores and offered 2nd hand for around 150-200 Euros, I recommended that machine only for its rich built-in arpeggiator.

Plug Midi in, forget the sounds, put arpeggiated MIdi out. Awesome tool for hardware evangelists.

Indeed! The rompler MC range had insane arpeggiators. I got an MC909 and its capabilities are completely mental.

[elassi]

Oh yes, and it has cool quantize features (grid, shuffle, groove).

While thinking about it, I remember someone recently asking here for a tool to create beats with hardware opposite to using the mouse.

This machine will make him happy, I'm sure.

[Gam456]

So if it's a form of player it can't be compatible with the Roland synths that have an Arp if it doesn't also have an arp with similar features. I assume that at least some of the new Roland hardware synths also have built in arps.

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

[cmscss]

So if it's a form of player it can't be compatible with the Roland synths that have an Arp if it doesn't also have an arp with similar features. I assume that at least some of the new Roland hardware synths also have built in arps.

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

So the hardware has to have the arp. So if the new guitar synth GM-800 has no arpeggiator, there’s no way to create a patch that uses one. A total bummer sorry but thanks anyway.

[PAK]

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

Each Zenology partial (there are 4) has 2 LFO’s. Each of those LFO’s can be set to a 16 step sequence. That’s 8 x 16 step sequences, which can route to a bunch of things in various ways..including pitch. Still not an arp, but can be used to go in that sort of direction (and beyond.. )

[cmscss]

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

Each Zenology partial (there are 4) has 2 LFO’s. Each of those LFO’s can be set to a 16 step sequence. That’s 8 x 16 step sequences, which can route to a bunch of things in various ways..including pitch. Still not an arp, but can be used to go in that sort of direction (and beyond.. )

Thanks for that, we’ve all been hacking sudo arps for years but it’s nothing like playing a chord and having the arp do its thing - especially if you sing.

It’s just one of those things, famous guitarists probably told Boss they don’t want/need an arp, so we never get one.

[Gam456]

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

Each Zenology partial (there are 4) has 2 LFO’s. Each of those LFO’s can be set to a 16 step sequence. That’s 8 x 16 step sequences, which can route to a bunch of things in various ways..including pitch. Still not an arp, but can be used to go in that sort of direction (and beyond.. )

Sure. But a step LFO isn't an ARP

[PAK]

If someone’s on Zenology Pro they can check the “Pulsating” sound category and hear some ways it can emulate one.

The Fantom hardware has an arp btw (if anyone wondered) which has phrase support (IE musical sequences and variations). But it’s a part of the controller’s arp section. It also provides rhythm patterns for drums too. Roland don’t include a direct way to replicate any of those bits with the Zenology plugin.

[cmscss]

It's silly but the only way I can see to get GM-800 sounds with an Arp, is to buy an MC-101 and use a Fishman Triple Play guitar pickup to trigger it.

Are there limitations on the hardware MC-101 which means it won't play a ZenCore patch for any reason?

Just looking for the cheapest and smallest ZenCore hardware player with an arpeggiator.

Dear Boss/Roland, many guitarists have wanted a proper arpeggiator for years. I've spent over $10k buying synths, pedals and playing with janky setups to emulate one but everything falls well-short of the real thing (I mean, one of the better arp pedals doesn't even have sync - pointless).

It's a musical effect/sound that's been at the heart of synth history (and your history) since the 80s, so should absolutely be part of ZenCore - right?

[elassi]

...

Go hardware: https://www.midicake.com/shop

[cmscss]

...

Go hardware: https://www.midicake.com/shop

I love that thing but it's a huge expense. It's on my list though. I have an Arpie which is awesome but it doesn't have a bypass so it's either plugged in or not - painful live.

Also, I've never quite understood how to set up an external arp with a guitar synth because an external arp requires the MIDI notes before the synth. But the synth is doing the MIDI conversion so has to first. If the MC-101 can play any Zenology Pro patch, then it's cheaper than a GM-800 (or other synth) + Midicake ARP.

Can the hardware MC-101 play any Zenology Pro patch?

[Teksonik]

So if it's a form of player it can't be compatible with the Roland synths that have an Arp if it doesn't also have an arp with similar features. I assume that at least some of the new Roland hardware synths also have built in arps.

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

Ok so my original point stands that if Zenology doesn't have an arp then it can't reproduce all the patches of the cloud collection synths that do have one.

Anyway, I wanted to make another point about using external arps. I often use more than one Arp in a single patch in synths that have more than one (such as VPS Avenger etc).

As just one example, route one Osc through Arp 1 set to Up at 1/16, another Osc an octave lower through Arp 2 set to Down at 1/8 speed and so on. The possibilities are endless. This allows for some very complex evolving sounds that I love playing for hours on end.

I don't think this would be possible using an external arp in front of the plugin since you can't use more than one and send them to different Oscs etc.

[vurt]

So if it's a form of player it can't be compatible with the Roland synths that have an Arp if it doesn't also have an arp with similar features. I assume that at least some of the new Roland hardware synths also have built in arps.

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

So the hardware has to have the arp. So if the new guitar synth GM-800 has no arpeggiator, there’s no way to create a patch that uses one. A total bummer sorry but thanks anyway.

how would a guitar arp work?
is the midi on the guitar that good?
ive not used one recently, but earlier midi guitars were a bit hit and miss on triggering and sustaining the right notes for an arp to work properly.

[cmscss]

So if it's a form of player it can't be compatible with the Roland synths that have an Arp if it doesn't also have an arp with similar features. I assume that at least some of the new Roland hardware synths also have built in arps.

Yes the free version is just a player. The pro is really deep with hundred of setting.

So the hardware has to have the arp. So if the new guitar synth GM-800 has no arpeggiator, there’s no way to create a patch that uses one. A total bummer sorry but thanks anyway.

how would a guitar arp work?
is the midi on the guitar that good?
ive not used one recently, but earlier midi guitars were a bit hit and miss on triggering and sustaining the right notes for an arp to work properly.

Thanks for the reply. If a Meris Enzo pedal can decode and convert polyphonic audio (chords on 6 strings) into notes, then arpeggiate those notes, it’s hard to see why the GM-800, which is already receiving individual string pitches (no polyphonic decoding) couldn’t.

So why not use the Enzo? The synthesis is extremely limited, the editing, saving and recalling of patches is unusable without a third-party, open-source app (which often looses its connection), and while using the app, you can’t edit a patch and receive sync on the device at the same time. Pointless for an arp function.

Other pedals like the Earthquaker Devices Arpanoid, which is also decoding chords into notes before arpeggiating them, doesn’t even receive sync. It has an analogue ‘Rate’ knob that doesn’t correspond to bpm. Again, pointless for an arp. Honestly, the mind boggles!

Maybe this is some kind of epic tech puzzle but if small $299 pedals which have the extra step of decoding notes within chords can do it, it’s difficult to see why the very latest guitar synth from Boss couldn’t. But maybe it really is this holy grail issue?