Brian McClelland

On 1/8/2021 at 7:07 AM, fulop.nandor said:

Dear Members,

I have some problem with SCVA in CbB, please, do read it below:

Symptome: in case of Roland Cloud Sound Canvas VA  version 1.1.6 (hereafter: SVCA) VSTi in Cakewalk by Bandlab version 2020.11, build 099,  the MIDI Pitch Bend Sensitivity XXX  (i.e. RPN 0 XXX) messages do not modify the sensitivity range,  but set the MIDI Channel Volume according to the value of MSB part of XXX, instead.

My question: what settings are needed for the proper operation of "Pitch Bend Sensitivity" MIDI messages in case of SVCA VSTi in CbB?

The story and the circumstances: At the end of December of 2020, I purchased an  SVCA software synth via Roland Cloud Manager. After the payment was completed, I was able to initiate the installation of SVCA from Roland Could Manager by a single click into my PC (CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 @ 3.2GHz; RAM: 8 GB) having Microsoft Windows 10 Home version 2004 operating system. The installation seemed to be taken place without any problem. I set the path to SVCA files for the Cakewalk, the Cakewalk recognized it as a VSTi successfully,  so I immediately started learning about the SVCA. I was able to play different MIDI files through the SVCA with quite good sounding, so I was really satisfied with the first results.
Until I met that problem related to setting the pitch bend range, which one I mentioned in the Symptome above.

The reproduction of the symptome: I created a simple test file, see the enclosed file "svca-test-pitch-bend-range.mid". It contains only 6 consecutive C5 notes in the first MIDI channel. Then I have inserted MIDI Pitch Bend Sensitivity XXX messages just before the note message, where the values denoted by XXX were 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048 and 3072 in order to specify 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 24 semitones as limits of the expected bending range. 

When the Output was set to Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth in the Cakewalk, the playing back of this file resulted the six consecutive C5 notes, with bending up to 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 24 semitones at their ends, according to the MIDI Pitch Bend Sensitivity (RPN 0) messages, i.e. everything seemed to be OK.

Reproduction of the problem: when I changed Output to the SOUND Canvas VA from the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth,  the playing back the test file resulted almost no audible sound during its about first half - and only a very slowly intensifying but quite still silent sound during the second half, while the bending ranges were limited to only 2 semitones, for all the notes.
Even, in window of SCVA, the Volume Slider of Channel 1 jumped suddenly to value 1 (i.e. almost its leftmost position) as the playing back reached the first note, then changed at the begin of each next note to 2, 4, 8 and 16, and when the last note were reached and exceeded, the Volume Slider got its final position: 24,  as it can be seen in the enclosed picture "svca-volume-level-changed-instead-of-pitch-bend-range-setting.jpg".
In this time, during this reproduction of the problem, I used the SCVA by the following way for the playing back the test file :
1) I inserted the SCVA from the main menu by clicking on the items: Insert > Soft Synth > Sound Canvas VA.
2) I put tickmarks to the checkboxes:
All Synth Audio Outputs: Stereo,
Synth Property Page,
Synth Rack View
in the dialog box titled as Insert Soft Synth Option, then I clicked on button "OK".
3) I selected Track 1, clicked to "O" (Output) and clicked on the menuitem 2-SOUND Canvas VA in the list.

Then I inserted Control 7-Volume 100 MIDI messages between the Pitch Bend Sensitivity XXX MIDI messages and Note C5 MIDI messages. During the playing back of the test file modified by these -volume setting messages,  the volume of the resulted sound were recovered to 100, but the bending range still remained to be limited to 2 semitones. Or, in other words, the default pitch bending range, which is 2 semitones only, were applied since the beginning to the end, despite the presence of Pitch Bend Sensitivity MIDI messages having different range values.

So I concluded roughly this: the Pitch Bend Sensitivity XXX MIDI messages were interpreted as Control 7-Volume MSB-of-XXX messages in my SCVA-CbB configuration.

Thanks for any recommendation to overcome this strange behaviour, in advance! (Sorry for my poor English, if I were not so clear.)

scva-pitch-band-range-test.mid 981 B · 2 downloads

Hey, fulop.nandor! Brian from Roland Cloud here. Sorry that you're having difficulty with the pitch bending. If you Contact Us through the link at http://www.rolandcloud.com/support we can submit this to our dev team and get it worked on. Thanks for letting us know.  😊

On 10/2/2020 at 7:39 PM, Zo said:

Paris ...France  .. glad to see ya around ... hard to push stufff lol roland is big "animal" , that said software might be easier than hardware , at that time i was trying to push them to create a drum maschine hybrid based on the mv 8800 lol a maschine lol and pushed them other 808 and other drum boxes .

This when the boss explained me how it was impossible to create exactly the same , if i tecall because of original chip were limited motorola ones never made after that or some ...can t recall the story ... 

Yes, it's nice to meet you! I asked them the same thing about reissuing the hardware when I started, since it's requested frequently. Turns out that big changes in the parts supply and the movement towards more modern manufacturing (SMD electronics, etc) have shifted away from assembling these units like they were previously built. All good, though. I love the sounds of the Cloud, as well as the accessibility. 

47 minutes ago, Zo said:

Thks Brian , out of topic but where are located , looks like i already saw you .... been close to roland CE head , Peter and french ( Cedric Verchere) when i endorsed roland and cakelwak back then ... we might saw each other on a show or some ? 

I'm in the Seattle office, just started a couple months ago. I haven't been to any events for the company yet, but they look like a blast! Where are you located? 

15 hours ago, Zo said:

Great news , also EDU prices should be proposed  

Also in the works! 😉

On 9/28/2020 at 5:47 PM, Fleer said:

Hi Brian, great to see you here. 
Can you confirm that Fantom 8 owners, who paid $4000 for their keyboard, also need to pay for Roland Cloud? Shouldn’t they get those Lifetime Keys for free?

Hi, Fleer! Also, a very good question. While our Roland Cloud Lifetime Keys have been rolled out separately from the promotion of the Fantom, I agree. I'll send you a PM and we can work something out. 😊😊

On 9/28/2020 at 5:53 PM, Zo said:

Hi Brian l any info on a bundle , pricecstructure is really pushing around sub if somebody wants several stuff ..

Thks for being around !!! 

Hi, Zo! Good question. We just discussed some upcoming bundle promotions today.  Though I can't release specifics, I can say that there will be more options coming for those that want some mix of Lifetime Keys with some of the subscription-only expansions. 

Hi, everyone! Brian from Roland Cloud here. Thanks for the feedback. The Lifetime Keys became available recently at the request of those that were interested in a one-time purchase. The membership tiers offer a variety of sounds and configurations with a monthly or annual option. We have new sounds and features coming out all the time for members, and if you sign up now, you get one month of Ultimate to try everything Roland Cloud has to offer. I'm always around if you have questions. Thanks!