All,
I have a friend that gave up on his FCB1010 a couple of years ago
(he bought a Line6 short board). Anyhow, he recently loaned it to
me so I could setup for the Roland RD700 at my church. Our pianists
had requested some basic functionality; selecting patches, volume
control, effects control, and damping.
So I upgraded this unit from v2.1 to UnO 1.0.2C and then went to
work programming its presets. I wanted each preset to select a
patch (Bank Select MSB, LSB, and a PC), configure the expression
pedals, and actuate SW1 for the damper. Initially, I just
programmed Bank 0. I'll do the other 9 banks later.
The first sign of trouble was when I discovered the Roland's damper
input expects a normally closed switch input. Without UnO, this
would have been a show stopper. But, UnO supports inverting the
relay functions. So I changed this setting in the global setup and
kept going.
The next problem was that the arbitrary patches I selected were not
to the pianist's liking. So I consulted with her (right there
during rehearsal) and was given a list of ten favorites. I began to
edit the FCB's presets right the on the spot using the Ripwerx
editor. Here's where UnO helped: I was able to reprogram the
presets without touching the unit. I left the FCB right there under
the pianist's feet and reprogrammed it from twenty feet away. I
didn't even have to disconnect the FCB from the Roland. As a matter
of fact, she kept playing while I edited. I'd make a few changes,
send them to the unit, she would try them, and then I change a few
more. With stock firmware, I'd have had to take the foot switch
away for a while and I would have needed to enter global mode and
all that mess. This was a huge time saver and was impressive to
observers (musicians and vocalists).
So, even if you don't need stomp mode, "send sysex instead of...",
transpose, or adjustable note velocity, UnO is a good choice for
these two reasons alone: inverting switch outputs, and hands-free
(feet-free) sysex transfers.
Great!
By the way, keyboard players, do you think it would be helpful to
post this FCB setup for the Roland? Or is it so elementary so not
to be necessary?
mike riley
