Hi,
I have a JV1080 and I've never been able to get it to play in multi timbre mode. I've read the manual a dozen times but I still don't get it.

With my Korg N5, i just set tracks, each with different midi ports and pathces; and the Korg plays each track as per the instrument selected. But the JV only responds to midi port 1. I can't see any way of making it respond in the same way as the Korg, not even in GM mode.

The manual is very vague about this. Am I missing something?
Brett

Do you have the INS file for the JV1080? You can download it from Cakewalknet.

You put the JV in GM Mode by pressing Shift and Perform.

I just don't think the box is multichannel capable through software. It was designed primarily as a live unit and to communicate with a chain of other similar devices. So Multitimbre has never worked for me but I can select all of the memory banks in patch mode to work from software including GM.

I spent weeks on this issue last year trying to track down the memory locations so I could write my own ins file. Most of what you need is accessible through the hardware. Software based control is limited in my experience.

The JV1080, 1010 & 2080, as well as the XP60 and XP80, operate pretty much the same way, but it IS different from the Korg stuff... the terminology was what tripped me up.
I use an XP60 (which sound-engine wise IS the 1080) and a JV1010 (which sound-engine wise IS the 2080)...

Multitembral mode on Roland gear is called a performance, so the Roland must be in "Performance" mode to play multiple instruments.
It sounds like you are in "Patch" mode (there is also a Rhythm mode for just playing drums), which will only let you play one at a time.

On the 1080:
Once you have the 1080 in "Performance" mode, you can select instruments on channals 1-16, and the Roland will change the instruments on "Part" 1-16 accordingly. By default, channel/part 10 will be the drum part.
Set the 1080's "Performance Ctrl Channel" to channel 1.

In Sonar:
Now... import the Roland JV1080's Patch, Performance and Rhythm instrument definitions into Sonar via the Assign Instruments dialog and...
set the output channel for the 1080's Rhythm ins to channel 10...
set the output channel for the 1080's Performance ins to channel 1...
and set the rest of the channels to the 1080's Patch ins...
Close the dialog.

Now, you'll be able to turn on Sonar and the JV1080, select a 1080 Performance (there are several of these) on channel 1, select a rhythm part on channel 10, and select patches on channels 2-9 and 11-16.
I do this all the time and it works great...

Keep in mind that a "Layer" Performance in the 1080 is not what you want for this functionality, so select Performances that are "Single" Performances. This is defined via the "Key Mode" parameter on the JV1080 itself. Select the instruments for multitembral playback on any "Key Mode: Single" Performance.

Good luck... give it a few weeks to sink in and then you can start playing around with effects/chorus/reverb settings and sysex dumps to Sonar. You can do quite a bit with Sonar and the 1080.

- zevo

If you have any questions, post back.

Thanks for the info guys.

I think the issue is that I had a layered performance selected, I'll try again tonight.

And it's SHIFT to get into GM mode. duh, missed that one.

Seriously guys, anyone who get their heads around all this stuff should get a job as a programmer. I'm a programmer and nothing is more complex than all this midi crap. I wrote a short Perl programme the other day to format a sysex from my new synth, made life a whole lot easier.

Brett

Funny. I have the JV1080 and a Korg.
I can't for the life of me figure out stuff in the Korg. The JV is a piece of cake:)
I just leave the JV in performance mode. That's all you really need. You can a assign a GM layer to a performance if you want.

ORIGINAL: timidi

I just leave the JV in performance mode. That's all you really need. You can a assign a GM layer to a performance if you want.

No, it's more complicated than that. It might work in performance mode but it's not guarranteed, and in my case didn't work.

Brett

Multitembral mode on Roland gear is called a performance, so the Roland must be in "Performance" mode to play multiple instruments.
It sounds like you are in "Patch" mode (there is also a Rhythm mode for just playing drums), which will only let you play one at a time.

On the 1080:
Once you have the 1080 in "Performance" mode, you can select instruments on channals 1-16, and the Roland will change the instruments on "Part" 1-16 accordingly. By default, channel/part 10 will be the drum part.
Set the 1080's "Performance Ctrl Channel" to channel 1.

In Sonar:
Now... import the Roland JV1080's Patch, Performance and Rhythm instrument definitions into Sonar via the Assign Instruments dialog and...
set the output channel for the 1080's Rhythm ins to channel 10...
set the output channel for the 1080's Performance ins to channel 1...
and set the rest of the channels to the 1080's Patch ins...
Close the dialog.

Hi inmazevo,,, I'm still wrestling with this myself, too. I got the instrument definitions set up in sonar, but if I try to load sounds on more than one channel, they all seem to change to the latest voice. In my Alesis you could assign voices from your host, without having to save them as a performance in the unit. If I'm reading what you are saying correctly, you are making performances in the Roland, saving that performance and selecting the performance from Sonar??

The trick is to make sure, in editing or creating your default performance (I named mine "Multitimbral"), that you go through and set each part to a separate midi channel. Some of the factory Performances have multiple parts responding on the same channel so you get a massive layered sound or a performance with several splits across the keyboard. In any case, go through, part by part, and set the midi channel to correspond to the part and you're good to go. You'll never have to touch the 1080 again. With the INS file loaded in Sonar, you can select any sound in the box from within Sonar via the bank and patch fields in the track properties (I/O) box.

ORIGINAL: bmdaustin

The trick is to make sure, in editing or creating your default performance (I named mine "Multitimbral"), that you go through and set each part to a separate midi channel. Some of the factory Performances have multiple parts responding on the same channel so you get a massive layered sound or a performance with several splits across the keyboard. In any case, go through, part by part, and set the midi channel to correspond to the part and you're good to go. You'll never have to touch the 1080 again. With the INS file loaded in Sonar, you can select any sound in the box from within Sonar via the bank and patch fields in the track properties (I/O) box.

That may be the piece of the puzzle I was missing. I assumed it would broadcast each part to a separate channel. Never thought to go in and check the layers. Thanks Paul.