Glyn Barnes


I have just set up my A-Pro 800.  I have been trying out the aftertouch. As this is the first keyboard I have had with aftertouch I do not have a bench mark for comparison but I do think it seems a bit stiffer than I would have expected if I had not read the posts here.
 
However I am finding mine usable so far (on the default setting) and I have been having some fun with the vowel morph patches in the Kontakt 4 choirs. I am using Kontakt stand alone, I can go through the full range consistently and after a little practice accurately.
 
I wonder if there was a bad batch of Friday afternoon boards??
 
 

Cool, Glyn - Glad you're happy with the AT.  Do you play standing up?  I'm sitting in my home studio, and the only way I can get the AT action to happen with key pressure is if I press down as hard as I would to roll out bread dough, and that's pretty hard.  The AT does kick in, but it's totally impractical, how hard I have to push.  Standing gives me more leverage, but still not enough, and I don't plan on standing here to play.

It's impossible to figure out, if we all have the same amount of responsiveness in our units, and we just adapt to it differently, or the boards themselves vary that much.  It is true that online you can find users complaining about AT being for kaka over a period of years now, in all Roland boards.

Maybe you have stronger arms! - I just thought AT would be triggered with lingering and slightly more pressure, without this wrestling contest involved.  I dunno!  But it's good to hear someone who's happy with it.

I was going to ask if there were any tricks you're aware of in the settings, but you said you're just using the defaults.  Hmm.  Oh well!

Randy B.

rbowser


Cool, Glyn - Glad you're happy with the AT.  Do you play standing up?  I'm sitting in my home studio, and the only way I can get the AT action to happen with key pressure is if I press down as hard as I would to roll out bread dough, and that's pretty hard.  The AT does kick in, but it's totally impractical, how hard I have to push.  Standing gives me more leverage, but still not enough, and I don't plan on standing here to play. .

I can play it sitting. Currently the A-Pro is on my higher shelf with my old XP-10 in the slightly better ergonomic position on the lower shelf. The amount of pressuer required is higher than I would have thought necessary, there is certainly no chance of triggering it by accident !!  When I get chance I will try the other settings.
 
My problem is I am enjoying having two keyboards too much. I think the XP-10 will remain in use, stuck on channel 1, until it finally dies. Then I be looking for another keyboard.

Hi Glyn, how easy is the aftertouch to trigger if you just use 1 little finger?

On the APro  it is quite uncomfortable, but for example on a Yamaha Motif it is easy to trigger the aftertouch with just light pressure from one finger.

Shambler


Hi Glyn, how easy is the aftertouch to trigger if you just use 1 little finger?

On the APro  it is quite uncomfortable, but for example on a Yamaha Motif it is easy to trigger the aftertouch with just light pressure from one finger.

Now that's the acid test, I gave it a go and you are right. It requires too much pressure to be comfortable with the little finger.

Thanks Glyn, looks like it is time for an ebay sale!

FWIW I found curve 2 gave the best response.

After touch can really clog up the MIDI stream. This is why Cakewalk and some other DAW's default aftertouch to be off. I wonder if this is also the reason after touch is stiff on Rolands. To prevent normal playing form sending after touch data. Over the years I guess I have become used to Roland's after touch.

Rabid


After touch can really clog up the MIDI stream. This is why Cakewalk and some other DAW's default aftertouch to be off. I wonder if this is also the reason after touch is stiff on Rolands. To prevent normal playing form sending after touch data. Over the years I guess I have become used to Roland's after touch.

Hi, Rabid - I remember the old days of using hardware sequencers when After touch was a super rare spice to use very sparingly.  My Alesis MMT8 would fill up fast with too much of any continuous controller.  I can't remember the memory size in that unit--?  Teeny compared to what we work with nowadays.

I think you're right that the designers have made the Roland keyboards so AT isn't accidentally triggered.  Problem is, though, that I can't make it trigger consistently no matter which curve I use and how hard I press on the keys.  I'll stand up and put all my strength on the keys, and I'll be lucky if I get a small smattering of AT.  It's just totally unworkable.

And so I stick with my map that has AT assigned to the pitch stick.  That works for a lot of the instruments I use.

Thanks for the tip, Scottkrk, about curve 2.  Unfortunately, none of the curves do it for me.  Oh well!

Randy B.

what is a SONAR patch that can be used to test if Aftertouch is working correctly?
alos, should both of these be on?
Preferences> Key Aftertouch
Channel Aftertouch

I have an old XP-30, and an A-300Pro i would like to test.

I did some tests.

First one is trying each of the curves. I pressed middle A on the A300, and pressed down as hard as I could.

Obviously, 4 is totally useless. 1 is crappy as well. I almost maxed out on 3.
Also notice how the initial velocity increases - probably the result of me getting pissed.

Next I was trying to play something (some random notes) with a "real world" attempt of aftertouch. Curve is set to 3.

Well, it's possible. Very hard to control the level, but I guess we are ****ed anyway. So better practice this instead of ****ing about Roland's support.
I must say that I also own an EV-5 pedal, so whatever vibrato I need goes there. AT could be sort of an "on-off" switch for me.