Roland FR-4X Accordion Bass & Chord Volume.

[McSqueeze]

I have a Roland FR-4X and I think I have a handle on most functions but I'm stuck on one issue.
Regarding accordion sounds, I find in most sets that the left hand (bass & chords) dominate the right hand accordion sounds.
Also, sometimes when using orchestra bass and orchestra chords I might want just a hint of accordion bass and chords.
So in both cases I want to control the volume of the accordion bass and accordion chords but can't see a way do do this.
I expect this might be possible using the computer editor but I prefer to keep things as simple as possible.
Besides I might want to do this when I'm on the road with no computer. Any help would be appreciated. John.

 

[JerryPH]

The easiest way would be able to adjust this is via the editor, trying to do this via the menu system would have to be akin to spending a week in hell.. lol

Suggested alternate method: Since you feel that the majority of the sets are setup up too loud on the left hand, how about manually setting the balance between the right and left hands? Page 16 of the Roland FR-4x reference manual makes reference to: "Volume Balance Between the Right Hand and Left Hand Sections ([BALANCE] Knob) If the left hand section is too loud or too soft with respect to the right hand section you are using, you can change the balance with the [BALANCE] knob."

Counter point: If you are playing for yourself and feel the balance is wrong, then the balance *is* wrong, however if you are playing for an audience and feel the balance is off, are you sure? The position of the audience in relation to where you are sitting is *vastly* different and what they may hear afterwards is simply "weak bass".

 

[dan]

A few ideas come to mind, but take them with a grain of salt, because I play a different model and haven't had it very long!

Have you tried a different bass register? I've noticed that there is one more set of reeds on my 1xb than on my acoustic accordion, which makes the bass seem quite heavy.

As Jerry said, you might start by adjusting overall RH/LH balance. But if you were already happy with the balance of orchestra sounds relative to treble accordion, then you will probably need to turn up volume for orchestra bass, orchestra chords, and turn down orchestra treble. On the 1x there are settings for each of these. Looks like the 4x is the same with shortcuts to make it easier to access.

Combining a soft accordion bass with louder orchestra bass and accordion or orchestra treble is tricky. Here's how I would do it. Many settings changes are temporary unless you remember to save them to memory. I've turned down reverb and had it go back to the oppressive default echo after turning off the accordion. However, they are global (apply to all Sets) and are saved as part of User Programs. I still have an echoey User Program that I saved prior to making the change. You can take advantage of this to create a bunch of user sets with the desired level balance. This should be a lot faster than using the editor.

1. Turn the balance most of the way to RH
2. Turn up orchestra bass to compensate
3. Turn up orchestra chords to compensate
4. Find a sound combination you want, layer up orchestra and accordion bass
5. Save it to a user program
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for any sounds you think you might want to combine with a soft accordion bass.

You may need to turn down the overall volume when you load these user programs.

 

[McSqueeze]

Thanks JerryPH and dan for your responses.
I've decided to use the editor so downloaded the Executable Jar file and installed the latest Java.
Apparently the driver downloads automatically.
Ensured the USB Driver parameter in System was set to ORG as suggested by Roland.
Clicking on the Executable brings up an error so it now looks like the editor will only work with USB2 and I only have USB3 on my computer.
You'd think a big company like Roland would make things less complicated.

 

[John M]

I kept getting an error when trying to run the executable Roland file. The executable jar file installed in C:\ on my PC. I created the folder "Roland" on my "C" hard drive. I then copied the Roland executable into the Roland folder. Once I did that, the Roland editor works every time. My knowledge of software is minimal, but I am guessing that when you "click" the Roland executable, it goes and looks for the Java file to be in the same main directory.

John M.

 

[oldbayan]

I kept getting an error when trying to run the executable Roland file. The executable jar file installed in C:\ on my PC. I created the folder "Roland" on my "C" hard drive. I then copied the Roland executable into the Roland folder. Once I did that, the Roland editor works every time. My knowledge of software is minimal, but I am guessing that when you "click" the Roland executable, it goes and looks for the Java file to be in the same main directory.

John M.

A jar file is not really an "executable" like a exe file. It is a compressed container that holds the java code, and it must be opened with the Java run-time system. Your file must be set to be opened by the Java run-time system. If you right-click on the jar file, it must show that you want to open it with the Java Platform SE Library. Put all your set files in the same folder as the jar, then right-click on it to confirm what happens when you double-click on it, or create a shortcut to do the same. You only have to do that once for that file. You can also set the option to always open jar files the same way.

 

[JerryPH]

How to install/setup the Java editor:
AccordionMemories.com/fr-8x-java-editor/