Roland Aira Tb-3 Software Controller For Mac
The Aira Range Ok, so Roland released the Aira range back in 2013/14. Critique was look warm, but I actually loved them. The Bassline TB-3 sounded very authentic (it was a clone of the classic Roland Bassline) and had a heap of extra waveforms other than the standard SQR/SAW. Now fast forward 4 years and Im trawling the web looking for software updates for the Aira series and I stumble across a template in Ctrlr for the Bassline TB-3.
Now I thought. 'what more is there to control on the TB3, all its control is on the front.' Roland basically hid most of the synth in System Exclusive, it really is a full blown mono synth, with Ringmod LFO and twin Effects! Why they didn't release an ipad controller /app ect for it I have no idea as this thing is utterly WASTED without the extra Sysex control. MD2 to the Rescue Not to worry, I seen these Ctrlr layouts, and ran straight to the nearest phone booth to change into my MD2 design suit/cape.(well I went to Rolands web site and downed the Sysex sheets too, that was helpful!) Now I like Ctrlr, but I still think controlling synths with even a keyboard and mouse sux compared to MD2. And this layout rips if I must say so myself (MD2 is doing all the work, believe me, I just typed in Sysex), the Sequencer alone is just a dream to use compared to the front interface of the TB-3.
Roland Aira Tb-3 Software Controller For Macbook Pro
Instructions: I designed this in an iPad Pro 12 inch, it works fine on the 10' but the Sequencer may be 'tight'. I apologize but in all honesty, these designs are 'selfish' in nature, as I make them for myself, but if you want to redesign the sequencer in multiple screens for the 10' ipads then knock yourself out.just make sure to upload the results and share around. Page 1 Synth, this is the main Synth page and contains all your classic stages VCO, VCF, LFO, VCA, RingMod and even a quazi cv offset system. Try the Ringmod, its really nice. Page 1 Distortion, yes there is a full blown distortion effect that can be used along with two effects, essentially giving you 3 effects at once.
The distortion has many simulations and some are hardcore cool. Page 2/3 Ok, so there are two effects sections, and you can use ONE! Effects only from each page.
You select the effect you want using the picker control at the top, make sure the effect is ON and off you go. All effects are solid quality and you can get some great sounds out of these alone. Page 3 Effects MISC. There's a small section down the bottom right corner where you can change the bend range, set the TB3 midi channels (it uses SYSEX to do this), and you can set Midi Designers CC Control channel, this would obviously always be set to whatever the TB3 midi channel in is. Because some of the controls, (mainly the ones on the Play page) use standard CC midi messages, they are all grouped to this Control Channel which basically sets MD2s transmit Midi Channel for all those CCs. Here there are a few grids to jam around with, and you can actually change some of them using the Assign page, more on that soon. The other cool things here is the Scatter control, using MD2 to control the scatter is better than any Aira control in my opinion, it's just really playable.
Scatter is a great feature of the TB3, System1 and TR8. Page 5 32 Step Sequencer. You can fully control the Tb3 Sequencer from here, Im not going to explain Seq basics, but set you length 1-32 and jam. The top 16 rows are steps 1-16, bottom 17-32.
Roland Aira System 8
The Clear buttons above and below the sliders are step incrementors for the sliders, so you can get greater control. V 1.02. There are now buttons for steps 4, 8, 16 and 32 for quicker setting. Page 6 Assign Parameters. Ok so this page lets you assign any of the Sysex's controls to various controls on the TB3, kind've like a basic cv plugable modulation system. You can assign different parameters to say the onboard Effect knob, or the XY grid and use the TB3 control grid to modulate these parameters.Final Version 1.02 Notes.Ok, so after a good 2 hours testing Ive made some final changes.
There were two controls which were actually documented wrong in the Sysex (typos), there was also a bug made by me in the Play Grids and Assignment page, this is now working much better.I have removed the extra Seq Lo page.Added Defaults buttons on every page so you can reset all controls in sections to defaults for sound design.Offset Section: This is an unusual area, in Rolands SYSEX spec these controls are 0-255 (14 bit). Now they work, but the center seems to be around 64, not 128.
Why, you would need to ask Roland, but they work, basically the best way of explaining what these do is in an Analog frame. In older analog (eurorack etc) you have Offset controls which essentially remove (or add) DC offset voltage, so they can rise or lower the pitch.
Roland Aira Tb 3
I found 64 seems to be the center and anything over 160 or so does nothing. Extra note from testing.you need to screw around with the Offset Ring control to get the Ring Modulator working right. How to host your shiny app on amazon ec2 for mac.
Ring mods are 'generally' used for higher pitched sounds (bells etc. Lots of harmonics) so you need to wind up the offset to get it cranking a bit. This Ring Offset seems to also greatly adjust the pitch of the Sine wave output too so if you want lots of lower sub bass, keep the Offset Ring low. (Why the Offset Ring adjusts the Sine wave pitch offset?again, ask Roland, I have no idea without reference.) Im pretty sure I implemented all the sysex, so theres not much more you can do than this. That's about it, big thanks to Dan and Mitch, this program gives me wings in the studio! Cheers Thedood (Brett Anthony).