Roland Personal Model Expansions and corresponding Zen-Core
Tones
Zen-Core MODEL
EXPANSIONS (in the past called "model banks") were
born as a method to emulate some vintage Roland
synthesizers in some compatible Zen-Core hardware
and within the ZENOLOGY software.
To date there are 4 models compatible with Jupiter X
/ XM, Fantom and Zenology (the expansions Juno-106,
Jupiter-8, SH-101 and JX-8P) to which is added the
JD-800 expansion available for Jupiter X / XM and
Zenology.
In the future, new Model Expansion will certainly be
made available, which according to Roland's
promises, thanks to the power of the ZEN-Core
synthesis system, will allow you to create
"... new and exciting Roland synthesizers that can
draw inspiration from existing hardware or be built
in complete autonomy .." see
link
Thanks to numerous tests and documentation on the
implementation of Fantom's MIDI System Exclusive
messages, I managed to obtain two results that
greatly expand the synthesis possibilities of the
MODEL EXPANSIONS currently existing. In detail, I
managed to:
- create Personal Model Expansions in which I
modified the structure of the existing ones by
adding new features and, in some cases, increasing
the polyphony up to double it.
- convert any sound of any Model Expansions (except the JD800) into the
corresponding Zen-Core tone: this tone will sound
identical, it will be editable and obviously it can
be played on any Zen-Core Hardware (Ax-Edge, Rd-88,
MC-101, MC-107 and MV-1 included), Zenology software
and ZenBeat APP (ZC1 instrumets)
To understand how this is possible, it is necessary
to think of Model Expansions, as templates (or
macros) that in the “background” operate on the
Zen-Core structure corresponding to the chosen
model.
Each time you intervene on a model synthesis
parameter, the software (firmware in the HW)
modifies one or more parameters of the Zen-Core
engine based on very precise correspondences, which
continues to operate exactly as in standard mode. In
addition, hidden Zen-Core parameters are activated
and modified that cannot be accessed directly, but
only via MIDI SysEx.
The interesting thing is that when any sound of a
model is stored and / or exported, not only are the
values of the model parameters stored (e.g. OSC,
Filters, ENV, MOD of a SH-101) but are stored all
corresponding values of the underlying standard
Zen-Core structure.
In fact, if you try to export (.svz file) a tone
from a ModelBank and a Zen-Core, the former, despite
having many fewer parameters, will have a larger
size: therefore all the values of the Zen-Core
sound are stored in the corresponding file.
Thanks to this feature I was able to create what I
called the "Personal Model Expansions": I started
from an existing model, through MIDI SysEx I
modified the synthesis structure of the underlying
Zen-Core model and from that moment on any
modification of the Model Expansion parameters
affects the new model created. Full compatibility
and the ability to export and share sounds is
guaranteed by the presence of the entire underlying
Zen-Core tone in each user sound created.
All Personal Model Expansions are obviously editable
and therefore from each it is possible to create,
store and share all the changes (new sounds) you
want.
I have created, for now :-) , about twenty Personal
Model Expansions: here are some examples
- Personal Model Juno 106 with detuned SAW and SQR
- Personal Model Juno 106 with SuperSaw oscillator
instead of Noise
- Personal Model Juno 106 with 3 Saw oscillators,
two detuned (-6 +6 Cent) and one with PWM
- Personal Model JX-8P with additional SuperSaw
oscillator (also in an unfiltered version)
- Personal Model JX-8P with additional stereo
Strings PCM oscillator
- Personal Model JX-8P with additional oscillator
with PCM stereo sample Syn Vox1 (the classic sound
of the Fairlight SARRAR)
- Personal Model SH-101 with an Alpha Juno
oscillator (instead of the SQR) and equipped with
PWM
- Personal Model Juno 106 with only OSC SAW and SQR
(also in detuned version) and polyphony that goes
from 14 to 28 voices
- Personal Model JX-8P with 28 voices polyphony
(eliminated the background noise oscillator which
reduces the polyphony of the instrument from 28 to
19 voices)
The complete list follows (click to enlarge)
Thanks to what we have seen, the second result I was
able to obtain was to convert any sound of any Model
Expansions (with the exception of the JD800) into
the corresponding Zen-Core tone: this tone will
sound identical, it will be editable and obviously
it can be played on any compatible Zen-Core Hardware
or Software.
Regarding the JD800 model, it is also possible to
make customizations using a Jupiter x (which I don't
have :-) ) : we hope to see it implemented on Fantom
soon.
This is possible thanks to a combination of MIDI
SysEx messages that allow the reading and therefore
the export of the entire Zen-Core tone underlying
each Model Expansions (standard or "personal").
Once the Zen-Core tone is obtained, it can then be
stored and then exported and shared like any
standard Zen-core sound. Hence the possibility of
making it play even on all Zen-Core Hardware
(Ax-Edge, Rd-88, MC-101, MC-107 and MV-1) that do
not natively read Model Expansions.
Obviously, when you decide to edit this sound, all
the constraints of the template of the model that
generated it are lost, leaving total freedom exactly
as for any zen-core tone.
Further information will follow to allow you to
create your own "Personal Model Expansions" freely
and in a fairly simple way.
You can download the 21 Personal Model Expansions
and the corresponding 21 Zen Core Tones for free
here.
Here is a video from which you can verify the
identical sound of a Model Expansion (performed by
the Zenology-Pro software) with the corresponding
Zen-Core tone that derives from it, this one played
by an AX Edge, a synth natively not compatible with
the Models.
