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Workshop
Expandable Synthesizer Module
and Audio Interface
SonicCell
™
Using SonicCell with GarageBand
© 2008 Roland Corporation U.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of Roland Corporation U.S.
Apple™ and GarageBand ™ are trademarks of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is not associated or affiliated with Roland in any manner.
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The Audio/MIDI pane should now look like this:
To:
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play SonicCell’s synth sounds—turn off SonicCell’s USB-MIDI Thru
parameter so the incoming MIDI data goes to SonicCell’s tone
generator.
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play GarageBand’s soft synths—turn on SonicCell’s USB-MIDI Thru
parameter so the incoming MIDI data passes through SonicCell and
into GarageBand for playing its sounds.
Using the SonicCell Editor with GarageBand
The best way to use the SonicCell Editor with GarageBand is to run it as a
separate application. This allows you to select the SonicCell patches you’ll
play from your keyboard, and customize your current SonicCell performance.
Here’s how to do this.
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Click the Advanced Tab at the top of the window, and set Audio
Resolution as desired. If you want to
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•
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record a CD—select Good so that audio is recorded at 16 bits, as
CDs require.
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On SonicCell, select the PRST 01 Seq: Template performance.
record at higher quality with later conversion—select Better to
record at 24 bits, with conversion to 16 bits when it’s exported.
Locate the the Roland folder in your Applications folder, and then
open it to reveal the SonicCell Editor folder.
record the highest-quality audio—select Best for 24-bit recording
and export for uses other than burning a CD.
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Open the SonicCell Editor folder, and double-
click the SonicCell Editor application to launch it.
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Close the Preferences window.
The Editor window opens after exchanging data
with SonicCell.
About GarageBand and MIDI
GarageBand is unusual among DAWs in that its soft synths respond to
incoming MIDI data, but it doesn’t allow you to record MIDI tracks that play
sounds in external MIDI devices such as SonicCell.
As a result, to use SonicCell patches with GarageBand, you have to play the
patches from a MIDI controller connected to SonicCell, and then record
those sounds into GarageBand as audio tracks.
When you’ve connected a MIDI controller to SonicCell, you can use the
controller for playing SonicCell’s sounds or GarageBand’s own sounds.
Each of these operations requires that SonicCell’s System USB-MIDI Thru
parameter be set correctly.
When you’re done, go back to the SonicCell Editor application and drag
it onto the dock, from where it can be more easily found and launched
in the future.
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category—click the CATEGORY parameter’s popup arrow to
reveal SonicCell’s patches divided into categories.
Using the SonicCell Editor
Part-selection area
Patch-selection area
You can select performances stored in SonicCell using the PERFORM
NAME popup located above the part-selection area.
Digging Deeper
The SonicCell Editor lets you change the current performance’s sounds in a
range of ways. The mode-selection buttons to the left of the Editor window
determine the parameters you see and can edit at any given time. They’re
divided into the following sections:
•
SYSTEM—The buttons in this area allow you to set SonicCell’s global
behavior, and also get quick access to its input effect, a handy thing
when you’re recording live audio through SonicCell.
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PERFORM EFFECTS—These buttons edit the performance’s effect setup.
PERFORM—These parameters allow you to control the way each part
plays its patch, and lets you add effects to the patch.
You’ll find detailed instructions for using the SonicCell Editor in its manual,
which you can display by clicking the Help button in the SonicCell Editor
window. What follows here are some quick instructions to get you started.
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PERFORM PATCH—These parameters allow you to dig right inside a
part’s patch in order to edit it down to its most basic characteristics.
Before using the PERFORM PATCH buttons, be sure to select the part
that plays the patch you want to edit. You do this by clicking the part’s
number in the part-selection area at the top of the window.
When you’re done setting up a performance, save it so you can recall
it when you return to work on your song, sending it back to SonicCell
to restore its settings for the song.
Recording Audio from SonicCell in GarageBand
Selecting a Patch for a Part
You choose each patch you want to use in GarageBand by selecting it for the
part that a GarageBand MIDI track is configured to play. Here’s how:
If you haven’t yet read the Using SonicCell as an Audio Interface
Workshop booklet, read it now before proceeding. SonicCell offers lots
of audio-interface options you’ll want to know about.
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Click the part’s number in the PARTS area of the Editor window.
Select a patch for the part using the controls in the patch-selection
area, circled in red above. To select a patch by:
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memory location—click the PATCH NAME parameter’s popup
arrow to reveal SonicCell’s patches organized by their memory
locations.
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Selecting Audio to Record
Turning Off Software Monitoring
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Create a new real instrument track.
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Set the Monitor popup below Input Source to Off.
As we noted in the Using the SonicCell with a DAW Workshop booklet,
you can listen through GarageBand if you want to hear its effects as
you record. However, we recommend listening directly through the
SonicCell to avoid latency.
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Select the Basic Track preset in the Track Info panel.
What You Hear Is What You Get
SonicCell can produce synth sounds and pass live audio from its inputs at
the same time. This means a couple of things:
After recording, you can select other presets for your track. They’ll
add pre-configured effects to the track, and change its icon.
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When you want to record a SonicCell patch as audio into Garageband—
disconnect any mic or instrument you’ve connected to SonicCell to
keep the resulting synth audio track free of surprise noises.
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From the Input Source popup, select a SonicCell input. To record
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When you want to record live audio into Garageband—be sure not to play
any SonicCell patches while the live audio’s being recorded to keep the
audio signal clean. (You may even want to temporarily disconnect your
MIDI controller to be sure.)
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a mic or instrument connected to SonicCell’s Neutrik input jack—
select Mono 1 (Roland SonicCell 44.1kHz).
You can, if you like, record multiple live audio sounds at the same time
in GarageBand, thus capturing a more complete performance. Connect
one signal to SonicCell’s Neutrik jack and the other to the (LINE) R
jack. Send the first jack to one GarageBand real instrument track and
the other to a second real instrument track.
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a stereo device connected to SonicCell’s Neutrik and (LINE) R input
jacks—select Stereo 1/2 (Roland SonicCell 44.1kHz).
Once you’ve got your audio coming from SonicCell the way you want, record
your audio track as you would any other GarageBand real instrument track.
Repeat the steps to the left to record additional real instrument tracks.
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a SonicCell synth patch in stereo—select Stereo 1/2 (Roland
SonicCell 44.1kHz).
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Troubleshooting
If you experience problems recording or playing back audio, GarageBand’s
built-in Help provides steps you can take to solve your problem. Search in
Help for “optimize”—the page of steps is called “Optimizing GarageBand
Performance.” In addition to following these steps, raising the Audio Buffer
size in the SonicCell’s control panel may also help, though it may also
increase latency if you’re working with soft synths in GarageBand.
The End
We hope you’ve found this workshop helpful. Keep an eye out for other
SonicCell Workshop booklets available for downloading at www.RolandUS.
com.
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