Roland U.S. Blog » SONAR X2

Roland Recording Class With Guitar Center

OV Valle [Roland US] — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:49:09 +0000

Watch, Learn & Ask Questions

Roland Recording Class – STUDIO-CAPTURE

On June 11, at 3:00 p.m. PST Roland clinician and recording artist, Brandon Ryan, and Guitar Center invite you to sit in the Roland recording class. Portable recording solutions for singer-songwriters and live recording using the latest Roland gear are both on the agenda. Topics will include everything from monitoring and mixing, to connecting mics and instruments to the I/O, to production techniques that even novices can master using SONAR’s fast and fluid ProChannel.

Join this FREE Guitar Center Webinar

Portable Roland Recording…

For the portable recording portion of this webinar, singer-songwriter Sarah Vee will use the DUO-CAPTURE EX with an iPad running Garageband to record a song. See how the tablet feature turns her iPad into a professional recording device.

Live Roland Recording…

For the studio-recording portion, Brandon will demonstrate the power of the STUDIO-CAPTURE. He’ll demonstrate how to plug in a full band, with a full band, live in the studio, including keys, drums, guitar, bass, and singers for recording. In addition to capturing audio, he’ll demonstrate how the STUDIO-CAPTURE handles headphone monitor mixes for individual players. With all of this gear plugged in, this is the perfect opportunity to find out just how good the AUTO-SENSE feature really is. If you’re a skeptic, here’s your chance to find out and ask questions.

Mixing…

SONAR X2 will then be used to bring this band’s freshly recorded music to life during the mixing session. In addition to showing how SONAR X2 can handle recording 15 tracks at the same time, a quick overview of this powerful DAW will be provided. The mixing section of the webinar is also a great opportunity to learn the extent of SONAR X2′s touch-screen feature. You’ll be able to get a sense for the nostalgic, yet futuristic feeling of interacting with a mixing board on a flat screen surface.

About the Band…

SouLiance describes their band as rock and soul with a funk edge. This young four-piece band is made up of three gals and a guy. If you’re wondering about their musical chops, they’ve got them. They are all highly trained musicians that have attended reputable schools such as Berklee, Musicians Institute and the LA Music Academy. Not only are they highly trained, but they also come from musical families. (Bassist Sarah Acosta’s father is Grammy award-winning guitarist Al Petteway.)

Members:

Sarah Vee: Lead Vocals / Guitar
Sarah Acosta: Background Vocals / Bass Guitar
Caitlin Moss: Drums / Percussion
Joe Quattrocchi: Piano / Clavi

With so much talent and powerful gear, what will stand out the most? Could the gear carry the band or the band carry the gear? You can make the call when you join us.

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Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp Dealer Drawing

Jim Bybee [Roland US] — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:08:12 +0000

And the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp Winner is…Wes Faulconer of Explorers Percussion

Wes and the Mob Dawgs with Sammy Hagar at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

At the 2013 Winter NAMM Show, Roland Corporation U.S. invited its valued dealers to enter a drawing for the opportunity to attend an all-expenses-paid weekend retreat at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas. Wes Faulconor, the owner of Explorers Percussion in Kansas City, Missouri, had his name drawn randomly from the many entrants, winning a three-day experience at the camp’s permanent home near the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Vegas Strip. From March 7-9, 2013, Wes enjoyed a jam-packed schedule of rehearsals, performances, recording sessions, and clinics, topped off with the chance to drum with legendary rockers Sammy Hagar and Steve Vai.

Special-Edition Rock and Roll Fantasy Camps, Powered by Roland

Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas provides musicians and music fans a unique opportunity to jam with renowned rock stars, write and record original songs, and perform live before large audiences at Rouge, a lounge in the MGM Grand. Campers get to play pro gear from Roland and BOSS during their stay, including TD-30KV and TD-15KV V-Drums kits, the RD-700NX stage piano, GA-series guitar amps, ME-70 guitar effects, and more.

Wes is a lifelong drummer and percussionist with over 40 years experience, and he plays some piano and guitar as well. He opened Explorers Percussion in 1984, which quickly became one of the leading drum and percussion shops in the Kansas City metro area. Explorers carries a full line of major brands, including the electronic percussion lineup from Roland. They also offer educational events, private drum lessons, and regular drum clinics led by national and local artists.

Wes Faulconer and Sammy Hagar at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

Quickly after arriving at the camp, Wes was put together in a group with three guitarists, with one of the guitarists also handling lead vocal duties. Michael Lardie, a multi-instrumentalist who plays with Great White and Night Ranger, served as camp counselor for the group, and played bass and sang backup as well.

During their three-day stay, Wes’ band—calling themselves the Mob Dawgs—wrote an original song, worked up a selection of cover tunes, and performed every night alongside other campers’ groups at the Rouge. “Everybody played different orders every night,” says Wes. “We were one of the most natural bands that were there, I think. There was a big NASCAR race in Las Vegas that weekend. There were a lot of fans there to see that, and the club was always packed.” Rouge features a top-flight sound system with gear from Roland Systems Group, including the M-300 V-Mixer and a REAC Digital Snake setup. Pro roadies are also on hand to help the campers as they perform. “They were really on it,” says Wes. “They were at the ready to assist everybody, such as adjusting drums and swapping out guitars when someone broke a string.”

Teddy “Zig Zag” Andreadis on the RD-700NX

Throughout the weekend, Wes and the campers got to hobnob with many famous players. “Joe Vitale was there, and Billy Sheehan was there too,” he relates. “That was pretty cool. Lita Ford and Tony Franklin came in as well. On Friday, Sammy Hagar came in. Each band got to go in and play one song with him. We learned one of his songs, ‘I’ll Fall in Love Again,’ within about an hour. That was a little bit of pressure, but it worked out pretty good. We jammed with him, and it was a lot of fun.

“On Saturday, it was the same thing with Steve Vai,” Wes continues. “Everybody played a song with him. After that, he jammed with Billy Sheehan and Joe Vitale, and he did a little clinic where he talked for about an hour. His clinic was really inspirational.”

Wes at the Rouge lounge for Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

Wes and his group also got to record their original song at one of the camp’s two studios in the MGM Grand, which are outfitted with Cakewalk’s SONAR X2 DAW software and Roland’s OCTA-CAPTURE audio interfaces, plus V-Mixers, Digital Snakes, and M-48 personal monitoring systems from Roland Systems Group. The band’s guitarists tracked with BOSS ME-70 guitar effects, while Wes played the flagship TD-30KV V-Drums. “They were great, with lot of nice sounds,” Wes relates. “I really like the new features and the sensitivity, which allows your drumming to be more expressive, just like on an acoustic drum kit. It was really nice. We recorded really quickly, and got a great sound. The Roland and BOSS guitar gear sounded really, really good too.”

TD-30KV V-Drums in the studio at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

Overall, Wes simply had a great time. “It was a real positive experience, and first-class all the way,” he says. “I really thank Roland for giving me the opportunity. I feel lucky and really grateful that I won it. I went out there without any agenda or high goals; I just played as good as I can play, and just gave it all I had. I wanted to make it more like a vacation, you know, and just play my butt off, just play for the music, and have a really good time. And that’s pretty much what I did.”

Wes’ stay at the camp happened to fall on his birthday weekend, making it even more special. “It was probably the best birthday I’ve ever had,” he enthuses. “On Saturday night, Billy Sheehan and a bunch of the other people at the camp sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, and that was really cool. It was a nice fitting end for the weekend.”

Wes with Billy Sheehan at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

For more information about Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, visit RockCamp.com.

For details about Roland and BOSS gear used at the camp, check out our Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp gear list.

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Special Edition Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camps, Powered by Roland Gear

Jim Bybee [Roland US] — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 01:14:22 +0000

At their permanent home in Las Vegas this spring, Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp will be hosting two special edition camps featuring some legendary names in music. Brit rockers Def Leppard will lead a four-day camp from April 4-7, 2013, while renowned guitarist Jeff Beck and Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson will guest star from April 18-21, 2013. A wide selection of top-line Roland musical instruments and recording gear will be featured as well, at the ready for campers to use as they explore their inner rock star yearnings.

In a rare event involving one entire band, Def Leppard fans can spend four days with members of the group, jamming out to their biggest hits. Two weeks later, campers will have the opportunity to meet and play with Beck, one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and Wilson, writer of some of the most celebrated songs in American music history.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas gives music fans a once-in-a-lifetime chance to jam nightly with legendary rock stars, write and record original songs, and perform on stage before live audiences at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. Campers also have an exclusive opportunity to use world-class music equipment from Roland and BOSS.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp main facilities are located two minutes away from the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip. There are 12 rehearsal studios, plus a “Big Room” with a professional stage, large-scale sound system, and concert lighting. Each space features Roland instruments, including TD-30KV and TD-15K V-Drums, GA-212 and GA-112 guitar amps, BOSS ME-70 and ME-50B multi-effects, and the RD-700NX stage pianos. Additionally, the studios all feature pro recording setups with SONAR X2 Producer music production software and Roland OCTA-CAPTURE audio interfaces.

RRFC Rehearsal Room

The camp also has two professional recording studios, located on the main casino floor at the MGM Grand. These are outfitted with Roland gear throughout as well. The studios feature large windows that allow casino visitors to watch as campers record tracks and jam with famous rockers.

RRFC Recording Studio at the MGM Grand

Both the main facilities and the studios at the MGM Grand feature a full slate of professional sound gear from Roland Systems Group. This includes V-Mixers, REAC Digital Snakes, and M-48 personal monitoring systems. An M-300 V-Mixer and Digital Snake setup is also in use at the Rouge Lounge in the MGM Grand, where campers perform nightly during their stay.

RRFC “Big Room” (Roland M-480 V-Mixer in the Foreground)

Stop by our Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp Flickr gallery to see more of the camp’s impressive facilities.

For more information about Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, including the upcoming special edition camps, visit RockCamp.com.

For details about Roland and BOSS gear used at the camp, check out our Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp gear list.

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See What’s New In SONAR X2 Producer

Robin Kelly [Roland US] — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:51:04 +0000

Take an in-depth tour of the powerful features of SONAR X2 Producer including R-MIX SONAR, Console Emulation, Matrix, BREVERB and Take Lanes.

Cakewalk recently released SONAR X2a, an update adding touch support and other improvements to this already impressive DAW. Brandon Ryan and Seth Perlstein gave a live demonstration of SONAR X2 a few weeks before it was released last fall. This 1.5 hour demonstration is packed with useful tips, tricks and feature explanations. Whether you already own SONAR X2 or are looking to add this powerful DAW to your studio, this video is a must watch.

R-MIX SONAR

This manipulation plugin is powered by Roland’s newly developed V-Remastering technology in conjunction with VariPhrase. It lets you see the components of a stereo mix as color-coded clouds of energy and harmonic matter as the track plays. Some musicians have described it as “visual sound.”

Console Emulator

This plug-in emulates some important analog console characteristics. While these effects are subtle, they’re noticeable; and now thanks to the Console Emulator, they’re controllable as well.

BREVERB

This is a high quality reverberation plug-in modeled on the most acclaimed hardware classics and is the ultimate solution to any recording, mixing and live situation. It comprises four different algorithms, Hall, Room, Plate and Inverse, each one accurately modeled and engineered with no compromises in sound quality, as well as a global EQ section.

Take Lanes

The ability to loop, record and then edit multiple takes is nothing new. What is new with Take Lanes is the ability to set independent Edit Filter views for each of the lanes. This might seem insignificant at first, but when you think about it, this opens up a world of possibilities.

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