Roland X8 Video Game Keyboard User Manual


 
2
About the Fantom-Xa Workshop Series
Roland’s Fantom-Xa workstation keyboard provides lots of
creative power at an affordable price. It shares many of the
features of its more expensive siblings—the Fantom X6, X7,
and X8—including killer sounds, 128-note polyphony, a full-
featured 16-track sequencer, sampling capabilities, and so
much more.
The Fantom-Xa Workshop Series booklets discuss some of
the things you can do with your Fantom-Xa. Each booklet
focuses on one topic, and is intended as a companion to your
Fantom-Xa Owner’s Manual.
About This Booklet
While the Fantom-Xa’s built-in sampler allows you to make
your own samples, it also lets you to import .WAV- and AIFF-
format sampled beat loops—we’ll just call them “loops” for
short.
Once you’ve got a loop inside the Fantom-Xa, you can use it as
the basis for a new song, or time-stretch it to fit the tempo of
an idea you already have. You can change a loop’s tempo on-
the-fly, or alter it permanently.
This booklet explains how to import and use a loop, and how
to take advantage of the Fantom-Xa’s time-stretching power.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that
deserves special attention—that’s the reason it’s labeled with
one of the following symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
A definition is provided for an important term that’s just been introduced.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid possible
damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
Expanding Sample Memory
If you plan to take advantage of the Fantom-Xa’s sampling or
sample-playback capabilities, we recommend you expand its
onboard sample RAM.
What Is Sample RAM?
Whether you capture, load, or
import a sample, it’s held in an
area within the Fantom-Xa called
“sample RAM.” This is an area of
fast, fluid, temporary memory
derived from SDRAM chips, the
same kind found in many computers. It’s called “sample RAM”
because it’s where you work with your samples.
The Fantom-Xa sample RAM is 4 MB (MegaBytes) in size as
shipped from the factory, enough to get you started with
sampling.