63 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter

Roland Fantom

-

G

with Warren ‘Hanna’ Harris

Flagship workstation ROMpler.

R

oland has been on quite a roll recently with the MV 8800 and Fantom

series workstations. Cutting edge products like the V-Synth and

solutions like the Juno-G, Sonic Cell and SP line of performance samplers

help create a balanced selection of products. The Fantom-G arrived and

became the newest Roland flagship product. I’m sure you’ve seen our

videos from winter NAMM 08 [youtube.com/griffinavid] and crawled through

the info and specs at Roland’s website [Rolandus.com]. Is it really worth it

to run down to your gear shop and check it out first hand. You know how it

sounds, but how much ‘better than the Fantom-X’ must it be to require an

upgrade. In 2008 you have a lot of choices. Even if you consider sticking

with the Roland brand name; you have choices. Let’s roll up on Roland

product specialist and musician Warren ‘Hanna’ Harris and see what’s

good with the Fantom-G and see what it could do for your production. And

yes, he’s bringing his bass along.

Firstly, I think of expansion boards

in their usual sense. I open the back

or bottom of my board; add some

fresh sounds- boom that’s it. Now

I see the SuperNatural expansion

boards are DSP synths so it looks

like we’ll be able to add a new

engine to power this new soundset.

Could you please explain how this

all works and even tell us why it’s

suddenly necessary on a board as

powerful as the Fantom.

Hannah:

For years, most cats never

edited sounds in their workstations.

You pick a sound and use that sound.

I am one of those guys. Honestly, the

process has been too time-consuming

for me and just not worth it to edit

the sounds. Now, with Supernatural

Technology, it’s easier to edit because

it’s visual and intuitive to change the

shape, size and mic placement on

a drum. You actually see the drum

change on the screen! As producers,

we tend to go through a lot of sounds

fast. There are a few core patches we

consider part of our production palette –

we turn to these sounds often because

they pretty much fit any track. I call

those the signature sounds. No matter

how much love and thoughtfulness is

placed on programming and sound

design there will always be instrument

categories that shine above the others.

What would you say are the Fantom-

G’s strengths.

[does droning voice]

Basses; synths & acoustic, Drums,

Strings, Electric piano, Acoustic guitars,

leads, and pads [laughter at naming

every category]. You call them the meat

and potato sounds.

To me, a signature

64 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter

sound is a sound a cat may use so

much that it defi nes him. You hear a

track and you know it’s him or her

because you hear that same bass or

lead sound. You can’t say any one

sound area is better than the next

because Roland focuses on a great

sound and tone for every preset in

every category. The producer will

choose his sounds or patches that

best suit his ear.

There are no rules.

The Fantom-G is a tool. Music is art.

It’s about the joy and freedom to create

and do whatever you like. I think many

producers suck, that’s the problem.

No skills; that’s the problem. It’s like

they’re asking “how do you test drive a

car.” My question in return is: “Do you

know how to drive.”

I know you look at the gear pieces as

production tools and not just sound

modules. You’ve demonstrated

the ease of recording traditional

instruments and mixing them with

the included sound sets. What about

staying entirely inside the box.

What performance enhancements,

articulations and expression tools

do I have at my disposal to capture

that live bass or electric piano tone

using only the included sounds.

Inside the box. If you can fi nish your

song inside the box, do it!

That’s it!

You’re done! Live bass

performing enhancement

is YOU actually playing

the bass like a bass

player. The patches

speak for themselves.

The electric piano ARX

card, however gives you

supreme customization

of the tone for the electric

piano. If you can apply

yourself, you create the entire song

convincingly inside the Fantom.

As a player, I’m sure you can

appreciate the newer key action,

but what about the pads. I see the

changes to the surface. The new

larger LCD screen…the faders. I see

a merging of the DAW and hardware

workstation. What options open

up with USB connectivity.

Mouse

control, thumb drive archiving, saving

and loading Waves and Aiff fi les. Pads

are triggers and it is a preference

whether you want to play a sound with

a key or a pad.

Let’s talk sequencing and discuss

the new sequencer that works in a

linear way, much like a Pro Tools

or Cubase. Workstations have

always been pattern based- with

my song being built up by smaller

sequences. Am I now at the point of

doing away with a host sequencer

or is this just another option. What

if I don’t want to break from working

in 4 bar phrases, can I still apply

my work. ow from previous Fantom

units.

That’s tough. It’s a linear

sequencer. Not going to sugar-coat it.

If it’s the end of the world for you,

then you still need your familiar host

sequencer. You can

still work in smaller

patterns until you are

ready to move up to

the level of the new

sequencer and take

advantage of all its

features.

What if I’m standing

at a cross-road. I

may already have a Fantom and be

thinking of selling it to upgrade my

sound or maybe I’m about to buy in

and I can’t decide between the still

highly usable Fantom-X or raise a

little more and go in at the Fantom-G.

What factors should I be considering

as I make this decision.

Price difference is about $1,000. If you

don’t need 24 audio tracks, get the X.

I personally think the G sounds better.

[we know they reworked the sound

engine-GA]

I may decide to keep my Fantom-X.

It has some great patches I don’t

want to miss and my work. ow is

lightning fast. How much of the

Fantom-G’s sound set is totally

new. I understand the new capture

process used and even the more

powerful engine pushing out those

sounds at greater fi delity, BUT! I am

concerned with adding on to my

sound palette and I want to know

how much overlap there is with the

previous ROM.

One sound in any

keyboard may be worth the whole

keyboard. I don’t know an exact overlap

number; it could be less than half. You

may need both.

In conclusion, what else do we

need to know about the . agship

Fantom-G. What is a little known

characteristic that will make this

production tool even more useful in

my studio.

You need to hear the G!

The little known characteristic is that

it’s the best sounding workstation ever

made.

Thanks again Hanna for taking the

time to build with us. I hope to see

you on the road again jamming on that

Fantom-G.