Hi,

I think you should be able to use any USB MIDI interface with the SC8820? Perhaps if there's someone here that has one, they will confirm...

Sometimes Vista drivers will work on Win 7 and sometimes not; I had to get a new printer for my win 7 system because the Vista drivers did not work. BUT I did pickup this tidbit of information from a keyboard site. Try it and let us know if it works.

“I have install WIN 7 64Bit OS .. I got the SC-8820 driver install by using the Vista64Bit downloaded version from Roland web site
Instead of running the setup file go to the device and update the driver from their.
Select the scan drivers from my computer and point it to the unzipped files
It will load the driver and recognise the SC-8820 device
I have connected it to Sonar Cakewalk without a problem”

Mario,

Were do I find "the scan drivers"?
Have searched my whole Laptop, but can not seem to find it.

Brgds,
Tonnie
Bergen, Norway

PS. Due to the time difference I will always wake up before you do (as long as I do it)!

God dag, Tonnie -

Left-click on the Start Orb, right click on "Computer" (in the right pane that pops up), and select "Manage". Once the new screen pops up, select Device Manager. Find your soundcard in the list, then right click on it and select "Update Driver Software". On the next screen, select "Browse my computer for Driver Software". At the next screen, select the folder where you unzipped the driver software and click "Next" and it should find and update the driver.

I suggest that before doing any of this, you set a restore point first.

Hilsen fra Amerika,

John

Tonnie, it looks like John got up before me

It seems that you suggestion to load Vist64Bit drivers via the "device update" is a dead end, as Roland products are notorious unwilling to install while the product is connected to the USD port of a computer.

On the following web site Roland has published a list of products for which there are WIN 7 drivers available, as both the SC-8020 and XV-5050 (which are the sound modules I am interested in) are not mentioned, I deduct that there are (as yet) no WIN 7 drivers available.

http://www.roland.com/support/article/?q=information&id=62223370#audioif

If someone knows of any outside suppliers please let me know. It would probably not hurt if all with the same (or similar) interest would contact Roland/Edirol asking them to provide WIN 7 drivers ASAP.

Presently there are hardly any sound modules available with MIDI out or through, which I need for outputting chords to my Voice Works.

Brgds,
Tonnie

I made my own drivers for my XV2020 using another driver sound module. I changed some identifiers in the files contained in the Roland package driver.

All these sound modules are usable with biab using a midi usb interface (but you won't be able to edit the patches with the Roland XV Editor).

I feel your pain because along with the printer I had to dump a Roland MPU64 MIDI hub as the Vista 64 drivers did not work on it in Win 7.

Did you try to install the drivers via “device update” with the unit disconnected from the computer? That may work. If it does you can daisy chain the two synths together via MIDI but you will lose the software editor on the synth that has no driver, the second one in the chain.

You should be able to connect both units using a midi interface like this: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDISport2AE/

I have a number of old synths, a midi controller, a guitar controller etc connected this way. But because it is MIDI I lost the software editors that were contained in the original drivers. They work perfectly but I can’t save presets like I use to in XP. Not a big problem for me. Before anyone asks yes I checked all over the internet for drivers and there were none.

A couple of words of caution on these interfaces, if they are USB driven like the one above make sure that either you have a free USB port on the computer to use them with or a powered USB hub. Also note that not all powered USB hubs are the same and some do not have enough power for a unit like the interface. Also be sure they come with Win 7 drivers!

Good luck and I hope this helps.

There is a Roland forum where they claim to have developed of a driver for the XV-5050 for Win 7/64. It can be found under:

www.rolandforums.co.uk/forums/viewthread/1319/

I am still waiting to receive mine, but hope to get it soon.
Hope this can help others too!

Tonnie

PS. Should anyone come across a driver for Win 7/64 for the SC-8020 I would be very interested!

Chris,

Sorry I did not get it the first time, but have now downloaded the driver and will try it later today.

Thanks,
Tonnie

Chris,

The installation of the driver seemed to be straight forward. Afterwards the USB indication light on the front of the SC-8820 showed that there was an active connection with the PC. The SC-8820 also showed up in the MIDI Output driver-list in BB.

However the Synthesizer / Soundcard list the only name that comes near is; Roland SC88-20, but this does not work. So I downloaded one of the appropriate Patch Maps from the BB Support page. In spite of having the files properly extracted, my PC does not seem to know what to do with “.pat” files. So until I get some help here, I am stuck.

Will keep you posted.
Tonnie

Sorry that id does not work for the SC8820. Maybe the XV5050 driver will work ?

Chris,

In order to compare XP to Win 7 / 64, I downloaded and installed to appropriate driver for the Roland SC-8820. In the MIDI / Audio driver set up window, under MIDI output driver the following alternatives showed up:

1: Roland SC-8820 Part A
1: Roland SC-8820 Part B
1: Roland SC-8820 MIDI OUT

This is similar to what I saw earlier under WIN 98 SE.
The Piano Test in the MIDI Output Driver Wizard gave results for Part A and B (of course nothing for MIDI OUT).

With your driver Win 7 / 64 only Roland SC-8820 showed up. Can this be an indication that there is a minor flaw in the driver you developed?

Tonnie

Hi Tonnie,

My driver is based on the Fantom XR driver. I simply changed the id of the hardware. If it doesn't work, it's probably because the SC-8820 is developed using another technology.

Chris

1. Have you verified that sending actual MIDI data to the unit over the USB cable from your PC actually triggers a sound? Using any app other than BIAB. Any simple straight GM MIDI file player set to send over the SC-8820 MIDI output?

2. A ".pat" file is/can be accessed via the "higher banks" (aka "+" button). The "+" button is sandwiched between the "GM2 F" buttons and the "Volume" (same row as pan, A.reverb, Tone, Bank0, LSB, ...)

When you click it asks for the Pat file you want to open - then lists the patches, and the associated patch #, MSB and LSB banks. The patch you select will affect/sound on the BIAB instrument (part) you have selected (Bass, Piano, Drums, Guitar, Strings, Melody, or Soloist ) at top of BIAB screen.

It's nice if under "Opt/Midi Audio Driver Setup/ Synthesizer/Sound Card" pull down your synth is there explicitly but for an SC-8820 (I have an 8850) the generic GM instrument or even the "SC-88" should work - at least for first 128 patches to get it started as a basic GM device.

Suggestion after BIAB is up and song is selected, and " Synthesizer/Sound Card" has been set - turn the SC-8820 off then back on - just to ensure a "clean slate" on the unit.

Good luck
Larry

If that unit is anything like the hardware sound modules I have used, including Roland, you would not want to cycle the power while BIAB is on, because BIAB will 'lose' it as a device. BIAB checks for devices when you start the program.

Matt

I just PM'ed you

And I you. I don't think there's any problem here, but if you know something I don't, which wouldn't be the first time, post away!

To the viewing public - nothing secret going on between Matt and myself I just didn't want to embarrass myself in public - he prevented that.

Back to the issue

After re-reading all the posts I think I lost the bubble on where/what drivers Tonnie was able to actually install with CONFIRMED communication between the SC-8820 and Win 7. Regardless, the point I was trying to make was, while in this developmental/discovery phase of how to get it to work in BIAB, to ensure at beginning of a BIAB song that the SC-8820 was actually in "native" GM2 or at least GS mode and not some "weird" unresponsive mode caused by initial selection of something like a Yama PSR or Korg device in the "synth/sound card" menu.

And FWIW with repect to PAT files: Tonnie look in the BIAB Help file under " Patches on Higher Banks" it explains it better than I did and with pictures to boot!

As a side note, since I moved to Win 7 64 I haven't spent much time trying to get the Roland USB or Serial (ZERO success on serial drivers so I dual boot for that) drivers to work because I run all my external MIDI equipment using multiple MIDI patch bays (via a lot of 5-Pin DIN MIDI cables). It gives me much better flex, control, and situational awareness over my external equipment.

The drawback is I can't use all 64 parts of my SC-8850 over MIDI cables, I can only access half (32 total using the two MIDI ins on the SC-8850). In my case the loss of those additional 32 parts is immaterial, I don't really use the SC-8850 for more than quick scratch work and not even much of that. I have availalbe more synth's with more total polyphony then I will ever realistically use.

However, in Tonnie's case, over standard MIDI cables the SC-8820 can only address the first 16 multitimbral parts that's a loss of 50% of available parts so I can appreciated the "ouch" factor.

Good Luck tonnie

Larry

When using the higher patches with Roland hardware and a BIAB .PAT file, my experience is that you do not send a GM or GS ON command, nor set it to either of those modes upon initialization. You need to set the hardware unit to initialize in its 'native' setting.

Larry, you mentioned Korg & Yamaha products too. The Yamaha uses a different numbering system, one digit different that Roland. It means the same .PAT file cannot possibly work. Not sure about Korg, but Gary Curran would know.

Matt,

Concur (I have hobbled together a few PAT/INS/INI files, some here - some not, for all three vendors plus Alesis).

Tonnie/Memphismusic

Sorry I have gotten this way OT from your OP's:

1) Lack of Roland WIN 7 64 USB drivers: yes there is a lack of them for SC-88xx modules (so use standard MIDI cabling - yes, you lose access to half of the units part's), and

2) PAT files how to use: please read BIAB help (not my ramblings) if still have questions almost anyone in these forums is willing and able to help in that area.

Good luck
Larry

Band in a Box would not address the second set of 16 available MIDI channels on that synth anyway, as the way that is implemented with all of the hardware synths having the feature is that the second set of 16 are addressed as a separate MIDI synth. This is because of the MIDI standard, which only allows for 16 channels per synth, period.

But Band in a Box also can only address ONE MIDI synth at a time, ruling out the use of any "Synth B" implementation that can use all 32 available channels.

And besides that, BiaB doesn't really have anything to do with those extra channels, no parts to play on them unless one were to include the built in SEQ and add a MIDI file and also attempt to play back a BiaB style at the same time, something which wouldn't sound very good anyway.

RealBand or Powertracks programs can be used to address both synths simultaneously, however, and anyone who wants to try using more than 16 MIDI channels should move the project over to one of those fullblown multichannel sequencing softwares.


--Mac

Just tried making SC-8820 work on my Windows 7 (home premium SP1) laptop. Downloaded Vista 64-bit driver from Roland. Extracted from zipfile, clicked on SETUP - said incompatible, so clicked on incompatibility troubleshooter and told it that it had worked on Vista - saved that and it installed fine. SC-8820 working fine. BIAB shows PARTA, PARTB, MIDI OUT as before with XP machine.

(Having said that I use Realtracks most of the time so this was just as a backup / to see if it worked. I use a Roland SD-50 now, which has the advantage of playing both the MIDI and the Audio files!)