Roland SCWS02 User Manual

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SonicCell

Workshop

Expandable Synthesizer Module
and Audio Interface

Using SonicCell as an Audio Interface

© 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.

SCWS02

1

About the Workshop Booklets

Before We Get Started...

Roland’s SonicCell is designed for modern musicians. Using USB, It adds a
huge set of sounds to your digital audio workstation (or “DAW”) without
adding to your computer’s workload. It’s also an audio interface that can get
signals from mics, instruments, or other devices to DAW tracks for recording.
SonicCell’s Editor software allows you to program SonicCell from within your
DAW. Onstage, its compact size also makes SonicCell the ideal companion
for a laptop DAW, letting you perform and sing along with recorded tracks.
Or use it to play back sequences and audio files from a USB memory stick.

Each SonicCell Workshop booklet focuses on one SonicCell topic, and is
intended as a companion to the SonicCell Owner’s Manual. This booklet
requires SonicCell O.S. Version 1.11 or higher. You can download the latest
SonicCell O.S. for free from www.RolandUS.com.

About This Booklet

In addition to being a potent synth, SonicCell can act as a “front end”
for a DAW. You can send SonicCell’s synth sounds and audio from a mic,
instrument, or other device connected to SonicCell to DAW tracks for
recording via USB. The DAW’s output automatically returns to SonicCell,
where you can listen to the DAW, SonicCell, and your live audio. This booklet
explains how to get the most from SonicCell as an audio interface.

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.

Since this booklet’s about using SonicCell as an audio interface with a DAW,
we’ll assume you’ve already read the Using SonicCell with a DAW Workshop
booklet, and know how to prepare your computer for use with SonicCell and
how to connect SonicCell to the computer. We’ll also assume you know how
to select and set SonicCell parameters as described in “Basic Operation of the
SonicCell” on Page 20 of the SonicCell Owner’s Manual.

SonicCell’s synth sounds automatically travel to your DAW via USB—for
synth sounds, think of its USB connection as just another kind of
SonicCell output jack. This booklet is about using SonicCell as an audio
interface—that is, a box for getting live audio signals into a DAW.

Connnecting Mics and Instruments

The connection jacks for a mic, instrument, or other device can be found in
the INPUT area of SonicCell’s rear panel.

LINE (R) input

INPUT LEVEL knob

Neutrik jack

INPUT SOURCE switch

A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.

A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.

Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid
possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.

SonicCell’s Neutrik jack can accommodate several different types of
connections. You use the INPUT SOURCE switch to tell SonicCell the type of
input signal you’ve got.

2

If you’re using:

a mic with a balanced XLR connector—• connect it to the

outer ring of the Neutrik jack, and set the INPUT SOURCE
switch to the MIC position.

• a mic with a 1/4” connector—connect it to the center of

the Neutrik jack, and set the INPUT SOURCE switch to
the MIC position.

If your mic requires phantom power, SonicCell can provide it.
We’ll discuss that in “Managing Your Live Input Signal” a bit
later. To jump there now, click the button to the right.

an electric guitar or bass—• connect it to the center of

the Neutrik jack, and set the INPUT SELECT source
switch to GUITAR (Hi-Z).

•

a stereo synth, drum machine, or other line-level
device—connect the instrument’s left output to the

center of the Neutrik connector, and its right output
to SonicCell’s LINE (R) jack. To use the instrument in
mono, connect its mono output only to the center of
the Neutrik jack. In both cases, set the INPUT SOURCE
switch to its LINE (L) position.

The settings appear on the USB Audio screen:

SonicCell’s current
sample rate

These level meters show
the DAW’s volume.

In addition to showing you SonicCell current sample rate, the USB Audio
screen contains two parameters that allow you to control how you hear your
DAW’s output, including its previously recorded tracks, effects, and so on:

• controls the volume of the DAW as you hear it through

Audio Level—

SonicCell. Adjust this value to set the desired balance between SonicCell’s
own sounds, your live audio, and the DAW’s tracks and effects.

• allows you to select how you want to hear the DAW’s sound.

Assign—

You can choose:

• to send the DAW’s sound straight to the headphones

To Output—

or speaker system connected to your SonicCell. This is the
standard setting for using SonicCell with a DAW.

• if you’d like to apply one of SonicCell’s input

To Input FX—

effects, or “input FX,” to the DAW’s sound before directing it to
SonicCell’s outputs for listening. (SonicCell’s input effect has its
own output settings, as we’ll see.) This setting is available for
special situations in which you want to modify the sound of the
DAW’s entire output for some reason.

Listening to Your DAW Through SonicCell

As we noted in the Using SonicCell with a DAW Workshop booklet, you
listen through SonicCell when you’re working with a DAW. SonicCell offers
some settings that control the sound of the DAW as you listen to it through
SonicCell—press the USB AUDIO button to display them.

For a list of the available input effects, see “Input effect settings” on
Page 147 of the SonicCellOwner’s Manual.

When you’re using the To Input FX setting, make sure to turn off
software monitoring within the DAW, or turn the USB Audio screen’s
Audio Level parameter all the way down to avoid feedback.

If you press the USB AUDIO button again while viewing the USB Audio
screen, SonicCell displays its audio-interface Master EQ. This EQ allows
you to adjust the frequency content of SonicCell’s headphone and
speaker outputs.

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Managing Your Live Input Signal

The Input Screen

Turning Phantom Power On and Off

SonicCell provides phantom power for condenser mics that require it. The
Input screen’s Phantom Power parameter turns it on or off.

The management of incoming live audio is handled on SonicCell’s Input
screen. To get there, press the INPUT button.

The Input screen appears.

SonicCell’s current
sample rate

These level meters show

The meters at the bottom of the screen let you set the level of your live
audio. The two parameters on this screen—Phantom Power and Assign—
also relate to your incoming live audio input signals.

your input levels.

Setting Input Signal Levels

To set an input signal’s level:

1 Navigate to the Input screen by pressing INPUT.

2

Send audio through your mic or play your connected
instrument, and watch the Input screen’s meter as you
adjust the INPUT LEVEL knob on SonicCell’s rear panel.
Set the signal’s level as loud as possible without causing
the word “CLIP” to light up to the right of the meters.

Be sure that phantom power’s turned on only when you’ve connected
a condenser mic that requires it. Using phantom power with any
other type of mic or instrument may cause damage to the mic or
instrument.

Each time you power up SonicCell, phantom power is automatically
turned off as a safety measure to protect your equipment.

Setting the Input Signal’s Destination

The Input screen’s Assign parameter allows you to set the signal path for
your live signal. The possible settings are:

• This setting sends your live audio into the computer

To COM+Output—

without effects, or “dry.” It also sends the dry signal to SonicCell’s outputs
for listening, or “monitoring,” purposes. When you want to record audio
into a DAW without adding any effects in SonicCell, you’ll use this
setting. (You can always use the DAW’s own effects on the recorded
audio later on.) It’s also the way to go if you’re performing along with a
DAW onstage and you don’t want to add effects to the live audio.

• This sends the live audio signal just to the computer for

To COM—

special recording or onstage situations in which you want to listen
to the live audio only through the DAW’s effects to hear your voice or
instrument through the DAW’s effects as you record or perform.

• When this is selected, your live audio signal goes through

To Input FX—

SonicCell’s input effect. This allows you to add one of SonicCell’s input
effects to the signal, of course, but it also can let you add an effect from
SonicCell’s MFX3 multi-effect processor. Also, should you want to add
SonicCell’s reverb, chorus, or other multi-effects strictly for listening as
you record, this setting allows you to do so.

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If you press the INPUT button again while viewing the Input screen,
SonicCell displays its audio-interface Master EQ. This EQ allows you
to adjust the frequency content of SonicCell’s headphone and speaker
outputs.

The Four In/Out Routing Sub-Screens

Even more importantly, contained within the map are four switches that
reveal other screens with important settings. To reveal these screens, you
turn the CURSOR/VALUE dial to highlight and select the screen’s switch, and
then press the dial to reveal the hidden sub-screen.

Understanding SonicCell’s Audio Interface Routing

The process of sending a signal where you want it to go—into an effect, to
your computer, etc.—is called “routing.” SonicCell provides lots of options,
most of which begin at the In/Out Routing screen.

SonicCell’s In/Out Routing Screen

Most of the rest of the setup action takes place in the In/Out Routing screen.
Here’s how to get there:

• press

If you’re on the USB Audio screen or the Input screen—

the EFFECTS button to display the In/Out Routing screen.

• press either USB AUDIO

If you’re anywhere else in SonicCell—

or INPUT, and then press the EFFECTS button.

+

Either method causes the In/Out Routing screen to appear.

When you select: Press the CURSOR/VALUE dial to show the

Input FX screen on which you select the
desired input effect, or THRU to pass your live
audio through the input effect dry.

Input FX Output screen on which you set the
level of the input effect, and also set the
amount of reverb or chorus you’d like to apply
to the input effect signal.

To Computer screen on which you select
exactly what it is you want to send to the
computer via USB

MFX3 Location screen on which you set the
MFX3 processor so that it either processes the
input-effect signal or SonicCell’s synth sounds.

In the “Recording Live Audio Onto DAW Tracks” section, we’ll take you step­by-step through some common setups that involve parameters on the input
routing sub-screens. But first we’ll introduce you to the sub-screens and how
they work.

About the Input FX Screen

If you press the EFFECTS button while viewing other screens, you’ll be
taken to a different effect-related screen.

The In/Out Routing screen is a map of the path that audio signals travel
from SonicCell’s synth tone generator (“TG”), effects, analog inputs, and USB
inputs on their way to SonicCell’s analog and USB outputs.

On the Input FX screen, you can select the desired input effect algorithm and
set the algorithm’s parameters to customize it for your use.

Each effect is generated from a mathematical formula, or “algorithm”—
when you choose one, you’re choosing the desired effect.

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