Roland has announced a free update for owners of the Fantom G:

Roland Corporation U.S. is pleased to announce the release of Version 1.30 for the Fantom-G series workstations. This free download adds a number of new innovative features, sound content and system enhancements to the Fantom-G’s operating system, including:

• Arpeggio Import Function for creating user arpeggio styles
• Enhanced functionality including independent tempo for Live and Studio modes
• New keyboard modes for RPS and Rhythm Patterns
• New real-time control of multiple sounds at once
• Hundreds of new rhythm patterns and RPS phrases
• New piano patches, Live Sets, and Studio Sets

The Fantom-G Librarian/Editor Software has been updated to reflect Version 1.30 features.

Details at the Roland site.

This is a set of tutorial videos for the Roland Fantom G, covering:

• Studio Mode Recording on the Roland Fantom G
• Audio Recording & Sampling on the Fantom G
• Roland Fantom G Modes

Igor Len demos the ARX-03 SuperNATURAL Brass Expansion Board during NAMM 2009.

Description:

Roland’s ARX-03 series is filled with brass instruments under the control of a custom graphic-editing interface. The card is loaded with solo instruments and ensembles, including trumpets, flugelhorns, trombones, saxophones, and more.

The ARX SuperNATURAL Expansion Boards including the ARX-03 are compatible with the Roland Fantom-G workstation synthesizers and the Cakewalk SONAR V-Studio 700.

This is a video tour of the new Fantom-G “FG Connects” project download, a free update for Fantom-G owners.

Description:

Made exclusively for the Fantom-G series workstations, this free download provides new content to inspire owners of the Fantom-G, including new rhythm patterns, new rhythm kits, chord memories, and new edits of the most popular arpeggio phrases.

The FG Connects project includes:

• Over 600 rhythm patterns easily accessible with the Fantom-G’s Dynamic Pads
• Over 100 new chord memories that reproduce the voicings of different instrument styles, all with the push of a button
• 128 edited arpeggio phrases for guitar, bass, keyboards, and more
• 32 Rhythm Pattern Sets
• 8 Chord Memory Sets
• 10 Arpeggio Sets
• 14 New Rhythm Sets

“The FG Connects download gives Fantom-G owners more tools to express their creativity,” says Product Marketing Manager Vince Laduca. ”Users can trigger the new patterns, chords and re-tooled arpeggio phrases with the Fantom-G’s Dynamic Pads to accelerate and inspire their creative flow.”

via DanKrisher

This is a demo video, from the 2009 NAMM Show, for the Roland ARX-03 Expansion Board.

See this previous post for more details on the Roland ARX-03 Expansion Board.

via RolandChannel:

The Roland ARX-03 is packed with high-quality brass instruments under the control of a custom graphic-editing interface. The card is loaded with solo instruments and ensembles, including trumpets, flugelhorns, trombones, saxophones, and more.

This new Expansion Board joins the ARX-01 Drums and ARX-02 Electric Piano expansion boards. Each ARX board is a dedicated application with its own processor, graphics, and DSP, powered by Roland’s  SuperNATURAL sound technology for organic, emotional expression.

The ARX-03 Brass Expansion Board includes trumpets, flugelhorns, trombones, and saxophones. Whether composing for a solo instrument or a brass sextet, the ARX-03 enables the musician to customize every sound and nuance of the performance with the power of a custom graphic-editing interface and dedicated engine.

In addition to compatibility with the Fantom-G Series, ARX expansion boards can also be added to the Roland Fantom VS synthesizer featured in the Cakewalk SONAR V-Studio 700.

This library is based on a custom sample bank and makes the Fantom-G sound much different than with the factory waveforms. All sounds have an organic, live character: featured are synths, basses, pads, atmospheres and motion sounds, as well as electric pianos, bells, hits and chords.

You can preview Organics below:

The Organics sound expansion includes a total of 650 original samples, 60 multisampled instruments, 40 loops and chords, and 100 patches. It requires Roland Fantom-G with OS 1.10 or 1.20 and a sample memory expansion of 128 MB or more.

Organics for Fantom-G is immediately available as a download for $49. If you bought one of the Sinevibes sound libraries in the past and now upgraded to the Fantom-G, you can purchase any of these sound expansions and bundles for 20% off. In addition, if you already own one of them, you can complete your bundle by paying just the price difference.

The ARX-01 Drums Expansion Board offers complete control of the elements of each drum, such as shell depth and muffling. Once each drum is crafted, you can further refine it with the built-in compressor/EQ, reverb, powerful multi-effects, and an onboard mixer for adjusting the volume and pan position.

The ARX-02 Electric Piano Expansion Board lets you create unique electric piano sounds. You can change the position of the pickup and choose from five amp models with dynamic control. Volume and tone change smoothly and realistically, based on the strength and weakness of the keyboard performance.

Optimized effects and custom graphic interfaces are exclusive to each ARX board.