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Industry

TD-4KP V-Drums Portable Wins MIPA Award

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V-Drums Portable earns top ranks for the electronic drums category

Roland V-Drums just won a Grammy! Well, maybe not exactly a Grammy, but in our industry (musical instrument industry), a MIPA award is just as prestigious. MIPA stands for Musikmesse International Press Award, and it’s determined by more than 100 members of the music industry press from all over the world.  They get together each year and vote for the best musical instruments and audio equipment in more than 40 categories. This year, Roland’s TD-4KP V-Drums Portable drum kit was honored with a MIPA award for the electronic drums category. More

US’ First V-Accordion Orchestra

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25+ Perform in V-Accordion Orchestra United States Digital Accordion Orchestra

Meet the United States’ first digital accordion orchestra, the New England Roland V-Accordion Orchestra. Organized by Springfield, MA Roland V-Accordion dealer Sam Falcetti, this unique digital orchestra features more than 25 accordion players with a wide range of musical perspective, including accordion contest champions, semi-professional accordionists, students and accordion hobbyists. The orchestra’s premier performance is scheduled during the 51st annual New England Music Festival, the weekend of April 5, 2013 in Newton, MA at the Newton Marriott. More

Roland On Stage with American Idol

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Rex Hardy and Russell Graham on American Idol

Rex Hardy Jr. and Russell Graham of American Idol

American Idol season 12 is underway with a new slate of contestants vying to reach the top spot and international stardom. Led by music director Ray Chew, the American Idol house band backs up every performer on live television, covering an enormous range of musical styles to perfection throughout the year. Working without a net before TV audiences of 20 million and beyond is a pressure-packed gig, for sure. To help get their jobs done, keyboardist Russell Graham and drummer Rex Hardy Jr. rely on Roland instruments to instantly deliver the top-level sounds and versatility they need every time, without fail. More

Special Edition Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camps, Powered by Roland Gear

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At their permanent home in Las Vegas this spring, Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp will be hosting two special edition camps featuring some legendary names in music. Brit rockers Def Leppard will lead a four-day camp from April 4-7, 2013, while renowned guitarist Jeff Beck and Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson will guest star from April 18-21, 2013. A wide selection of top-line Roland musical instruments and recording gear will be featured as well, at the ready for campers to use as they explore their inner rock star yearnings. More

PowerOn: Free iPad Music Magazines from Roland and BOSS

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Attention iPad users—there’s a great new way to get inside info on the latest Roland and BOSS gear, industry insights from pro musicians, and more. And best of all, it’s free! With our PowerOn digital magazines, you can keep up on the gear and artists you love, right from within the Apple Newsstand app on your iPad. More

Join Us in Honoring Mr. Kakehashi’s GRAMMY® Presentation During the Live Special Merit Awards Webcast

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kakehashi_smRoland’s founder, Mr. Ikutaro Kakehashi, will be honored with a Technical GRAMMY® Award along with Dave Smith, president of Sequential Circuits, for their role in developing MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology. The GRAMMY® will be presented during the Special Merit Awards on Saturday, February 9, from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. PST. Please join us at www.grammy.com/live for the live webcast. This award is presented to those who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field and is part of the world famous ceremony celebrating the music industry. More

VR-09 Press Coverage at NAMM 2013

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VR-09 Coverage at NAMM

The V-COMBO VR-09 live performance keyboard debuted last week at Winter NAMM 2013 with great enthusiasm across social networks. Many questions were brought to the attention of Ed Diaz (our resident synth ninja), which he will address in the following weeks. In the meantime please check out this coverage of the VR-09 by Keyboard Magazine. Please note, these video recordings were taken from a live trade show environment. More

NAMM 2013 Worship Events

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Special events for house of worship musicians, A/V techs and buyers at the 2013 NAMM Show

Worship Events

Thursday, Jan. 24th

The 4th Annual Night of Worship will be at the Hilton Hotel – Pacific Ballroom. This free concert will feature Brenton Brown, Peter Furler, Norm Stockton and special appearance by Al Perkins.

Saturday, Jan. 26th

The H.O.T. Zone will feature the Christian Musician Mini-Summit with special presentations for house of worship audio techs, media directors and musicians.

Sunday, Jan. 27th

Worship Musician! Magazine will host the first annual Musician’s Chapel event with special music by Bob Bennett.

 

MIDI: The Essential Standard Turns 30

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In the early 1980s, Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential Circuits founder Dave Smith had a dream—a simple interface that would allow all electronic musical instruments to communicate with each other and with computers. To make this dream a reality, these pioneers brought together an unprecedented coalition of manufacturers from the United States and Japan, and soon the Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or “MIDI,” was born. 30 years ago, the 1983 Winter NAMM Show hosted its landmark public unveiling, where Roland and Sequential Circuits demonstrated the first two MIDI-equipped synthesizers “talking” to each other via this new universal communication standard. More

“Roland LIVE” at the GRAMMY Museum Experience

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“Roland LIVE” at the GRAMMY Museum Experience

The new GRAMMY Museum Experience—featuring a hands-on “Roland LIVE” exhibit—is now open at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. Open to the public, this is an ongoing opportunity for teachers, students and music lovers of all ages to experience music making with Roland and BOSS products in an interactive, educational and inspirational environment.

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