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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

Win a Steve Stevens Autographed G-5 Strat

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Steve Stevens G-5 Give Away

Guitar legend Steve Stevens is perhaps best known for his nearly 30-year association with ‘80s icon Billy Idol and his pyrotechnic playing on Idol tracks such as “Rebel Yell” and “Eyes Without a Face.” Additionally, Stevens boasts an impressive resumé of achievements as both a solo artist and sideman, working with a diverse range of artists, including such greats as Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Vince Neil and many others. In 1986, his contributions to the Top Gun soundtrack earned Stevens a Grammy Award. Considering his incredible experience, Roland approached the guitar legend for his take on our ground braking G-5 Fender Strat. Check out the video below for his thoughts and enter to win the featured G-5 Strat autographed by Mr. Stevens himself! 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

G-5 VG Stratocaster Review

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G-5 Strat close up

Review by Michael Hodge

A few years ago, Roland and Fender got together and offered a Stratocaster with a built in Roland GK Divided Pickup system.  I have one and love it for programming since I am better on guitar than keys.  You can also double stuff via MIDI and make cool layers behind chords and solos, adding synth tones to what is coming out of the amp.

Roland and Fender have teamed up again, and the result is really cool!

The G-5 VG Strat is to guitar synthology what the iPod was to mp3 players.  It is streamlined and does just a limited number of things exceptionally.  The G-5 comes in two models. One is black with a maple neck, and the other is sunburst with a rosewood fingerboard.  Both models have alder bodies, Fender vintage ceramic pickups, a 22-fret neck with medium jumbo frets and American inline tuners.  There is also a built in Roland GK-3 divided pickup and a synchronized tremolo bridge.  Focusing on just the guitar tones, the G-5 is powered by Roland’s Composite Object Sound Modeling (COSM) engine from the VG-99.

What is unique to this guitar is that you just…

Continue reading this review in the July/August issue of Worship Musician! magazine

 

Meet The Loop Station World Championship 3 Judges

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LSWC3

Darryl Jones

Darryl has played bass guitar for the Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Cher and Peter Gabriel. He also plays with an amazing trio, the Stone Raiders. Darryl uses BOSS effects and the Roland GR-55 guitar synthesizer.

John 5

John plays guitar for Rob Zombie. He has also played with Marilyn Manson, Rob Halford, David Lee Roth and many others. John’s innovative and versatile guitar style has been featured on many projects. John plays BOSS compact pedals and the Roland GR-55 guitar synthesizer. John is featured on the new BOSS compact pedal Connect videos.

Watch the Loop Station World Championship 3 live and vote

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New Product: V-Combo VR-09 All-in-One Stage Keyboard

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V Combo VR 09

The V-Combo VR-09 is an easy-to-transport rig for performing keyboard players, with dedicated piano, organ, and synth engines. It’s built around a single idea: playing live. Because you don’t need any distractions onstage, the V-Combo VR-09 is all about getting the exact sounds you need as quickly and simply as possible, with a well-organized panel layout and a ton of intuitive real-time controls. It also features USB song playback, onboard rhythms, battery-powered operation for mobile playing, and much more. More

New Product: Record, Practice, and Learn with the SD-2u and CD-2u

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DC-2u

Compact and easy to use, the SD-2u and CD-2u are your go-everywhere companions for recording, music practice, and education. Both devices offer built-in stereo mics and high-quality recording to SD media, while the CD-2u adds an onboard CD drive for burning and playing audio CDs. Other features include integrated stereo speakers, inputs for external mics and other devices, and a host of great functions for practice and learning, including high-fidelity key/tempo change, Center Cancel, the new Center Focus, and others. More

New Product: HPi-50 Digital Piano with DigiScore and Other Top Features

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HPi 50

Combining Roland’s top piano technologies in one attractive instrument for the home, the new HPi-50 brings the joy of playing and learning the piano to your entire family. SuperNATURAL® Piano technology and the Acoustic Projection audio system fill your living space with gorgeous sound, while the latest DigiScore® interactive education features make learning and practicing fun for all ages. More

New Products: CUBE Lite Amps with iOS Interfacing and CUBE JAM App

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CUBE Lite

Roland’s all-new CUBE Lite series introduces a fresh concept in amplification. The CUBE Lite Guitar Amplifier (for guitarists) and CUBE Lite MONITOR (for keyboard/synth players and vocalists) are compact, home-based amps with stylish looks and built-in iOS audio interfaces, making it easy to integrate with music apps on your favorite Apple mobile devices. Featuring awesome 2.1 Channel sound, the CUBE Lite series works equally well for playing instruments and enjoying your digital music library in the comfort of your living space. More

New Product: DUO-CAPTURE mk2 USB Audio Interface for iPad and Laptops

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Duo Capture

Looking for a compact, affordable, and great-sounding audio interface for your iPad or laptop? Then check out the all-new DUO-CAPTURE mk2. It’s the ideal companion for music recording and production on the go, with a versatile selection of inputs, dual headphone outputs, and more. More

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