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SRX-12

Classic EPs Expansion Board

By Jim Bybee

Looking to add some new sounds to your live rig or studio setup? If you own an SRX-compatible Roland keyboard, sound module, or Groovebox, there’s no need to buy a new instrument—just pop in an SRX Expansion Board and gain a ton of awesome new sounds with no muss or fuss. Each SRX board features a large collection of high-quality sampled waveforms, along with an entire bank of patches that utilize them. All these sounds are directly accessible just like the preset sounds in your instrument, with no load times involved. Currently, there are 12 different boards in the SRX series, and each is dedicated to a specific musical genre (such as dance or world music) or instrument type (drums, strings, brass, etc.).

SRX-12: Classic EPs

The latest addition to the SRX collection is the SRX-12 Classic EPs Expansion Board. Focusing exclusively on vintage electric pianos and clavs, it offers stunningly realistic recreations of the keyboard instruments that drove many legendary pop, rock, country, and R&B songs from the late 1960s through the 1980s. Best of all, the Classic EPs board gives you the ability to use these classic sounds today without having to deal with the maintenance and bulk of the original articles.

Represented in the SRX-12 are three different vintage models of 73-note and 64-note electric pianos, as well as a classic clav. Each instrument was meticulously multisampled at extremely high sample rates, with each key sampled at four different velocity levels. The clav was captured with each of its four different pickup settings, and also with the mute both on and off. Like all SRX boards, the SRX-12 contains a ton of ready-to-use patches that let you start making music with your new sounds right away.

The SRX-12 and the Fantom-X

While the SRX-12 works great with any SRX-compatible instrument, using the board in a Fantom-X6/X7/X8 keyboard has an extra advantage. These keyboards feature a one-touch “Piano mode” that allows you to access its acoustic and electric piano sounds and related settings with a single button press. With an SRX-12 installed, the Fantom-X Piano mode is enhanced with two new screens: Classic EP and Classic Clav.* Each screen gives you quick access to six user-definable presets (using the Fantom-X’s F buttons), as well as a host of manual settings that give you the feel of the controls on the actual vintage instrument. In either screen, simply press the F2 button to toggle between preset selection and manual sound adjustment. (Of course, you can use and edit the SRX-12’s sounds in the Fantom-X’s Patch and Performance modes as well.)

In the Classic EP screen, the Manual controls give you easy access to all the electric piano settings you need. With the F3 button, you can toggle through the electric piano types: 1, 2, or 3. By pressing the F4 button and using the REALTIME CONTROL knobs, you can adjust the virtual “condition” of the electric piano from brand new to vintage, as well as adjust the rate and depth of the piano’s tremolo effect. Use the F5-F8 buttons to add chorus, phaser, EQ, or COSM speaker simulator effects; when an effect is selected, the REALTIME CONTROL knobs are automatically remapped to control the selected effect.

The Classic Clav screen’s Manual controls give you a set of knobs and switches just like a vintage clav, plus some extras. Press the F3 button and twist the REALTIME CONTROL knobs to select the clav’s virtual pickup, and also to add some “bite” to the sound with a compressor, enhancer, wah, or overdrive effect. Use the F4-F7 buttons to adjust the timbre from brilliant to soft, and press F8 to toggle the clav’s mute on and off.

Vintage Magic

Whether it’s the sweet bell-like tones or soft growl of an electric piano or the funky sound of a clav, the SRX-12 delivers them all in realistic vintage fashion. If you want the best sampled electric pianos and clavs that Roland has ever offered, check out the SRX-12 Classic EPs Expansion Board—you won’t be disappointed.