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Synth

New RD-800 Stage Piano

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The Ultimate Keyboard for Gigging Players

With the RD-800 Stage Piano, Roland takes the long-running RD series into a new realm of sound, feel, and versatility. Delivering flagship performance all the way around, this impressive instrument features Roland’s best acoustic and electric piano sounds, the latest top-of-the-line weighted keyboard action, and a vast range of additional tones for flexibility in every performing situation. The RD-800 also includes an all-new interface for maximum control on stage, great effects for enhancing sounds, and a sleek new body design that’s lighter and easier to transport than previous generations. More

New FA-06 and FA-08 Music Workstations

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Let Your Creativity Flow

Roland FA-06 Music Workstation

Roland FA-06 Music Workstation with 61-note keyboard.

Until now, keyboard workstations have typically been difficult to use to their full potential, slowing down your musical inspiration with confusing features and complex interfaces. But Roland has changed all that with the FA-06 and FA-08, two user-friendly instruments that are extremely powerful and versatile, yet effortless to operate. This new breed of workstation brings you an unmatched level of creative freedom in every playing situation, combining all the professional tools you need with a practical and intuitive interface that’s a dream to navigate. More

Recording Tips Part 1 – Overview

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Make a Release-Quality Recording with Affordable Gear

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Recording Tips Overview image: SONAR

Author: Paul White Editor-In-Chief for Sound on Sound and Roland UK Features Team

You can make a release-quality recording using affordable hardware such as one of the BOSS multi-trackers or one of the many excellent computer Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) such as SONAR. You’ll need decent microphones and reasonably accurate loudspeakers or headphones to judge your efforts, but the quality of entry level mics and speakers is now surprisingly good too. Now, the main problems associated with making a great recording can be broken down into two areas — the sounds you record and the way you mix them. Putting the mics in the right place and not allowing your recording meters to bang into the red are also important factors but are relatively easy to deal with as there’s lots of information around pertaining to mic’ing, not least in the back issues section of the Sound On Sound web site. Visit soundonsound.com for additional recording tips. More

Getting Started with Sound Design

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Two Basic Approaches to Synth Programming

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Image: V-Synth GT sound design parameters

Do you experiment with sound design? One common misconception about programming synthesizers is that it’s easier to modify an existing patch (tone) than to start from scratch. You’ve probably sat with your favorite synth, found a patch that you like, and went to town tweaking the parameters. Suddenly, you begin to find that your knob and slider adjustments are getting you further and further away from the original sound. This is the main problem with modifying existing patches. You often have to search for and remove unwanted parameters (which may be affecting the tone quite drastically) only to end up with something far from the original and a lot of frustration. More

What’s It Like Playing Guitar Synth?

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Hint: It’s Not About Playing Drums on Guitar

Author: Roland UK Features Team

Paul White, editor-in-chief of the esteemed Sound on Sound magazine looks at some practical applications of guitar synthesis on the GR-55 guitar synth. (Hint: It’s not about playing drums on your guitar.)

The GR-55 guitar synth combines two of my favorite Roland guitar technologies in a pedal format specifically designed not to intimidate the musician, and I had plenty of time to play with one when I reviewed it for Sound On Sound. One is the fast-tracking, sample-based sound synthesizer section, the other is COSM guitar/amp/effects modeling. Critics of “guitar synths” often cite the need for an additional hex pickup, or the use of a guitar already fitted with one (such as the new GC-1 GK-Ready Fender Stratocaster®) as being an unwelcome inconvenience, but in reality neither of these highly sophisticated processes would be possible without it. More

Win Kern Brantley’s Custom Gaia SH-01

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The “Menacing” Black Finish

The custom synth you see here was constructed for Kern Brantley, a multi-talented music director who has spent years working with chart-topping icons. Kern’s tour schedule left no time to re-program some crucial Gaia SH-01 sounds into his Roland AX-Synth last year, and necessity bred invention, as the saying goes. His only option was to transform one of his Gaia SH-01 synths into a keytar. With the help of his keyboard tech and a stage hand, they used the handle of a paint roller to create a neck on one end, attached a guitar strap pin to the other end, and then painted it a “menacing” black color.

V-Combo VR-09 – Made for Live Playing

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5 Practical Features of the V-Combo VR-09

V-Combo VR-09

V-Combo VR-09

The V-Combo VR-09 is designed from the ground up to be the ultimate keyboard for live players. It is designed with dedicated knobs, sliders and buttons that allow you to choose your instruments and also shape sounds quickly and painless without having to dig into menus. In the following videos our resident synth ninja, Ed Diaz dives into the VR-09’s synth section, splits, layers, piano, organ, drums and on board looper.

Update Your VR-09 to Version 1.03

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Richard Vission Talks INTEGRA-7

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INTEGRA-7, the Best Sound Modules All in One

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Electronic dance music DJ and producer Richard Vission discusses his use of the INTEGRA-7 in his remixes and original music productions.

Richard Vission has been a preeminent house DJ and producer in Los Angeles since the late ’80s. His musical career started when DJ culture was first taking flight in Los Angeles, becoming known for a freewheeling mixing style that cycled through dozens of records per hour. He took the same frenzied sound into his production career, scoring big in 1992 with the sports-anthem classic “Jump” as a member of The Movement. 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

The Making of “Egypt, Egypt”

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Dublab & Red Bull Present Key Tracks

Key Tracks: Egyptian Lover “Egypt, Egypt” from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

In January, the Red Bull Music Academy debuted their Key Tracks series with dublab, an LA based non-profit public broadcasting Internet radio station. We were pleased to learn that the series opened with Electro legend Egyptian Lover who happened to make his monster 1984 track “Egypt, Egypt“ on a Roland TR-808 drum machine and a JUPITER-8 synth. In this video, the Egyptian Lover takes us back a couple of decades by recreating his original tune and talking about his inspiration for the song. Check it out!

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