Roland V-Combo VR-09

[The_Star_Guy]

Check the Roland Web Site. There were two Organ screens shown for the Ipad editor...one for Rock, and one for Transistor. There were definite changes made to the "transistor" page.

 

And I don't think the organ engine is completely new either, since it is far more cost effective to re-package technology. But I do think that changes and enhancements were made, such as the transistor organ module.

[Bobadohshe]

Check out this latest demo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCpsCMb8I94

 

I just watched this. I am sick of videos that showcase somebody playing some shit that you would never ever play in real life ever. Can you really get a decent sense of a piano sound, an organ sound, ANY of the sounds by watching this? Ugh. That demo sounded like the floor at NAMM. /rant

[Sam Mullins]

Check out this latest demo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCpsCMb8I94

 

I just watched this. I am sick of videos that showcase somebody playing some shit that you would never ever play in real life ever. Can you really get a decent sense of a piano sound, an organ sound, ANY of the sounds by watching this? Ugh. That demo sounded like the floor at NAMM. /rant

 

+1

[Dana.]

I see that Roland disabled the comments on that video. 'Nuff said.

[ABECK]

Check out this latest demo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCpsCMb8I94

 

That demo sounded like the floor at NAMM. /rant

 

Is this vid produced by Roland? The performance does not do the organ sound any favors. Über sloppy.

[Theo Verelst]

I recal finding Disco stupid, though fun. Then stupid video clips supposedly killed radio stars, and the CD was the best thing that ever happened to music consumers, and Sade was audiofile, Bob Babellino was the sh*t on the dancefloor and after that, popular was mostly lost, with few exceptions (like the Crows).

 

Slowly New Age propaganda wears out, and all the lies become exposed. Maybe people will become critical in search of good music again, and enjoy the newer technology properly, and forget about The Movement (and some gay-*ssed mofos with special philosophies mistaken for relevant musicians).

[To B3]

And to think most people did not realize it's a wall wart yet. Then the real bitching will start

 

But seriously, curious to read the manual when available and know more about the real capacities and flaws of the instrument (hoping to find a good variety of EPs and clavs and to be able to customize them and have more use to the pedals than simple expression and sustain). All in all, looks a valid option so far, esp for the price, at least as backup/second tier/rehearsal/small gig weapon. More videos would'n t hurt either

[To B3]

Keyboardmag video demoing the VR-09:

 

[video:youtube]

 

The organ sounded better on that than the other videos to my ears. Could use a little more time on the Electric Pianos, though. Wurlis and Clavs did not get too much exploring so far.

 

 

[Bill W]

Definitely gassing for this!

[To B3]

For those fortunate to attend and interested in spending some time on the VR-09 I have some questions if you don't mind:

 

- Can the sustain pedal be assigned to leslie fast/slow (did not see any reference of people doing that on previous videos)? And if it does, how the pedal behave on a B3 on top / piano on bottom split, for example? The top determines the function?

 

- Can the exp pedal be assigned to other things other than B3 volume? Wah-wah on a clav, for example? If so, what determines the pedal behaviour on a split? Does it take preference to what's assigned on the top sound?

 

- On a split or layer, the effect knobs are assigned to the top sound only or you can highlight the sound you wanna mess on the panel and the knobs function are transfered to that particular sound?

 

- How do you change the type of delay or reverb that you wanna use? By the videos, I assume that the way is to move the correspondent knob and than you can change with the value big silver knob, is it correct?

 

- What about the MFX, is it fixed and predetermined like on the VR700 or you can change from a factory tremolo to a user-chosen phaser, for example? If so, how do you do that?

 

- Can the rotary speaker be used on other sounds besides the B3?

 

I know, a lot of things and questions, but if some of them can be answered, my curiosity can be a little tamed. Very intrigued by this board, all in all.

 

Thanks!

[AnotherScott]

My own questions, some referencing things I mentioned earlier in the thread...

 

1. Can split/layered sounds be panned to come out just one output or the other?

 

2. Can registrations include MIDI Program Changes to send to external devices?

 

3. Do the drawbars send MIDI CC?

 

4. Can registrations be recalled from other devices with simple MIDI Program Change commands?

 

 

 

[burningbusch]

To B3.

 

Most of those questions will likely have to wait until we have the manuals. If this is like previous NAMMs, the people doing the demos for Roland will likely be hired players who have spent some time with the keyboard but don't know it in depth. We'll see what we can get.

 

Busch.

[burningbusch]

Fortner VR09 NAMM demo.

 

 

Busch.

[allan_evett]

Fortner VR09 NAMM demo.

 

 

Busch.

 

Solid, overview demo. Ed Diaz basically clarified the core sound engine questions: the organ section is based on SN technology, apparently the piano and synth sections are mostly, if not entirely, sample based. Creates a distinction, sonically, between the sections; and sets it apart from the Jupiters and Integra. Being a JP-50 owner, I could clearly hear the diffence in the EP's and synth tones that were played.

The organ does sound different, improved somewhat. No doubt a part of that is the new, rotary effects program that had been previously mentioned. Ideally, as noted, pedal input for rotary speed control would be useful. But I did notice the pitch/mod paddle's side-to-side switching setup for Chorale/Tremolo. Appears to nail the half-moon switch concept; that's very cool.

[To B3]

To B3.

 

Most of those questions will likely have to wait until we have the manuals. If this is like previous NAMMs, the people doing the demos for Roland will likely be hired players who have spent some time with the keyboard but don't know it in depth. We'll see what we can get.

 

Busch.

 

I know, most or all of them will be answered by the manual. Just wanted the input of the players on a live situations at least on some of the points I asked, IE how easy it is to do those things, stuff like that.

 

Liked the organ too on that demo, as well the leslie sim.

[RABid]

I see that Roland disabled the comments on that video. 'Nuff said.

 

Isn't that pretty standard, or is it just wrong when Roland does it?

[richwhite9]

The exciting thing is these guys (and Korg with the 73-key Krome) competing at the 1K price point. A Krome and a VR-09 stacked may not be everyone's cup of tea for ergonomics but I'm reasonably sure that stack will sound just fine to the summer festival crowd listening to blues/rock mixed with electronica. More to my sound palette than a Kurz LE and Yamaha MOX stack.

[Dana.]

I see that Roland disabled the comments on that video. 'Nuff said.

 

Isn't that pretty standard, or is it just wrong when Roland does it?

Dunno but clearly they don't want people slagging their product.

[Ekewaka]

I see that Roland disabled the comments on that video. 'Nuff said.

 

Isn't that pretty standard, or is it just wrong when Roland does it?

 

If I was a product manager I would also do it. Avoid trolls.

[To B3]

Hoping to see the manual online the sooner the better. and more sounds and sights and videos please

 

[HSS]

Hoping to see the manual online the sooner the better. and more sounds and sights and videos please

 

Agree.... In the Fortner demo, I saw that the VR-09 has at least a few effects with dedicated knobs / buttons (e.g. EQ, reverb, overdrive, ring modulator, tremolo) that can be adjusted in real-time without having to dive into menus or an external Ipad. But I am wondering about its ability to adjust on-the-fly basic basic organ parameters such percussion, C/V, key click, and Leslie sim. Without this ability, at least to some degree, I don't see the VR-09 being a direct competitor to the Hammond SK1, NE3/ 4D, or even the Kurz PC3 series, at least for those players that need a decent B3 sound and have the $$ to purchase one of these.

[To B3]

A version of the app that works with the piano section would not hurt either, would it?

[Adan]

But I am wondering about its ability to adjust on-the-fly basic basic organ parameters such percussion, C/V, key click, and Leslie sim.

 

Yeah, that's pretty critical if this is to be at all taken seriously as a clone, even a lesser one. Perhaps it works by, for instance, holding down the percussion button and parameters popping up on the screen.

 

Given that it's Roland, I suspect we'll get answers soon, and there will be units in every GC within a few months at most.

[HSS]

A version of the app that works with the piano section would not hurt either, would it?

 

Yeah... Come to think of it I didn't see an Ipad app for the piano section in the demo video although I did see apps for the organ and the synth sections.

[HSS]

But I am wondering about its ability to adjust on-the-fly basic basic organ parameters such percussion, C/V, key click, and Leslie sim.

 

Yeah, that's pretty critical if this is to be at all taken seriously as a clone, even a lesser one. Perhaps it works by, for instance, holding down the percussion button and parameters popping up on the screen.

 

Hopefully you are right. On the Hammond SK1, I currently have, and even on the older XK1, which I used to have, you could hold down just about any button for a couple of seconds and make on-the-fly adjustments for whatever parameter they are asigned to (e.g. percussion levels, C/V, Leslie, etc.). IMO this is a killer feature for live performance.

[Ekewaka]

The YouTube video was interesting. I really like all the work Roland did to make the keyboard easy to use at gigs. Sometimes me thinks usability/ergonomics is 1/3 on the importance factor concerning live keyboards. This might even justify somewhat weaker sounds compared with other options.

 

As for synths. The times I need synth sounds on-stage. no need for a Korg MS-20 or MiniMoog or even a old/new Prophet, some basic synth sounds is all I need. If I need synth sounds in the studio, I have enough SW plug-ins to create new soundscapes the next 2300 years.

 

[AnotherScott]

But I am wondering about its ability to adjust on-the-fly basic basic organ parameters such percussion, C/V, key click, and Leslie sim.

 

Yeah, that's pretty critical if this is to be at all taken seriously as a clone, even a lesser one.

If nothing else, at least it's all there on the iPad screen.

[HSS]

But I am wondering about its ability to adjust on-the-fly basic basic organ parameters such percussion, C/V, key click, and Leslie sim.

 

Yeah, that's pretty critical if this is to be at all taken seriously as a clone, even a lesser one.

If nothing else, at least it's all there on the iPad screen.

 

Yeah... I guess, you could, for example, use the Ipad to dial up the soft percussion level on one of the VR-09's presets to your liking and then save it to a registation if you didn't want to drag an an expensive easily stolen / breakable Ipad to a lowbrow gig (which unfortunately are the ones I play). But still it would be nice if one could do at least some modest tweaking of basic B3 parameters in real-time directly on the board. My SK1 is killer for just this sort of on-the-fly adustment, but then again it cost twice as much as the VR-09.

 

Oh well, as stated earlier, we'll just have to wait for some serious some hands-on experience or at least see the user's manual to understand the degree of real-time standalone "tweakability" of the VR-09's B3 sound.

[burningbusch]

I shot a video of the configuration screen. Here are some of the configurable parameters the group is probably looking for:

 

ROTARY

Type 1,2

Woofer Accel

Tweeter Accel

WF Slow speed

TW Fast speed

WF Fast speed

TW Fast speed

KEYBOARD

Initial touch

Bass pedal mono, poly

CONTROLLER

Damper assign: damper, registration shift, looper, rotary f/s, rhythm start/stop, song start/stop

Damper part: to All, to Lower, to Upper

Expression Assign: expression, looper, rotary f/s, rhythm start/stop, song start/stop

 

I was told these are system level parameters and are not saved with each preset/registration.

 

$1,000 keyboard, OK?

 

Busch.

[David Loving]

This looks like an XW-P1 for $500 more money. Except I really like Roland eps.