The FP-E50 is a strange beast. As you point out, Roland’s one finger chord recognition system made it to the final product. But Roland’s style editing (even basic mixing of Parts) is completely gone. Along with two of the four variations, four of the six fills, and most of the intros and outros. Thing is, the code for all this is mature, bombproof, and, quite honestly, highly needed. The thought of being stuck with an 90’s feature set on a 21st century arranger just sticks in my throat.

Why deliberately choose to remove standard features that have been on ALL mid-price and upwards arrangers for at least 30 years? It sure didn’t make it a ‘better’ product. It’s a strange decision on a product aimed squarely at the more professional player? You get an awesome piano, an awesome action, and access to the Zen-Core expansion sounds…

And then, instead of just copy/pasting the arranger section from the BK9, you spend a fortune removing features that a pro player really needs. I don’t know about you, but the thought that I had to play every tune I do with two basic beats for the entire tune turns a promising product into a hard pass. I’d rather hook my BK-7m to a good stage piano with no arranger function whatsoever.

As usual, Roland get so close, then stumble at the finish line. Deja vu all over again!