Originally posted by Diki:
The REALLY telling question that MikeTV answered was E. Would you purchase another G70?
Despite the panning he gave it, the answer was YES!.
Yes Diki, that is correct - but only for use as a midifile play machine - not as a true style based arranger. I would never have considered buying it in the first place for that purpose.
My major beef with the G70 is mostly ergonomic and control changes from the G1000, and reading MikeTV, he obviously misses the layout from his old Korg. I think, though, that this tends to point out the fact that, once we are comfortable and familiar with a particular interface, it gets very hard to adjust to something that, from a fresh player's perspective, is just fine.
That is a fair point, but in this instance it is not lack of familiarity which is the issue. I think the operating system on the G70 is very user friendly, whereas the old Korg's was fairly horrible. However, I felt that Korg had done an excellent job on the front panel ergonomics on the i3, whereas the G70 (and many other makes/models, to be fair, including other Korg models) are less good in this important respect.
There is no such thing as a perfect instrument, and I don't mind having to find the odd work-around to get some things done. However, the basic hardware design and panel layout of an instrument is something you have to live with every time you play the instrument, so it needs to be "right" from the start.
Quote "The lack of proper "break" buttons makes it a none starter in terms of the most basic style control functions" just means that Mike is probably unaware that OS2 re-introduced the Break/Mute function, and tied it to the AssignSW by the left hand.
Sorry - my comment was misleading. Wrong terminology! I actually meant "Fill" buttons rather than "Break" buttons. I am aware that OS2 functions as you describe, and this is good.
What I wanted was a set of dedicated buttons to enable instant free access to any "Fill" pattern within the style. Ideally, these would have the ability to be set within each user programme so that the user can decide which main variation the "fill" leads into, rather than being stuck with the factory choices only.
...The fill buttons are in a cluster of four in the Style Control section. They double as Variation selection, all you have to have is the Auto Fill-in button enabled and as you select whether you change variations or return to the same, a fill is triggered.
Yes - this is what I am complaining about. Although this functionality is OK in it's own right, it is just not versatile enough. It would have been nice for this feature to have been offered this as an additional convenience function, but it is not an adequate substitute for a proper set of dedicated fill buttons.
Even the minimalist panel design of the VA series managed to find room for ONE fill button..... :-)
You can also trigger the variation and fills from Rolands excellent FC7 seven button pedalboard, making for a pretty good hands-free operation
True - but this still doesn't get round the fact that you can't introduce a partial fill towards the end of a bar (not the same as the "Half-Bar" function that is present), and you cannot divorce a particular fill from it's parent style variation (other than by programming a new style by cloning).
To me, these are essential features that I would take for granted as being present on any but the most primitive of arranger keyboards. As soon as I saw pictures of the G70 panel layout, it was obvious that the lack of dedicated fill buttons would be a potential problem to some degree.
But if anyone from Roland is trolling, here, if you don't want the G70 to wither on the vine, get some of the hippest programmers you can find, and bring out 50-100 new styles that, at least, compare favorably with Tyros2 and other 21st century arrangers.
Amen to that sentiment!
Regards - Mike
[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-22-2005).]
[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-22-2005).]
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