http://messe.harmony-central.com/Musikmesse01/Content/Roland/PR/VA-76.html

http://www.rolandkeyboardclub.com/v/prod_detail.php?change_language=ita&id=172

Dont see many players using the va76...short lived? why?....I though it had some very cool features, eg: Morphing, 76 keys etc, ...


PS: as a treat of course Va76 "FEELINGS" DEMO

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 07-23-2008).]

Good question, Donny. I really did not pay much attention to Roland arrangers until the G70 came out. The VA series seemed to be some kind of futuristic board to me at the time. I was even turned off by the original Fantom boards. So what is the word on the VA-76?

Cassp the Morphing feature on the VA series was very useful let you mix up how many parts you wanted to include in your styles with just the touch of a button trio full band etc ...I remember watching Uncle Dave on stage one night using the VA7 & thought WOW!! But why didnt it really catch on like the G series? maybe we'll get some answers here?

The VA7 was the turning point for me, I turn to Ketron, The VA had serious problems with the touch screen, the lack of usable samples, the styles too artificial for MY taste and use, it was the Instrument I shortest EVER had, almost 4 months (TOO long).
I am aware that the SHORTEST Roland arranger in production was the EM 2000. Problems with the Screen and not user friendly, I saw and tried a couple of them (some time ago), and I can understand why they cut the production so soon.
Most of the instruments I have had, is for a very LONG LONG time.
From the VA7, I went to the Ketron X1 HD, what a difference, in fact later, when the SD1 came out, I got it too.
I sold Both units ( in my hometown) in 2002 when I moved back to USA. So at least 3 years and some I had them.
For what I know both parties that purchased my Ketrons still use them and enjoy them too.

The V/VA- series was the first Roland arranger (I think) to move away from the tried and tested Sound Canvas engine, which was a marvel of integration.. Every sound was fine-tuned to work well with every other sound, kits were balanced against each other, sound interchangeability was flawless... But it was starting to sound a little dated, and Roland wanted to try using samples from other, more successful WS products. Unfortunately, the hybrid results from mixing the two systems together was not as smooth - there were noticeable jumps in volume between similar sounds. Two different E Pianos, for instance, at noticeably different volumes... One of the main requirements of an arranger be that you can change sounds without having to go and change volumes as well. To a certain extent, this problem still exists to this day, although, with the trend towards moving the arranger line to the Sonic Cell soundset (as shown on the new GW) might improve things as long as that is balanced well (haven't heard one, yet).

The other thing that went wrong with the V-series was the move away from realtime controls. The G1000 had physical buttons for just about everything, a lot more was screen or menu driven on the V's. At least this has been mostly addressed since the G70, with far more buttons than the V's. For me, it's close to perfect, with whatever you need that has not already got a dedicated button being able to be assigned to two general purpose buttons. a general purpose footswitch, the D-Beam and the seven button FC-7 pedal. Nicely customizable, IMO...

But for players used to doing a lot of realtime adjustments, the V-series was definitely a bust, I think. A complete shift in Roland strategy. This is the thing that amazes me... they had a best seller in the G1000, and what do they do? A complete about face..!

It definitely seems that whoever was in charge of the arranger division wasn't actually an arranger player

And don't get me started about them dropping the Chord Sequencer (that they had had on every TOTL arranger for years prior to the V-series. If no-one ever used it, or understood it, why did they keep it so long?

I just get the impression that Roland's arranger design team got a new leader, and possibly a whole team, and in their infinite wisdom, decided they knew better than the team that built the G1000. Big mistake.

So, while Yamaha and Korg incrementally improve their models, slowly adding features but seldom removing them, Roland have completely reinvented almost their entire OS at least twice since the G1000.

Insane... All we ever wanted was better sounds, and more complex styles wedded to the meat of the G1000 OS. What we got was the V-series, then the VA's, two utterly different arrangers, and now the G70, an attempt to return to the G1000 with some of the VA's strengths added.

It's only partially successful... The new Cover Tools, and especially the Makeup Tools are wonderful... easily one of the best things on ANY arranger. The style creation tools are a marvel, compared to the competition. And the basic sound, with the TD drums, VK organ and FantomX piano is a ballsy alternative to the anemic 'home' sound so favored by Yamaha.

But while Roland did a couple of 180º's, Yamaha was inventing Mega sounds, then SA sounds, and incorporating multipads, none of which there is ANY Roland equivalent for...

Roland's sales figures in Europe (the mainstay of arranger use, IMO) are not too bad, compared to the US, and they still have enough of a market share to probably indicate they are not going to just give up. But they have GOT to stop trying to reinvent the wheel every few years, LISTEN to their users a bit more (and not just the 'one finger' jockeys!) and keep the good when they throw out the bad...

But whatever comes out in the future from them, I still don't see it ever competing directly with Yamaha... These two have about as different a sound, OS, style philosophy, construction and operation as you can find. And for those of us that Yamaha do not impress, that's a GOOD thing!

Strangely, I am convinced that all the G70 needs is another major OS upgrade to be close to the perfect arranger... And only minor hardware improvements to be even better than that. There are enough buttons to do the job (almost!), everything's laid out where I can get to it. the Mark/Jump buttons could double as a Chord Sequencer controls if they added that back...

I guess my primary wishes for a new G-series would be

OS fixes to the system we have
Ability to route the VK to it's own output
Multiple drum tracks
Guitar Mode integrated with Style Mode
User Tones w/MFX and EQ stored on User Tone pages
Chord Sequencer

and that's about it...

Oh, OK, last AND definitely least - shave five pounds off it, and get back to the weight of the G1000 (strange that the G1000's weight wasn't as much of a dealbreaker as the G70's... have we all got that much weaker over ten years? ).

Pretty minor stuff, if you ask me...

Apparently the problem with the VA series..still exist...it was /is clearly misunderstood..and people never got around to using it to it's potential..

The first VA-7 I purchased ( when first released)..was ok ..I liked the piano and the variations [parameters}...The morphing of styles was/is the best to date...real-time morphing...And Yes Diki it still had a chord sequencer...

The design was considered easier to use...anyone that bought a G800/G1000 knows the learning curve with multi menu levels/pages...It was not a novice's keyboard...maybe that is why it was called a "pro" arranger..Ian....

There were some things on the VA-7..I didn't care for...other than the 61 keys..

The extra step in playing sequences..sorta like the competition...designed as a shortfall to the G1000..

And yes Diki the VA series indeed was still designed from Sound Canvas..In fact for sequence playback you could select the SC55 table..G800 banks..G1000 bank or the VA bank..As we could select the "old" tones or the "new" tones on the G1000...

I ended up selling my first VA-7...after all I was still using the G1000..

Roland than introduced version 2 for the VA-7....Personally I think version2 made the VA-7 as good as what the competition had...It introduced short cuts for getting to parts and many other improvements..It also included text read and the easiest lyric edits and entry to SMF's with in the keyboard...On parr with what the G70 does today..

The sound system..25 watts a side..came to live when used as a monitor (aux in)..in fact it was twice as loud as just using the speakers playing the VA-7..And they didn't break up..also had decent bass...

I also used a harmonizer into the input jack ..giving me the mic/effects/ harmony/ volume control...

As I said..the VA series in particular the VA-7 was never used to it's potential...

If someone has a clean version2 VA-7..email me..I might be interested in it..

I forgot to mention..The VA-7 was a "home piano" product (CK)...This may have had an effect on sales....In fact I bought my 1st VA-7 from a "friend" CK dealer...and he made 20 points on me..as a dealer.. .remember the G70/E80 hassel..hard to find...

Diki and Fran, thanks for those great posts. It's very interesting to hear about the evolution of models. I saw that with the G70 OS and the G800 I once diliberated upon.

Two thumbs up, guys!!

the biggest hurdle I had in selling the VA7 in my store was the misunderstanding of the vocal processor. Most of my potential customers thought it was a vocal harmonizer but they were wrong. It was a sampler that allowed you to only sample in short phrases for later playback. We told Roland that there wasn't a need for this kind of limited duration sampler in an arranger keyboard and when the G70 replaced it, they fixed this problem by installing a vocal harmonizer inside and getting it right!


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

George I always wanted to ask yu....

What is the best selling Arranger KB you've had to date in your store?