Just returned from the National Accordion Association Convention.

I did see, hear, hold and play the Roland BK-7m module. Unfortunately, it was not under the best circumstances and it was very brief. If you've ever been in a convention setting you know what I mean. NOISE, NOISE, and MORE NOISE! Sorry, there are no photos or video, If you can believe it, I forgot my camera.

So, here it is in brief. The construction is great, weight abt 3 pounds, color is good (black and silver.) The screen is small, however, the blue backlight on black background is very readable.

Did not go through all the styles, but the ones I heard sounded really good. (big band, latin, some rock) very usable, very full sounding, 4 variations and one-touch sounds. Did not get a chance to hear country.

The individual voices that I heard were OK. Here again, I did not hear all of them. Obviously, they don't compare w/Yamaha's SA voices, but I think there adequate.

I appears to be very user friendly; ready to play "out of the box". One thing that impressed me is how easy it was to hook up my accordion(about 3 minutes.) Of course this module was created in part for the Roland V accordions. So when you plug it in, you select Roland accordion from the menu and it automatically finds and sets the MIDI channels. If you have a non-Roland MIDI accordion, seelect "other accordion" then, push one note on the right hand, then one chord button, and finally one bass button, and it finds and matches the MIDI channels for that.

For me, it's a big hit, however, it did not seem to attract a lot of lookers. I actually had to ask three times if I could try it out and I think I was the only one that did. Roland did not seem to push it. It mainly sat on a table unused. They really did not do an indepth presentation! This probably happened because they had just one guy and he was quite busy demoing accordions.

I did not get to see how it handeled media from a thumb drive as far as load time etc.

The price makes this a very attractive ($999.00.) Actually, I ordered mine before I ever saw one. And now, just from what I've seen and heard I think it was a great decision. Another thing that sold me is the fact that it can be controlled via a foot pedal (FC-7.)

I think it will work great as a stand alone or complement other keyboards and arrangers. It's a "must have" for any accordionist. IMO, it's a lot of "Bang for the Buck."

Wish I could say more.

Don P

Don, I forgot about the show, or I could have come, as we discussed. Oh well, they will be available soon enough now I guess.
Thanks for your review.
DonM

At a grand, this could be the product that changes the game for Roland.

If they have any brains at all, they'll commission a full set of hiphop, rap and alternative styles for it and go after the youth market, who are SO dead set against keyboard arrangers, but this little fella's form factor might fool them into thinking it is a new product...

They sure as hell aren't going to set the world on fire marketing this to accordion players! (Nothing against accordion players, got one myself! But we ARE a pretty small market...)

Just make sure your local dealer actually orders one! At a grand, he is far more likely to than some new TOTL arranger, anyway.

Thanks for your brief assessment on the Roland BK-7m Don. You would think the demonstrator would have taken the time to demonstrate the BK-7m with an accordion he had on hand Don. Although he could have been clueless on how to use it perhaps. Also, since it didn't garner much attention from visitors and was essentially snubbed by the Roland demonstrator, and on top of that, put in a corner to collect dust, it makes one wonder how well it will actually be received when it hits store shelves in the near future. If Roland Corp. is basically "panning" it (neglecting it/relegating it to the back burner/distancing themselves from it at trade shows, etc.) maybe they know something that we don't. In other words, it could be a relatively meager product that Roland has decided to give up on already perhaps.

It could be a similar situation to the Roland VP-7 Vocal Processor which has proven, in many cases, to be far less than what people were hoping for, and consequently, turned out to be a certified "bust" for Roland and company. From what I understand the Roland VP-7 Vocal Processor is very "unnatural" sounding producing "robotic" harmonies that relegate it to "toy" status amongst serious vocalists looking for a competent vocal harmonizer. In other words, the Roland VP-7 Vocal Processor apparently doesn't cut it, therefore, don't waste your money on one unless you really enjoy sounding like Donald Duck when you sing.

Hopefully I'm wrong about the BK-7m arranger module but Roland's tepid response toward it sure isn't cause for rejoicing if you ask me. If a product is a potential blockbuster (and Roland knew it was) they would no doubt be putting the BK-7m on the "front burner" and tripping all over themselves to try and get it out into the public's view to try and draw attention to it and to tout its features and sounds with regular demonstrations of it. In addition, there's only a single meager video about it on Roland's website as well. Since they're essentially ignoring it right off the bat and basically shoving it into a corner to gather dust (instead of demonstrating it like they should be doing) doesn't portend well for the BK-7m if you ask me. Maybe it's just me though. Possibly after it hits store shelves and people get their hands on it maybe it will indeed turn out to be a real winner. Time will tell obviously.

I would assume the module version will only contain what is already in Roland Arrangers already on the market or released in the past?...Or, did they actually create totally NEW styles just for this Bk7m?

It's funny ... I actually WANT old styles. It seems that every year the manufacturers stray farther and farther (further & further??) from the simple, solid, dance beats that are STILL vital for covering a wide range of song styles. I don't want Steve Gadd - I want RINGO!!!!!! I love the improvements in tone and added features like MP3 playback and USB drives, but what I really want is BREAD and BUTTER styles that I can use to enhance MY arrangement of the songs I play. The keyboard is not the arranger ... "I" am.
Rant over. (breathing better now)

Looking in the manual, there appears to be many new styles according to names...As an example the newer named "Beat" styles..

The newer "Gold" series are also listed , and the G70/E80 styles too..

If there will be a "Latin" version, you will see the new latin styles..

Hi Folks , I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing the new module .
I agree that you cannot beat "good Bread and butter styles " to use on practical gigs !!

does anyone know if the new module has the Jazz style in 5/4 tempo to play the Dave Brubeck /Paul Desmond hit "Take five"

if not is it available in the G70 and E series keyboards ? which if I understand correctly the new module is able to play these styles .

regards ....giovanni
ps also does it have good fast and slow rotary organ sounds ?
for such numbers as "whiter shade of Pale "...Green onions etc .

Uncle Dave (et al)... Pretty much all Roland arrangers have been backwards compatible with older styles, so if you have an old 5/4 style (plenty around) it ought to work SORT of OK out of the box. If you get one and don't find it in there, I'll send you the Take Five style, no problem. And older, simpler styles, same deal.

Thing is, Roland have a set of tools called Makeup Tools which is I think by FAR one of the easiest to use to revoice and tweak older styles to use newer sounds and kits effectively.

The Prelude and GW-8 had some pretty decent B3 sounds (by that price-point's standards), but, as usual, a lot of that is getting a volume/expression pedal and playing it right, but the effects have a decent, VK organ derived Leslie sim, etc., and I doubt the BK is any worse!

Hi Diki , thanks for your very kind offer .
I'll keep it in mind .
I've always been a technics smac1200 module user midied up to my two midi /acoustic accordions and I've got a good collection of styles over the years .
I don't have the time to start from scratch with all the styles again .

On april 3rd I'm going to a presentation of the Roland BK7-M at the Pakefield organ festival in the Uk .
I'll have a much clearer idea if it will be suitable for my requirements

My friend Don Patterson has given a good write up of his findings based on his attendance of the recent Texas accordion convention ,which for me was very interesting regarding how easy it seemed to set the midi accordions up to the BK7-M .

best regards .....Giovanni