Hello folks, long time no see... Been out of the game recently, lots of gigs and work, has stolen away my internet forum time... But anyways. I saw a video demo of the new Roland FP-7 stage piano, yeah I know it's not an arranger, but what got me was that "Audio Key" feature. You could chop up an audio song into sections, and assign those sections to keys on the piano. Everything is stored on a USB drive, and it could have several songs on it for different arrangements. That to me sounds like gold! Does this mean I could take a bunch of HQ backing tracks, assign them this way, and play my songs out live? And do a chorus or two extra? If this is the case, my big question is how many songs can you set up this way? Is it only limited by the size of the usb drive? If that is the case I'm getting one of these babies!

Doc-Z

Doc-Z: You are correct about how the new audio key feature works. You can see a live video demo at http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=856&ParentId=87

I had an FP-5 and loved it. The only reason I sold it was I wanted to try a more high-end arranger. I got the T2. The FP-5 however was a decent little arranger too. The session partner has lots of cool styles with two variations. Not as convenient/customizable as a full arranger but I did many gigs with just an FP-5 and its session partner. One last point. The action on the FP-5 was great and the internal speakers worked well. Of course, the flip side is IT'S HEAVY.