Wondering what kind of sound it had and how the rhythms were.

Scott
http://www.ScottLMusic.com

Scott,

That was really my first arranger. I midied it to my Yamaha PS6100. At first I was impressed but then I bought a Yamaha psr740 which blew it away. It did have some good styles on it. It also had some good sounds on it. I think by today's standards they would not be considered up to snuff. I thought it was the usual, 100 styles 6 or 7 good ones, 100 voices 6 or 7 good ones. I traded it for my Roland pk-5 pedals.

Tom

Tom

Hi Tom

I am assuming that the RA30 was the module version of the E30 keyboard. Do you know if I'm right about that asumption?

I had a Roland E35 keyboard. Anybody know if the tone was the same as the 30, assuming that the above is correct?

I suppose you hooked it up with midi? Did it come with a disk drive? Could you load different styles into it? Could you make your own styles? Weight, dimensions?

Sorry for the barrage of questions. I have a line on one, and am wondering if it would be worth having.

I am presumming the age to be about 1990?

P.S. When are you coming to Pensacola so we can go to Mesquite Charlies or whatever that place is that you like so much?

Best

Scott

Hi Scott,
don't know that particular model. Some of the very early Roland arrangers didn't have disk drives they used some sort of a memory card with a few styles on it. Found the following on it, but doesn't say much. http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/roland_ra-30.cfm

best wishes
Rikki

Scott, If I remember correctly, the RA30 had a sound engine similar to the MT32, the first of the Sound Canvasses. This was a pre-XP, pre-JV sound, not even related to the great sounds of the U220. Rhythms were not very flashy and I might say even boring.

Unless you are looking for something as a backup or to use sparingly, I would not suggest the RA30. Sounds and rhythms are outdated and comparatively simple to today's offerings.

Don't know about the RA30, but I have a RA90 (big brother?) & Styles Supercard MSL-15 who works fine. I'm still use it now and then midied up to a Evolution MK361C midikeyboard.
Also use it as a soundmodule connected to the PC as it has GM and GS. Sounds nice
GJ

Scott,

I don't remember the answers to your other questions except that size wise it was about 1.5 times bigger than a desk telephone. I don't remember it having a disk drive. I never did know if it was the module version of anything. I would put a value of about 70 to 100 dollars on it. I bought mine new from one of the mail order places. It was a closeout for 220 dollars. That was probably in 1999.

Tom

I used to sell the RA30s a long time ago. I think the technology was the same sound source as the E20 and E30 keyboards which used LA Synthesis technology which was out of the D50 days. A very short sample at the beginning of the sound followed by a synth based sound tailing off. I don't recall the sound canvas sounds being used in this module. That happend when the RA50 and RA90 came out later.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

The RA30 was a Sound Canvas engine..the same as the SC-7, SC33 and the Sound Canvas exspansion board that the JV's used...You can not load any other styles into it...The 100 styles were decent and are simular if not exactly like the E66 and E86..

BTW the MT32 was not a Sound Canvas, it was LA synthesis..



[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 05-04-2005).]

Thanx for all the replies.

The E35 I had came out in 1991 or so. Is it safe to assume that if the RA30 had the same sounds as the E66 and E86 which I never heard, that the RA30 will sound the same or better than the E35?

Thanx
Scott

Hi Scott,

forgive me for being blunt but the RA30 compared to anything from the last 5 years, sounded crap. I had the RA-50, which was the E70 in module. Its successor the RA-90,which I owned briefly as well was similar to the E86. Both modules had a fixed set of 256 sounds which could not be tweaked in anyway. And they had card slots to add those very expensive cards harbouring
(fasten your seatbelts) 8 new styles !!!!!!
I assume your interest is historical rather than with a view to getting one of those, cuase in my opinion bying a Casio is money better spent.
regards,
john

John I think you may have a couple errors..the RA50 is a MT32 map[LA ]and is not like the E70, but the RA90 is like the E70[SC]..the RA30 was released after the RA90 just prior to the RA95..it was designed as a compact , no frills arranger module, and did not sound like "crap"..in fact it is the same exact sound source as the other lower line Roland GS instruments..
They can be found under $100, and make a better choice than a Casio for me[with your favorite controlling keyboard]..

Fran, your knowledge of all things Roland is amazing! Thanks for sharing with us.

cass

Here's something that I've never thought about and never dawned on me before.

Does a controller keyboard need electricity to operate?

And also could one use a module such as the RA30 or Midjay using a PSR type keyboard which is not using electricity?

I guess you see my point. Although I suspect that my current keyboard will operate flawlessly for longer that I own it, BUT, my main questin I guess is, suppose there was a malfunction on the keyboard that I was using. I am wondering if I could play a PSR type keyboard with no electricity and use a module?

Always learning new stuff!!

Scott Langholff

My immediate reply would be that you need electricity to send the midi messages, at least. I think you could play a keyboard with no sound, but you'd need electricity to help send the messages. The small, midi keyboards use batteries, but that's still the old Edison moving thru 'em. I'm sure there's more to it.