Dear all G-70 User,
Its look like a great keyboard with very good sounds but surprisingly no step recording fackity in style as well as song record mode though the keyboard is named Music Workstation. Step recording is must for complicated parts sequencing.

roland user.

Really??? No step recording..?? That's odd Roland would leave off something like this. Is this "missing feature" confirmed by other G-70 owners?

Squeak

Step recording? Can't say I've used that in 15 years. I always thought step recording was more for techno style music, something that would tend to lead you towards other, more cutting edge style keyboards rather than arrangers.

But hey, if you're looking for something to say negative about the G70 (and the lack of step recording DOES seem to be something of a stretch.....) how about 'it no longer has a Chord Sequencer'? Oh, that's right, YOUR arranger doesn't have one of those, either!

If you TRULY need step recording for trance and techno style musics, your best bet would be to use Fruity Loops or any of the MUCH better pattern and phrase-type softwares, and then transfer the SMF to a G70 for style conversion..... Step recording tends to be a very visual way of entering notes, and computer based softwares make this a MUCH easier process.

I must confess, sometimes people expecting these top of the line arrangers to do EVERYTHING seems a bit pointless. Anyone who can afford a $3500 arranger probably already has a computer (or two!), and weighing an arranger down with 'features' that can be done better, faster, and easier on a laptop of minimal specs seems to miss the point of the arranger.

Why spend countless R&D hours implementing a feature few users will use, when more time could be spent addressing the real needs of real arranger users. For every person who would actually use step recording (I know that if you use it, it seems a loss, but I still contend that nowadays, few arranger users use step mode anymore) there are dozens that would like more choices in patterns and fills, better ways to trigger the pattern or fill of your choice, easier ways to set up OTS settings, all the things that make an arranger work.......

HD recording, sampling, arpeggiation creation, step recording, all these 'features' are done FAR easier on a computer. Use the right tool for the job (at least it's easier to transfer from one to the other than it used to be!).......

Perhaps you can use the Mico Edit feature. It's a better tool for 'very complicated' parts.
Peter

The G70 does not have a coffeemachine but Roland says it is a workstation.

For those of us that play arrangers in a OMB situation and another instrument such as Sax, Trumpet so on and so forth, an on board sequencer is a absolute necessity. I find the sequencer on my dinosaur i30 (as UD calls it), a very valuable tool.
There are styles on the board that I love to play my Big Band sequenced tunes with my sax. For instance, Moon Light Serenade and some jazz and other styles, that make for a much more enjoyable gig with all the variety along with sequences that I do with the computer too when playing sax. I get bored very easily. Variety is an absolute necessity for me.
That why I enjoy playing with other musicians whenever the opportunity arises. I wish I could play with a band and make $150 to $200 a night and that just isn’t gonna happen.
So I won't buy a keyboard with out a very good sequencer.
Boo

Here are all the new models E80.E60.E50 Manuals to download.
http://www.rolandkeyboardclub.com/v/om.php?pagina=4&lang=en

The G70 DOES have a very good sequencer...... just no step-input capability (other than entering the notes manually in Micro Edit mode - a reasonable workaround).

But, as I said, step input only seems like a good way to enter music into the sequencer if you are going to do robotic types of music. You wouldn't want to step input a jazz tune, for instance. But other than step input, the G70's sequencer is very powerful, with the capability of recording live arranger play and then working further on the parts in 16 track sequencer mode.

It has a software style piano roll display if you like that, and a list edit facility, and pretty much all the usual editing tools you expect on a software sequencer. Just no step recording. Is that what you normally use? Probably not....... most of us PLAY our parts in (if it's complicated, just slow the tempo down!) and edit afterwards. Plus, there is an easy USB way to transfer sequences to and from a computer, for editing tasks that go beyond what the built-ins can do.........