This new Roland Oriental keyboard was introduced at the British Music Fair and will probably be shown here also during Summer NAMM.


An exciting new Oriental Keyboard by Roland

A host of high-quality sounds, a vast collection of live-feel styles created by masters of oriental music, unique professional features, advanced User Program functionality, and an elegant, professional look. Based on numerous requests from end-users, fine-tuned until the very last minute, the EXR-40 OR is the most complete oriental keyboard on the market today. And it’s highly affordable to boot…

High-class 64-voice polyphonic sound engine with plenty of oriental instrument and rhythm sounds

200 User Programs with advanced features for live applications

Unique Lock function with 5 dedicated buttons

4MB of internal Flash memory for musical expandability

USB for data exchange with a computer and MIDI communication

Huge collection of oriental/international Styles

Lots of Delicious Oriental Flavors

The 64-voice polyphonic sound engine provides 592 Panel tones (compatible with GM2,GS and XG lite),including a plenty of oriental instruments, and instant Layer/Split capability via dedicated buttons. Twenty-six Drum Sets cover all major genres of oriental and western music. Though already stunning as they are, those sounds and Drum Sets can be enhanced further with a digital multi-effects processor (47 types) as well as reverb (8 types) and chorus (8 types effects).

Unique Features for Professional Performance

LOCK function
To support true realtime performance for oriental music, 10 “Lock” functions can be enabled/disabled using dedicated buttons below the display.
*This LOCK function is effective at the USER PROGRAM and MUSIC ASSISTANT.

USER TONE Selection

The EXR-40 OR allows you to assign frequently-used sounds to 8 USER TONES buttons. Those assignments are User Program parameters and can therefore change with each User Program you select, if need be.


Massive and Expandable Musical Contents

The EXR-40 OR comes with a huge number of Roland-grade Music Styles that cover a vast range of oriental and western genres. The factory ROM section contains 99 Music Styles, another 99 Styles are provided in the 4MB Flash memory area.
That area still has ample room for additional Styles you can load from floppy disk, or copy from your computer's hard disk.

Other Features

*USB for file transfer and MIDI communication
*10W + 10W, two full-range 13 cm speakers with bass reflex system and Digital Bass Enhancer
*12 Scale Tuning buttons, plus 3 dedicated memory selection buttons for realtime scale changes
*One Touch settings: each Style has two different One Touch settings
*Orchestrator: each Style has three different Orchestrator levels (Drum&Bass, Combo, Full Band)
*Music Assistant: 126 registration settings for popular tunes can be selected via the MUSIC ASSISTANT button
*Floppy Disk drive to load and save your data
*16-track sequencer and metronome
http://www.roland.com/products/en/EXR-40_OR/index.html

What makes you think they will arrive in the USA? Roland does not usually sell their oriental keyboards in the US. Several years ago they brought in some E40oriental and E14oriental boards but they didn't sell well. I hope I am wrong, but we will wait and see.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

George,

Just a wild (and hopeful) guess that it will make a Stateside appearance. Roland's GW-7 (its Chinese name is "Great Wall 7", named after the 7 original kingdoms that comprise modern China), was originally released for the Chinese market and eventually sold worldwide. Hopefully, Roland realizes that global music is pretty damn popular here in the US and will start expanding their offerings. The GW-7 is a decent product and the EXR-40 sounds like it has possibilities also and is more like a traditional arranger with onboard amplification. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Michael

The EXR-40OR is aimed at middle eastern/turkish type of market. I doubt it would come in here either.

[This message has been edited by vic83 (edited 07-15-2005).]

Looks somewhat like the Vega, and Ketron makes those in Intaly, just like Roland. Hmmmmmm

Does it have all the previous oriental
sounds and drumkits of the E-500or and EM-55or?

Yes, it has.

Great.
Thanks.

Roland Introduces EXR-40 OR Arranger at NAMM

PRESS RELEASE

July 22, 2005

If you're looking to add some Asian spice to your produtions, Roland' EXR-40 OR provides a range of sounds combined with a vast library of authentic styles created by masters of Oriental music.

In addition to its sounds and interactive Styles, EXR-40 OR provides over two dozen onboard drum sets, catered for Oriental music, for laying the proper rhythmic foundation.

To reduce the risk of operator error during live performance, a Lock function can be used to protect the chosen Style, Tone, Tempo, Transposition, and Portamento settings. For quick and reliable access to favorite sounds, a row of front-panel User Tones buttons provides instant recall. The large backlit LCD ensures that critical sound and song info can be easily viewed, even in the darkest stage environments.

For more information, visit their web site at www.rolandus.com



[This message has been edited by ocomain (edited 07-22-2005).]

http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?CatID=8&SubCatID=39&ProdID=EXR-40%20OR

It's listed on the Roland US products page, so it definitely looks like it will be sold here in the States!

Cool!!!