i am after some of the following:

Bolero
Bachata
Beguine
Rhumba
Simple Bossa (not fast or orchestral)

i currently am using the GW-8 with the Roland G70 style set but i was wondering if other Roland users have found or made some better ones? i am more into simple backing tracks with only a drum kit, bass, strumming guitars and 1 or 2 other tracks max.

thanks!

Well, there's always the Mute button...

Less is More

Nick,

i too own a G-70

if you're looking for the BEST latin styles,
they are in the KETRON'S

really, Roland Latin stuff sucks,
they are styles programmed by Americans or Japanese musicians

there are not Real Latin styles for Roland

Cumbia, Bolero, Merengue, Rhumba, Bachata, all all HORRIBLE on Rolands

Nick you have mail

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-21-2009).]

who has mail?

Leezone... have you checked out the Latin styles in the GW-8L?

Perhaps earlier Latin Roland styles weren't very contemporary, but the -L variant of the GW-8 is specifically designed for Latin players. Got special kits for them and everything. Are they all terrible, too?

they are a little better Diki,

but still not AUTHENTIC,

not like on AUDYA, by NO means

Authentic to what market..? I can't imagine that a Cumbia in Portugal is the same as one in Costa Rica, which is probably different to one in Brazil, and your mother's Salsa beat is probably nothing like your grandkids' Salsa.

What age group and country are you thinking of when you look for a Son? Or a Samba? There are 22 different Cumbia's in the GW-8L. How many come with the Audya?

Diki,

the AUTHENTICITY has nothing to do with the market

what i am saying is that Rolands Latin is good for NO market
they styles are of VERY POOR interpretation/quality...
they are done by NON-Latin musicians
almost unplayable in my opinion

the merengue or salsa bass and piano (Roland) are nowhere close,
the latin flavor is not there

it's just NEVER gonna be what it supposed to be, unless it's programmed by those who know and play this kind of stuff

like Greek music, i can't program it and get same flavor as someone who knows

now AUDYA, Ketron hired REAL LATIN musicians...and the results are QUITE convincing

Lee so why not buy the Audaya?.....

well for one thing it's almost $5,000

and i would much rather have a Module Version of AUDYA, so i can use with keyboard of MY choice.

lots of Ketron products have had module versions, why not AUDYA?

and if i wait, maybe the Hardware will get bumped to 2 gig ram, 500GB HD,
maybe we see an AUDYA2 :-)

Lee why are you so unhappy with what you already have?......if the Audya was a bit less money would you buy one now even with it's drawbacks that have been discussed here on SZ since it's release? I'm sure what you now have is very adequate to produce some wonderful music..no?

what i have is good, G-70, XD3 module,

but man the AUDYA would be nice, those drums and guitars are awesome

if AUDYA was alot less $$$ i would consider,
but i would probably want to sell G-70, even though there are certain styles on G-70 which i really like over Ketron, but not many :-)

Where are you from, Leezone?

Do you do 'modern' Latin, or stuff primarily from the sixties and seventies?

Some of those GW-8L styles (you SURE you heard the -L variant?) seem pretty contemporary to me...

Diki,

i'm originally from Portugal, but have been here all my life, NY/NJ

i think i have heard the L version, but please do send me link to hear GW8L styles just in case

Portugal and Brasil are not Latin, even though Brasil is in South America

i play MOSTLY portuguese music, and this is why AUDYA is great, because of FCMUSICA, who create authentic styles :-)

as far as Latin stuff, i play about 10% at gigs

You have mail..

I have been saying this for a LONG time, no manufacturer has decent Latino styles, and I mean styles that can be use in Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Argentina, even Spain. Brazil has their own styles, Samba, Batucada, etc...

If you listen to the popular Radio stations on any of the countries I mention at the beginning, that is the kind of styles I am referring to.

Manufacturers ask their style designers to make styles, and is evident that they are clueless about the culture to represent in their instrumentation, musical phrasing, etc. Been a good style designer, does not mean that can make ETHNIC styles accurately.

The attempt by Roland with the GW8L, fell pretty short, basically there are only 5, YES, only 5 Cumbias that to each, only tiny small variations on tempo and perhaps an instrument change, and THAT multiply by 5 times, made it to 25....so, that's why they got the names, Cumbia Radio 1,2,3,4,5, etc...
Is very disappointing coming from Roland, also to showcase those styles at the Summer Namm a year ago, with a guy that had no clue that Paso Duranguenze(Northern area of Mexico) has NOTHING to do with a Paso Doble (from Spain)....and in top of that, added to the left hand a B3 organ sound?????? is like putting in a Viennesse Waltz a Banjo and brass. And if you don't believe me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OwRIYILOP0
check time line 1:35, is the worse demo ever.

I agree with the comment that Ketron makes the best ethnic styles SO FAR, not perfect, but is the most accurate until now.

------------------
mdorantes

I couldn't agree with you more and that is worst demo I have ever seen. It cool that roland released a latin keyboard but there are two factors: quality of the styles and you get what you pay for, how good can a $800 keyboard be?