Just returned back from the NAMM 2010 show in Anaheim, California.

Manuel and I attended all four days, Thursday through Sunday, and got a chance to cover all the exhibits.

We had the pleasure of meeting Mark Anderson, Director of Marketing at Yamaha, at the Marriot Grand Ballroom. As usual he was very gracious, receptive and listened to all our comments on the current arranger line. Mark is a true gentleman and a helpful friend to all of us at Synthzone.

Martin Harris, developer for the Tyros line at UK, could not make it this year because of a leg injury. We did get to spend some time with Peter Baartmans. He gave us a jaw dropping demo on the new Yamaha CVP-509PM Clavinova. This has the new 5 layer sample from the Yamaha C6 Grand Piano. It sounded stunning.

We also got the pleasure of speaking with George Hamilton, Manager of the Keyboard Division at Yamaha. The entire staff at Yamaha is very friendly and makes you feel like family. This is a company that takes user input very seriously.

This year Roland took up the entire Arena floor at the NAMM Convention Center.

I got a chance to play on the Roland V-Piano based on modeling technology. Each and every note sounded crystal clear, coherent, and full bodied. It sounded like what a Grand Piano would sound with every note tuned to perfection. It was flawless, with no artifacts.

While every note was clear as a whistle, it lacked the warmth and granularity of the IVORY II samples. Everyone planning to buy a $6000 Roland V-Piano would almost certainly want to try out the new 18 layer IVORY II Grand Piano Samples by Synthogy.

I listened to the Steinway, Bosendorfer and Yamaha C7 Piano Samples offered in the $300 IVORY II package. I felt they had more warmth and conveyed a more human feeling compared to the machine like precision and clarity of the V-Piano.

This will be a personal choice. Indeed one must factor in the cost of a Muse Receptor 2 to have a stable host environment for these IVORY samples.

But here is the good news.

Roland released a SuperNATURAL Piano Expansion Board for the RD700GX containing 17 samples based on the V-Piano Technology.

Roland had the V-Piano next to the RD700GX outfitted with this $300 expansion card.
The new SuperNATURAL Grand Piano leaves the stock Expressive Grand Piano of the RD700GX in the dust.

The difference is so remarkable, that buying this $300 expansion board is a no brainer.
I compared each note played with the Expressive Grand against the SuperNATURAL Grand, and in every case, the SuperNATURAL Grand sounded more robust, more articulate, more clean with more depth and authority.

I am getting this board.

The Roland RD700GX 88 key Stage Piano has the best key action with synthetic Ivory tops and key escapement. The SuperNATURAL expansion board now gives it an exquisite Piano Sample to die for.

Roland has hit a home run.

Roland had a demo theater running all day to showcase their new gear. Hector Olivera gave an uplifted demo of the Roland Atelier AT-900 flagship organ. Listening to Hector live is always an unforgettable experience.

Roland also showed their new VP-7 Vocal Processor. While extremely easy to use with just 4 knobs and 9 buttons, it lacked the depth of programming and features offered by TC-Helicon's VoiceLive 2.

I listened extensively to all the VoiceLive 2 presentations at the TC-Helicon booth. I am sold. Even if you are not a singer, this product will pay for itself just for the fun and joy it will bring to a party. TC Helicon has got it just right. This is a must have tool for every Karaoke bar! I hear that our friend Frank Ventresca is a dealer for this product.

Speaking of Frank, we had the pleasure of dining with Frank and his lovely wife Irene at the Bucca di Beppo. They make a great couple and they are so down to earth and friendly.

It is already an open secret that Frank offers the best deals in the nation. It should come as no surprise that he sold 20% of all the Yamaha S910 arrangers in the US last year.

Everything about this trip went smoothly without a hitch. Thanks to a tip from our friend Scott, we got a great room at the Howard Johnson. This is conveniently located next to Mimi’s on South Harbor Boulevard.

Disney operates a free shuttle service for NAMM attendees Wednesday through Sunday from 7am to Midnight. Routes 4 and 5 takes you from the Disneyland Main Gate to the Anaheim Marriot.

We parked for free at the hotel and took this shuttle. This saved us a lot of money in parking at NAMM.

This trip was exciting and educational. We will be attending NAMM2011 next year and staying at the same place.

Here is another tip. Have your Breakfast and Dinner at Mimis next to Howard Johnson. They have the best food at very reasonable prices.

We hope to see Scott next year at NAMM.

I heard rumors about a Tyros 4!


Cheers,

Tapas

What a nice post. Not only informative, but just oozed of warmth and friendliness. Makes you want to meet a member like that in person (Rikki and George Kaye have that quality to their posts). No whining, no put-downs, no negatives, just good, helpful information put out there in a friendly manner that allows you read it without raising your blood pressure.

Thanks for the good first-hand info on Roland and the latest digital piano offerings (soft and hardware). At that price, I'm going to take a good hard look at Ivory.

chas

Hi Tapas, wow, thanks for that fine detailed Namm report. Tapas' writing style reflects just the way he is in person: meticulously organized , very intelligent and warm hearted. I was disappointed I wasn't able to make it to Namm this year, but Tapas' 'daily' telephone calls to me sharing his Namm highlights & experiences of the day made me feel I was there at the show like last year. I'm looking forward to making Namm 2011 and hanging out with my Synthzone buds there again.. . . Yamaha Tyros4?!

Scott

Tapas, I've seen all of Roland's demos for the V-Piano online, and actually, the feature that stood out for me MORE than just about anything is the ability to retune, or detune any and all of the strings to whatever degree you want (or in what area of the keyboard you want, it doesn't have to be even). So, if what you heard was entirely perfectly in tune, lacking 'character', I just don't think that you got a chance to explore this part properly...

But thanks for the report. Glad you came here and shared. Can't wait to try the V-Piano board fro the RD soon. Will it work with a FantomG?

Diki,

The SuperNATURAL Piano Expansion kit works only on the RD700GX. It does not work on the Fantom G series.

You are correct. The Roland V-Piano’s greatest strength is its infinite degree of customization. As this is based on pure modeling technology, every aspect of the tone generation can be tinkered to the last detail to satisfy the end users need.

A little unevenness in the tuning across the 88 keys can give this a more human like touch. Here with the V-Piano, we are approaching from the opposite end of the spectrum, trying to consciously introduce artifacts to make it sound more like the real thing!

This reminds me of the drum machines that sounded too perfect. Their timing had to be humanized to make it match the flaws and limitations of a real drummer.

At a street price of $6000, the V-Piano is out of reach of most musicians. If Roland could release a rack module around $1800 then any one with a 88 key weighted controller would be tempted to buy this.

The $300 piano expansion kit for the RD700GX will be an instant best seller. After playing on these new samples, it is hard to go back to the stock Expressive Grand, and Ultimate Grand.


Tapas

I thought that a piano sample is taken from a real piano, so if that real piano has character then the sample would.

I have no problem with a perfect sounding piano, though. But it doesn't surprise me that there's a market for the V-Piano.

Beakybird

Actually, the V-Piano MODELS the strings, rather like Modarrt's Pianoteq2 software, etc..

The big difference I see in this is that, although the fully sampled piano sets like Ivory (which I have also used, and like a lot) sound great, it is just ONE set of samples, from ONE piano with ONE tuning degree on it.

But with a V-Piano, you can make it more or less 'in tune', mess with the intonation, make it sound 'played in' or 'showroom' at will. For many people, that's not that big an issue, but for session players, having the ability to choose rough or smooth, or any degree in between, even having say a showroom low end but a bit more played in middle and upper, it all helps to make the performance less cookie cutter, more individual to the piece and how the band is playing.

Imagine all those old jazz classics, or Motown hits, with a PERFECT piano sound. They wouldn't hold up the way they do, IMO. Technology has made 'perfect' commonplace. But who wants to be 'commonplace'?

I am surprised that Roland did not offer any expansions for the Fantom G series, certainly the ARX Grand would have been great if it could be integrated into the Fantom. So whats up at Roland where the number one synth seems to be forgotten.

As far as the arranger market, please oh please can we put the synth versus arrangers aside and develop an all in one, that does it all, that works, and is reasonably priced. The first company to do this will scoop the market. Oh and more than 5 octaves a must, got a tyros 3 and allthough I love it, still needs more keys!!!

So you want an arranger AND a WS, but only want to pay for ONE of them?

Best of luck for that. I want a sports car and a station wagon combined, but I don't want to pay any extra for it, either!

Hi Dikki,

yep thats right, I want it all at an affordable price, isn't that what we all want?? is it that difficult for the makers to get it right, i believe unless that happens soon you will se the demise of the arranger market anyway because vst workstations will take over. So whilst i see your point Dikki, its the next logical step maybe Tyros4 PA3X Pro and so on. Honestly i cant understand why we all cant get together, commission a developer/maker to develop and make what we want, instead of being thrown bones with a bit of meat on it we could have it all, so take heed all makers, the day will come, people power could be the winner in the end, i have dollars, we all have dollars, this is a massive industry, take the middle man out and deal directly with the manufacturer (sorry dealers, you could be part of it in different ways if you think about it) has to be a cheaper option with better results. your thoughts allways appreciated.