After spending 3 weeks and hours and hours daily to workout a way to make the BK-7m module to work for my needs I have gotten down to a last attempt. I am assigning voices to 8 of the buttons on my controller to see how that would work for me. This still does not resolve the issues mentioned in other posts. If this does not work, and I'am not holding on to any hopes here, I will have this unit for sale in the very near future.

If your interested you can email me. $875.00 and you pay shipping.

Deane

That's the way I did it on Midjay. I had about 30 voices assigned to controller.
Good luck!
DonM

Dean at least you gave it a good shot...sorry to hear the BK7m didn't work out for you. Live and learn. Will you going back to gigging with the T4 now also?..

Hi Donny,
Yes, the T4 is my main gigging keyboard.
Deane

Good luck dean...I think you made a wise choice the T4 is an awesome all in one arranger!

Hi Deane,

Sorry I have not been around for a few days. I am also sorry to hear you are dissapointed with your current results. I use an A800-Pro in the shop to demo the BK7m. I must say that I have not experienced any of the problems you are talking about with respect of the action and how it sounds. I wish there was more I could do to help you.

Today, I was in the store, and I demoed the BK7m to a customer using the A800. He ordered one immediately. He already owns a Tyros 2 and a PSR-S900. His comment was that the sounds were far superior to the T2 and S900. I would obviously agree that the sounds of the T4 are superior to both those earlier Yamaha instruments, but he saw the BK7m as a good way to enhance what he has, getting completely new styles to him, and completely fresh sounds. I have to agree with him that the sound of the BK7m is completely different to all the Tyros models, and so this would give him 'new' sounds to play with and of course new styles. This is where I see it being of most benefit to keyboard players who already have a keyboard they like. Upgrading to the newer model in the same range often means you get a lot of the same styles again, and many of the same sounds. Obviously as it is an upgrade you get new stuff too. However the BK7m adds completely different things (unless you already are a Roland owner) without the loss of anything on your existing keyboard. Its kind of the best of both worlds.

As my advice has been from the start, I would suggest strongly that you introduce the BK7m to your set slowly. Use it with your T4. I imaging you are still happy with it's sound(T4)? Look upon the BK7m as adding to the pallette of sounds and styles you have at your disposal. There will be some I am sure that you will enjoy, and of course you may blend them with anything your T4 has to offer. My own experience of my customers tells me hat sometimes it is better to be the turtle rather than the hare here. You have admirably put a lot of hours into getting what you want, but aren't getting there. At the moment, your local support has not been great so I can see you are constantly banging your head off that same brick wall all the time. I am sure this will improve over time as your technical expert gets to grips with the BK7m himself.

In my situation, the BK7m has been a complete change for my aging HX1. I am happy with it, and am getting what I consider to be great results. However, I have worked with Roland keyboards to a great extent over the past few years, so I think I knew exactly what to expect from the module. Having said that, feed back any ideas for imnprovements you have to your Rep. The OTS write facility was not available on G70 or E80 at launch, but were added through software updates - responding to consumer requests. I'd thoroughly recommend you put your requests to Roland.

Are you coming to any of the festivals in the UK anytime this year? If so, I'd love the opertunity to sit down with you and go over the BK7m and A800, and how you can use them. I think I may be able to show you a few things that may help, as it's always much easier with the rig in front of us both. Like I say, I really wish I could help you more.

I wish you the best of luck whatever you decide though!

John

John,
My wife and I travel to the UK twice a year if air fares are decent and at least once a year otherwise. I usually go to the events the YPKO group puts on. That is usually in March and November yearly. We just got back from Skegness in March and are looking at returning in November.

It would be a blast to meet you and learn about the Module. When we travel to the UK we generally try to see a part not seen in past visits.

By the way, I am grateful and appreciative of the help you have provided.

Deane

If I had to guess, it would be that Roland made this unit to be married to their Roland electronic accordion. I can't see it being used comfortably by professional keyboard players.

Browsing through the Yahoo BK-7m group postings, I noticed a few are considering selling their modules. I'm wondering how many present owners here are thinking the same thing...or....having ANY kind of 2nd thoughts?

Hi Deane,

It would indeed be a blast to meet up! November is the busiest time of the year in my store, so it is very unlikely I would get time off during that period to travel to events and festivals down south. March would have been a better bet if only I had known! If you could make it to Glasgow in November though, be sure to look me up, and I'll take you through what I consider to be great about the BK7m. I could even link it to both a T4 and a A800-Pro for you to see it in action. I'll even make sure the kettle is on for a nice cuppa too! You would be very welcome.

Mark, I can see there are a few people out there who are having some problems and are considering selling, but you are still looking at a VERY small sample group. I know that last month I sold more of these units than all the Tyros 4's, PSR910's and PSR710's my store has sold in the last year (added together.) The biggest problem for me at the moment is getting enough stock. My customers are currently in a queue to get them, deposits or full payment already down.

I know this won't be the case everywhere, but my store is one case in point. There will be others.

From those that purchased it last month, I have had one customer back for some technical assistance in using it with their Tyros2. It turned out the problem was they had it connected to midi out B rather than A. Quite simple really, though not immediately obvious to them.

When a new product comes out, people do have second thoughts sometimes, but you need to look at the bigger picture. How many people purchased a PA2x and then sold it on quickly? How many people purchased a PSR-S710 then sold it on? How many people purchased a G70 and sold it on quickly etc etc!

I bet there were a number posting on forums the world over. However, I also bet you didn't get a true picture of the sales of these units versus how many were sold on, as the sample you see is very small. I also wonder if the people who purchsed the 2nd hand units sold them on after a short while too? There are definately a lot of happy customers out there, who on the whole will be silent (in terms of postings to internet forums) as happy customers are less likely to report their findings on the internet.

Sure Roland have designed this with electronic accordions in mind, not just the V-Accordions. But it is also aimed at people who have an older (in particular though it could be a recent) model keyboard or organ like myself. It is also suitable for guitar synth users, home piano users, stage piano users, churches etc etc. For all these instrument users, it gives their possibilities a make-over. For these reasons I am sure sales will continue to be strong.

Let's see what happens in the long term. I for one am very happy with the sales of the unit so far, and at the moment my customers seem to be very happy too. Long may that continue.

Oh by the way, so far I have not had any returned.

John,
I have a friend who lives in Blantyre, Scotland. I wonder if he purchased his Tyros 4 from you. Here is his website.
http://willietait.synthasite.com/

Deane