Odd....looks no no version for the BK-5 - just checked the App Store - ahh but checking the Roland apps page shows it is fine for ALL the BK range

I'll just duplicate a post I put up at Roland-Arranger.com, to save you all surfing around... I'm hoping that I get egg all over my face when how wrong I am is pointed out to me, but I've read the manual and can't find it...



The good news is, if Roland owners get a hold of Roland and ASK for a screen in the app to do this, perhaps an update could address most of this. But if you don't ask, you don't get...

That’s the beauty of software; features can easily be added as requested.

Unfortunately most manufactures will only give you these additional features if you purchase a new instrument (Thus forcing you to change your instrument to get them) so that they can make more dosh from the punters.

Hopefully as users move over to using Tablets etc. (I still say have a basic arranger with all the memory and processing required, then just plug in your tablet with the software and features you want) it will force manufactures out of the “buy a new instrument if you want new features” mentality, just like software vendors have had to adapt in the computer market.

Bill

Hmmmm ... I get the feeling this may go the way of computer software where the manufacturer releases half baked software thinking they can update it later when it suits them. I want a keyboard to be working just as I want it. I don't want to be forced to have carry an iPad and have to poke at that during a live performance. While iPad connectivity sure is a cool feature I don't want it to have to become essential to me performing live with a keyboard.

Nigel I totally agree,....
I don't need no stinkin iPad!! Just more crap to carry and set up. Just want everything I need "on board" and working correctly for my needs.

Your both missing the point, the tablet would clip into a basic arranger and look and operate just like arrangers do today, (But with a nice big touchscreen) however the spec would be what YOU wanted not what the manufacture says you need.

Bill

No Ipad for me either. Waste of money. Better buy a labtop or PC with real power. The PA600 already has a nice big touch screen.

I was thinking the IPad would be a great tool for programming faster, not necessarily an on the job editor. I do very little adjusting on the job. If something is really off I try to make a note of it and fix it when I get home.
Am I wrong in thinking this App can be used for editing, even down to the sub menus?

It isn't really a full featured editor... TBH, I am a little confused as to the usefulness of the BK Partner app other than a good way to edit Performance lists. But you can't use it to CREATE full Performances, from what I can see.

One thing is IS useful for might be to add the 'Favorite Tones' feature from the BK-3, which hasn't made it to the BK-5's (or BK-7m's) OS yet. You can set up the ten buttons for Tone access to call up your ten most favorite sounds, no matter what Bank they are in. A handy feature, only on the BK-3 so far. But the iPad app can do it, so there's ONE live use for it, anyway!

There's a possibility that the hooks into the deeper OS features can't be addressed, but I don't know for sure. But as popular as these apps are, especially with younger buyers (mind you, how many youngsters are going the arranger route in preference over WS/Synth/Stage keyboards?) perhaps this is the way to bring them into the fold?

The Lyric Viewer app seems pretty handy, and may address some of the shortcoming in the way that PDF's are handled by the keyboard itself, and the Scale Editor seems a boon for those using it for Middle Eastern and other non-Western scale musics.

But all in all, I'm pretty disappointed in how little usefulness this Partner app has, so far. But with feedback from its customers, perhaps it can be addressed. I think we are all faced with budget arrangers with fewer and fewer actual buttons on them, as manufacturers look to cut costs, and many functions that used to be right there where you needed them get buried in menus. Here is the perfect opportunity to restore the full functionality without raising the cost of the arranger itself.

Let's hope they see it our way...