Every new Roland that comes out, I dread reading the manual. Sooner or later, Roland WILL drop the Makeup Tools.
They have already dropped the great Cover Tools feature from BK-5/3 (but thankfully, not BK-7m), a great tool to easily revoice an entire style for another genre. I use it to take styles that are punchy and dance-floor ready, and instantly revoice them with brush kits, acoustic basses, pianos and guitars. This allows you to do 'softer' versions for more background purposes with minimal effort. Not to mention a myriad of other options.
So... how long before the Makeup Tools goes bye-bye? I wouldn't bet against it happening.
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!
I have no idea why every Roland that comes out adds one great feature and drops three. About the only explanation that makes sense is that they have no continuity in their arranger development teams. Perhaps Roland clear house after each series, and start with a new team, that may have little clue about what made the previous one so good, and their own agenda about features they want to include..?
It's either that, or they send all their rejects from every other division, every screw-up they can find in house, and banish them to Purgatory in the arranger division!
That would explain this, too!
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!
Registered: 06/25/99
Posts: 16735
Loc: Benton, LA, USA
I was about to experiment with playing single drum notes, or crashes, from external controller on my BK7m, but then someone came along and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I know it can be done though. At least you could play drum sounds at the end of the song, like a lot of bad drummers do! I do enjoy and use the pads on both Korg and Yamaha. DonM
You could use Ableton Live on a laptop with your arranger, and have the Mother of all multi-pad apps... but the whole POINT of this is that they are fully integrated into your arranger, not grafted on like some Frankenstein monster. Switches right where you need them, pads called up by the Performance...
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!