Shipped... in transit.

Diki ... Best wishes for a full recovery for your friend ...

Always exciting getting a new arranger

Best of luck Diki,

A bit surprised that you are getting a BK9. I own a

BK7 which I use mainly as an accordion expander. A lot of the

styles in the BK7 are the same as the G70 and I would assume

therefore the BK9 will have a lot G70 styles, though very much

lighter.

I half expected you to get a Yamaha PSR950, along with your G70

you would have a massive variety of styles and sounds to feed

off.


I expect to buy a smaller arranger eventually, sitting on the

fence at the moment, though looking at Korg PA600 and Yamaha

PSR950 as options. I will hang on to my G70 as well.

Frank

The Chord Sequencer and the Audio loop keys sold it to me.

Without those, I could have been OK with my G70's. But both of those bring a dimensionality to solo playing that I can't get from the G70 (or anything else in that price range and keybed size).

You generally find, each new arranger from the same manufacturer, only a few brand new styles. About 30 or so for the BK-9, and I doubt too many of them will be stuff I'll use. Most are in that small ballpark. Word is, though, that the BK-7 and G70 styles in it have been revoiced and balanced for the extra sounds, kits and MFX's in the BK-9, so there might be more to it than meets the eye.

Diki,
check the SW version ASAP, first production units have v1.04 installed on,
latest have v1.05

v1.05 seems not to be still available on web,
but in Italy, Roland Italy is providing it on demand.
(so you can eventually ask to RUS)

However it should be available on roland.com within some days.

Usually, you don't see a lot of important new features in the initial OS updates (within a month or so from launch). Those are usually bugfixes. But we often see something a few months after launch that adds something significant, possibly something that was in the works during development, but they couldn't get bug free before the launch date.

At the moment, I think the three things I could do with added (or returned!) to the BK-9 OS are:

1) Mark/Jump for SMF's (what idiot axed that?)
2) Dynamic Arranger (ditto) Where playing harder or softer brought the accompaniment up or down with you.
3) Taking the audio loops off the keys, and allowing the FC-7 to trigger them.

Those three would make me a VERY happy camper.

I would like to see the mark/jump it is one of the best things about the G70 and I use the same thing on my Tyros 4 it make a big difference if you are a performer and play a lot of Dances like I do.

LOOK'S LIKE NO DELIVERY YET?

Having recently first added a Roland E50 and later on a Roland BK-7m to my homeset consisting of the Korg PA800 and the Yamaha PSR750 I have to say a lot of things have fallen into place for me. But let me first of all say thanks to the " four D's" (Deane, Don, Donny and Diki) for their advice, styles, etc.

Having played and programmed a lot on the Roland during their G800/G1000 period I was lured away by Korg on the outset of this century. The styles on the G800/1000 never did it for me and though I sorely missed the Dynamic Arranger I thought Korg did a much better job with 4 to 16 bar accompaniment sections, and more like a real live band sound. The rest is probably history but I am telling all this because until my purchase of the BK-7m a few weeks ago I never ever understood why folks like Fran and Diki were so over the moon with their Roland gear. Well I guess I know why now, which is not to say I am going to hang on to the BK7m, on the contrary it should be gone tomorrow night!
In most communiciations with Diki or Fran it has become apparent that they almost exclusively use the acc. section for the drums/percussion and bass. And as such I can honestly say that compared to my yamaha but even to my Korg they are into a class of their own. Vastly superior to Yamaha, at least to my PSR750 and slightly superior to my Korg....I have said it.
I still am not too chuffed about may of their styles and I think the omission of the Dynamic Arranger (which Diki is trying to get their attention for again) is really stupid. It was one of the best features on the Roland arrangers. The reason that I am not hanging on to the BK7m is mainly due to the fact that with chronic headaches already I do not need a module that gives even the healthiest of persons a headache!
I know I should have realised it before and no damage has been done, I am sure someone with an eletric piano and no arranger is going to be very happy with it, but let's face it to even begin to think and program it is worse than a woman's nine months of pregnancy !!!
So back to square one, Korg and Yamaha. And the odd bit of playing the acoustic guitar, I ain't complaining

regards,
John

I believe you have nailed it right there, John... Different people like different arrangers because all of them do something well, something not so well, and what YOU personally need is usually very different to what THEY need!

I know my needs in an arranger are the basic rhythm section (bass, drums and guitar) to be as live as possible. The rest, I really want to play myself if I possible can! And, of all the rhythm section, the drums are the most important. That's why I go for the Roland stuff, who have had this nailed for a long time, and only keep getting better! I admit, Yamaha's guitars are a bit better, but the drop off in the drums is too radical for me to abide. I envy those Mega guitar sounds and patterns, but I CAN live without them... Can't live with those wimpy drums, though!

Arranger players are SUCH a wide demographic, from One Finger chord players pecking out a one finger melody, to pros who want as little machine as they can get away with. To me, at least, there's no surprise that each of us is so attached to one manufacturer or another, as each of them tends to address the needs and approach of only one kind of player BEST... Sure, they'll all do in a pinch, but usually, one is better than another when you KNOW what you are looking for!

On the whole, being very familiar with my G70, I have little problem editing the BK's. It simply takes longer, because of the loss of the touch screen. But all the functions are there (with the noted loss of the Mark/Jump and Dynamic Arranger), it just takes more navigation to get there. But compared to most non-touch screen arrangers, it's about the same. John's headaches aren't a result solely of the Roland, he gets them anyway... At least, he gets them editing ANYTHING for any length of time..!