First Impressions From California

I find it amusing that the dance club performers and the lounge players have rejected the KN7000 as being too subtle. However, they are correct. This is a subtle instrument. And, it is very likely that the task of taming this new technological creature will be left to us old timers.

Visually it is stunning. While it is just 3 1/2 inches longer than the 6K, I think primarily due to the broad tilt up panel the impression is of a totally different look as compared to other keyboards. In the evening when I turn the lights down low in my music room, the panel lights along with the purple glow from the SD section produce a magical quality. I know that in the end a performer’s personality and performance is the key factor, however I can’t help feeling that the impact of this instrument will bring some extra twenties to the tip jar. Scott Yee will no longer have to tape over the Technics logo.

The first notes played showed two different things. The touch is a bit firmer than my 6K. Just enough so that percussive sound (piano, etc.) can be played with greater precision. However, the ability to play legato strings or woodwinds hasn’t been effected. This instrument is extraordinarily loud. The new amplifier and speaker combination produce greater clean, undistorted volume than one could tolerate for any extended period of time. A note of caution. Because I hadn’t carefully isolated the keyboard from the stand, the powerful bass sounds caused a frightening resonance in the stand. This was easily corrected, but resulted in a moment of panic.

Of course the sounds are what Technics is famous for and the KN7000 has once again taken a hugh leap forward. While the incredible organ and guitar samples have frequently been mentioned, there are many other new voices that have been added. There is a whole new selection of soloist reed instruments, new pianos and new strings. I was looking for an improved cello and got it. All of my edited sounds from the 6K play without correction and I’m looking forward to improving them with the new samples.

The overall sound is excellent for my taste. The spacial quality of the 6K has been retained. The mid tones seem to be more clearly defined and the bass is full and rich with a smooth response all the way to the highest highs. The sound processing is as excellent as the 6K, with more control of the individual Composer parts. And, the very demanding organ voices, which were a bit of a strain for the 6K prove to be no problem for the new amp. and speakers.

I guess we are all guilty of having an insatiable appetite for Composer Patterns, and it’s been suggested that 220 just isn’t enough. However, by using the Sound Arranger that 220 can easily be more than doubled. The 7K brings many new intros and endings to familiar patterns and quite a few outstanding new patterns. One group that is intriguing to me is called Movie and Show with selections called Modern Opera, Summer Ballad, Tap Dancer and Secret Agent. The possibilities of mixing these up should make for some fun arrangements.

There is one simple thing that I’m sure many of you do, but hasn’t been written about. That is setting up your keyboard to sound like a particular band. As an example, lets say you want to entertain a group of friends by taking request and sounding like a small combo -- Bass, Drums, Guitar and your right hand playing piano. You may be asked to play some soft rock, latin and maybe some swing. The easiest thing to do is to go into the rhythms you plan to use and using Sound Arranger select the three instruments you want to use. The rub is that you need to mute the instruments that you don’t want to hear, and doing that every time you change a rhythm is a pain. The easy solution is to go into Sound Edit and select any sound you don’t need for this program and turn off all the sounds. You could rename it MUTE. Now back to the Sound Arranger, just put the MUTE file on the parts you don’t want to hear and when you select any of the rhythms that you have modified, you are good to go.

The SD card reader is not included with the U.S. keyboard and the only one that will work is the one supplied by Technics -- just under $200. The software on the CD, which is provided, only works on PC’s, so people using Mac’s can forget about any computer interface. A Virtual PC program, another $150, may work, but I don’t know for sure. There also seems to be a problem for Mac’s on the KN7000 web site. I was unable to load one of the downloaded files from the site into the keyboard. I’ll investigate further and let you know.

I think it is clear that my first impressions of the keyboard are very positive.
It’s very much like meeting an old friend that you haven’t seen for a while. They have gained new wisdom that they will share with you and together you will be able to make some beautiful music.

From the California Central Coast where this KN7000 may be the only one to ever see the light of day, may music be an important part of your life.

Frank Bez www.kool-keys.com

Frank Bez:
HI very nicely written FRANK,best regards from the north across the border from you , BENNO

if you want to play trio with sound arranger changing the preset voices and other accompaniments muted you don't need to go to all the complication of making mute sound edits and setting them in every arranger setup. Just set the msa to panel memory, mute the accomp tracks in the display and save 4 registrations. You can play as many presets and variations as you like, with different sounds in the sound arranger, and the accomps 5, 4, and/or 3 will remain muted permanently. Then there is no need to set mute sounds in every accomp part 5, 4 and/or 3 in every sound arranger setup you choose, you can just ignore those parts.

Thanks for your first impresion of 7000.
Two questions:
1. Is there a vocal harmonizer? Similar to weak one in the 6500?
2. About disquette for convert styles from other manufacturers. Is it possible now convert styles from VA-7, CVP-209, PA-80, etc.? What quality conversions have? Have you made it?
3. Does all Technics old styles work fine on KN7000?
Thanks a lot.

Thank you Alec,
It’s good of you to show how many choices the Technics player has in customizing their instrument. The reason I prefer the MUTE technique is because in other styles of playing, for example theater organ, there may be a part which only plays in Variation 3 or 4 of a rhythm that adds a nice dimension to the pattern and this opportunity changes from rhythm to rhythm.

in that case why not put them all in banks of panel memories 26 styles to a load, keeping the 4 registrations per style, and you can name everything to keep tabs exactly where you are at any one time? The panel banks will load in a blink after 26 songs worth.

WOW, yet another way to go. I bet there are even more.

sure, I always look for the easiest way to do things.

Fine report Frank - Thanks. Glad you like it

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Willum

Thanks for your first impresion of 7000.
I rewrite my last message, to do a question more.
Four questions:
1. Is there a disk direct style function, for to load styles directly from disk without save them in user area?
2. Is there a vocal harmonizer? Similar to weak one in the 6500?
3. About disquette for convert styles from other manufacturers. Is it possible now convert styles from VA-7, CVP-209, PA-80, etc.? What quality conversions have? Have you made it?
4. Does all Technics old styles work fine on KN7000?
Thanks a lot.