Roland

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  Roland’s Juno-Stage is a synth… for the stage

  June 27, 2008 | Dale North | 2 Comments Share this Roland’s Juno-Stage is a synth… for the stage

  

  At the Summer NAMM, Roland surprise-launched this new synth, the Juno-Stage. It looks a lot like the currently availble Juno-G, which I always thought would make a great live board.

  What makes this Juno-Stage better? The focus on features for the gigging musician. There’s a 76-key semi-weighted keyboard with elongated keys for your elongated solos. There’s also knobs that can tweak parameters live, like EQ and reverb. And this thing has plenty of ports to plug stuff into: USB sticks, MP3 players (1/8″ jack), and even a microphone port. You could plug everything you’d need as a one-man band in this board and perform!

  The Music Player Network has a video straight from the NAMM floor showing off all the features.

  I don’t play live much, but I kinda want one anyway!

• Gear

  Have you played a Roland Fantom G yet?

  June 18, 2008 | Dale North | Comments Off on Have you played a Roland Fantom G yet? Share this Have you played a Roland Fantom G yet?

  

  Luxury. Class. Style. Power. No, I’m not talking about the newest BMW. I’m lusting over a synthesizer here!

  Not since the Yamaha launch of the Motif series have I been so hot for a synth. I’ve always admired Roland’s Fantom series, but there were never a must-have item until the G came out. I recently had a chance to tinker with one, and I’m totally sold on this $3,700 workstation (88 key version).

  What won me over? Maybe it’s the lovely new “Ivory Feel” keys. Maybe it’s the new built-in audio and midi sequencer. Bah, who am I kidding? It’s that big-assed screen and the ability to plug in a USB mouse to control it!

  For the first time on a synth, you can mouse click your way through soundbanks and parameters, which is much easier than fiddling with little knobs and buttons. A simple right click on the patch name brings up a list of like instruments. Brilliant!

  Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that it sounds amazing. The new piano patches are a dream to play.

  Hit the jump to see one lucky bastard’s unboxing. (more…)

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