‘Forget about MIDI and get on with playing’ is the concept behind the RS-70 – but does it take the mystery out of multi-track recording?

Do you find MIDI sequencing a touch too complicated - particularly within the confines of a hardware synthesizer? You know what you want to play and record, but the whole concept of MIDI channels and tracks gets in the way of the creative process - you’d rather play and record the sounds on your synth as you would on a conventional audio recorder. If so, Roland’s new performance synth, the RS-70 might be just what you’re looking for. It’s aimed fair and square at musicians wanting to forget about MIDI and focus on playing.

Having said that, it also includes - guess what? - a built-in floppy drive for playing Standard MIDI Files, GM/GM2 support, a USB-MIDI interface and editor software for Mac and PC computers. So is this really a non MIDI instrument?

Stage craft

With it’s brushed aluminium front panel it’s obvious from the start that this instrument has been designed with stage performance in mind. Not only does it look good, it has an instant ‘easy to operate’ feel to it with a row of 10 ‘category select buttons’ placed immediately below the LCD screen.

In common with similar keyboards like the Korg Triton LE series and the Technics KN 2600 a vast number of pre-sets are available, a grand total of 768 in all. For instance, select Patch Mode and press the Piano Category button and you have instant access to a staggering array of 64 piano patches - grands, honky-tonks and so on, plus some very convincing Rhodes and Wurlitzer recreations.

The other nine categories are: Rhythm and SFX, Keyboard and Organ, Guitar, Orchestra, World, Brass, Vocal and Pad, Synth and Bass. Don’t be fooled by the names alone; apart from the traditional style instruments, there’s no shortage of cutting edge sounds as well. The Rhythm set is particularly impressive with no less than 30 drum kits including rock, jazz and orchestral kits plus numerous others such as R&B, HipHop, Techno, House, BreakBits and TR, (606, 707, 808, 809).

Editing the patches is a piece of cake using the five panel knobs in the Patch Modify section. Basic controls are provided including an LFO for creating Vibrato and Wah effects and the usual Envelope, Attack, Decay and Release controls. A sturdy Pitch and Modulation lever completes the picture. In fact, anybody new to synthesizers (perhaps upgrading from a home keyboard) will quickly grasp the basic principles of sound shaping by following the simple instructions found in the manual. There’s a variety of decent quality multi-effects effects available too - 47 in total, including distortion and a rotary speaker simulation.

One note wonders

As you may know, arpeggios are ‘broken chords’ and the notes are played separately, one after another. Concert pianists practice their arpeggios endlessly in the pursuit of technical excellence, but if you’re the lucky owner of an RS-70 you can do it by using the Phrase/Arpeggio function which lets you produce them by just holding down a chord or a single note.

Arpeggio generators are nothing new but the concept has been taken a little further here with templates that use different phrases for each category of instrument. The results vary considerably, depending on which patch is selected. Phrases for saxophone and brass take the form of short motifs. Others, like those for guitar, are more complex and use short chord progressions suitable for intros and backings. The trouble is, attractive as they are, they will always remain other peoples ideas. That said, you can edit them, to fit your own compositions, and save the results in up to eight user templates.

Roland have included a chord memory function with the RS-70 that enables you to assign a chord type to a single key and play it with one finger. With different chord types assigned to several keys you can save complete multi-chord sets for instant recall. Several sets of common progressions are supplied as pre-sets.

Shift work

The great 20th century composer, Irving Berlin could only play in one key but he managed to compose some of the best ‘middle eights’ ever heard by using a specially made piano with a lever for adjusting the keyboard up or down in semitones. He would have loved the RS-70 because you can do exactly that with the conveniently placed Transpose button on the front panel. It moves the key range in half-step units and is very useful for matching a singers register, changing a difficult key to one that is easy to play and accompanying a transposing instrument such as a tenor saxophone. This is nothing revolutionary, but it’s so quick and easy to use without the need to scroll through menus.

Although the keyboard has 61 keys covering a range of five octaves, there will be times when you need to play higher or lower. To that end the Transpose feature also lets you add a further three octaves at either end of the keyboard.

An interesting device called the D Beam controller is appearing on all the latest Roland keyboards and the RS-70 is no exception. You use it by waving your hand over the beam itself to control a variety of effects. As well as being a very useful controller it can provide a touch of showmanship to your performance (to find out more read Mark Jenkins’ review of the Fantom-S, in last month’s issue).

The folks at Roland say they’ve designed the RS-70 so that musicians can forget about MIDI and focus on playing and that’s certainly borne out with their pattern based ‘Quick Sequencer’. Instead of using MIDI channels and tracks to compose and arrange your songs, the Loop Sequencer is based on sounds.

To create a sequence, you just choose a sound and record it. As the recording loops, additional sounds can be selected and overdubbed until all the parts are entered. Once all the patterns are recorded you can connect them up to create a song. You can do most of the things associated with MIDI sequencing without worrying about the complexities. For example, you can correct the timing of your playing as you record using the Quantize feature. Of course, MIDI data such as Control, Program changes, After Touch, Pitch Bend and System Exclusive is being recorded in the background but you have the option to turn this off if you wish.

If you prefer to mix the results on a computer there’s dedicated sound editing software included for PC or Mac. Computer connection is made using the USB connector found on the rear panel.

Sparkling ideas

Do you sometimes need outside inspiration to spark off the the song writing process? If so, you’ll be pleased to know that there are 128 pre-set rhythm patterns to help get you started. On offer: Pop, Rock, Funk, Jazz, Lounge, HipHop, R&B, Trance and House samples. Just choose a pattern and start adding a bass line and so on. You can always go back later and edit them, if you wish. Once edited you have the option to overwrite them as user patterns.

It would have been nice to see something similar to the optional sampling upgrade facilities included with the slightly cheaper Korg Triton LE 61 incorporated into this well thought out design. But then again, this instrument is first and formost a performance instrument rather than a fuly fledged workstation.

Not only is this synth attractive to look at with it’s shiny front panel (should look good under lights) it’s also very compact, sturdy and light to carry. It functions well on a professional level too with a fantastic array of good quality patches, easy to use pattern based sequencer. And with the addition a floppy drive, for playing Standard MIDI Files, the RS-70 makes perfect sense as an all purpose stage synthesizer for both band and solo performance. It’s no slouch either as a quick and easy composition tool. So, why not pay a visit to your nearest Roland dealer and check out this very enjoyable instrument? You’ll not be disappointed.

Useful Feature

A really neat feature of the RS-70 is the ability to audition sounds without actually playing the keyboard. Phrases have been pre-programmmed to suit the character of the different instrument patches. All you do is select a patch, listen to the performance and decide whether the sound is suitable.

Tech Spot

V-Link is a function that enables you to link music to video using compatible equipment like the Edirol DV-7PR. The connection is made using an Edirol UM-1(a MIDI Interface fitted with a USB cable at one end and MIDI IN and OUT leads at the other). The DV-7PR itself is a real-time visual performance system, ideal for use in live situations such as concerts and multimedia presentaions and enables you to combine video clips, audio tracks and still images into a synchronized presentation. This is controlled live, by a musician using the RS-70 synthesizer’s keyboard or buttons to switch the image clips at suitable moments in a musical performance. The synth’s knobs can also be used to control the brightness and colour of the image and the modulation lever can be used to control the video and music playback speed.

Product details
Roland RS-70 Synthesizer
Manufacturer - Roland
Price £999
Contact - Roland UK Ltd.
Tel - +44 (0)1792 702701
www.roland.co.uk

Minimum system requirements
(For the RS Editor software)

Windows XP/ME/2000/98/SE
Mac OS 9

Key features
Hundreds of patches
CD-quality waveforms (16-bit linear equivalent).
Direct Access buttons
Easy to use Quick Sequencer
Arpeggio generator and Multi-chord Memory
D- Beam Controller
USB-MIDI interface and floppy drive
V-Link for controlling video equipment
Editor software for Mac & PC

Pros
Good quality patches
Simple sound shaping
Fast patch selection
Quick and easy sequencing
Good looks and portability

Cons
No sampling possibilities
No MIDI Thru
No OSX support for software

Verdict
Easy to use, professional sounding synthesizer designed stage but will be equally at home in the bedroom studio.

Copyright 2006 Keith Gemmell

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