Roland Midi Accordions

[tumblehome]

Have any of you played the new Roland midi accordions yet? If you already play an acoustic accordion, you will find that the Roland FR series "virtual" midi accordions take very little getting used to. With the "physical behaviour modeling" that Roland has used in these instruments, they are as easy to play, and in some cases easier to play than an average quality acoustic accordion. I purchased a Roland FR-3sw piano accordion a few months ago, and it is quickly becoming my favourite of the four piano accordions that I presently own. It can emulate almost any popular accordion sound, wet or dry, for any type of style, that a musician could want. I would be happy to hear from any accordion players out there.

Cheers,
Tumblehome

[Tone_Deff (Musicmaker)]

Hi Tumblehome,

Nothing is ever new - I was playing a Farfisa Transitronic Electronic Piano Accordion in the early-70's. It was an Electronic Organ (with the bellows position being used as a volume control), or it could also be used as a 'straight' Piano Accordion, with Scandalli reeds fitted.

It had a 3 inch circumference cable that connected it to its own dedicated Amplifier, and at the time, caused quite a sensation wherever I performed. I think it cost about 2000 GB Pounds (4000 Dollars), which was equivalent to about 10 times that amount today!





Sorry for the late reply - only just noticed the thread.

Kind regards,

Tony

[tumblehome]

Hi Tony,
That Farfisa is quite a beast. I would guess it weighs about 30 pounds. (I am one of those Canadians who still uses Imperial measure). There is one accordion player in this area who has a very strong back, and still strolls with a Farfisa like yours, but most players of electronic accordions around these parts are using lighter midi accordions such as Excelsior, Beltuna or Roland. However, we must give the Farfisa it's due and say that it was the forerunner of the modern electronic midi accordion. Another early electronic accordion was the Iorio, which looked very similar to the Farfisa. Do you still play your accordions, or do you only play keyboards now?

[tumblehome]

If you would like to see the Roland accordions in action, there is a video on the Roland website from the NAMM 2006 show which demonstrates the FR-3s and the FR-7b models. The video features Luigi Bruti, who originated the Roland accordion project, and Ludovic Beier, who plays the button model. Click on this link, then on the video button.
www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=760&ParentId=32

[tumblehome]

Roland held the final competition of their International V-Accordion contest in Pesaro, Italy this November. The winner was Amelie Castel of France who played a Roland FR-7b button accordion. For more information, you can follow this link:
www.roland.ca/default.asp?c=195