Roland has introduced its latest performance-oriented keyboard, the V-Combo VR-09. Touted as an ideal all-in-one solution for performing keyboard players, it offers fast access to the sounds most frequently used by musicians.
This means dedicated piano, organ and synth sound engines, quickly selectable and editable from the large LCD screen.
Roland has packed a huge library of its sounds on board, including SuperNATURAL-powered classic tonewheel organs, a range of acoustic and electric pianos which can be boosted by a dedicated compressor, and both vintage and modern synths including JUNO strings, ’80s synth brass and textured modern tones.
The keyboard itself is built to be incredibly responsive, making it great for a range of organ techniques including trill, sputter, glissando, and percussive hits.
There are plenty of real-time controls allowing fast, direct manipulation of tones, including seven simultaneous effects (rotary, delay, reverb, tone, overdrive, compressor, and customisable multi-effects). Dedicated knobs tweak multiple parameters with a single twist for powerful sound shaping with minimal effort, while the smart interface makes it simple to set up splits and layers on the fly, and to save all your keyboard settings in user memory locations for instant recall on stage.
At a glance features:
- Professional keyboard with instant-access operation for performing musicians
- Light and mobile; battery or AC power
- Pro-quality acoustic and electric pianos, including grand piano with 88-note stereo multi-sampling
- SuperNATURAL-powered Virtual Tone Wheel organ with nine harmonic bars, plus newly developed transistor-type ‘60s organ tone
- Wide range of synth tones, from vintage classics to modern essentials
- Seven simultaneous effects with dedicated real-time controls
- Looper and built-in rhythm patterns; WAV/MP3/SMF song playback via optional USB memory
- Free VR-09 Editor app available for iPad
Being demonstrated at this year’s NAMM show, full specifications, pricing and availability details will follow. However, it is said to be ‘affordable’.
Roland says that is has already generated interest from a number of musicians, so it’ll be great to find out what it sounds and feels like, and what it can do.
