seanm
New Member
Posts: 1
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Hello
May 13, 2008 9:08:42 GMT -5
Post by seanm on May 13, 2008 9:08:42 GMT -5
Hello. I am interested in joining this forum for two reasons. Firstly on a personal basis, I am an organist and a fan of all things organ related. Secondly, I am the Keyboard Product Manager for Roland UK and am keen to keep up to date with the news, views and trends in the electronic organ world.
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Hello
May 14, 2008 4:54:26 GMT -5
Post by revtonynewnham on May 14, 2008 4:54:26 GMT -5
Hi Sean
Welcome to the list. How long have you been with Roland?
Every Blessing
Tony
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May 14, 2008 9:00:32 GMT -5
Post by plateauphase on May 14, 2008 9:00:32 GMT -5
Hi Sean... Well, I'm sure you noticed the buzz over the Korg Vox mock-up at Winter NAMM. Combo folks are bstill talking about it, even though it's vapour, and even synthheads were and are all a-buzz. One thing I noticed is that it seems to have stimulated interest in combo organs outside of the usual circles. I'm sure you guys have talked about this, but I think combo organs are getting cool again. Maybe time to revive the Ace-Tone brand?
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May 14, 2008 10:21:05 GMT -5
Post by Time Lord on May 14, 2008 10:21:05 GMT -5
Indeed! I am noticing tons of interest from the 20-somethings about combo organs. Now that Clavia have added this sort of function to the C-1 it seems short sighted for Korg and Roland to not include tranny models in their "combo" organ products. If someone builds a 60's looking throw back combo organ and gets it on the market for a decent price (I'm not pointing any fingers Clavia, but... : it will sell like hotcakes. I have a friend that works for a manufacturer and I have been telling him this for about a year now. I had a series of e-mails with a guy at Korg who kept saying "there is no new organ product at this time. If you look closely at the Vox CX-3 thing from NAMM '08, it has some knobage to the right of the display that is NOT ON the CX-3. Why would this be?
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May 14, 2008 10:40:57 GMT -5
Post by plateauphase on May 14, 2008 10:40:57 GMT -5
By the way, Sean, this would be a good time for you to post something along the lines of "well... I can't really comment, and there are no official plans, but you guys might want to pay close attention to our offerings at Summer NAMM..."
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Hello
May 14, 2008 11:40:18 GMT -5
Post by Time Lord on May 14, 2008 11:40:18 GMT -5
By the way, Sean, this would be a good time for you to post something along the lines of "well... I can't really comment, and there are no official plans, but you guys might want to pay close attention to our offerings at Summer NAMM..." ... because Combo Nation members will be offered "in house buys" at a massive discount due to their position as opinion leaders in the organ community. And because they are just really cool people in general.
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Hello
May 14, 2008 21:02:21 GMT -5
Post by gibsonkal on May 14, 2008 21:02:21 GMT -5
If a new reasonably priced combo organ would appear- a lot of musicians like me would buy one, simply because I'm into intuitive old school gear like tube amps & effects pedals. I mean how easy would it be to do a real analog (midi capable) combo circuit to emulate all the transistor organs of 30+ years ago in a bright and cheesy cabinet. I'd buy it immediately if it sounded good!
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Hello
May 14, 2008 22:03:16 GMT -5
Post by plateauphase on May 14, 2008 22:03:16 GMT -5
Two things occur to me: (1) I wouldn't want it to be too complex. One of the things that turns me off of the Nord C1 and Hammond, Roland and Kork clonewheels is that they're just too much. What I like about a combo organ is the relative simplicity of dialing in tones. Think of it as very straightforward additive synthesis. (2) It can't be too expensive. I'd say that $1000 would be the upper limit of reasonable for a working musician's organ.
Two other things... its should definitely be horizontally deeper than a clonewheel -- to make room for the key bass. And yes, it should be brightly coloured.
If Roland came out with something like this:
- One manual with a switchable bass section - Straightforward additive voices and/or footages - Deep enough to make space for a synth on top - Orange or Red - Less than $1000
My credit card would suffer some hurt.
And don't worry about emulating Vox or Farfisa. Just make a combo organ with its own personality.
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Hello
May 15, 2008 7:06:14 GMT -5
Post by gibsonkal on May 15, 2008 7:06:14 GMT -5
Plateauphase, I couldn't agree more. It would have to be a real divide down transistor organ. One of the things I hate about "modeling" or digital clones is the lack of immediacy in the touch and sound. They feel and sound a bit phony to me. It is a tactile thing with me, and I think analog stuff is just more gratifying to play. The question is: Would an older technology (or reproduction of) be cheaper or more expensive for a manufacturer to build today.
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May 15, 2008 8:04:10 GMT -5
Post by Time Lord on May 15, 2008 8:04:10 GMT -5
I agree with you both. I would need to have the sound and the vibe. Candy colored tabs, maybe chrome(ish) legs. Forget built in speakers. Forget the B3. Craptastic transistor combo organ sounds on a 61 note keyboard, switchable bass octave or so, maybe a couple of effects on the way out? 'Verb, chorus, and delay. Done.
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May 15, 2008 8:11:44 GMT -5
Post by jcstriper on May 15, 2008 8:11:44 GMT -5
A new combo organ...I'd like to see a 61-key, flat top with chrome legs. Sound: give me the Vox Continental AND Gibson G101 sound, as well as the B-3. Price: Under 1500.00 would make me happy. I own a Nord C1 now; it is ver pricey, but I love the organ. However, I'm finding it hard to justify 1) I only get organ sounds for the money, 2) it's a two tierd board and you basically can't sit a synth directly on top. As much as I like it, I may sell it for the Nord Stage (the Stage gives you the Vox and B-3, along with the Wurly, pianos, rhodes and synth patches. I did see the neo Vox Continental on Youtube at NAAM 2008; that would be cool, but I think multiple organs in one is the new thing. Give me the Vox body WITH different vintage organs in it....now THAT would make me real happy. -Joe
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May 15, 2008 8:18:25 GMT -5
Post by plateauphase on May 15, 2008 8:18:25 GMT -5
Real transistors would be much more expensive and time consuming. Remember, Roland's manufacturing processes are tooled for digital products. They'd have to set up a whole separate manufacturing facility, hire new workers and design teams and then source transistors. A much more likely scenario would be an all-digital organ based on PCM synthesis. Of course, considering that it would not need a sequencer, huge amounts of wave ROM, filters or effects other than, say reverb and tremolo [vibrato would be based off the LFO], or even a display any larger than the one on the Juno-D, if at all, it could be produced fairly cheaply. Internally, it would be even less sophisticated than the J-D, using mostly off-the-shelf digital components. Externally, it would have to have a better keyboard than you get at the $600-$1000 pricepoint -- something like the Fantom-X keyboard -- and have tabs or drawbars to do the tone mix.
The most expensive part would be manufacturing the case, which would be deeper than current synths and, in terms of construction, similar in quality to the Juno-G. [But orange.]
So... what would the Roland Ace-Tone 8000 Combo Organ be like?
Roland would hire experienced and knowledgeable combonauts to program original and unique voices. These would not be Farfisa or Vox emulations, but something unique to the Roland Ace-Tone. They would also be much better than the "Transistor Organ" preset on the Fantom workstations [which sounds like it was programmed as an afterthought].
It would, however, feature two SRX or ARX expansion slots that would allow owners to install either the Vintage Vox, Vintage Farfisa or Classic Organs expansion boards that will be available for $150 [cheaper that current SRX cards because they'll only be 16 MB and feature about 100 patches].
It would be available with an optional stand and a traditional combo-organ clamshell lid.
The whole package would sell for:
$1050 SRP/$800 street without stand $1150 SRP/$900 street with stand
Anyone good with graphics who could make a mock-up of this?
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May 15, 2008 8:35:56 GMT -5
Post by plateauphase on May 15, 2008 8:35:56 GMT -5
Another thought:
The Roland Ace-Tone 8000A (with stand) would be orange or red, while the Ace-Tone 8000B (without stand) would be black.
And it would have a a bank of 8 favourites buttons for frequently-used patches and mix settings, an on-off vibrato switch [also controllable via a DP-2 pedal] with a slider for speed, and a reverb/delay section borrowed from the SH-201 controls, but with sliders instead of knobs.
... and no steenkin' joystick!
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May 15, 2008 9:42:33 GMT -5
Post by plateauphase on May 15, 2008 9:42:33 GMT -5
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May 15, 2008 14:28:15 GMT -5
Post by Time Lord on May 15, 2008 14:28:15 GMT -5
NICE! Now we are getting somewhere. It's got room for my Ion or MEK to sit on top! I like the idea of being able to add boards as well. That way if you really want a B3...
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