davidplaysaccordion
Active member
Like the title says, I've had this puppy for three whole days so this is not an in depth review, but rather my first impressions of it.
First, some background.
I've played keys/piano of some sort all my life. Not a great player but good enough. I switched to accordion about 5 years ago with a Titano Stroller (41/120) then switched up to a Borsini (41/120) a couple of years ago so I had enough full size accordions although I will probably sell the Titano now that I have the Roland.
I also have small ladies size box I got just for fun (it's VERY small) so I know I can handle the smaller size even though I am a big guy at 6' 5".
So, why the 4x and not the 8x?
Well, price for a start, but the main reason was that I just did not want another full size accordion. My knees are bad so I play sitting down most of the time. I'd like to be able to play standing but there's no way that is happening with a full size box. At 19 lbs, the 4x is a lot more manageable in that respect.
Volume is not an issue as I mostly play farmer's markets or busking down town (where NOT being too loud lets me get away with it without any hassle from police or shop owners) or open mics where there is usually a PA I can plug into with the 4x.
I got mine from Crown Music in Arizona and it came with the Dale Mathis sound set all programmed in so it's not a standard Roland setup. That was a deliberate choice as I had heard (although I have no actual experience) that the box as it comes from Roland is not that impressive re the sound setup. Dale said it's because it is built for a global market but when you are paying that much they could at least pretend to make some sort of effort to customize it for the target region. Bit like buying a car with the steering wheel in the middle because, well, that's the average position in a global market! No matter, moving on....
First of, let me say that this will never be a 'real' accordion. at least when playing with accordion sounds, while it sounds good, it's just not the same to my ear at least. The sound just does not resonate from the whole box in the same way that it does from a real accordion so I cannot see it replacing my Borsini any time soon but rather augmenting my playing choices.
The keyboard 'feels' a bit different. More like a synth keyboard than an accordion. I assume that is because you are not moving rods and levers against springs so the physical mass is different. I got used to it pretty quickly though. However I do find that I notice sloppy playing far more on the 4x than I do on a real box. I suspect the keys are just more sensitive to when they have been touched vs being intentionally played so missed or bum notes tend to show up more. The fix of course is to become a better player so it's not all bad!
As for 37 keys vs 41. So far I have not noticed the missing keys. Maybe if I played in F or Bb more I might but so far I think I've only had one occasion where I was looking for the F as the bottom note of an Inverted Dm chord and it wasn't there but it didn't really affect the overall sound of the song any and I can always just play the F an octave higher if I really need it.
Bellows control takes a bit of getting used to. I have the 'air bleed' knob currently just off the heavy setting so it bleeds a bit but not too much but I still find myself fighting the bellows a bit so my bellows work is not as good as it is on the Titano or Borsini and tends to be a little jumpy at times which affects the volume. Hopefully that will improve as I play it more.
The Drums are a bit naff. OK, I think they are pretty crap and can get a bit annoying if used too much. Almost seem to be an after thought. OK for polka maybe but not much else. Manual says there are three drum sets but I've yet to figure out how to select anything other than the set that is setup when you turn the box on.
I am still experimenting with the various sound sets and setups but the ability to layer sounds is great. So far my favorite setup (using the Dale Mathis setup) is acoustic bass on the bass and contra bass, strings on the chord buttons and clarinet on the treble side, with maybe a musette accordion layered over it at times. Moonlight Serenade with that setup sounds so great.
The screen does it's job. Bigger would be nice, if only so that my old eyes could actually read it cleary but I can make out enough, even though it is slightly blurred with my computer/playing glasses (let me see clearly at about arms length so great for computer use and music on a stand).
If I have one disappointment, it's the fact that there is only ONE MIDI port so it is either input or output. This means you cannot have a setup where you are using a midi foot pedal to control the accordion and at the same time use the accordion to control a module like a BK-7m (if you are lucky enough to have one). While playing with midi is not something I have gotten around to yet, It will be on the cards at some point in the future. I will probably use the midi as output to control a rack synth and just get used to hitting the buttons on the accordion to control it as you would anyway.
Speaking of buttons. I like that all the small ones have little red LEDs on them facing the top so that you can easily see if they are selected or not.
The main 'register select' buttons do not. It's only a problem because if you cannot remember what register you have selected there's no easy way to tell short of looking at the screen which I can hardly read! On a 'real' accordion you can 'feel' the register buttons for the sloppy one to tell which is selected but on the Roland, there's no way to do that. A minor thing but worth being aware of.
Often on keyboards only one of the two stereo output gives you fill mono output so I like that you can plug into either left or right audio output and get mono instead of having to find the correct one.
The ability to plug in headphones and play late at night without disturbing anyone may save my marriage!
So yeah, overall I'd say I am glad I finally bought one and I am happy with my choice of the 4x rather than the 8x.
First, some background.
I've played keys/piano of some sort all my life. Not a great player but good enough. I switched to accordion about 5 years ago with a Titano Stroller (41/120) then switched up to a Borsini (41/120) a couple of years ago so I had enough full size accordions although I will probably sell the Titano now that I have the Roland.
I also have small ladies size box I got just for fun (it's VERY small) so I know I can handle the smaller size even though I am a big guy at 6' 5".
So, why the 4x and not the 8x?
Well, price for a start, but the main reason was that I just did not want another full size accordion. My knees are bad so I play sitting down most of the time. I'd like to be able to play standing but there's no way that is happening with a full size box. At 19 lbs, the 4x is a lot more manageable in that respect.
Volume is not an issue as I mostly play farmer's markets or busking down town (where NOT being too loud lets me get away with it without any hassle from police or shop owners) or open mics where there is usually a PA I can plug into with the 4x.
I got mine from Crown Music in Arizona and it came with the Dale Mathis sound set all programmed in so it's not a standard Roland setup. That was a deliberate choice as I had heard (although I have no actual experience) that the box as it comes from Roland is not that impressive re the sound setup. Dale said it's because it is built for a global market but when you are paying that much they could at least pretend to make some sort of effort to customize it for the target region. Bit like buying a car with the steering wheel in the middle because, well, that's the average position in a global market! No matter, moving on....
First of, let me say that this will never be a 'real' accordion. at least when playing with accordion sounds, while it sounds good, it's just not the same to my ear at least. The sound just does not resonate from the whole box in the same way that it does from a real accordion so I cannot see it replacing my Borsini any time soon but rather augmenting my playing choices.
The keyboard 'feels' a bit different. More like a synth keyboard than an accordion. I assume that is because you are not moving rods and levers against springs so the physical mass is different. I got used to it pretty quickly though. However I do find that I notice sloppy playing far more on the 4x than I do on a real box. I suspect the keys are just more sensitive to when they have been touched vs being intentionally played so missed or bum notes tend to show up more. The fix of course is to become a better player so it's not all bad!
As for 37 keys vs 41. So far I have not noticed the missing keys. Maybe if I played in F or Bb more I might but so far I think I've only had one occasion where I was looking for the F as the bottom note of an Inverted Dm chord and it wasn't there but it didn't really affect the overall sound of the song any and I can always just play the F an octave higher if I really need it.
Bellows control takes a bit of getting used to. I have the 'air bleed' knob currently just off the heavy setting so it bleeds a bit but not too much but I still find myself fighting the bellows a bit so my bellows work is not as good as it is on the Titano or Borsini and tends to be a little jumpy at times which affects the volume. Hopefully that will improve as I play it more.
The Drums are a bit naff. OK, I think they are pretty crap and can get a bit annoying if used too much. Almost seem to be an after thought. OK for polka maybe but not much else. Manual says there are three drum sets but I've yet to figure out how to select anything other than the set that is setup when you turn the box on.
I am still experimenting with the various sound sets and setups but the ability to layer sounds is great. So far my favorite setup (using the Dale Mathis setup) is acoustic bass on the bass and contra bass, strings on the chord buttons and clarinet on the treble side, with maybe a musette accordion layered over it at times. Moonlight Serenade with that setup sounds so great.
The screen does it's job. Bigger would be nice, if only so that my old eyes could actually read it cleary but I can make out enough, even though it is slightly blurred with my computer/playing glasses (let me see clearly at about arms length so great for computer use and music on a stand).
If I have one disappointment, it's the fact that there is only ONE MIDI port so it is either input or output. This means you cannot have a setup where you are using a midi foot pedal to control the accordion and at the same time use the accordion to control a module like a BK-7m (if you are lucky enough to have one). While playing with midi is not something I have gotten around to yet, It will be on the cards at some point in the future. I will probably use the midi as output to control a rack synth and just get used to hitting the buttons on the accordion to control it as you would anyway.
Speaking of buttons. I like that all the small ones have little red LEDs on them facing the top so that you can easily see if they are selected or not.
The main 'register select' buttons do not. It's only a problem because if you cannot remember what register you have selected there's no easy way to tell short of looking at the screen which I can hardly read! On a 'real' accordion you can 'feel' the register buttons for the sloppy one to tell which is selected but on the Roland, there's no way to do that. A minor thing but worth being aware of.
Often on keyboards only one of the two stereo output gives you fill mono output so I like that you can plug into either left or right audio output and get mono instead of having to find the correct one.
The ability to plug in headphones and play late at night without disturbing anyone may save my marriage!
So yeah, overall I'd say I am glad I finally bought one and I am happy with my choice of the 4x rather than the 8x.
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