roland accordion sounds

[accordian]

hello guys ive been looking around for an accordion for a while theres nothing wrong with acoustic but headphones is a good feature that being said I know that you can get different sounds on them (roland) and would like to know what different sounds of accordion are there. eg.


the way that these 2 accordions sound different how many options do you get on the roland accordion?

thanks

 

[Geronimo]

Roland has different models, and the various manuals with the details are available for download from Roland's web page.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

hello guys ive been looking around for an accordion for a while theres nothing wrong with acoustic but headphones is a good feature that being said I know that you can get different sounds on them (roland) and would like to know what different sounds of accordion are there. eg.


the way that these 2 accordions sound different how many options do you get on the roland accordion?

thanks

Roland does indeed have various models.

Another option to consider is installing midi into your current accordion. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.
Most midi retrofits also have earphone jacks, as well as a variety of accordion and other instrumental sounds. However, if your present accordion doesnt have mutes on both treble and bass, using midi means playing with the bellows strapped closed and relying on a foot pedal for expression.

There are several technicians who can do the job, but it may wind up costing you a lot of money and having to have your accordion shipped to the tech you chose and back to you.

Many people who have Roland accordions bought them after many years of study and playing out professionally, They have a distinct set of pros and cons. For example, my accordion teacher, a professional accordionist, has a beautiful Petosa acoustic accordion that he uses in jazz gigs, a Roland FR-8x for his own experimentation and enjoyment, and a Roland FR-4x that he uses for strolling restaurant gigs. He originally bought a Roland FR-7 to use in gigs near the ocean, because the salt air can damage reeds in an acoustic instrument, as well as all the other reasons you can think of.

But I caution you to explore the possibilities of installing midi in your present accordion and looking at the various Roland models at an actual Roland dealer, but remember that both Roland dealers and technicians who would install midi in your box are also looking for sales.

Talk to accordionists who have experience with both. Tell them what your current playing level is, and why you want to change instruments. They may very well advise you to continue your present studies of accordion before changing instruments.

Alan

 

[Geronimo]

What may be worth pointing out is that experimenting with a multitude of sounds is something you can spend a lot of time on without improving your skills at all. Making an acoustic accordion sound like three different instruments is more work than making a Roland sound like three different instruments but it does not leave your technique in a similar manner at square one afterwards.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Good advice, Geronimo. I bought a reedless and later bought an acoustic accordion with midi because the guys I was playing with lacked some instrumental sounds that we needed. Now, two of the five guys are gone, and among the other three, well, we're all on vacation at different times, making it difficult to get together. So, how often do I use the midi? Not often. But I practice between two and three hours a day to keep my skills up and develop more. I have a great teacher and he's pushing me toward more and more expertise. That's satisfying. Making an accordion sound like a trumpet or a clarinet, while it impresses non-musicians, doesn't thrill me anymore.

Alan

 

[Geronimo]

Thats satisfying. Making an accordion sound like a trumpet or a clarinet, while it impresses non-musicians, doesnt thrill me anymore.

Oh, I find that quite a challenge on an acoustic accordion. Its a game of imitation, like a single speaker for a radio play can recognizably sign different characters and genders. Making electronic circuits controlled by a keyboard controller sound like a trumpet or a clarinet, is still interesting for electronic sound engineers. Making digital circuitry play back trumpet or clarinet samples... well, thats gets more boring and requires you to start with trumpet or clarinet samples. So it stops being something that happens at the players beck. Possibilities that have not been anticipated tend not to be there.

 

[accordian]

hello guys ive been looking around for an accordion for a while theres nothing wrong with acoustic but headphones is a good feature that being said I know that you can get different sounds on them (roland) and would like to know what different sounds of accordion are there. eg.


the way that these 2 accordions sound different how many options do you get on the roland accordion?

thanks

Roland does indeed have various models.

Another option to consider is installing midi into your current accordion. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.
Most midi retrofits also have earphone jacks, as well as a variety of accordion and other instrumental sounds. However, if your present accordion doesnt have mutes on both treble and bass, using midi means playing with the bellows strapped closed and relying on a foot pedal for expression.

There are several technicians who can do the job, but it may wind up costing you a lot of money and having to have your accordion shipped to the tech you chose and back to you.

Many people who have Roland accordions bought them after many years of study and playing out professionally, They have a distinct set of pros and cons. For example, my accordion teacher, a professional accordionist, has a beautiful Petosa acoustic accordion that he uses in jazz gigs, a Roland FR-8x for his own experimentation and enjoyment, and a Roland FR-4x that he uses for strolling restaurant gigs. He originally bought a Roland FR-7 to use in gigs near the ocean, because the salt air can damage reeds in an acoustic instrument, as well as all the other reasons you can think of.

But I caution you to explore the possibilities of installing midi in your present accordion and looking at the various Roland models at an actual Roland dealer, but remember that both Roland dealers and technicians who would install midi in your box are also looking for sales.

Talk to accordionists who have experience with both. Tell them what your current playing level is, and why you want to change instruments. They may very well advise you to continue your present studies of accordion before changing instruments.

Alan

when you say change instruments what do you mean as its still an accordion or do you mean
as in changing to a different accordion?

as for my skill level and why I want to change I like the sounds of a couple accordions and would
like an all in one rather than buying loads of them. and the headphone part of it is quite handy
as I can play and practice at any time. as for getting one of the ones I use midi fitted
the only thing I can find about this is the diy midi accordion page which looks to complicated
and even if I got it done I still would want to be playing with bellows otherwise its not all that
authentic. so it would be alot easier.

 

[accordian]

Roland has different models, and the various manuals with the details are available for download from Rolands web page.

ah right I wasnt aware of that

 

[Geronimo]

as for my skill level and why I want to change I like the sounds of a couple accordions and would
like an all in one rather than buying loads of them.

An accordion is an accordion. Once you have something like a converter with a tone chamber and a reasonable number of registers, you are at the end of the variety to be reached by accordion as an instrument. Individual instruments have different sounds and different balances but in the end, people dont tend to use more than one good large and one good small instrument, and the latter just for size and weight reasons.

and the headphone part of it is quite handy

Granted. In a pinch. I dont really make use of it currently. Instead I practice the acoustic one at times where its ok to do so. Just feels better. Headphones remain a nuisance, but a turned-down amp will still be more suitable for nightly practice than an acoustic accordion.

I still would want to be playing with bellows otherwise its not all that
authentic. so it would be alot easier.

The bellows action of a Roland is in no manner authentic. The FR-8x tries adjusting air resistance to registers and notes. The Bugari Evo actually uses a pallet mechanism to get an immediate feedback here. But according to players, its basically a laudable effort but not a whole lot more. I can register my acoustic such that I can play easily for 30 seconds in a single-reed right hand register and use the same amount of air with a left-hand chord in less than a second. That means a vast difference between bellows pressure and bellows movement thats almost fully stop-and-go, requiring a technical approach that just does not feel natural on a Roland which makes it hard to learn.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

hello guys ive been looking around for an accordion for a while theres nothing wrong with acoustic but headphones is a good feature that being said I know that you can get different sounds on them (roland) and would like to know what different sounds of accordion are there. eg.


the way that these 2 accordions sound different how many options do you get on the roland accordion?

thanks

Roland does indeed have various models.

Another option to consider is installing midi into your current accordion. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.
Most midi retrofits also have earphone jacks, as well as a variety of accordion and other instrumental sounds. However, if your present accordion doesnt have mutes on both treble and bass, using midi means playing with the bellows strapped closed and relying on a foot pedal for expression.

There are several technicians who can do the job, but it may wind up costing you a lot of money and having to have your accordion shipped to the tech you chose and back to you.

Many people who have Roland accordions bought them after many years of study and playing out professionally, They have a distinct set of pros and cons. For example, my accordion teacher, a professional accordionist, has a beautiful Petosa acoustic accordion that he uses in jazz gigs, a Roland FR-8x for his own experimentation and enjoyment, and a Roland FR-4x that he uses for strolling restaurant gigs. He originally bought a Roland FR-7 to use in gigs near the ocean, because the salt air can damage reeds in an acoustic instrument, as well as all the other reasons you can think of.

But I caution you to explore the possibilities of installing midi in your present accordion and looking at the various Roland models at an actual Roland dealer, but remember that both Roland dealers and technicians who would install midi in your box are also looking for sales.

Talk to accordionists who have experience with both. Tell them what your current playing level is, and why you want to change instruments. They may very well advise you to continue your present studies of accordion before changing instruments.

Alan

when you say change instruments what do you mean as its still an accordion or do you mean
as in changing to a different accordion?

I mean changing to a different accordion(a Roland) or installing midi in your present accordion. As Geronimo explained, Roland accordions require changes in technique to be effective. But you have to have developed good technique on an acoustic accordion before you even approach the modifications in technique that Roland V-Accordions require. That generally means you have to have studied with an excellent teacher for at least five years, perhaps more.


as for my skill level and why I want to change I like the sounds of a couple accordions and would
like an all in one rather than buying loads of them. and the headphone part of it is quite handy
as I can play and practice at any time. as for getting one of the ones I use midi fitted
the only thing I can find about this is the diy midi accordion page which looks to complicated
and even if I got it done I still would want to be playing with bellows otherwise its not all that
authentic. so it would be alot easier.

Geronimo has it right again! Some midi units have many different sampled accordion sounds built into them, but samples (and this is a whole different subject) are an iffy thing at best. The same sample can sound authentic to some people and a poor imitation to others. We all perceive sounds differently. Likewise, if you have an accordion with a tone chamber and five reeds in the treble and thirteen or more registers, thats all the variety you can get in the treble side of an acoustic accordion.

I hope this helps.

Alan

 

[accordian]

Roland does indeed have various models.

Another option to consider is installing midi into your current accordion. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.
Most midi retrofits also have earphone jacks, as well as a variety of accordion and other instrumental sounds. However, if your present accordion doesnt have mutes on both treble and bass, using midi means playing with the bellows strapped closed and relying on a foot pedal for expression.

There are several technicians who can do the job, but it may wind up costing you a lot of money and having to have your accordion shipped to the tech you chose and back to you.

Many people who have Roland accordions bought them after many years of study and playing out professionally, They have a distinct set of pros and cons. For example, my accordion teacher, a professional accordionist, has a beautiful Petosa acoustic accordion that he uses in jazz gigs, a Roland FR-8x for his own experimentation and enjoyment, and a Roland FR-4x that he uses for strolling restaurant gigs. He originally bought a Roland FR-7 to use in gigs near the ocean, because the salt air can damage reeds in an acoustic instrument, as well as all the other reasons you can think of.

But I caution you to explore the possibilities of installing midi in your present accordion and looking at the various Roland models at an actual Roland dealer, but remember that both Roland dealers and technicians who would install midi in your box are also looking for sales.

Talk to accordionists who have experience with both. Tell them what your current playing level is, and why you want to change instruments. They may very well advise you to continue your present studies of accordion before changing instruments.

Alan

when you say change instruments what do you mean as its still an accordion or do you mean
as in changing to a different accordion?

I mean changing to a different accordion(a Roland) or installing midi in your present accordion. As Geronimo explained, Roland accordions require changes in technique to be effective. But you have to have developed good technique on an acoustic accordion before you even approach the modifications in technique that Roland V-Accordions require. That generally means you have to have studied with an excellent teacher for at least five years, perhaps more.


as for my skill level and why I want to change I like the sounds of a couple accordions and would
like an all in one rather than buying loads of them. and the headphone part of it is quite handy
as I can play and practice at any time. as for getting one of the ones I use midi fitted
the only thing I can find about this is the diy midi accordion page which looks to complicated
and even if I got it done I still would want to be playing with bellows otherwise its not all that
authentic. so it would be alot easier.

Geronimo has it right again! Some midi units have many different sampled accordion sounds built into them, but samples (and this is a whole different subject) are an iffy thing at best. The same sample can sound authentic to some people and a poor imitation to others. We all perceive sounds differently. Likewise, if you have an accordion with a tone chamber and five reeds in the treble and thirteen or more registers, thats all the variety you can get in the treble side of an acoustic accordion.

I hope this helps.

Alan

im not not listening to your advice if that made any sense lol but would like to ask
what the difference between an roland an a acoustic? I mean I cant say I have
heard one in real so I cant say what the sound quality is like but as for the videos
online they sound great as well as the ability to play eg. sax for the bass making polkas
sound like a full polka with drums , sax , accordion etc. but as for the technique whats
different about them? oh and as for the authenticity of the bellows I just meant that
Id prefer having to open and close them rather than use a foot pedal as then althought
if you can get the same effect it doesnt matter the instrument has lost one of its
characteristics

thanks

 

[Gerald]

I have recently bought a Roland FR-4x. I’ve been playing my Honer 120 bass for about 20 years, and use an ORLA midi I bought from Charlie Watkins. Both work well and good quality but setting up and dismantling at a gig takes a lot of time. The rest have packed up whilst I’m only half way through. Also my Honer is very heavy to carry.
The Roland now does all the things I’d like to do in one instrument, and is a lot lighter to carry. It’s taking a bit of time to get used to playing it and setting up all of the sounds I want, but I think it’s going to work out well. Are there any other FR-4X accordion owners out there who share their tips and problems ( if any)? I’d like to read them if so

 

[accordian]

I have recently bought a Roland FR-4x. I’ve been playing my Honer 120 bass for about 20 years, and use an ORLA midi I bought from Charlie Watkins. Both work well and good quality but setting up and dismantling at a gig takes a lot of time. The rest have packed up whilst I’m only half way through. Also my Honer is very heavy to carry.
The Roland now does all the things I’d like to do in one instrument, and is a lot lighter to carry. It’s taking a bit of time to get used to playing it and setting up all of the sounds I want, but I think it’s going to work out well. Are there any other FR-4X accordion owners out there who share their tips and problems ( if any)? I’d like to read them if so

ah right in that
case I will have
to buy one to see what
I think.

by the way if you dont
mind me asking as you
have alot of experiance
when learning a bass jump
how do you practice do you
just do the same thing over
and over again mindlessly?
thats what im currently doing
and although I know it can take
months or years before improvement
I would like to know if im wasting my time
and what you do/did when learning
a bass jump. thanks.

 

[JerryPH]

the way that these 2 accordions sound different how many options do you get on the roland accordion?

The easy answer...

From the factory, a FR8X comes with the equivalent of around 35 different accordions. Add in the free factory expansions that rises to 66 accordions. Add in the Richard Noel sets and we are easily in the hundreds. Add to that another severeal thousand more as you can take any accordion set and modify it to whatever you like.. Now toss in the non-accordion sounds, and you see why it suddenly becomes easy to waste thousands of hours programming instead of playing a Roland accordion. :lol:

 

[accordian]

the way that these 2 accordions sound different how many options do you get on the roland accordion?

The easy answer...

From the factory, a FR8X comes with the equivalent of around 35 different accordions. Add in the free factory expansions that rises to 66 accordions. Add in the Richard Noel sets and we are easily in the hundreds. Add to that another severeal thousand more as you can take any accordion set and modify it to whatever you like.. Now toss in the non-accordion sounds, and you see why it suddenly becomes easy to waste thousands of hours programming instead of playing a Roland accordion. :lol:

bet ya can get some great sounds though

 

[JerryPH]

bet ya can get some great sounds though

IMHO, no doubt. While I love the versatility, others will say meh, I dont need more than 1 accordion sound....

I love an acoustic accordion just for what it is, but I think that I am one of the few that also loves the digital accordion, because of exactly what an acoustic accordion is not, in comparison.

if you need a bit of a list, you can see how I have my 8X set up AT THIS LINK.

 

[accordian]

bet ya can get some great sounds though

IMHO, no doubt. While I love the versatility, others will say meh, I dont need more than 1 accordion sound....

I love an acoustic accordion just for what it is, but I think that I am one of the few that also loves the digital accordion, because of exactly what an acoustic accordion is not, in comparison.

if you need a bit of a list, you can see how I have my 8X set up AT THIS LINK.

well thats just it I love all the different accordion sounds and so
an electric one would seem better than say 50 all tuned differently
etc. not to mention free bass Id love top try. and the instrument itself
the way you can play different instruments as well its all quite amazing