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Tips for a new owner of the FR-7x

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Simon Max

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Hiya All,

It's payback time.

I have been enjoying this forum since I discovered it about a year ago, and I have gained a great deal of practical knowledge from all the active members. Thanks to all for that.

Jerry (P?) mentioned that his contribution to this community is a payback for all he has gained, so I thought that I should do the same.

The first thing a FR-7x owner should do is realize that the Accordion out of the box can sound very anemic. This is a common complaint, and is true even for the newer FR-4 and FR-8 models. There a few simple solutions to this problem. The first "Fix" is to change the Bellows Sensitivity, change the volume settings and change the air-flow control. On some models (not on the FR-7x) there is a general parameter that can be adjusted to get more volume out of the instrument.

If you do not want to spend any additional money, you can skip the next paragraph.


If you did not buy your accordion yet, you should consider buying it through Dale Mathis and get his sounds and programming. This is especially true if you are over 60 and "love" the Cordovox sound. If you bought your accordion already, you should consider investing another 150-175 U.S. dollars and buy a set of Sets from Richard Noel (for the FR-1x, FR3x and FR8 they are called User Programs). Considering that you probably paid between 1500- 5000 Dollars, the additional 150-175 is probably well spent. I did not buy his set yet, but have no doubt that eventually I will.

The first thing that you can do to hear the various posibilites of this instrument is to go through the various sets that are installed on your instrument and reading their names on the panel / screen. You should find one that is called Examples. If you do not find one with that name, you may want to consider doing a Factory reset. You will lose all programming that is currently in your accordion, so you should probably make yourself a backup before you do this. After choosing the Examples set, push the various registers and play some song to hear the many posibilties that this instrument has to offer. You will get a quick undertanding that a single press of a button can change many sounds and settings, including the bass and chord setting of the left side.

Richard Noel has given his consent for me to share his Xmas 55 set that he shared with the V-Accordion Yahoo group. I found it on the groups.io site and I thank Jerry P. for directing me there. This set was put together with the idea that each song has its own mood and therefore its own combination of treble, bass, chord and sometimes drum settings. Using this set you will notice that some sounds have a pretty constant level, and at the same time increasing the bellows pressure you get an additional sound. This is what layering is all about.

Another easy way to hear various possibilities is to choose the Musette set. i suggest that you play a song using only your right hand and listen to hear if there is any one register that you love. If you do, you should check the name and try that set. You should be aware by now, that you can mix and change the left and right side.

The next step should probalby be check which Expansion sets are installed, and download the various sets that Roland has for the Various sets.

Sincerely,
Simon

P.S. The attached file is not a zipped file. You should remove the .zip extension and use the .set file.
 

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Thanks Simon,

I've owned my FR8X for more than five years now and enjoy it very much. I also own the Richard Noel sets from the very first day because my dealer insisted on including them as they really show the versatility and value of the instrument. I was told that many "mature " players would become frustrated with trying to set up their accordion and would want to give up.

Perhaps if I didn't have the Richard Noel sets I would have been forced to learn how to use the set editor but some of the added nuances and embellishments are most likely beyond my limited abilities. I have taken some of those sets and modified them to better suit me and this has served me well.

It's always great to learn various tips from other more technical and surely more accomplished musicians. I was also lucky enough to have purchased the Bk7m along with the FC-7 foot pedal and any tips and tricks regarding those two devices is much appreciated, especially since it revolves around the electronic aspects of music. Many parts of those devices are and probably also will continue to remain a mystery to me.

I've heard that life is returning to normal in your part of the world and sincerly wish you joyful encounters with friends, family and music lovers.
 
Thanks Simon,

I've owned my FR8X for more than five years now and enjoy it very much. I also own the Richard Noel sets from the very first day because my dealer insisted on including them as they really show the versatility and value of the instrument. I was told that many "mature " players would become frustrated with trying to set up their accordion and would want to give up.

Perhaps if I didn't have the Richard Noel sets I would have been forced to learn how to use the set editor but some of the added nuances and embellishments are most likely beyond my limited abilities. I have taken some of those sets and modified them to better suit me and this has served me well.

It's always great to learn various tips from other more technical and surely more accomplished musicians. I was also lucky enough to have purchased the Bk7m along with the FC-7 foot pedal and any tips and tricks regarding those two devices is much appreciated, especially since it revolves around the electronic aspects of music. Many parts of those devices are and probably also will continue to remain a mystery to me.

I've heard that life is returning to normal in your part of the world and sincerly wish you joyful encounters with friends, family and music lovers.
There is a BK-7 group on Facebook.
 
Hi Valski,
Thanks for the well wishes. It has quited down here. I seldom use the FC-7 and don't own a BK7-m, but I might add some tips on using the FC-7.
Keep Healthy,
Simon
 
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The price of fc7 pedals is crazy considering it’s just 7 momentary switches and an 8pin din lead. Gonna make my own ?
Hello David,

You're absolutely correct about the pedal being expensive however they were discontinued several years ago so that doesn't apply any longer. These days your only option would be to purchase a used pedal or to make your own. I was about to make one and then I found a used one still in the original box for a fraction of the new price. There are some available on person to person sites and you might just want to check these first.
 
The price of fc7 pedals is crazy considering it’s just 7 momentary switches and an 8pin din lead. Gonna make my own ?

It's not a particularly difficult project, I made my own as well. If you want to see what paths I took, you can check it out. Just visit my website (www.AccordionMemories.com) and do a search for "foot pedals for the BK-7m".

One day I may be updating mine too, either to a nicer single piece design, or possibly just go wireless Bluetooth, though the costs of those pedals is not as affordable as a wired DIY setup.

My thing is mostly design. I think a 2 level design that is functionally easy to get to all 7 buttons works really well, and right now, though its in 2 parts, I really like the logic of a 3-button - 4-button design, its so intuitive easy to use for me.


pedlas.jpg

The 8th button (used for Performance NEXT) is now useless to me since I went the iPad/Bluetooth 8X and BK-7m automatic reprogramming route, that switch has been replaced by a 4-button Bluetooth pedal that has the ability to move the music 1 page back/forward or next/last song while doing the complete reprogramming of the 8X and BK.

btpedal.jpg
This really takes things to the next level, but is much more costly and complex.
 
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Hi,
Here is another set, but this has no fancy stuff, just beautiful accordion sounds.
This set was uploaded to the Yahoo group in 2011 by Mike O'Regan.
Simon
 

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Here is the Richard Noel Xmas set 55. This was also done way back.
 

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  • 55_Xmas Noel_2011.SET.zip
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