Watch the 2nd Annual Roland V-Accordion Contest 2008 Group 1.   Group 2   Group 3

Watch a video of Steve Albini playing his Roland FR 7 V-Accordion on You Tube.

Watch a video of Domenico Scarlatti.

Watch a video of Dmitriev.

Watch a video of Archie Main

Examples of Songs recorded from the V-Accordion     Example 1     Example 2     Example 3     Example 4     Example 5     Example 6     Example 7     Example 8     Example 9

Client playing the Roland FR-7     Example 1     Example 2     Example 3     Example 4.

Roland Technology and Specs Page     Roland's Piano Accordion Page     Roland FR-7 Demo

The new Roland FR-2 V-Accordion has the look and feel of a traditional accordion but the heart beating inside gives you all the advantages of digital control.   The true tone and characteristics of the best accordions from all over the world have been captured with the proprietary PBM (Physical Behaviour Modeling) technology, and enriched with a wide palette of other instruments, from percussion to bass, organ, strings etc., to provide wider tonal choice.

High portability makes it suitable for young students and stage performance
Pad function for playing amazing percussion sounds
Song function turns the learning process into fun

Light-Weight Champion! At almost half the weight of the bigger models, the FR-2 stands out for its portability.   Whether you are a student or a professional musician, at home or on stage, your back will definitely thank FR-2!   You've got the Power!

Battery Life More than five hours of battery life (sold separately) set you free in any situation.   In case you run out of power, any eight ÒAAÓ rechargeable batteries (the most common to find) will do the job.

User Program The FR-2 contains 8 memories (User Programs) where you can store your function settings. Working with those memories has the advantage that you can recall frequently used settings at the press of a button.

Pad Function Switch to PAD FUNCTION and 5 x Pads above Bass Registers become a powerful tool.   Now you can add percussion sounds to your bass line and chord, or use them as drum pads, and even record and play a rhythm on the fly in the Loop Playback Mode. Song Function You can get the most from this function by interacting with any song with the minus one function:   Practice each hand separately while the song is playing and control its expression with the bellows.   The learning process has never been so much fun!

Connections The many connection options of the FR-2 allow you to perform in any situation.

Headphones Now you can practice at any hour, without disturbing the neighbours or those around you.

Line output Of course you can plug into the PA as usual, but you could also use a wireless transmitter to leave you free to walk around on stage or amongst the audience and make your performance more visually exciting.

MIDI We live in a digital world and MIDI is the digital instrumentÕs language.   You can play external keyboards and expanders, record your music on a sequencer or connect to an ARRANGER to turn your V-Accordion into a whole band at your fingertip.

Keyboard & Bellows

Right Hand:   24 piano type keys, velocity sensitive (starting at a G key).
Left Hand:   96 bass buttons with velocity
Bellows:   Real pneumatic detection of bellows pressure (high-resolution pressure sensor), Bellows Resistance Regulator

Sound Source

Sound Generator Max polyphony: 128 voices
Tones 8 Accordion Sets, each one including: 10 Treble registers, 5 Bass registers, 5 Orchestral Bass registers, 5 Orchestral Chord registers, 6 Orchestral sounds.

Treble reed footages 4
Bass reed footages 5
Chord reed footages 3

PBM (Physical Behaviour Modeling)

Noises Stopping-reed growl, Closing valve noise, Left button noise
Individual reed simulation Hysteresis threshold, Expression curve, Pressure variant filter, Pressure variant pitch deviation
Switching reed sound wave by bellows acceleration, by note repetition speed

Musette Tuning

Micro tuning presets 15: Off, Dry, Classic, F-Folk, American L/H, North Europe, German L/H, D-Folk L/H, Alpine, Italian L/H, French, Scottish

Effects

Reverb 8 types
Chorus 8 types

Panel Control

Knob controls Volume/Power; Registers: 5 x Treble, 3 x Orchestra, Set, 5 x Bass: Buttons: Orch. Bass, Orch. Chosrd, Left Register, Pad/Default, Rec/Loop, Song/Demo, User Prog/Dec, Metronome/Inc.

Operational Modes

Bass & Chord Mode 2 Bs Rows, 3 Bs Rows A-7th, 3 Bs Rows A-5dim3 Bs Rows B-7th, 3 Bs Rows B-5dim, 3 Bs Rows Bx
Octave Down, 0, Up for Treble and Orchestra
Pad 8 drum/percussion sets, phrase recording function
Song 8 preset songs with selectable mute function for left or right hand part

Others

Power Supply External AC adapter or optional batteries
Power Consumption 500 mA
Battery (optional) Ni MH 2500mAh approx. 5 hours.   This varies depending on the actual conditions of use
Onboard connectors Headphones Jack (Stereo), Output Jack: L/Mono (Treble), R/Mono (Bass), MIDI connector: Out/IN (adjustable via MIDI parameter)
Supplied accessories External AC adapter, Owner's manual, Straps, Battery holder (pre-installed in compartment), replaceable Sheets: 6
Optional accessories Gigbag (BAG-FR-3), CM-30 Cube Monitor, CUBE STREET Battery Powered Stereo Amplifier, SA-300 Stage Amplifier

Size and Weight

Width 472 mm; 18 9/16 inches
Depth 244 mm; 9 5/8 inches
Height 426 mm; 16 3/4 inches
Weight 7.5 kg; 16 lbs. 9 oz.

Weight without straps or optional batteries.   The specifications are subject to change without notice

Email: johncast@Bignet.net

Designed & Maintained by: Thomas R. Brown