WNAMM07: Roland Launch New Oriental Keyboard

US Exotic sounds onboard 22/01/07

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Roland have introduced the EXR-46 OR Oriental keyboard. Hereâ€™s the lowdown in their own words:
Features

New Oriental, Turkish, Khaligi/Gulfian sounds and styles including Arabic â€œHuman Voices/Phrasesâ€�
12 scale tunings at the touch of a button
Live percussion, Arabic "Human Voices/Phrases" and SFX on arrangements through â€œDRUM PADâ€� functions
USB port for quick data exchange and for USB MIDI function

The real thing
The broad sound palette of the new EXR-46 OR will guide you on an amazing voyage through Western, Near-East and Middle-East music. The true essence of the music has been captured by skilled local musicians, who have carefully sampled and programmed every nuance, using Rolandâ€™s latest technology, to truly bring you the real experience.
Tones and Styles
650 breathtaking tones and 33 drum kits (featuring 268 lush new drum samples) are included in a huge library that has been designed to re-create every regionâ€™s distinct flavor.
The OUD, for instance, has been sampled with the Sadda, Radda and Verdaj new playing technique to simulate perfectly the real OUD acoustic instrument. Your favorites can be quickly stored and recalled on the User Tones buttons: add the human voices/phrases (typical vocal samples that characterize some Near-East, Middle-East and Gulfian styles), and you have maybe the most comprehensive and high-quality collection of oriental sounds available on an arranger keyboard.
The individual tones have been blended together by musicians from each region to give you the most authentic results. Each of the 149 arrangement styles has their own unique and distinct character, which can be fine-tuned to suit your personal taste by adding any of the onboard effects: there are 8 levels of reverb, 8 levels of chorus, and 47 different types of multi-effects.
Drum Pad Keys
Using the drum pad keys, you can assign any percussion, human voices/phrases, and SFX sound to dedicated keys to give you infinite ways to interact with arrangements: just add noises, claps, human/voices phrases, or improvise with your favorite percussion - live!
The LOCK function
This allows you to switch between crucial playing modes at the touch of a button.
Scale tunings
12 scale tunings are available to reproduce every traditional scale division, and 3 of them can be assigned to dedicated buttons for instant recall.
More features

The music assistant is a guide that, with 100 option settings, will lead you to closely replicate many popular songs.
To build up your own songs from scratch and save them, use the built-in 16-Track Sequencer and metronome.
Save and recall all the user data and settings with the onboard Floppy Disk Drive.
The USB port (like MIDI) can be used to load additional styles, or save your own, and also to use the EXR-46 OR as an expander which you control via your computer or sequencer.
A large selection of additional styles are on the included CD, together with the computer Drivers, for endless creative possibilities.

Pricing and Availability:
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