harpsichord

This video is an official Roland demo video of the Roland C-230 Classic Keyboard at Musikmesse 2009.

via RolandChannel:

A treasure trove of classical organs and instruments in a compact cabinet, the new C-230 is an elegant addition to any home, church, or music venue. An instantly selectable library of instruments is onboard, including coveted classical organ and bass tones, harpsichords, fortepiano, celesta, and more. The internal amplification system provides high-quality output, with two satellite speakers and RSS ambience technology for immersive, rich sound.

Musikmesse 2009: The Roland C-230 is offers a selection of classical organ and bass tones, harpsichords, fortepiano, celesta, and more.

Features:

• 36 classical organ tones onboard, plus 8 organ bass tones, 4 harpsichord tones, fortepiano, celesta, and more
• Built-in speaker system with two full range speakers, two tweeters, and two satellites
• Built-in song recorder allows you to record and play back your musical performances
• Portable and attractive; user-installable decorative panels (OP-C30DP01 / 02: optional)

If you’ve used the Roland C-230, leave a comment with your thoughts! Read more…

2009 NAMM Show update: The Roland C-30 is a digital harpsichord with authentic sound and feel, but with features only possible in a digital instrument.

We had a chance to check out the C-30 at NAMM. While it’s clearly a digital instrument, it does a great job of packaging it up in a form that makes sense for people doing traditional music. I could also see this having a niche in electronic music similar to that of the Mellotron.

Features:

• 61 keys with “click action” F-Scale touch
• Four harpsichord sound-sets and two positive organ sounds
• Plectrums and strings never need replacing, and no tuning is required
• Five different classical temperaments with Baroque pitch support
• Reverb effect enhances small room acoustics
• Mahogany finish with optional picture board, decoration panel, and bench

Read more…

Sunday was very quiet at the 2009 Winter NAMM Show this year. Some areas were ghost towns – like Yamaha’s vast space. While this may not bode well for the music industry, it meant that we got to spend a lot of time talking to manufacturers and also getting great photos of the new gear.

You can check out the hundreds of shots from the show at our 2009 NAMM Winter Show Flickr set.

Here are some of the highights of Day 4 of the 2009 NAMM Show:

• There was pink gear everywhere, like the pink control keyboards from CME.
• Arturia was showing Brass2, which is pretty impressive if you’re interested in physical modeling synthesis
• We had a chance to get hands-on with the Akai APC40 Ableton Live controller.
• The Roland VP-770 Vocal Keyboard sounds really really good, but the interface is a little confusing.
• I had a chance to take an in-depth look at the update Lemur, which looks droolworthy as ever.

Here are some photo highlights: Read more…

The latest in Switched-On Synth’s Synth Programming series looks at creating a harpsichord-like sound with a synthesizer.