Roland RA-800 Realtime Arranger

July 12, 1996 -- Roland Corporation is premiering its most powerful arranger module to date: the RA-800 Realtime Arranger. Designed to meet the needs of the demanding professional, the RA-800 features a GM/GS-compatible sound source with 64-voice polyphony and 32-part multitimbral capability. The RA-800 incorporates a 3.5-inch disk drive for Standard MIDI File (SMF) recording and playback. It also provides 128 built-in high definition styles and a variety of musical innovations that make it the ideal partner for the performing musician, songwriter, hobbyist or teacher with a MIDI-compatible instrument.

The powerful GS sound source in the RA-800 is equivalent to the highly acclaimed G-800 Arranger Workstation. There are 689 GS sounds and 25 complete drum sets built in.

The RA-800's other standout features include: eight separate tracks of multi-instrument accompaniment; up to eight user styles that can be created and stored as presets; a sophisticated Chord Recognition function to manage and play chords and bass inversions like C 9/D or Ab Maj7 9/Bb, as well as a variety of other complex chord combinations; and a Piano Style for intelligent full-range keyboard Chord Recognition.

Individual control of the balance between tracks is possible using the Dynamic Arranger function. Up to five parts (Upper1, Upper2, Lower, MBass, MDrums) can be played together with the arranger section or with SMF songs. Dedicated rotary encoders provide control over volume, pan, chorus, reverb, delay and tone changes. These changes can be stored into any of 192 Performance memories.

The Standard MIDI File (SMF) player/recorder can read either MS-DOS or Atari disks. Realtime playback is possible direct from disk; no loading time is required. Track mute for any of the 16 tracks is possible for "minus one" playback. There is also a built-in Chord Sequencer which can work as a simple arranger loop or as a sophisticated sequencer, storing style and division changes.

The RA-800's performance capabilities are enhanced by an easy-to-understand panel layout with a large backlit LCD that can display lyrics embedded in Standard MIDI Files (available from various third-party vendors). The RA-800 can even be controlled by an FC-7 Foot Controller, making realtime performance and accompaniment a breeze.

For more information contact Roland Corporation U.S., 7200 Dominion Circle, Los Angeles, CA 90040, 213.685.5141. Visit their web site at www.rolandus.com.