Roland CONNECT 2010 ? The Art of Sound
Is there such a thing as a new tradition? How about September 1st?s exciting Roland CONNECT, the worldwide launch of the latest cutting-edge products from Roland and BOSS? It?s an even bigger bash than last year?s Roland CONNECT event, with a wide range of new keyboards, new amps, pedals, software, and an intriguing new audio interface. Things just keep getting better.
Roland V-Drums® Contest Now Open
Roland is looking for the nation?s top drummer. Prizes include a custom REMO-wrapped TD-20SX V-Drums® Kit, OCTAPAD? SPD-30, RMP-5, PM-30, and DW 9000 Hardware. National finals will be held in Las Vegas with a special performance by Blue Man Group?and more!
Spanish Information Added to Select Product Pages
It?s exciting to live in the multi-cultural USA. Keep an eye out for the En Español links sprinkled throughout the product pages on the RolandUS.com website. Click to view an example.
Roland and The GRAMMY® Museum Team Up for Traveling Exhibit
Roland and The GRAMMY Museum are proud to announce Instruments of Art, a one-of-a-kind traveling exhibit that features an interactive display of Roland?s state-of-the-art electronic instruments alongside never-before-displayed photographs of artist performances at the Museum. Open to the public and free of charge, Instruments of Art is currently on display at Westfield Topanga, one of Los Angeles? most popular shopping destinations, through July 25, 2010. After that, the exhibit travels to other Westfield Mall locations throughout Southern California.
Attention All Live Loopers: We Want You to Bring It On!
As of June 1, 2010, the first stage of the BOSS Loop Station World Championship is now under way! If you?re a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, beatboxer, or any kind of looping musician, we invite you to show off your BOSS looping skills and earn a chance to compete at the Loop Station National Finals in October 2010. You could win thousands in amazing BOSS gear and a spot at the world championship event, but you have to enter to win. Don?t delay?the submission deadline is August 31, 2010. Get your loop on and show us what you?ve got!
Milestone: 200 Songs Analyzed in ?The Pedals That Make the Tone?
?The Pedals That Make the Tone,? our ongoing collaboration with Guitar World magazine, has been a huge hit with tone-hungry guitarists everywhere. Over nearly three years, resident BOSS shredder Paul Hanson has dissected, studied, and reassembled the guitar tones in 200 classic songs, a milestone he?s reached with this month?s selections. Check ?em out now as Paul gets started on the next 200!
Registration Now Open for the 2010 V-Accordion® Festival
Attention all accordion enthusiasts! Enter now for your chance to perform at the U.S. National V-Accordion Festival, taking place at Roland U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles on September 18, 2010. The Senior Division champion will win a Roland FR-7x V-Accordion and a trip to Rome, Italy, to compete for the world title and 5,000 euros at the International V-Accordion Festival in October 2010. Don’t delay?the cutoff is July 15, 2010, so fill out and return the entry form today!
Opportunity Knocks
We like to do everything we can to get our technology into musicians? hands, where it can do the world some good. We?re always pleased when we can put together special deals that make our products even more affordable. If you?re interested in an HD-1, JUNO-G, JUNO-STAGE®, TD-4SX, or TD-9SX, we?ve got some new offers you won?t want to miss.
Free ?FG Connects Live? Update for Fantom-G
Roland is proud to announce availability of the new FG Connects Live update. Made exclusively for the Fantom-G Series Workstations, this free download emphasizes the powerful live performance potential of the Fantom-G, adding new patches, live sets, rhythm patterns, and more.
Cookin? Up Some Disco Biscuits on BOSS Tone Radio
In this month?s BOSS Tone Radio podcast, host Paul Hanson talks music, tone, and technology with Jon Gutwillig, lead guitarist for the trance-fusion jam band Disco Biscuits.
Paul Mirkovich Talks V-Combo
Keyboardist Paul Mirkovich has long been one of the go-to guys for TV shows?such as RockStar INXS on CBS?that count on having a band that absolutely smokes. He?s also an in-demand player, vocalist, and musical director for an astounding array of top acts. Paul recently sat down with us for an interview in which he talks about the joys of Roland?s new V-Combo VR-700 Stage Keyboard.
An Impressive Display of SuperNATURAL® Piano Technology
Concert artist and piano virtuoso Yana Reznik puts Roland?s SuperNATURAL Piano technology to the ultimate test in this new video, performing Rachmaninoff?s ?Moment Musical? on the HP-307. We?re more than impressed, and we know you will be, too! To fully appreciate her stunning performance and the HP-307?s amazing sound, make sure you listen through quality headphones or full-range speakers.
Spotlight on Learning
Even in these days of school-budget cutbacks, we continue to believe that music education is an important part of learning. This is why we?ve recently posted so many articles in the Spotlight section of the Roland Music Education site. There?s lots of good reading there, including info on ways in which today?s innovative educators are using technology to help musicians learn and grow.
Experience Roland and BOSS
Maybe you?ve noticed that we?ve added a new EXPERIENCE button to the navigation bar at the top of our web pages. Click it?you?ll be whisked to a world of interactive product demos, things to watch and hear, and links to special product microsites. Have a look around. It?s a great way to learn about Roland/BOSS products.
Imagine: Rockin? Roland Battle of the Bands
We?re so excited?and honored?to be partnering with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus for two new contests. One?s in the Washington, D.C. area, and one?s in New England. If you?re in a middle school or high school in either of these areas, you can enter your band for the chance to win one very slick collection of Roland gear. You?ll find details after the jump. It?s all part of helping to support and promote the future of music.
New Roland & BOSS Products at Musikmesse
Have you heard about the great new Roland and BOSS products we?ve unveiled at Frankfurt Musikmesse 2010? The powerful GAIA SH-01 virtual analog synth and ultra-light Lucina AX-09 synthesizer are compact, battery-powered, and built for fun. For a new standard in portable multitrack recorders, there?s the BOSS BR-800, with cutting-edge effects like the vocal tools from our VE-20. Mobile recording gets more affordable with the R-05, while the CD-2i is our easiest SD/CD recorder yet. The bellows in our two new V-Accordions® make them a delight to play. And we?re thrilled to present a new line of pianos based on Roland?s amazing SuperNATURAL® piano technology. Whew! Click below for details.
Roland Artists & Educators Alliance
Roland is pleased to announce the new Roland Artist & Educators Alliance. Nothing tells the Roland story like the fantastic players and teachers who use our products, and we?re looking for Roland customers with enthusiasm and insights to share. If you think you may want to participate in this new program, here are the details.
The New SP-404SX: Oh, It?s Been Brung
If you think you know what an SP-Series sampler can do, think again: The new SP-404SX is really something to hear. Kicking it up more than a notch from the SP-404, the SP-404SX has a big, fat, crisp, and clear sound that will knock your sox off. Is it the new 16-bit linear sampling, the new DSP effects? All. Of. It. Crank up your speakers and go have a listen. And don?t forget to read up on the SP-404SX’s other hot new features while you?re there.
Guitarists, Don?t Cut This Class
If you haven?t yet caught onto Effects 101, we?ve got four brand-new video-shaped reasons you should. We understand there?s a dazzling array of BOSS® stompboxes, and you?ve got to know what they do?how else are you going to ID the ones you need? Effects 101 is a free video class in guitar effects taught by our own master guitarist, Johnny DeMarco. And if you?re already wise to Effects 101, you?ll want to check out the four new videos we?ve just posted.
Browse the Online ME-25 Sound Library
To help spread the word about the great sounds in our new ME-25 Guitar Multiple Effects, we?ve set up a place where you can hear for yourself exactly what this potent effects processor can do. The effects are all here, including the sounds that ship in the ME-25 and a bunch of even newer ones that ME-25 owners can download for free. A very cool way to get up to speed on the ME-25.
Free Jam Tracks for Rocking with eBand
eTracks for eBand are backing tracks for use with the eBand JS-8 Audio Player with Guitar Effects. Created monthly by our staff of shredders here at BOSS, eTracks allow you to grow your library of eBand jam tracks so you can continually challenge your skills and keep your chops fresh.
Brian Culbertson Plays the Praises of the V-Piano®
Composer, arranger, and keyboardist Brian Culbertson invites us into his home studio for a look around and a chance to see where his V-Piano fits in the big picture. A clue: it’s smack-dab in the middle of his control room. You won?t want to miss this video interview that ranges from his thoughts on the look and feel of the V-Piano to the awesome possibilities it embodies. ?Love it,? he says. Who can blame him?
Most Powerful Voices Choir Contest
Are you a member of a choir or know someone who is? This is your chance to share your voice and talent with the world. Roland Corporation U.S. is proud to be the sole musical instrument sponsor of the Most Powerful Voices choir contest, presented by the Gospel Music Channel and the American Heart Association?s Power to End Stroke Campaign.
Roland Turns Up the Heat at NAMM
Roland turned up the heat at the NAMM Show in Anaheim last week, when we announced our 2010 lineup of new products. For the home, there are sparkling new digital pianos. For the stage, we’ve got new battery-powered keyboards and acoustic-guitar amps, the hot V-Combo organ and oh-so-useful VP-7 Vocal Processor. The killer ME-25 Guitar Multiple Effects stompbox and the TU-3 Chromatic Tuner are also not to be missed. Let’s not forget the exciting SuperNATURAL® piano upgrade for RD-700GX owners, either. New percussion gear? How about the new TD-12KX V-Stage® kit, and the reborn classic, the OCTAPAD? SPD-30? Click “More info” for all the details about these and other new products for 2010.
The Big BOSS Giveaway ? One More Chance to Win!
The Big BOSS Giveaway has been a huge success, and we?ve already given away three pedals signed by famous BOSS guitar heroes and $3,000 in great BOSS gear! It?s coming down to the wire, and there?s only one more chance left: between now and December 31, 2009, identify the BOSS distortion or overdrive pedal used in the current riff and earn a chance to win an autographed pedal and BOSS products worth $1,000. As a bonus, you?ll also be entered for a chance to win the grand prize of four autographed BOSS pedals and $1,000 in BOSS gear. What are you waiting for? Listen and win!
