Sam takes a light-hearted, retro 1980's inspired look at the new Roland AX-Edge Keytar, check it out here:
Black - www.pmtonline....
White - www.pmtonline....
Roland ST-AX2 Keytar Stand for AX-Edge and AX-Synth - www.pmtonline....
Designed primarily with live performance in mind, the AX-Edge features 49 full size, velocity sensitive keys with aftertouch, which when coupled with the modulation bar and ribbon controller, offer a huge amount of expressive control over various parameters such as pitch and vibrato. The modulation bar is very sensitive and dynamic to use, and the ribbon control is pressure sensitive, so you can adjust pitch by sliding your finger from left to right but you can also add vibrato by pushing down harder.
On the neck are 7 control buttons, which amongst other things allow you to switch programs, select octaves, and control portamento, but these buttons, along with a control knob, the modulation bar and ribbon controller can also be assigned to control a whole host of other functions or MIDI parameters. So, if you didn’t want to use the various buttons and knobs in their default settings, you can completely customise the AX-Edge’s controls to suit your performance needs.
There’s over 500 preset sounds to choose from, with some pretty fat sounding synth and bass tones coming courtesy of the new Synth-EX tone generator, and you can easily edit and layer these tones to create your own user patches. With space for up to 320 user programs, each programme can be made up of 4 parts, each with there own individual EQ and effects, and there’s 79 different multi-effects types to choose from, including reverbs, choruses and delays etc. All of this allows you to layer tones and textures to create huge, unique sounding patches, and this is made even easier if you download the free AX-Edge companion app, which connects your phone or tablet to the keyboard via bluetooth allowing you to adjust tonal parameters in real time.
To save you scrolling through hundreds of programme patches during a gig, a favourites mode means you can save your most used tones for quick recall via the program buttons, and this is organised into 10 banks of 10 patches. A really nice new feature is the large programme number display, which is in addition to the smaller more detailed edit display, which makes it really easy to see which tone patch or bank you’ve currently got selected when you’re on a dark stage.
Other features include an onboard arpeggiator, a vocoder and a something that Roland call Tone remain, which means that when you switch between patches, the sound won’t just cut off immediately, instead it allows any remaining sounds to fade out naturally, giving you a smooth, seamless transition between tones.
Connectivity-wise, the rear of the keyboard has got 1/4” jack stereo outputs, a headphone socket, and an optional assignable pedal input for even more control options. There’s a USB connector for a memory stick, allowing you to play WAV or MP3 backing tracks through the keyboard, and MIDI data can be sent and received through either the standard MIDI connections, the USB computer port or via bluetooth.
The keytar itself feels pretty comfortable when you strap it on, well balanced and not too heavy at just over 4 kilograms, and there’s also a few different strap buttons options to choose from depending on how it hangs most comfortably to you. It can be powered by either the power supply that comes in the box, or if you want a little more freedom to move around, 8 AA rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries, which will give you about 4 hours playing time.
Take a quick look and listen with PMTVUK and try one out at your local Professional Music Technology...
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15 сен 2024
