Sublime video! Thanks for posting. Finally we know what's inside this tiny box that Roland charge us 800 EUR for. 800 EUR for a few sound chips, a memory board and some knobs. And in the end it's just a sophisticated mp3 player.
Thanks for another interesting (and slightly scary) tear down. On your next tear down can you make sure show a close up of all rear panel connecters etc, as it's nice to know what all the stuff on the inside is connected to and why some of it's there.
Now I don't have to get my screwdriver out which is just as well, because I am all out of Blu-Tack! BTW - Anything on the ever faithful SR-16 Alesis - LCD is smashed, but I still find it has the best sounds and very simple to use and there's still plenty out there. Thanks for the very helpful instructions.
I'm piloting BK-7m with Roland PRO-E (arranger). Pro-E arranger comes complete with a keyboard while BK-7m does not. I connected OUT of the PRO-E to IN of BK7. I put the same channel as the SYNC START and the same channel as the DRUM (ch 10). I have turned OFF the accompaniments of the PRO-E, so when I press a key the BK7 drums start. However, if you strike a chord on the PRO-E, the drums of the BK-7m will start, but the accompaniments will not start. How can I solve the problem?
Hi Markus..... I have the Roland Ax Synth. Would the Roland BK7m produce the accompaniment sounds and styles? I know that you dismantle things and I do not know if you get involved with the user side of the unit. Thanks Ed
Hi Ed. it will work nicely with the BK-7m . you could try RUclips organaut he has a BK-7m and knows the machine very well. I'm sure he can tell you more about it than me.
Hi Andre. yes that sounds a good idea. I just bought the arduino with the intention of making some sort of synth with it or at least some of the modules required for a synth. Future project ?
markusfuller Hi I have Virus Ti2 for several years, now I'm looking my second hardware synth, I produce trance music , Did you think integra-7 is a good choise ? or can you recommand other synth ?
You should have taken 8 seconds longer to put it back together, because then it would have taken you "8:08"... because it is a Roland product after all.
Actually, Roland V-Accordion such as FR-1x, FR-3x, and FR-7x (sadly discontinued...) are to me the most desirable electronic instruments Roland currently produces. Integra-7 is nice, but it's not the same as S-770, JV-1080, JV-2080, etc.
I guess the only sad part of all things electronic is the short life and quick upgrades. You can pay a lot of money for a wonderful instrument only to find that it has quickly been replaced with a newer, "better" model and that very soon your beloved instrument is either worthless or not possible to repair. My dear old FR-7 has developed problems with 3 notes below middle C, they just will not play all the time, and there are no Roland or knowledgeable repairers in Ireland and I can't afford to ship it to UK or Germany. Even the foot pedal/battery charger unit seems to have stopped charging. I now have an instrument I can't play and can't repair. New accordion? Never be possible with the huge price tag's. If things were built to last, as they were "in the old days", you could justify the costs, but in today's throw away age, you have to be a wealthy person. So, moan over - at least I had a Roland and I know I made a few people appreciate the music and voices it could produce.
I had the Integra-7 for a very short while, It had amazing quality sounds in it but the menu controlling of it was too awkward and complicated. I know there was an ipad app to control things easier. at one point Roland were giving away free ipads with the Integra-7.
One day there will be an instrument that has everything one could wish for and also be so user friendly that it would not be too daunting to start playing, and hopefully accompanied by a user manual that was not written by nuclear physicists :))
Oh I have had some very thin user manuals that basically tell you how to plug it in and three pages of safety warnings then tell you to go and download the full user manual online with the actual useful information.
I love manuals. I've read Roland D-50 manual so many times, it's a great read. I also like the SY77 and SY99 synthesizers from Yamaha, they have very thick manuals. To me, the thicker the manual, the better the product. iPad is on the totally opposite side of the spectrum, as it requires no manual. Still, I had to ask a girl half my age how to multi-task on an iPad. Not the greatest pick up line, let me tell you.
Hi Roberamujazz. If its an acoustic piano you can still use the BK-7m for backing tracks and drum rhythms. but if you have a Midi capable Piano then you can use the onboard sounds along with your Piano. the best guy to see about this BK-7m is youtube "organaut" and he also runs a face book site about the BK-7m best wishes from Markus.
Hi Eezee Listen. I must apologise. I was really getting at the way the video was made there should have been people around enjoying as well as the part with the girl on the piano Nobody around ?. I do actually own a wonderful Pancotti Vickers Italian Accordion myself though Im very out of practice. I will put a picture of it on my google pics. Best wishes from Markus.
markusfuller Hi Markus. I also apologise for writing that comment, but one of the reasons is that when I lived in the UK, I encountered so many negative and sarcastic remarks about the accordion. It is a pity that the general opinion is that the accordion is a joke. Other European and continental countries have managed to keep an interest going, keeping a tradition alive and have so many wonderful classical and "middle of the road" performers and entertainers. I just wonder why "Great" Britain is happy to let so many of it's traditions vanish .......... Regards, Mike
I fully understand, I myself love playing the old organs and attend organ concerts. I love old pipe organs also but yes people do have a dig at me for liking something different. there was a young accordion player named jonathan adams I saw last saturday who accompanied john mann the organist and the accordionist was outstanding, I think if people gave it a listen then it would be appreciated better but so many are driven by whats the fashion of the day.
***** It´s not the accordion, it´s some players and the things they are play and the way they are play....i know some heavy hobbyist grade players who claim the can do a good playing, but i also know some very 1st grade players who really know how to play....and i was jamming with them and it was a *great* experience! But the first category guys just turn this cool instrument down....
Markus glad that you had permission to strip it down.and you knew hlw to put it back together best wishes to you and Jason from Tom & Sue
Wow, i just spotted your cool vintage portable radio next to the screen.....very *nice* thing to have!!
Sublime video! Thanks for posting. Finally we know what's inside this tiny box that Roland charge us 800 EUR for. 800 EUR for a few sound chips, a memory board and some knobs. And in the end it's just a sophisticated mp3 player.
Nah... I hope this doesn't use MP3 data compression. That would be a shame if Roland did that to us...
Thanks for another interesting (and slightly scary) tear down. On your next tear down can you make sure show a close up of all rear panel connecters etc, as it's nice to know what all the stuff on the inside is connected to and why some of it's there.
Now I don't have to get my screwdriver out which is just as well, because I am all out of Blu-Tack! BTW - Anything on the ever faithful SR-16 Alesis - LCD is smashed, but I still find it has the best sounds and very simple to use and there's still plenty out there. Thanks for the very helpful instructions.
superb tear down vid
Nice work :-), thanks for sharing
Impressive video, thanks for sharing it......
The dialer switch on the upper right side of my BK7m is not working properly. Obviously there are contact problems. Any chance of repairing this?
Excellent information.
I'm piloting BK-7m with Roland PRO-E (arranger).
Pro-E arranger comes complete with a keyboard while BK-7m does not.
I connected OUT of the PRO-E to IN of BK7.
I put the same channel as the SYNC START and the same channel as the DRUM (ch 10).
I have turned OFF the accompaniments of the PRO-E, so when I press a key the BK7 drums start.
However, if you strike a chord on the PRO-E, the drums of the BK-7m will start, but the accompaniments will not start.
How can I solve the problem?
Thanks Mark we like it..
Very interesting !
Hi Markus..... I have the Roland Ax Synth. Would the Roland BK7m produce the accompaniment sounds and styles? I know that you dismantle things and I do not know if you get involved with the user side of the unit. Thanks Ed
Hi Ed. it will work nicely with the BK-7m . you could try RUclips organaut he has a BK-7m and knows the machine very well. I'm sure he can tell you more about it than me.
Merci! Markus..
Uauuu parabéns 🥰🥰👏👏👏👏👏
Hey Markus,well done,I have a tip for you , learn us to bild VCO's Filters Vca, yes just a synth ???
Hi Andre. yes that sounds a good idea. I just bought the arduino with the intention of making some sort of synth with it or at least some of the modules required for a synth. Future project ?
Why is there a footprint on the table?
NTSC = Never Twice the Same Colour - 'cause when your series (Columbo of course) resumes after the ads, the colours all look different!
Hope next time can take a look Roland integer-7
Hi I had the roland Integra-7 . very nice machine that sounded excellent but I traded it to a friend for other instruments.
markusfuller Hi I have Virus Ti2 for several years, now I'm looking my second hardware synth, I produce trance music , Did you think integra-7 is a good choise ? or can you recommand other synth ?
Poor Organaut thinking it would never go back together :)
You should have taken 8 seconds longer to put it back together, because then it would have taken you "8:08"... because it is a Roland product after all.
Actually, Roland V-Accordion such as FR-1x, FR-3x, and FR-7x (sadly discontinued...) are to me the most desirable electronic instruments Roland currently produces. Integra-7 is nice, but it's not the same as S-770, JV-1080, JV-2080, etc.
I guess the only sad part of all things electronic is the short life and quick upgrades. You can pay a lot of money for a wonderful instrument only to find that it has quickly been replaced with a newer, "better" model and that very soon your beloved instrument is either worthless or not possible to repair. My dear old FR-7 has developed problems with 3 notes below middle C, they just will not play all the time, and there are no Roland or knowledgeable repairers in Ireland and I can't afford to ship it to UK or Germany. Even the foot pedal/battery charger unit seems to have stopped charging. I now have an instrument I can't play and can't repair. New accordion? Never be possible with the huge price tag's. If things were built to last, as they were "in the old days", you could justify the costs, but in today's throw away age, you have to be a wealthy person. So, moan over - at least I had a Roland and I know I made a few people appreciate the music and voices it could produce.
I had the Integra-7 for a very short while, It had amazing quality sounds in it but the menu controlling of it was too awkward and complicated. I know there was an ipad app to control things easier. at one point Roland were giving away free ipads with the Integra-7.
One day there will be an instrument that has everything one could wish for and also be so user friendly that it would not be too daunting to start playing, and hopefully accompanied by a user manual that was not written by nuclear physicists :))
Oh I have had some very thin user manuals that basically tell you how to plug it in and three pages of safety warnings then tell you to go and download the full user manual online with the actual useful information.
I love manuals. I've read Roland D-50 manual so many times, it's a great read. I also like the SY77 and SY99 synthesizers from Yamaha, they have very thick manuals. To me, the thicker the manual, the better the product. iPad is on the totally opposite side of the spectrum, as it requires no manual. Still, I had to ask a girl half my age how to multi-task on an iPad. Not the greatest pick up line, let me tell you.
subliminal message at 11:32 "Buy Roland"
Hi Markus can I use this bk-7m with a piano like a baby grand?? please let me know tks very much :)
Hi Roberamujazz. If its an acoustic piano you can still use the BK-7m for backing tracks and drum rhythms. but if you have a Midi capable Piano then you can use the onboard sounds along with your Piano. the best guy to see about this BK-7m is youtube "organaut" and he also runs a face book site about the BK-7m best wishes from Markus.
markusfuller TKS SO MUCH MARKUSFULLER for your Reply--appreciate it :)
NTSC = Never Twice Same Colour. PAL = Pictures Are Lousy (Well not compared to NTSC)
You just could not stop yourself having a dig at accordionists could you. Why is there this need?
Having got that off my chest, I must acknowledge your professional "talent", the gentle explanations and the way you so carefully took apart the BK-7M
Hi Eezee Listen. I must apologise. I was really getting at the way the video was made there should have been people around enjoying as well as the part with the girl on the piano Nobody around ?. I do actually own a wonderful Pancotti Vickers Italian Accordion myself though Im very out of practice. I will put a picture of it on my google pics. Best wishes from Markus.
markusfuller Hi Markus. I also apologise for writing that comment, but one of the reasons is that when I lived in the UK, I encountered so many negative and sarcastic remarks about the accordion. It is a pity that the general opinion is that the accordion is a joke. Other European and continental countries have managed to keep an interest going, keeping a tradition alive and have so many wonderful classical and "middle of the road" performers and entertainers. I just wonder why "Great" Britain is happy to let so many of it's traditions vanish ..........
Regards, Mike
I fully understand, I myself love playing the old organs and attend organ concerts. I love old pipe organs also but yes people do have a dig at me for liking something different. there was a young accordion player named jonathan adams I saw last saturday who accompanied john mann the organist and the accordionist was outstanding, I think if people gave it a listen then it would be appreciated better but so many are driven by whats the fashion of the day.
*****
It´s not the accordion, it´s some players and the things they are play and the way they are play....i know some heavy hobbyist grade players who claim the can do a good playing, but i also know some very 1st grade players who really know how to play....and i was jamming with them and it was a *great* experience! But the first category guys just turn this cool instrument down....