Gareth Bowen takes us through the ins and outs of the new Roland Integra-7, a collection of over 8,000 different sounds in a rack-mounted chassis, including the superNATURAL engine.
While the Integra-7 offers a lot of options for a rack unit, an iPad can be used to control the action, as demonstrated in the video.
While this is good news for quick patch selection (and of course effects can be added for good measure from the expected plethora of options that Roland have long excelled at providing), it comes into its own with the Integra-7’s new Motion Surround technology. You can use the iPad to position different instruments in your arrangement, creating astonishing 3D sonic images.
Dull on so many levels…..
A 1080 with a new faceplate. Hurrah.
Finally, with the time, are you still convinced it’s a 1080 with a new faceplate ?
I wish they made synthesizers.
I wanted to believe that this type of module had progressed to the point where it would be impressive/professionally useful, but I went to the Roland site and listened to the demos, and it *still* sounds really cheesy : / I don’t understand the argument for “yeah, this isn’t a geeked out synth, but it’s a professional too,” because if I was a filmmaker and my composer handed me a score that sounded like those demos, I’d be like “You’re having a laugh, mate.” How could you take this kind of music seriously in any context?
I mean, if you make a living recording Muzak, or you just play backing sounds in a MegaChurch house band, it would fit, otherwise, it’s just still not there yet.
*professional tool
I’ve seen the ‘church band’ reference thrown around a lot lately. I think it is quite apt.
ookkkaaay, I get the idea, there’s 50 million sounds in this thing. But do any of them sound any good? Apparently he doesn’t think so, because he doesn’t hardly demo any of them. And the ones he does demo, the volume is so low you can barely hear it.
Realistically , for me the day Roland start making stuff like the Jp8080 again , and simple rack mounted versions of stuff like the Juno106 ,that would be great.Look at the artruria mini brute for example or the Mopho,or the Eowave Domino,
It has to be the case that who ever they market for now is not electronic musicians, maybe ‘church house bands as has been said’ Dave Smith is really the new Roland, Moog price themselves way above most of our pockets .
Roland would have sold ten thousand tb303’s if the had made a new one. I heard a demo of what they claim was a tb 303 sound. I was shocked it really was so far off the mark.
At the end of the day , Soon as cash allows Dave Smith will get my business. The design and sound is stunning and he is into the machines he makes and not the ‘brand name’. Moog has become like a sad evangelical church but with a small product range.
What a shambolic barely coherent demonstation. Does he work for Korg?
You know why this is awesome? Because its 1995. Oh,wait…..
Their company motto used to be “we design the future”. Depressing.
Ah, it’s 1995? I didn’t know the SRX 01, 02, 03, 04 an 11 were available in 1995. Interesting to know that people rate the so-called grand pianos of the jv80 era to be as good as the complete piano of the srx 11 board. Or the strings of the srx 04. And what about the new sounds taken from the Jupiter 80? They sound like 1995? Sorry, it’s preposterous. I recently bought a Yamaha Motif and I’ll return to Roland due to this module.
I was almost hopeful for this, then I saw the $2,000.00 price tag. Stunningly off the mark (IMHO). I know piracy is a problem, but PLEASE do a software 2080 or 5080. I’d gladly pay for that if done right.
Shockingly poor sound quality. Some interesting ideas and a pretty good interface but what is the point if it sounds like that… and really how many friggin electric piano’s does one need anyway?
this is the dream module for a wedding cover band.
oMg! What a boring and unfortunate product range. I can confirm now that Roland have really lost touch with modern artists completely. It is a shame that a company with the size of history and capital behind them see this sort of product development as relevant to the current climate.
It is as though they are only catering to “working” musicians and by that I mean guys who sit-in on airport lounges, piano bars, cruise ships, also the muzak cover-artists and jingle producers as worthy of their focus and attention. They are surely the one’s who buy this stuff up but what about the Artists like me and you who toil and hunch over ancient and often ill-and-over-repaired analog circuitry, coaxing still new and actually exciting sounds to be crafted into new and exciting Music.
When will they emerge from hole, bang the sand out of their ears and realize that they had it right not all that long ago. All we want, and all we need is the good old stuff. The analog circuits. Analog-Digital-Hybrids are great and they can be wonderful, when the Synthesis is primarily analog circuitry(VCF, VCO, VCA, LFO) and the controls(Midi, Mod/Pitch, D-beam, Arps, Sequencers) and modulations can still be innovative in the digital domain for years to come.
That’s because the guys that are “working” musicians are making real money so they can spend it. The “still new and exciting” sound you are coming up with most likely sound like bug farts that’s why you can’t make a dime. No one wants your stuff, no one cares for your stuff and no one listens to your stuff aside from a handful of other synth geeks who sit around patching modulars, running a sequence and standing there twiddling a knob while somehow convincing yourself that you’re somewhat of an actual musician.
Get your head out of your rear. The people Roland caters to are people who make money . And those people are musicians. Real ones. Ones who play circles around you.
OH NO I just actually listened to the demo songs! Hahaha it’s like the soundtrack to bad 80’s late night cable soft core porn. My goodness.
I have never read such an absolute nonsense. Take the trumpet of the first demo with all its realistic glissandi etc – what an incredible nonsense to state that such a trumpet could have been realized in the 80s or 90s. The trumpets of the Yamaha Motif XS are absolutely terrible compared to this sound here. And I’m not impressed of the demos of the new Korg Kronos either (apart from the piano sounds)!
If all of you criticize all the great SRX Expansion sounds so much, which are integrated in this module, then how do you rate the Yamaha Motif?? I own both the SRX 04 Symphonic Strings and the Motif XS, and there is no doubt Roland is more realistic AND more versatile in this respect. The same applies to grand pianos, and also brass. So is this only about comparing to software products? I think the Yamaha Motif rack is getting completely uninteresting compared to the Integra.
So, basically, “tut” Don’t use the front panel…
No, DO use the front panel…
No…actually use the IPad App.
Yes, load the sounds using the IPad app..
THE DRUMS! if you added up all of the different drum kits that are on there ..mm.. you’ve got almost 256, yes well, between 250, and 260 Drum.Kits…. on board.
-Note to self-
Avoid Gareth Bowen at dinner parties
Hi, I asking about the Roland Integra vs the Yamaha motif rack. I must agree that some of the new instruments that are coming out are not as great as the ones of yesterday. The Korg Kronos is a good piano but it sound to studioish . If you want a better piano, try the Pa588. Yes it a arranger keyboard but if you hook it up to today’s amplifiers, you would love the sound that it has. The Pa3x is also better then the Kronos and Pa588. It deliever authentic sound more the both. As for the roland products. I find that the Integra sound good but considering what you are playing it through. One might like the Roland BK-7m better if you are not just looking for super-natural sounds. To increase the clarity of your sounds and make them more realistic, the amplification system is very important as well. Try using a three way speaker system with mids vs 2 way and the sound would sound even more realistic.
I’m thinking about hooking the Roland integra up to a Yamaha Electone organ, Lowrey Promnade organ and Technics FA1. What do you think about the performance by doing this. Do you think that they Roland Integre would sound better through the organ speakers then through the studio monitors. Or do you think the sound like the trumpet on the motif rack Xs would sound better.
Just sat through a 13 minute demo of the Integra-7. Bugger. Ok, the operating system may look promising ( via an ipad thingy), but presenting me with a sound demo of 2 or 3 electric pianos, 1 crap pad, and a couple of drum hits! Well. Put it this way. Doesn’t make me want to rush out and buy it. Give me a demo.
Also, get your clock sorted out. I posted the above at 8.20 pm…?
We set the clocks to Central time in Synthtopia.
If the comment time showed the time from your time zone, and the time from the time zones of commenters all over the world, time-space comment anomalies would ensue – I could respond to your comment before you posted it.
Terribly boring….
Terribly technical, just a catalog, awful sounds (bad monitors?), we mainly he……
Terribly boring….
Terribly technical, just a catalog, awful sounds (bad monitors?), we mainly hear the sound of the keys…… 🙁
“Working ” musicians need a set of sounds to cover multi-genre songs. Quality pianos, brass, strings, bass, drums, synthy lead and poly synth sounds, organs ect.. To ridicule this need or type of musician is unecessary. Musicians need to prop each other up and respect diversity of applications of these products. I can’t take a jupiter 8 out on a gig where I’m expected to recreate realistic pianos and the other bread and butter instruments already mentioned. Just like I can’t necessarily take a rompler into the studio and get the fat analog sound that blows us all away ect.. I’ve got a real Rhodes a real 200 A Wurly and so on. But does this mean that I can’t take my motif or nord out on a gig or in the studio and enjoy the “close” recreations of elec pianos and b3? Of course not. The integra was designed to supply quality representations of sounds “working” musicians need to gig and or record. Don’t fault roland for that. Just like its not cool fault working musicians who use and rely on these sounds to make a living.
Would would you recommend for a new “working” musician. Have a yamaha dgx 640 but think I need some sort of sound module to get better quality sounds. Suggests please. I was looking at the integra but are there cheapers options that do the same for what I need. I need to beable to remove piano parts to play along but still have quality drum sounds and other instruments etc. Help please????
YAMAHA MOTIF RACK XS $1300 NEW..FW16E OPTION $270..
Roland fa-08