Roland is introducing a new portable digital piano, the RD-64 digital piano, at the 2013 NAMM Show.
The Roland RD-64 offers the company’s SuperNATURAL piano technology in a 64-note weighted-action keyboard. Also onboard is a selection of SuperNATURAL-based vintage EPs, clav and organ tones.
Here are the details.
Features:
- Grand piano sound and weighted keyboard action in a compact, mobile instrument
- SuperNATURAL Piano sound engine delivers authentic, expressive acoustic piano sounds
- E. Piano based on SuperNATURAL technology provides vintage electric pianos modeled with extraordinary accuracy
- 12 versatile tones onboard, including clav and organ sounds
- 64-note Ivory Feel-G Keyboard with Escapement for a pro-quality piano touch
- Streamlined design that’s light and easy to carry
- Two-band EQ and reverb, plus two multi-effects (EFX 1, EFX 2) for each tone category
- Controller mode provides MIDI master keyboard functionality, including a dedicated, one-touch setup for controlling SuperNATURAL tones in the INTEGRA-7 sound module and JUPITER-80/-50 synthesizers
- Pitch bend/mod lever and D-BEAM
- iPad compatibility via Apple’s iPad Camera Connection Kit
Note: When the RD-64 is used in Controller mode, the onboard tones are not available.
Pricing and availability for the Roland RD-64 are TBA.
a 64 full weighted key with pitch bend, without midi IN and which weights 13 kg.
This is an EPIC FAIL comparable only to korg Micropiano
Its a controller!!! Only price, weight and key quality are interesting.
SURELY not epic fail because of “lack” of midi in at least!!!!
it’s a controller, but it lacks midi IN and THRU and has only one midi OUT. it’s a weighted keyboard, but it has nore 73/76 neither 88 keys, on the other hand it has pitchbend and D-beam, very useful on such a kind of keyboard.
You said price it’s what really count, but it costs more than twice a good 88 keys controller. Certainly you pay also for the beautiful Supernatural sounds, but you cannot play most of them (clavs and organs in particular) on such a serious weighted keyboard.
Also you spoke of weight: this thing weights exactly as the Roland 300N/S/GX, which are 88.
All in all this product makes no sense at all
How can you even compare a keyboard with mini-keys (completely unusable if you’re a real player) and this new roland with regular sized hammer type wood keys?
The EPIC FAIL is apparently your ability to understand what a product is…
if playing piano on microkeys is impossible, I challenge you to play clavinets, organs and synths on a full weighted keyboard. It won’t be easier.
How can something be an epic failure before its even released?
Every new President gets a 90-day honeymoon in the press. Let’s hear from a few people besides the Roland team before rushing to judge. In a world of crappy, clacky controllers, I think there’s a place for a flexible controller with a righteous action. I also loosely predict that this will become a secondary instrument for people who otherwise focus on organ or synths. It’ll be their piano, but lower-maintenance than other options.
You just failed epicly in providing a proper comparison object to support your critique to the above presented keyboard.
Because of our past relationship with Rolands products, and the pleasure that the use of their gear has given us , we seem to forget they are no longer a ‘cool’ quirky company putting out accesible funky little synthesisers. This is home keyboard territory ,so it is of no use to me, nor are any of their past products since their jp 8080s.
I have owned Tb 303s,106s,mc202,sh101,alpha juno,(1 and 2) Roland doesn’t appear to aim any equipment at the lower end and freakier end of the market , in spite of their past ground breaking products.
They where that good in the past that even twenty years on we still looking to them to come up with good gear and perhaps they are but not for synthesists and electronic music people.
Well, sure a controller to just… control …needs only a MIDI out, but what could possibly be the excuse for Roland for not adding a midi IN and a midi THRU?
also, isn’t it somehow true
that playing piano on micro/mini keys is a pain?
and playing clavinets, organs and synths on a full weighted keyboard is not much better?
Maybe jackmau is a bit hyperbolic in defining it an epic fail,
but it certainly doesn’t seem a particularly smart product either
don’t you agree?
If the concept is expressed with proper language and argumentation is of course a completely different shoes. I agree, roland is not releasing a very smart product here. actually there is many reasons why you would want a MIDI in on a controller (even one without sounds). The Novation SL line has MIDI IN OUT and THRU, and it’s a very useful feature. My feeling is that they just don’t want to hurt themselves by realeasing a budget product that directly competes with their more more expensive ones.
But then it might not even be a budget product…
playing piano on micro keys is certainly uncomfortable, but playing clavinet and organ on an weighted is painful: if you are a “normal” player your fingers will bleed.
I define it an EPIC FAIL product beacuse I don’t find the sense in making 76 keys synth action (Jupiter 50/80 and roland stage) while you put your best weighted keyboard only in 88 and 64 product, this is suicide marketing. There are lots of piano player who’d love to see a decent action on a 73/76 masterkeyboard, this things weights as an 88, is big as a 73 and has 64 keys, with the totally unuseful addition of pitchbend and D-Beam.
This seems to be geared towards a piano player who’s looking to get into DAW recording. NOT towards gear-addicts who have high demands when it comes to interconnectivity.
1. Sure, playing an organ tone on weighted keys isn’t easy… IF you’re looking to play a jazzy b3 Billy Preston-style on it. And IF you are doing that, you probably already have access to a better organ than this gear provides. Now if you’re looking to lay down a harmonic backing organ without much ornamentation (a la Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone) then I don’t think weighted keys are a problem.
2. As for midi in/thru…. Seriously? If you have enough equipment that every bit of new gear you buy needs to have more midi ins/outs…. then you probably don’t need this controller at all. Also, does every piece of gear need to be tailored to YOUR specs? This seems like the perfect piece for a piano player who’s looking for a couple of good ‘band practice’ tones to take with them in a small unit that can also be used as an input device for a desktop DAW. This is obviously not a studio brain. What’s wrong with that? Why does it make it a fail in anyway? Because they aren’t catering to you specifically?
I like this for its left-field nature. Its an in-betweener for piano-oriented players who still want to control outboard gear at times. Someone is going to use it to play Modartt’s Pianoteq and find kismet. The fact that you can’t use the onboard sounds when its in Controller mode actually makes sense. Its pretty rare that any piano, organ or clav part is doubled with a synth patch. I have no problem with them making the CPU resources either/or if that’s how they can serve two interests at once. Again, its not a flaw, its a feature.
I’m sure we’d all want to see something changed or added, but as with their recent V-Combo organ, there’s a high level of real utility at play here. They’ve covered some basics well and and then included some useful icing. As a former pianist, I can nod when many say 76 keys is a minimum for decent piano duty, but c’mon, this thing isn’t bad. Its a compromise, but IMO, the gains are worth it.
I think the demo was fairly explanatory, so as the base sounds are good, let’s get some reports from the field about how it is to play seriously. Specifically, is the action acceptable for both piano and organ; and how does it behave when controlling 5 softsynths in Live, let’s say. Those are real-world situations it claims to address. If it handles those two well, its a keeper.
A professional keyboard aimed at professional players, but … no aftertouch? Come on!
An acoustic piano’s aftertouch and synth/MIDI aftertouch are two completely different things. You will very rarely (if ever?) find MIDI aftertouch on a fully-weighted hammer-action keybed.
Correction: it is very rare, but you can find it. To wit:
http://www.akaipro.com/mpk88
On- board tones not available when in controller mode… wtf roland?
Its almost surely a matter of allocating CPU resources to keep it at that price point. The SuperNATURAL engine is really a highly detailed sample set. I’ll bet making that addressable from outside while it also acts as a controller would lead to a unit at least a third more pricey. This is the right size and shape for the first version.
no midi in/thru, no onboard sounds when controller mode, no aftertouch , etc.
It may be not epic, but it’s somewhat a fail nonetheless.
I think most of you are missing the point with this product. It’s all about compromise – weight, size and sound. I think it’s aimed mostly at musicians playing in a band who at the end of the night want to strike down quickly, and get loaded up and home.
I played a gig with a band last night with a Kronos 88 and lovely as it was, I’m still knackered this morning from shifting it last night. I’m interested in this board because it will deliver Rolands best sounds in a unit easy to move and transport – for under 700 quid. And you get the supernatureal piano too! My only gripe is that it has no strings, you really need them for layering with the piano in slower numbers.
So, let me get this straight: to switch from piano mode to controller mode I have to completely power down and then power-up again while holding down the [A. Piano] button? Is that accurate? If so, this thing is DOA onstage.
Looking at this it seems to be aimed at a portable good piano for stage/church/classroom work. It should be perfect to use as an piano in a church group environment. Currently we’re battling with a 30kg/60lb beast of a 88-key Kawai keybord. Had to go with a fully weighted keyboard with a good piano sound as most of the players are accoustic pianists. This should fit the bill perfectly. I have a RD300X at home & love it, so I think this product should be perfect for it’s intended use – a portable good piano keyboard.
73 keys is still a bit wide when transporting. Besides, the 64 keys are quite enuff, you got a lower B and Bb, and A too… But what i would love to see is every manufacturer make 64 keys instead of 61 in every new synth