|
I see that there are no reviews on the ax-7, so i decided to write one .
My name is larry neely and i am a musician,/ videographer / tech junky
any one who knows me , remembers me as , ( the guy with the red keytar)
I have been playing remote keyboards for about 20 years , 10 of those years , I've owned and played an ax-1. i think if anybody should be a spokes person for roland and this product, it should be me.
Before they were popular, i made one of my own out of an old korg unit , i took an old korg monophonic keyboard , mounted a couple of guitar buttons on it for a strap mount and away i went, the crown thought i was crazy , but they loved it.
then i graduated to a casio -av-1 unit , and played it until it died on me., i needed something new.
I got the ax-1 when they were first released, and i still have it and play it in all of my shows today.
Roland tells you that this keyboard gives the keyboard players freedom and a chance to get out from behind the keyboard stack.
But I'm here to tell you that it is much more than that.....
The ax-1 and the ax-7 are true lead instruments in every sense of the word , just as powerful as guitar.
If your already a keyboard player,most likely you have certain keyboard playing habits, those you will have to change. This keyboard is not something that your going to pick up and be comfortable with right away, there is a learning curve involved, and you have to change your way of thinking when it comes to playing keyboard if you want to be good with this instrument.
But once you learn it , you will be unstoppable..... trust me...
The ax-1 came in red and was very flashy on stage . The ax-7 comes in pearl white and is just as flashy.
What i like about the ax-7 is the fact that you have loads of access . The ax-7 has 3 setups for midi , an upper, a lower, and a split all on board and controllable That gives you to over 32 midi channels all together which means that you can have this unit connected to many sound modules on different midi channels, and have access to all of them when you need them. right a your finger tips.
If your into doing live sequencing , there is a start and stop button on the top of the neck to control your sequences so you don't have to turn your back on the audience. There is also a down and up button so you can get to your next patch you need fast and discreet without blowing your momentum.
when you deal with sound modules velocity is great , but it really reeks havoc with sound men.
On the ax-7 ,Volume control is conviently at the top of the neck so you can make your adjustments quickly and keep your sound man happy all night.
The expression bar is probably the best feature of all , here you can bend your notes like a guitar for a high range squeal , or the lowest dive bomb you could ever do.... trust me , it is an ( EXPRESSION BAR)..
It also has a mod controller underneath to give your note a nice clean bb king type vibrato that makes it sound soooooooo! nice.
The ax-7 has also added something new, It's called a d-beam, this is an inferred beam that will trigger a note that you program , and you can do some neat tricks with it like arpeggios, slides, and crossfades just by waving your hand in front of it like magic , it really adds to the show.
The ax-7 is also capable of sending cco- control change messages, so you have access to all of your patch banks in every module that your connected to..
The board is very fast , and it will let you do LOTS OF things that not all keyboards will do, even more than i mentioned here.
The ax-7 also has an led read out so you can see what patch your on in the dark , cause we all know that clubs never give us enough light on stage.
And there is also a wireless system available for the ax-7 , to give you even more freedom
so all in all this little keyboard packs a big punch when your a live performer. It's not just getting out from behind the keyboards , it's a whole new way of playing keyboards..
LARRY NEELY
THE LARRY NEELY SHOW
WWW.LARRYNEELYSHOW.COM
|
