New BR model - the BR-800

[Saijinn Maas]

Zzounds is giving an ETA of May 10th..........

I think they're just saying that to get more pre-orders. Roland UK says it won't be available (in the UK) until June. Advertised ETAs on the web are all over the place, which suggests to me that they're just guessing:

zZounds (US)		May 10
Guitar Center (US)		May 14
thomann (UK)		May 17
Musician's Friend (US)		May 31
Ishibashi Music (Japan)		June 1
Nevada Music (UK)		June 14
Andertons Music (UK)		June 15
dolphin music (UK)		June 25
GAK (UK)		June 26
Musicland (Japan)		late June
Kurosawa Music (Japan)		late June
Offpricegakki.com (Japan)		late June

I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if anyone ships it before June.

Now that cracks me up. Guitar Center and Musician's Friend are the same company. And from my understanding, they ship from the same warehouses. But they have different dates... go figure      

[BuleriaChk]

Music 123 says 5/14, but Sweetwater told me 6/1 or later...

[BuleriaChk]

BR-600/900CD can do 3/4,5/4 time signatures.  You can finagle others...

A real drum machine, hoping that means 3/4, 5/4, 6/8 time signatures here I come!

[Saijinn Maas]

BR-600/900CD can do 3/4,5/4 time signatures.  You can finagle others...

A real drum machine, hoping that means 3/4, 5/4, 6/8 time signatures here I come!

I have a br-600, and I haven't seen any way to do anything but 4/4 time. It contains all the same rhythms and settings as the Micro BR. Am I just mistaken then?  Hmm... I'll have to look at it when I get home. :/ I'm gonna be mad if it can and it is just something I overlooked.  

[cuthbert]

I don't have BR-600, but looking at the user manual it does appear that it supports time signatures other than 4/4:

Time Signature
This sets the time signature (i.e., the beat) for the pattern to be recorded.
Valid Settings : 1/1 – 8/1, 1/2 – 8/2, 1/4 – 8/4, 1/8 – 8/8

It may be that the presets don't employ these other time sigs?

[BuleriaChk]

Also, check out the software editor.  You can load in MIDI files and use your own tones in addition to the odd time signatures..

I use the editor for Flamenco, which is all kinds of weird combinations of 3/4, 6/8.  Copy the ROLAND file to the root directory of your pc, and you can even program without the BR-600 hooked up....

[Saijinn Maas]

I don't have BR-600, but looking at the user manual it does appear that it supports time signatures other than 4/4:

Time Signature
This sets the time signature (i.e., the beat) for the pattern to be recorded.
Valid Settings : 1/1 – 8/1, 1/2 – 8/2, 1/4 – 8/4, 1/8 – 8/8

It may be that the presets don't employ these other time sigs?

Ah! I've seen those too. But they are divisible by standard 4/4. Just nothing off beat like 3/4 or 5/4.

Of course, this is all a moot point if I can get my wife to let me get an electronic Drum Set! 

[BuleriaChk]

What do you mean by 3/4 "off beat"? Triplets?

You can program triplet or sextuplet note groups with an external DAW like Sonar and import the MIDI file...  I have done this successfully numerous times...

[64Guitars]

Valid Settings : 1/1 – 8/1, 1/2 – 8/2, 1/4 – 8/4, 1/8 – 8/8

Ah! I've seen those too. But they are divisible by standard 4/4. Just nothing off beat like 3/4 or 5/4.

You misunderstand. "1/4 – 8/4", for example, means 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 7/4, and 8/4. Of course, this only applies to custom patterns. All of the preset patterns in the BR-600 are 4/4 except the metronome.

[BuleriaChk]

In fact, the ability to create my own loops in odd signatures using my own sound samples was a primary factor in purchasing the BR-900CD as a backup to the BR-600.  Both these machines are absolutely awesome, in my opinion, and extremely flexible.

The BR-800 will be even moreso, and a no-brainer.  I already have my pre-order in.  It will be great to use the BR-800 in connection with my Laptop for running Ableton Live loops along with the BR, and using the effects and mixing capabilities of the BR-800 for live performance.....

But the BR-600/900CD are very, very flexible and powerful in their own rights.... I can't believe the current prices on EBay.....:-)