# Roland U-20 keyboard This unit is a PCM sample playback unit. It has good effects offering both chorus and reverb. It has the ability to modify the ASDR of the samples. The unit has a combination pitch and modulation "wheel". You have to push back to use it for modulation and simultaneously move it right and left. It has a volume slider and two uncommitted sliders that can be used to control about 15 parameters. The keyboard is 61 keys. The rackmount version is the U-220. The architecture is particularly hard to understand and gives new owners fits. The ROM PCM samples are called "tones" that are assigned to "timbers" where various modifications can be applied. These "timbers" are then assigned to a "sound patch" which has six slots for regular "timbers" and one slot for a special "rhythm" set, for a total of seven slots each of which can be a unique MIDI channel. Here additional modifications can be applied to change the final sound. "Keyboard patches" determine how the various transmitters of MIDI data perform as companions to the "Sound patches" that determine how the various MIDI recievers perform. If you are now confused, you get the idea. There is excellent control over assigning splits and layers using these six "timber" slots. You can also use velocity to switch or mix layers based on how fast you attack the keys. The keyboard can be mapped onto any MIDI channel and it does send aftertouch information. There are two jacks on the back for plugging in a sustain type pedal and an expression type pedal. There is generally good controller programming; however, the U-20 has not worked well with wind controllers due to an obscure problem with how it is set up to use controller information to control "timber level". Thus it does not follow controller #2 messages in real time. A wind controller would need to send either aftertouch or controller #7 messages instead of the usual breath controller message #2. The PCM cards are unique and a very limited third party offering exists. However, the 15 cards that do exist are good. There are about five Roland synths that use these same cards, so there is some motivation for Roland to issue new ones occasionally. The U-20 offers excellent sounds, especially of "real" instruments. It may be the best "real" sounding instrument in its price range. The manual has excellent technical information, but is of questionable use in understanding the architecture and how to program the U-20. There are two third-party manuals available that, while lacking in technical data, do offer chatty and readable descriptions of U-20 button pushing. The programming of the unit with the buttons and the tiny screen is still difficult. Only one company, SoundQuest, is known to make an editor for this machine. It is extensively buggy, but much better than nothing. The ability to see the architecture all together on a PC screen helps clear up how things fit together to make the final sound. A RAM card slot and two PCM card slots are available. Performance combinations are stored in "keyboard patches" all of which are initially set the same. There is one "keyboard patch" for each of the "sound patches". "Sound patches" are arranged in two 8x8 arrays, or a total of 128 internal and another 128 on the RAM card. There is room for four of the special rhythm sets. There are two definable chord sets available at a time from a total set of eight defined chord sets stored. The U-20 does not support microtuning in hardware. PCM ROM cards are a problem if you want to use sounds off more than two cards plus the internal tones. There is no way to copy the PCM ROM samples, so the way they come arranged on the cards is what you are stuck with. Due to the size of good samples, a PCM card can have as few as eight to ten "tones" on it. It has a fairly good support for sound effects with some internal sounds and additional sound effects on PCM cards available. SUMMARY: The Roland U-20 offers very good "realistic" sounds with adequate control over their performance. It offers good external controllers and has stereo and mono out, both before and after effects processing. There is a limited but adequate number of additional PCM cards available. The manual is OK, but a third party manual is recomended. It is a hard unit to intially understand. It does not seem workable with a wind controller. It does work very well with an external drum pad unit like the Roland PAD-5 Controller or with BiaB. The rhythm section is particularly well done. It has good layering and split capability, including key velocity switching and mixing. NOTE: Roland has perhaps the most widely hated and poorly regarded customer support in the United States. There are people who refuse to consider Roland equipment for this reason alone, regardless of how good the hardware is. Mike Burger mike@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu # Roland U-20 The U-20 review was very nice; however I would like you to add one thing to it, namely, that the aftertouch requires an enormous amount of pressure to trigger adequately. I found this to be a mojor drawback, since I difinitely bought the unit because of that feature, among others. There is a mod that can be done, I have heard, which consists of replacing a resistor, but I sure didn't want to try it, but a repair shop could probably do it. PD