REVIEW OF ROLAND AX-SYNTH

Guitar Shred for the Synth-Head

Keyboard and synth players have long been relegated off to the corner of the stage, where they dutifully play their parts as the lead guitarist hams it up, front, center, and completely out of time. In the mid-eighties, companies like Korg, Casio, and Roland heard the keyboardist’s plight, bringing various “keytar” MIDI performance controllers to compete in the market. It is the latter-most company, Roland, that now dominates this field, and it is their flagship model, the AX-Synth, that will be giving today’s synth freaks the opportunity to beat guitarists at their own game.

The AX lineage began in 1998 with the AX-1, a 45-key controller that quickly earned a legendary reputation after being used on tour with the likes of Jean-Michel Jarre and Janne Warman. In 2001, Roland released the AX-7, which expanded upon the original with the introduction of a patch memory, keyboard zoning, and Roland’s trademark “D-Beam” motion controller.

The AX-Synth is the latest heir to the AX name, and improves upon its predecessors most notably with the introduction of an on-board, 128-voice sound engine based on Roland’s Fantom-G. The AX comes loaded with 264 tones, ranging from elegant grand pianos to raunchy synth basses and searing leads.

Each preset is quite tweakable, which, given the AX-Synth’s multitude of controls, is very much a boon. The sounds themselves, however, are hit and miss. Roland scores with the synth tones, but the guitars are pure cheese – laughably so – and the organs are thin and reedy. As a sound generator, the AX-Synth excels at the bread and butter, but the discerning programmer might find his or herself soon growing tired of the preset sounds.

Fortunately, the AX-Synth retains the shining MIDI functionality of its heritage, allowing the keyboard to become an incredibly expressive controller for a module- or laptop-based rig via either MIDI or USB. Installed at the “neck” of the instrument is the AX’s ribbon controller, which, using the buttons on the back of the neck, can be set to modulate various aspects of a given tone. The D-Beam also makes its return, and it too can be routed to affect your sound. It’s good fun, if not a little gimmicky.

The 49-key keybed itself is easy-playing, of good quality, and is identical to that of Roland’s other synth-action keyboards. It is both velocity and aftertouch sensitive as well, further compounding the instrument’s expressive capabilities.