Black Eyed Peas use Roland AX Synth on X-Factor

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roland ax shoulder synthKings of cool, the Black Eyed Peas showed the UK how they do it last night. Fergie and the boys delivered a fantastically rare X-Factor moment where the guest artist (shock, horror) actually ‘sings’ (and raps) live. And wait, what’s that aerodynamic shoulder synth being played in true Herbie Hancock/Paul Hardcastle mode? It is of course the Roland AX Synth.

Nice synth this, and sometimes overlooked unfortunately. Shown in the video below and previously known as the AX-7, the new ‘AX’ is not just a basic, funky looking midi controller but it has the vastly diverse and stupendous quality Fantom G sound engine on-board, which really adds an additional, performance (X-) factor to the equation.. * runs for the hills chased by the Ed *

paul hardcastle roland synthAlso, bestowing some great modulation and sound shaping attributes, the AX has the hand grip ribbon controller/modulation bar and the ‘D’ beam for some creative and expressive fun! You can run this baby right round the stage in wireless mode and powered by batteries so if you fancy ‘getting down’ with the likes of Mr Hardcastle and the Black Eyed Peas, don your (80′s retro/21st century hybrid) jumpsuit and mosey along to a DV store near you.




About Paul Dakeyne

Paul Dakeyne has written 592 post in this blog.

Paul Dakeyne is a DJ/Producer who has dedicated the past two decades of his life to dance music production and DJ'ing. For six years, he toured globally for the world famous Ministry of Sound and has played DJ sets for the likes of U2 and for the legendary, Kraftwerk, Although remixing around 250 records in his career, as an artist in his own right, Paul landed one of dance music's seminal crossover moments with his "18 Strings' monster hit by Tinman - scoring a UK top ten in 1994. He also co-wrote and produced the music for BBC's Watchdog and Crimewatch when they were both revamped in 2001 and '06 respectively. His other career highlights have included an A&R stint for Mercury Records, lecturing in 'DJ culture and music technology' and creating mash-up mixes for Radio 1's, Chris Moyles. Paul joined the DV group in 2003 leading to his role as blog and feature author here at the DV Mag.

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One Response to “Black Eyed Peas use Roland AX Synth on X-Factor”

  1. Porter says:
    March 29, 2010 at 02:18

    I really want to get myself one of these. I have a Korg X-50, and it’s great, but this thing just takes it a step further.

      

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