GEAR

Recommended Gear for VR09/VR730


Dust covers

  • Higly recommended: Gewa Economy keyboard cover (and similar brands):
    easy to put on (no fiddling with stretch), thick fabric protects against liquids and impacts. Available from (online)stores, amazon etc, ca. 13 €/$:
       VR09: Gewa 275160 (102x40x6cm)
       VR730: Gewa 275120 (122x44x6cm)
    bargain: (identical) covers from ‘Music Steinbach’ Germany (7 €):
       VR09: Steinbach Abdeckung (102 x 40 x 8 cm)
       VR730: Steinbach Abdeckung (122 x 44 x 8 cm)
  • Rockbag (Warwick) dust covers:
    Nice (stretch) covers leaving the rear jacks free. Available from (online)stores, amazon etc. ca. 15 €/$
       VR09: (too large)
       VR730: RB21718B-122

Gig Bags for VR09

VR09/09B dimension are 101-30-11 cm. In the listing (inner dimensions in cm / padding in mm) is shown at each model name

  • Gator G-PG 61 SLIM ‘THE BAG (103-33-14cm/30mm):
    not cheap (watch out for offers, e.g. from gear4music), fits like a glove, best quality and best padding (30mm) on the market, semi-rigid (cannot be plied!), ca. 3 kilos
  • Gator GKB-61 SLIM (105-32-13cm/20mm) :
    compared to G-PG: same perfect fit, half price, a bit lighter, less padding (20mm), flexible, no shoulder straps. Does the job very well./td>
  • MusicStore KCS-V (101-33-9cm/10mm)
    very decent’bugdet’ bag: 10-20mm padding, 2 pockets, good fit (verified, see pic). Sold by german/international MUSIC STORE (ca. 30 €)

Gig Bags for VR730

VR730 dimension are 122-37-12 cm. In the listing (inner dimensions in cm / padding in mm) is shown at each model name

  • CNB KBB1600/76 (131-42-16cm/15mm): (from Mark B, UK) “good low cost gig bag, 15mm foam padding, the keyboard fits neatly inside & as it has backpack style straps it’s way more comfortable to carry than most bags. After a while the zipp did not close anymore”. Sold by smaller shops, prices vary from 50-100 €, actually (2023): ‘ToTheMaxx Music’ (Netherlands), ‘Music Direct Shop’ (Germany), ‘Musik Lenz’ (Austria), ‘Van Ginkel Muziek’ (Holland), etc
  • Rockbag RB 21518 B “Deluxe” (122-42-16cm/15mm): simple transport bag, has inner fixing straps (ca. 55 €)
  • Rockbag RB 21618 B “Premium” (122-42-16cm/25mm): enhanced version of 21518: + added padding + shoulder strap + more pouches (ca. 100 €)
  • Rockbag LB 122: equal to RB 21518 on kytary store
  • Rockbag RB 122: equal to RB 21618 on kytary store
  • Kurzweil KB 76 (125-38-12 cm/30mm): “lite” soft Trolley, weights only 6kg (ca. 160 €)
  • RockCase RC 21519 B (127-39-15cm/30mm): rigid Trolley, heavy (ca 10 kg) (ca. 130 €)
  • RockVille 76 keys (129-46-16cm/30mm): rigid Trolley, heavy (ca 11 kg) (ca. 150 USD)
  • STAGG KTC-128 (125-45-16cm/30mm): rigid Trolleybag with wooden support pannels, good fit (inner dimensions 125x42x13cm and can be adapted by included foam pads). Heavy (ca 10 kg). Very popular bag in Europe that can easly be found 2nd hand (new ca. 140-150 €)

Gun or Bow cases for VR09

For VR09 ‘tactical gun or rifle cases’ (or large bow-cases) can be used (verify inner dimensions!): they are sturdy, not as heavy has ‘professional hardcases’ and inexpensive.

Flight Cases

  • Thomann ‘Thon’ series
    affordable flight cases ‘made-at-measure’ for VR09 and 730 can be ordered from Thomann Europe.
    Options for the base packageo: coloured panels, wood or honeycomb plastic, trolley/wheels, ‘play-in-the-case’, ‘gear compartement’
    (web-links” adapt language/currency, select manufacturer ‘Roland’ and model VR09 or VR730, chose options)

    VR09 ‘Standard’: wood 9kg/165€, plastic 7kg/180€ (2021: 130/145€)
    VR09 ‘Special’: wood 10kg/190€, plastic 8kg/200€ (2021: 150/160€)
    VR730 ‘Standard’: wood 13kg/175€, plastic 10kg/190€ (2021: 140/155€)
    VR730 ‘Special’: wood 14kg/225€, plastic 11kg/240€ (2021: 185/200€)
    ‘Special’ version is reeinforced and has self-lockable fastenings as shown in the pic.
    Info: for ‘historical reasons’ the table also shows 2021 prices – welcome 2022…
  • Musicstore ‘BOXPROFI RS’
    affordable flight cases ‘made-at-measure’ for VR09 and 730 can be ordered from Musicstore Germany:
    VR09 RS Case: wood (150€)
    VR730 RS Case: wood (170€)

Music rests

  • VR09:
    VR09 (VR09B) has 2 holes in the housing for plugging a music rest into:

    Roland plexiglas stand for BK5 / E-A7 keyboards fits (Roland No. 7782807000 ca. 90 USD/Euros, Aliexpress: ca. 60 USD).
    Music stand for Thomann SP 320 (cheap, light) fits plug&play (ca 10 USD/Euros): www.thomann.de/de/thomann_music_stand_for_sp_320.htm
  • VR730:
    VR730 does NOT have any mounting system for a music rest. Either you modify the chassis or you place e.g. an ‘orchestral music stand’ behind the VR.

    ‘orchestra music stand’: cheap stands (ca. 15 €/$) are currently available anywhere. They are sufficently robust for using with a stationary keyboard setup

Damper (sustain) pedals & foot switches (Leslie)

As all Rolands, the VR needs ‘momentary foot switches’ with inverted polarity (the contact opens when the pedal is pressed).
It’s recommended to use pedals where the polarity can be switched (so that they also can be used on other keyboards)

If the pedal is mainly used as piano damper/sustain it’s recommended to use ‘piano type damper pedals’ which give a better feel for piano playing. As VR09/703 is ‘half damper’ compatible, you can use ‘half damper’ sustain pedals
Good pedals are:

  • Fatar FVP1-10 (opener) and FVP1-25 (polarity switch)
  • Fatar FVP2 double pedal (opener)
  • Miditech MP-1 (polarity switch)
  • Roland DP 10 (opener/half damper): heavy, anti-slip ‘rubber foot plate’, half-damper mode works with VR
  • Yamaha FC3A (closer/half damper – FC3 without ‘A’ is no half damper): heavy, half-damper mode works with VR, to work as switch ‘TR’ must be inverted

If place / transportation is an argument, slim ‘foot switches’ (from guitar corner) can be used as damper or (leslie) switch:

  • BOSS FS5 U (polarity switch): full metal ‘all time classics’. Multiple FS5 can be clipped to each other for a ‘board’
  • Lead Foot LFD-1: the BOSS-clone: plastic but sturdy. Very good pedal for a fraction of the price of Boss (Thomann, 8 (!) Euros)
  • Zoom FS01 (opener): super flat (the ideal ‘pocket-pedal’), full metal. Very precise action

A mighty ‘pedal board’ is the Behringer FCB 1010 midi-board equipped with ‘UnO2 upgrade chip’: The ‘UNO2’ eprom allows the pedals to send midi SysEx which is understood by the VR and allows triggering of any VR function (e.g. changing MFX, setting a Delay etc).

Expression pedals

A real ‘organ expression‘ pedal should at least have 8 cm of ‘physical travel’ (min-max measured at pedal ‘toe’ side). Pedals usually have 5-10 mm ‘idle’ at min/max, reducing the ‘effective travel’ (where the VR reacts to the movement).
‘Real organ expression’ pedals are big and heavy, for stage use you might prefer a light ‘short travel’ pedal – but you’ll run into trouble because of the ‘VR expression pedal bug’ (see next questions)

  1. Compact ‘short travel’ pedals: when used on the VR they provide only ca. 1 cm of ‘effective travel’ and act like on-off switches. Travel can be ‘normalised’ by modifying the pedal (see Expression Pedal Fix).
    Examples: Roland EV5 (‘branded’ $20 pedal), M-Audio EX-P, Bespeco VM18L, Nektar NXP
  2. long-travel-pedals (‘organ’ expression pedals) : when used on the VR they provide only ca. 3-4 cm of effective travel. Travel can be ‘normalised’ by modifying the pedal (see Expression Pedal Fix).
    Examples are Behringer FCV 100, Yamaha FC7, StudioLogic FP/50, Roland EV-7 (not sold any more)

Simple build ‘short lift’ pedals. Construction and materials are nearly identical. Supercheap M-Audio will work as good ‘you pay trice for the name’ Roland or Line6:

Pedal price (EU) polarity switch volume offset remarks
M-Audio EX-P 17 € + + very light, all plastic with metal base plate
Bespeco VM18L 20 € + – all plastic with metal base plate
Bespeco VM19L 25 € + + all plastic with metal base plate
Nektar NX-P 22 € + + identical to M-Audio but different ‘foot plate’
Roland EV5 65 € – (fits VR) + all plastic with metal base plate, branded 20-€-pedal
Line6 EX1 70 € + – all plastic with metal base plate, branded 20-€-pedal

Quality build ‘short lift’ pedals.

Pedal price (EU) polarity switch volume offset remarks
Behringer FC600 V2 65 € + + full metall, heavy, ‘pedal pressure’ adjuster
Moog EP-3 50 € + – reinforced plastic casing
Boss FV-500L 100 € + – full metall, heavy, ‘pedal pressure’ adjuster
Boss EV-30 100 € + + DUAL expression controller (e.g. for 2 keyboards)

‘Long Lift’ pedals:

Pedal price (EU) polarity switch volume offset remarks
Behringer FCV100 25€ – + Plastic but sturdy, heavy. Works as stereo-volume pedal OR (passive) expressoin pedal. For VR, TRS polarity must be ‘modded’
Behringer FCV100 V2 40€ + + like ‘Mk1’ but with polarity switch
StudioLogic FP/50 30€ + + Plastic but sturdy, heavy, For VR, TRS polarity must be ‘modded’
Yamaha FC 80€ – – Plastic but sturdy. Spring for working point adjustment, brace-system for ‘arraying’ pedals. For VR, TRS polarity must be ‘modded’

Some extra pay for ‘brand-name’? Look closer … same build – 3x the price … (from left to right):
                        Roland EV5: 65 € — Line6 EX-1: 70 € — Bespeco VM18L: 20 € 😀

Midi Expression pedals

Examples of midi expression pedal are:

  • Beat Bars EX3 (ca. 170 €)
  • Boss EV-1 WL (ca. 170 €)
  • Prostage XCC (ca. 140 &euros;)
  • Behringer FCB 1010: complete midi foot controller board with 2 (assignable) pedals, footswitches and even ‘analog switches’ (e.g. for changing speed on a relayed Leslie) – an alltime classics in the guitar world
  • Roland – FC-300: like the Behrigner but in Roland spec (and price ;)) – it can also send Roland sysex though – it princpially can control any parameter of VR
  • Microdesignum MIDI Expressione 1A1F (discontinued, eventually in EU 2nd hand)
  • Microdesignum MIDI Expressione 1F (discontinued, eventually in EU 2nd hand)

Expression Pedal-to-Midi Converters

Examples of converters for your analog pedal (e.g. to fix ‘VR expression pedal bug’).
The Converters come with an ‘app’ (Windows and Mac only!) for configuring the midi message types (e.g. ‘Control Change 11’ for expression).

  • DoreMidi Pedal Converter MPC-10 (ca. 60 € ca. 40 when ordered directly from China) best-buy recommendation if you’re looking for an easy and cost-efficient ‘VR expresson-bug workaround’ : inexpensive and the ‘app’ is super-simple and self-explaining. Can send up to 16 different CCs per ‘pedal’ (note that it has a ‘midi-TRS’ type jack but a ‘TRS to 5-pin’ adapter is included)
  • Midi Solutions Pedal Converter (ca. 150 €) : overpriced for what it offers (yes it can do ‘sysex’ but no Roland sysex-checksum which makes it quite useless for VR). The ‘app’ is a bit ‘oldschool’ and unhandy to use.
  • Beatbars EX2M’ (ca. 60-70 € – discontinued)

Volume pedals

Examples of (stereo) volume pedals are. Note that the pedal has to be qulalified as ‘low impedance’ (often marked by letter ‘L’).

  • Bespeco VM14L : a ‘budget’ short travel pedal. Volume offset knob. Solid built
  • Boss FV-500L ‘dual use’: a short travel pedal than can run as stereo volume or expression pedal. Volume offset knob. Metal body
  • Behringer FCV 100 ‘dual use’: a ‘budget’ long travel (swell) pedal than can run as stereo volume or expression pedal. Heavy. Execellent ‘feel’. Volume offset knob. Volume-mode adds a bit of white noise, which can be an issue for ‘recording’ but is absolutely negligable on stage

Bass pedals

VR09/730 work with ANY MIDI BASS PEDAL (including the Roland ‘PK’ series).

To connect a midi bass pedal, one can use either VR MIDI-IN or PK-IN (which is compatible to 5-pin midi plugs !)
By ‘VR default’, bass pedals play the VR organ bass. Using ‘CTRLR EDITOR’, any VR sound can be used for pedal bass

For details (midi connection, using ‘PK features’, etc.) please read chapter “Connecting a MIDI BASS PEDAL to the VR”

Pedal models:

A selecton of midi pedals. Roland models PK-7, PK-9 and PK-25 can be considered as ‘integrated plug&play’ units for VR-organs (unfortunately they have been discontinued), but any other midi pedal will work. Very interesting units come from Studiologic (Fatar): light, sturdy, and flexible.

notes: approx. prices in EU 2020, “vel” : velocity sentitive pedals (velocity is not recognized at PK-IN)

Pedal price
(€)		 notes vel weight
(kg)		 description
Roland
PK-7/PK-7A		 — 20 – 13 ‘complete’ bass pedal unit: 20 notes pedals, expression pedal, sustain switch, 2 lateral ‘pedal-switches’ for PK-controls. If connected to PK-IN socket it runs instantaniously, including PK footswitch options’ and ‘power supply’. 7A is slightly improved over 7. Discontinued / only 2nd hand
Roland
PK-9		 — 20 – 13 enhanced version of PK7: 20 notes pedals, expression pedal, sustain switch, 2 lateral ‘pedal-switches’ for PK-controls, 2 ‘free control switches’. If connected to PK-IN socket it runs instantaniously, including PK footswitch options’ and ‘power supply’. Discontinued / only 2nd hand
Roland
PK-25/PK-25A		 — 25 ? 30 ‘full pedal’ unit: 25 notes pedals, expression pedal, sustain switch, 2 lateral ‘pedal-switches’ for PK-controls. If connected to PK-IN socket it runs instantaniously, including PK footswitch options’ and ‘power supply’. 25A is slightly improved over 25. Discontinued / only 2nd hand
Roland
PK-5/PK-6		 — 13 – 8 13 notes, programmable foot switches. Discontinued / only 2nd hand
ELKA
DMP 18		 — 18 + ? A vintage ‘all times classics’: 18 notes velocity sensitive pedals, foot switches for control changes etc.
Very capable board, but ‘ageing’ has to be considered (30years+)
Studiologic
MP113/ MP117		 450-500 13
17		 + 6
7		 13 or 17 notes, velocity sensitive, can send control changes
Crumar
MojoPedals		 450 20 + 9 13 notes, velocity sensitive, can send control changes
Ketron K8 390 20 + ? 13 notes, velocity sensitive, no further options, only pedal < 400 euros
Hammond XPK 100/200 700
1200		 13
25		 – 9
13		 13 or 20 notes pedal board with expression pedal
Nord Pedal Keys 27 2000 27 – 16 27 notes bass with expression pedal. Fixed midi channel 3 (works only with VR PK-IN)
Viscount
Pedalboard 18		 1200 18 – 11 17 notes ‘full pedal bass’ with expression pedal. Fixed midi channel 3 (works only with VR PK-IN)
Doepfer
MBP25 ‘kit’		 160
250		 13
25		 – ? DIY kit for 1 or 2 octaves: includes midi electronics, cabeling and 1 (13 notes) or 2 (25 notes) Fatar pedal units. The kit can be mounted into a selfmade case or even a ‘split case’ for easy transport. Prices: 1-octave: 160 €, 2-octave: 250 €
DIY ‘midifying’ — n.n. – ? DIY “midifying” an ‘analog’ pedal unit is not complicated. Ebay provides us with (old) ‘analog’ pedal boards in all sizes. The easiest way is to ‘butcher’ a cheap small midi controller (ebay, 10-20 $/€), extract the circuit boards and connect the pedal contacts to the ‘contact board’. Using Arduino is also very inexpensive (~ 20 USD/€)

Midi foot ‘super controllers’

These midi boards offer (midi) swell pedals and switches and even ‘analog relais switches’. The pedals can be used for expression or/and for controlling any midi parameter in the key (e.g. ‘pitch’).
Note that on VR the foot switches can be used as a kind of ’10 note midi bass pedal’.

Examples of midi conrollers are:

  • Behringer FCB 1010: an alltime classics in the guitar world. Note that there are ‘3rd party’ modifications like the ‘UNO’ chip pedals with ‘stomp box extention’.
  • Roland – FC-300: like the Behrigner but in Roland spec (and price ;))

Rotary/Overdrive pedals for VR organ

Some pedals on the market:
– NEO Instruments Ventilator II/mini Vent II: THE reference, but very expensive (start thinking of buying a Nord Electro or SK1 instead …)
– Electro Harmonix Lester G/Lester K
– Nux Roctary (inexpensive, nice sounding)

Power supply (replacement and PowerPack adapters)

VR09 / V730 do work with ‘standard’ 9V supplies (for e.g. FX pedals) available from your local music store, online-store, Amazon, ebay, etc, with the following specs:
– 9V DC
– minimum 500 mA (tested value)
– 5.5mm/2.1mm ‘centre-negative’ plug

9V/500mA ‘FX supply’ from german MusicStore (7.50 €)

An alternative to a ‘wart’ is to power the board from USB (great idea from David Webster!) with a Ripcord USB to DC power cable AA927MS (9V centre negative). NOTE: it has been reportet that the Ripcord and VR do not work with usb-powerpacks (even not the Ripcords) – it’s only for usb-chargers

potentially a much neater solution than dragging a transformer around
In the UK available from https://myvolts.co.uk

To power VR from a USB-PowerPack (instead of AA batteries) or a USB-charger you can use a USB-to-9V transformer like the ENGL (just take care it’s delivered with a 2.1mm ‘center negative’ cable/plug)

“ENGL Powertap Portable” supplying VR from a powerbank
(available e.g. from Thomann, ca 15 euros)

Wlan (wifi) transmitter for iPad

Connecting VR ‘wirelessly’ to an iPad with ‘Roland Editor app’ requires a wlan tranmitter (wifi dongle)
The ‘official Roland dongle’ (a rebranded Netgear dongle) is out of stock, but any dongle based on the ‘Qualcom Atheros AR9271’ chipset works with VR. Tip: ‘clever people’ are selling those dongles as ‘Roland replacement’ on ebay for 2-4x the normal price – which is ca. 10 $/€. Compatible dongles:
        Netgear WNA 1100 (out of stock)
        Roland WNA 1100-RL (overpriced branded Netgear WNA, out of stock)
        Onkyo UWF-1 (overpriced, out of stock)
        TP-LINK TL-WN721N
        TP-LINK TL-WN422G v2
        TP-LINK TL-WN722N
        D-Link DWA-126
        Unex DNUA-93

Amplifiers, Speakers and Monitors recommended for VR

See Amps & Monitors

Stage pianos recommended for VR

See Stage Pianos(for a list scroll down to ‘Buyers Guide’)

Hardware controllers & master keyboards recommended for VR

To trigger only keys you can use any controller. With exception of some standard Control Changes (e.g. vibrato, pitch etc), parameters of the VR can only be changed by midi system exclusive (sysex) messages.
The number of hardware controllers able to handle sysex messages including the Roland checksum is limited:

Midi Controllers (hardware-controller w/o keys) with SysEx:
Available (2023) on market:
– actually nothing 😉
– Behringer has projected the BCR32 (a modern BCR2000) that would handle sysex, but there’s actually no release
Discontinued (available 2nd hand):
– Novation ZeRO SL MK1 (2007) : 8 pots, 8 faders, usb, windows editor
– Novation ZeRO SL MK2 (2009) : 8 endless encoder pots, 8 faders, usb, Windows editor
– Behringer BCF2000 (2011): 8 pots, 8 motor(!)faders, usb, Win/Mac editor
– Behringer BCR2000 (2011): 24 pots, 20 buttons, faders, usb, Win/Mac editor
– CME Bitstream 3X (200?): many pots, 8 faders, Roland checksum with firmware 1.8
– Kenton Control Freak / Studio /Live (1998-2001), 8 or 16 faders, 8 buttons, no usb, Win/Mac editor
– Doepfer Drehbank (200?): 64 pots, only pots, complicated programming
Notes:
Newer Novation SL Mk3 and higher DO NOT HANDLE SYSEX !
Behringer BCF/BCR are one of the most versatile controllers ever built and 2nd hand units are pricy. Freeware ‘BC Manager’ (MountainUtilities, Windows/OSX) can be used to program them, eg. defining the Roland checksum formula
Novation ZeROs are also very flexible in programming.

Midi Master Keyboard (hardware-controller with keys) with SysEx:
Available (2023) on market:
– Roland A-Pro A300/A500/A800: 32/49/61 keys (keybed as VR09), AT, 9 faders (drawbars!), 9 pots, 8 pads
Discontinued (available 2nd hand):
– Roland-Edirol PCR 300/500/800 (2007): 32/49/61 keys (light synth keys), AT, 9 faders (drawbars!), 9 pots, 16 pads
– Roland-Edirol PCR M30/M50/M80 (2005): 32/49/61 keys (light synth keys), AT, 9 faders (drawbars), 9 pots, no pads
– Roland-Edirol PCR 30/50/80 (2002): 32/49/61 keys (light synth keys), AT, 9 faders (drawbars!), 9 pots, no pads
– Novation Remote SL Mk2 25/49/61 (2009): 25/49/61 semiweighted Fatar TP/9, AT, 8 endless encoder pots, 8 faders, 8 pads
– Novation Remote SL (Mk1) 25/37/61 (2007): 25/37/61 semiweighted Fatar TP/9, AT, pots, 8 faders, 8 pads
– Novation Remote SL COMPACT 25/49 (2007): 25/49 semiweighted Fatar TP/9, AT, reduced SL MK1, e.g. no faders
these controllers know sysex but not Roland checksum:
– Novation Remote 25/49/61 (2003): 25/49/61 semiweighted Fatar TP/9, AT, 8 pots, 8 faders, 8 pads
– Novation Audio/X-Staion 25 (2003): 25 semiweighted Fatar TP/9, AT, 8 pots, 8 faders, 8 pads

Notes:
Newer Novation SL Mk3 and higher DO NOT HANDLE SYSEX !
All keyboards mentioned are usb-midi class compilant (no need for proprietary drivers on newer OSX/Windows). On Edriols, Roland driver support must must be disabled (“Advanced Driver Switch”, see manuals/Roland support sites)
A-Pro/Edriol are better suited as VR ‘organ lower manual’ (rounded keys for organ playing, 9 faders for drawbars), Novations are more suited as a piano/EP ‘sub-manual’ (semiweighted Fatar action)