What is Rodgers up to?

[MikeDC]

I recently saw an ad about something "Revolutionary" taking place at Rodgers. Any clue as to what they're up to?

Admittedly, they're supposed to announce something next month, but who wants to wait that long? :)

[organman95]

I just saw that about an hour ago. "Tonal Revolution." My guess, is they switched to Physical Modeling (like Viscount has used since 2008-9).

I'm very interested to see what this "BIG TONAL REVOLUTION" is. I will be calling the 'local' dealer when I hear about it.

[radagast]

I just saw that about an hour ago. "Tonal Revolution." My guess, is they switched to Physical Modeling (like Viscount has used since 2008-9).

I'm very interested to see what this "BIG TONAL REVOLUTION" is. I will be calling the 'local' dealer when I hear about it.

Could also be hype. If they go PM, they would have to have a different process than Viscount, or be licensing the tech from Viscount. I thought that a few years ago, they started sampling at 8 different points on each pipe.

[arie v]

Hi,

They are going "beyond Infinity". In fact the technology is from outside our cosmos.

Why would they go with physical modelling and call it "revolutionary". Roland has had physical modelling stuff out for a long time. They are called "V" instruments. All I can say, is that while decently good, did not **** ** away. To boot, those instruments were too expensive for what they were, and as a consequence sold poorly.

Physical modelling has been around commercially since the mid 90s. I'm not sure that physcial modelling, in the end sounds more real or authentic than what today's sampling technology offers in terms of organ tone.

My guess is that Rodgers has something else to reveal. Their present organ line is only about 2 to 3 years old. Could be new or different audio, different implementation of technology for high end organs, etc.

This year has been rather different for the company. After naming Hector Olivera as tonal director, they let him walk away. Then a few months later, the President leaves, to be replaced by an acting president. Makes one think that all is not well at Rodgers.

AV

[Silken Path]

"Supernatural" Rodgers?

[jbird604]

If you think about it, there have been a lot of genuine revolutions in the organ business. The first electrically-operated pipe organ was a revolution. The first Hammond was a revolution. The first oscillator organ was a revolution. The first "computer" capture system was a revolution. The Allen MOS was a revolution, and it might be said that Rodgers first PDI technology was a revolution. Hauptwerk was a revolution, bringing exotic organ sample playback to the serious hobbyist. Each of these obviously represented a huge leap past existing organ technology at the time. But beyond these, everything else has been mostly a tweaking of stuff that's already out there.

And seriously, what has Rodgers not already done in the organ business? Analog? Done that. Pipe organs? Done that. Pipe-combos? Done that. Digital? Done that. Stereo? Done that. 8-point miking? Done that. Entire sample library on a chip? Done that. Crown amps? Done that.

A few things come to mind that might come close to fitting the definition, and that they haven't done yet, to my knowledge....

(1) a full cave-in to Hauptwerk, selling all custom-crafted consoles either ready for Hauptwerk or else fully configured and equipped with your choice of organ sets, and as elaborate an audio system as you can afford.

(2) wireless speakers for the whole thing, putting an end to the constraints of speaker placement, making installations a snap.

(3) the end of PDI as we know it, replaced with a discrete output for each stop, or maybe two per stop, in stereo or in C-C# mode.

(4) some vastly different type of speaker, perhaps omni-directional or di-pole, or a cost-effective version of Thigpen woofers

(5) buying Johannus or Viscount or Content

(6) being bought by Allen, or maybe Johannus or Viscount

I suppose we'll find out pretty soon. I know they've got my attention. But I'm guessing it may not be as "revolutionary" as the hype suggests. Unless it's one of the above.

[radagast]

Rodgers website has a 28 second video promoting this and says all will be revealed in October. I hope it's at the beginning of October.

[Silken Path]

Guys, that was actually a serious guess about what they may be up to. I've been looking at the sound modules made by Roland that have the "superNATURAL" voice sets, and that would seem to be a natural to integrate in an organ.

My other guess is that they may introduce "celebrity organ" personalities for their organs. Since they've been using their existing Rodgers pipe library since the 1990s, it would be an advance, competition with Hauptwerk, and to the user a nice ability to be able to select an entirely custom famous organ and have all the controls change over to represent that organ. Of course, they may buy Hauptwerk to do this.

I'm convinced that some music company will eventually buy Hauptwerk, if for no other reason than access to the vast 3rd party music library.

[organman95]

(1) a full cave-in to Hauptwerk, selling all custom-crafted consoles either ready for Hauptwerk or else fully configured and equipped with your choice of organ sets, and as elaborate an audio system as you can afford.

Phoenix has started something similar to this. You can do whatever you like, or have Phoenix samples.

(6) being bought by Allen, or maybe Johannus or Viscount

Wouldn't that be something!

[organman95]

ok, found out what the "Tonal Revolution" is.

Essentially, they are going back to the "American" style of voicing vs. whatever Hector did. I will get more information in about a month once the new software comes out.

[MarkS]

So they'll rename the voices "Viola Pomposa" and "Bourdon Doux"?

I was expecting a "Tonal Revolution."

[Silken Path]

So much for our flights of fancy... B-)

[radagast]

When I called the local Rodgers rep, he said he was bound by a confidentiality agreement until the official announcement, which will be on Oct. 15th. The only thing he would say was that it will really benefit customers of smaller organs. I don't know where organman95 got his information from, but I have a feeling it is more than that.

[Silken Path]

Hmmm... And I have the smallest Rodgers (that isn't a combo or a keyboard). Probably they don't mean existing ones... :-)

Seriously, I've wondered why the compact upright consoles sold by Roland did not have Rodgers branding, since they have the Rodgers pipe library and classic organ sounds. My theory has been that they were too cheap for Rodgers.

[jbird604]

Maybe they're bringing back the W-5000. <evil grin>