Roland BK-7m – play only with keys down

[dobrojoe]

I am using a Roland BK-7m arranger module with a Roland VR-730 as the controller. The 'Break' function on the BK-7m works from a foot switch but it only stops the accompaniment to the end of the bar and then restarts. I need longer breaks.

From time to time, I have noticed a situation where the accompaniment only plays when a chord is held down. This is ideal but I can't figure out what the setting is that provides this solution. I happened upon it by accident but I can't reproduce it and the manual doesn't help.

Can anyone throw any light on this?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I don't know about Roland accompaniments, but Yamaha accompaniments recognize a number of different chords, and one of them is "No Chord," meaning the musical accompaniment stops playing ("tacet") but the percussion keeps playing. This is sort-of documented (i.e., listed but not explained) in the manuals for certain Yamaha models where the recognized chords and their fingerings are cataloged. I don't know if Roland has a similar feature, but you might want to check in the manuals for some of their other models if there's nothing in the manual for your model.

 

[dobrojoe]

Actually, I got the answer from Roland UK support. I didn't realise that the Sync/Start button had three states. In the middle (green) position, it behaves exactly as I needed. The left hand accompaniment stops completely when there are no keys held down. Very useful when there is a long break in a song. I hope that this information is helpful to others.

 

[Rayblewit]

Sync/Start button

That is the same as my yamaha.
Glad you got it sorted. I was going to suggest that could be the cause.