A World of Musical Genres in One Amazing Instrument

Features

A World of Musical Genres in One Amazing Instrument
Introducing the world’s first diatonic digital accordion! With the same level of sound quality and natural, dynamic response as its award-winning V-Accordion predecessors, the new FR-18 diatonic is a dream for accordionists seeking a world-class diatonic instrument that can do it all. The FR-18 diatonic features a brand new sound set that lets you choose instantly from a line-up of 12 virtual diatonic accordions as well as a variety of orchestral instruments, Virtual Tone Wheel organs, percussion, and more!

• World’s first digital diatonic accordion
• 12 on-board accordion models, including three user sets
• Virtual Tone Wheel organs on-board with slow and fast rotary
• Four user program registrations
• Programmable keyboard and bass button layout
• Drum function for manual percussion via bass & chord buttons
• Player is free to roam with battery (AA) power and wireless capability*

* Wireless unit and batteries are optional, sold separately

A World of Musical Genres in One Amazing Instrument

More Info

12 diatonic Accordions in One
Performing accordionists can cover all bases onstage with this one instrument. No matter the song, you can switch instantly between different tonalities and configurations of the keyboard/bass buttons. Diatonic musicians won’t have to carry a truckload of accordions onstage anymore! In addition to its amazing collection of virtual accordions, the FR-18 diatonic has other great instruments on-board, all instantly selectable. Choose from orchestral and brass instruments, exotic world instruments, percussion, organs, and more. The User Sets let you load your custom layouts of sounds and settings for instant recall.

Tablature Sets
The FR-18 diatonic comes with a dozen instantly selectable tablatures, making it possible to cover numerous genres without ever having to change accordions! In addition, you can create your own tablatures with a PC/Mac software app (available via free download). With this software, the FR-18 diatonic is truly an open instrument with customisable layouts for the keyboard and bass buttons. Thanks to USB compatibility, it’s easy to transmit and receive custom tablature sets between computer and accordion.

Performance Style & Comfort
The speaker-less, lightweight body makes the FR-18 diatonic a comfort to wear and play. The long-life battery compatibility lets you roam onstage, free of unnecessary cables and clutter. The classic black finish blends well into any environment; it looks cool and stylish onstage yet elegant in the classiest of settings. In addition, there are exchangeable inlay sheets that let you change the appearance of the instrument. You can also create your own custom-designed inlay sheets and install them easily.

Private or Public
High-quality Roland earphones are included with the FR-18 diatonic package so you can play the instrument right out of the box. Practice at any hour without disturbing neighbours or surrounding environments. When it’s time to blast, however, plug the FR-18 diatonic into one of Roland’s award-winning amplifiers, such as the SA-300 stage amplifier.

A World of Musical Genres in One Amazing Instrument

Specs

Keyboards

Right hand

37 buttons, velocity sensitive, selectable tablature and key

Left hand

18 bass buttons, velocity sensitive, selectable tablature and key (same as for right hand), selectable button chord behavior (full chord or omitted third)

Bellows

Real pneumatic detection of bellows pressure (high resolution pressure sensor), high-resolution bellows resistance regulator

Sound generator

Max polyphony

128 voices

Wave ROM

64 MB of waveforms (8+8 MB expansion sounds)

Tones

12 accordion Sets, each including: 8 treble registers, 8 orchestral sounds, 4 organ sounds (slow/fast Rotary settings for each), 3 bass & chord registers, 3 Orchestra Bass registers, 3 Orchestra Chord registers

Treble reed footages

5

Bass reed footages

3

Chord reed footages

2

PBM (Physical Behavior Modeling)

Noises

stopping-reed growl, closing valve noise, left button noise

Individual reed simulation

hysteresis threshold, expression curve, pressure-variant filter, pressure-variant pitch deviation

Reed sound wave switching

by bellows acceleration, by note repetition speed

Musette tuning

Micro tuning presets

15 (Dry, Classic, F-Folk, American L/H, North Europe, German L/H, D-Folk L/H, Alpine, Italian L/H, French, Scottish)

Effects

reverb

8 types

chorus

8 types, rotary (Slow/Fast) for organ sounds

Panel controls

Knobs

VOLUME

Panel switches

4 treble registers + ORCHESTRA/ORGAN button, SET/FUNCTION register, 3 bass registers, ORCH. BASS button, ORCH. CHORD button, LEFT REGISTER button, KEY/DEMO button, USER PROGRAMbutton, DRUMS button, TABLATURE button, POWER button

Operation modes

ORCHESTRA/ORGAN modes

Solo, Dual

Key

12 possible keys (C, C#, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B)

Tablatures

12 types,

Bass & Chord with drum/percussion sounds

On/Off

Octave

Down, 0, Up (for Treble and Orchestra/Organ), 4 User Program memories

Other

Power supply

AC adaptor, Batteries (AA, HR6 Rechargeable Ni-MH x 8)

Current draw

500 mA

Expected battery life under continuous use (using Ni-MH 2000 mAh batteries)

±5.5 hours *Actual battery life varies according to usage conditions, the quality of the batteries and the number of charging cycles. Be sure to use only rechargeable Ni-MH batteries.

Connectors

OUTPUT jacks (L/Mono, R/Mono): 1/4" phone type PHONES jack: stereo 1/4" phone type USB MIDI connector (computer connection) USB MEMORY connector (storage devices) MIDI OUT/IN connector (function adjustable via parameter) DC IN jack

Accessories

AC adaptor, Owner’s Manual, Straps, 1/4"—1/4" phone (guitar) cable, Earphones (with 1/8"—1/4" adaptor plug), Strip for securing the adaptor, MIDI and/or audio cables, Hexagonal wrench, Replaceable “traforo” inlay sheets

Options (sold separately)

Accordion soft bag

Size and Weight (without straps or optional batteries)

Width

365 mm
14-6/16 inches

Depth

195 mm
7-11/16 inches

Height

375 mm
14-13/16 inches

Weight

5.3 kg
11 lbs. 11 oz.

Accessories

RH-200 Headphones Comfortable and accurate headphones for superior monitoring. Click for Details

RH-300 Stereo Headphones Roland’s top-of-the-line headphones. Click for Details

PSB-1U AC Power Adaptor Click for Details

FR-18 diatonic Tablature Maker for Windows/Macintosh

The Tablature Maker is an application designed to create new tablatures for your FR-18 diatonic accordion. Using the Tablature Maker you can also edit the tablatures that are already provided in your FR-18 diatonic.

FR-18 diatonic System Update Version 1.04

This is the latest operating system for the FR-18 diatonic. Please refer to the "FR-18D Addendum.pdf" document for more information about this update. Please refer to the "FR-18D System Update Procedure.pdf" document for the update procedure.

FR-18 diatonic Tablature Maker Version 1.01 for Windows/Macintosh

The Tablature Maker is an application designed to create new tablatures for your FR-18 diatonic accordion. Using the Tablature Maker you can also edit the tablatures that are already provided in your FR-18 diatonic. Version 1.01 allows users to copy a single tablature to a set.

FR-18d Manual (PDF)

FR-18 diatonic Brochure

V-Accordion Leaflet