Roland EM-10
"Creative Keyboard" (auto-arranger)

Thanks to the blindfolded Goddess of Luck, I won this keyboard in a raffle at a Mars Music (great store unfortunately no longer in existence) Keyboardist Night years ago. It is comparable to the Casio CTK-601. This is a useful auto-accompaniment keyboard, capable of some respectable sounds and rhythms.  It sits at the lower end of the EM-series, but holds its own compared to its bigger brothers and sisters.

 

 

 

Stream all audio examples below:

Roland EM-10 factory audio demos in mp3
Piano - Reed Chr Perc - Pipe Organ - Syn Lead Guitar - Syn Pad Bass - Syn Sfx Orchestra - Ethnic Ensemble - Percussive Brass - Sfx A     Tone
B
Rock & Dance Pop 50's & 60's Jazz Latin Variety 1 Variety 2 Acoustic

Style

 

Tone list (GM)
Piano
A11 Piano1
A111 Piano1w
A112 Piano1d
A12 Piano2
A121 Piano2w
A13 Piano3
A131 Piano3w
A14 HonkTonk
A141 HonkTnkw
A15 E.Piano1
A151 DetunEP1
A152 EPiano1v
A153 60'Piano
A16 E.Piano2
A161 DetunEP2
A162 EPiano2v
A17 Harpsi
A171 CouplHps
A172 Harpsi.w
A173 Harpsi.o
A18 Clav.
Chr Perc (chromatic percussion)
A21 Celesta
A22 Glocken
A23 MusicBox
A24 Vib
A241 Vib.w
A25 Marimba
A251 MarimbaW
A26 Xylophon
A27 Tub-bell
A271 ChurcBel
A272 Carillon
A28 Santur
Organ
A31 Organ1
A311 DetunOr1
A312 60'sOrg1
A313 Organ4
A32 Organ2
A321 DetunOr2
A322 Organ5
A33 Organ3
A34 Church1
A341 Church2
A342 Church3
A35 ReedOrg
A36 AccordFr
A361 AccordIt
A37 Harmonic
A38 Bandneon
Guitar
A41 NylonGtr
A411 Ukulele
A412 NylonGto
A413 NylonGt2
A42 StStrGt
A421 12-strGt
A422 Mandolin
A43 JazzGtr
A431 HawaiGt
A44 CleanGtr
A441 ChorusGt
A45 MutedGtr
A451 FunkGtr
A452 FunkGtr2
A46 OvdrvGt1
A47 DstortG1
A471 FeedbGtr
A48 GtrHarmo
A481 GtrFeedb
Bass
A51 AcouBass
A52 FingBass
A53 PickBass
A54 Fretless
A55 SlapBs1
A56 SlapBs2
A57 SynthBs1
A571 SyBas101
A572 SyBass3
A58 SynthBs2
A581 SyBass4
A582 RubrBass
Orchestra
A61 Violin
A611 SlViolin
A62 Viola
A63 Cello
A64 Contrabs
A65 TremoStr
A66 Pizzicat
A67 Harp
A68 Timpani
Ensemble
A71 Strings
A711 Orchestr
A72 SlowStr
A73 SynStr1
A731 SyStrng3
A74 Syn.Str2
A75 ChoirAah
A751 ChoirAh2
A76 VoiceOoh
A77 SynVox
A78 OrchHit
Brass
A81 Trumpet
A82 Trombone
A821 Trombne2
A83 Tuba
A84 MutedTp
A85 FrHorn
A851 FrHorn2
A86 Brass1
A861 Brass2
A87 SyBrass1
A871 SyBrass3
A872 AnBrass1
A88 SyBrass2
A881 SyBrass4
A882 AnBrass2
Reed
B11 SoprSax
B12 AltoSax
B13 TenorSax
B14 BaritSax
B15 Oboe
B16 EnglHorn
B17 Bassoon
B18 Clarinet
Pipe
B21 Piccolo
B22 Flute
B23 Recorder
B24 PanFlute
B25 BotBlow
B26 Shakuhac
B27 Whistle
B28 Ocarina
Syn Lead
B31 SquareW
B311 Square
B312 SineWave
B32 SawWave
B321 Saw
B322 DoctSolo
B33 SynCall
B34 ChifferL
B35 Charang
B36 SoloVox
B37 5thSawW
B38 Bas&Lead
Syn Pad
B41 Fantasia
B42 WarmPad
B43 Polysynt
B44 SpVoice
B45 BowGlass
B46 MetalPad
B47 HaloPad
B48 SweepPad
Syn Sfx
B51 IceRain
B52 Soundtrk
B53 Crystal
B531 SyMallet
B54 Atmosph
B55 Brightns
B56 Goblin
B57 EchoDrop
B571 EchoBell
B572 EchoPan
B58 StarThem
Ethnic
B61 Sitar
B611 Sitar2
B62 Banjo
B63 Shamisen
B64 Koto
B641 TKoto
B65 Kalimba
B66 BagPipe
B67 Fiddle
B68 Shanai
Percussive
B71 TinkBell
B72 Agogo
B73 SteelDrm
B74 Woodblck
B741 Castanet
B75 Taiko
B751 ConcrtBD
B76 MeloTom1
B761 MeloTom2
B77 SynthDrm
B771 808Tom
B772 ElecPerc
B78 RevrsCym
Sfx
B81 GFrtNois
B811 GtCNoise
B812 StrSlap
B82 BrtNoise
B821 FlKClick
B83 Seashore
B831 Rain
B832 Thunder
B833 Wind
B834 Stream
B835 Bubble
B84 Bird
B841 Dog
B842 HorseGlp
B843 Bird2
B85 Telephn1
B851 Telephn2
B852 DCreakng
B853 Door
B854 Scratch
B855 Windchim
B86 Helicptr
B861 CarEngin
B862 CarStop
B863 CarPass
B864 CarCrash
B865 Siren
B866 Train
B867 Jetplane
B868 Starship
B869 BrstNois
B87 Applause
B871 Laughing
B872 Screamin
B873 Punch
B874 Heart
B875 Footstep
B88 GunShot
B881 MachGun
B882 Lasergun
B883 Explsion

 

Style list
Style

my comments

Rock & Dance
11 Rock1 Rock in 16th, with a cool tambourine
12 Rock2 Hard 8-beat rock, with killer power snare
13 Rock3 Heavier version of the above
14 BalRock Rock with a shuffle rhythm
15 Hip Hop Smooth Hip Hop with doo-doos choir and electric piano.
16 Techno Techno/Trance rhythm, with the limitations of the GM set but overall good
17 House Typical House beat, with heavy shuffle factor
18 Dance Euro-Beat sound - think "Missing You", the Todd Terry remix
Pop
21 8B Pop1 Slow (defaults at 60bpm) pop rhythm, with strings and electric guitar - ballad like.
22 8B Pop2 Typical ballad rhythm
23 8B Pop3 Another 8-Beat Pop rhythm, a bit heavier than the previous two.
24 8B Pop4 Funky pop rhythm, laid-back, very '80s
25 16B Pop1 Smooth!  Great (modern) R'n'B type sound, with e. piano, 808 and clave, a la "Sexual Feeling"
26 16B Pop2 An upbeat version of the above
27 16B Pop3 Fast 16ths, with jingly arpeggiated guitar
28 16B Pop4 Heavily shuffled.
50's & 60's
31 Sl Rock2 Slow Rock, perfect for Elvis ballads or similar 50's/60's tunes.
32 Sl Rock2 Sweeter version of the above, with e. piano and fretless bass
33 Ballad1 Perfect for "When a man loves a woman", by Percy Sledge
34 Ballad2 Perfect for "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder
35 Rock'N1 Typical Rock 'n' Roll style, a la Chuck Berry
36 Rock'N2 Earlier Rock 'n' Roll style, a bit Rockabilly, perfect for "Rockin' around the clock", or "Blue Suede Shoes"
37 Boogie Supposed to be a Boogie Woogie rhythm, a bit anemic..
38 Twist Of course, this arrangement is taken straight from Chubby Checker's hit.
Jazz
41 Sl Swing Slow Swing, romantic and dreaming, with strings and piano.
42 MedSwing Medium-speed Swing (defaults to 134bpm)
43 Sw Combo Swing performed by a small combo, with vibraphone, piano, bass and drums, a la Modern Jazz Quartet
44 BrtSwing Full blown orchestra swing
45 FstSwing Fast Swing (defaults to 208bpm), typical ballroom style
46 AcidJazz Acid Jazz, a la Incognito, Soul 2 Soul etc.  Very cool picked e. guitar.  Also useful for Smooth Jazz styles.
47 Big Band Usual Glenn Miller style
48 JazzWltz A beautiful Jazz Waltz, great for standards
Latin
51 Bossa1 Usual "Girl From Ipanema" rhythm.  Really well crafted.
52 Bossa2 Busier Bossanova rhythm, with cool acoustic guitar strumming
53 Samba Very well-programmed street samba beat!
54 Latin Ballroom-style Latin rhythm, similar to Salsa but more pop.
55 ChaCha Happy Cha Cha Cha rhythm! With plenty of brass and percussion
56 Mambo Nice mambo beat.
57 Salsa Groovy salsa beat.
58 Merengue Great merengue pattern!!
Variety 1
61 Blues Cool, slow (55bpm) electric Chicago blues
62 R&B Easily one of the best on-board rhythms, a great brass pattern!
63 Shuffle Reminds me of ABBA's "Waterloo"
64 Foxtrot Typical ballroom style.
65 Charlest Awesome Charleston rhythm!  They nailed the banjo and drum pattern!
66 PopRock Cool retro sytle - think Paul Anka's "Diana"
67 Rhumba Perfect for "Besame Mucho"!
68 Beguine Gentle Latin rhythm.
Variety 2
71 March Cool banda beat.
72 Polka Standard polka beat.
73 Kids Happy, happy tune!
74 Country Killer country rhythm, with dueling banjo
75 Musette Typical waltz in French vein - Romantic and classy
76 Sl Waltz Very slow waltz
77 Tango Well-programmed tango pattern
78 Reggae Good for "No Woman, No Cry"
Rock & Dance
81 G Slow Acoustic nylon Guitar accompaniment, gentle, with soft drums
82 G Bossa Gentler bossanova, with only guitars and percussion
83 G Pop Very Simon and Garfunkel.
84 G FstPop Faster acoustic ballad.  Good strumming effect.
85 P Ballad Piano ballad.  Dreamy and Richard Clayderman-like!
86 P Shuffl Perfect for "Jump and Jive", or any song by Louis Prima!!
87 P Night Gentle, calm, classy piano-bar style
88 P Jazz Complete left-hand jazz arrangement

 

Features

Other useful features found in this keyboard include:

  • Metronome button
  • Transpose button
  • Chorus/Reverb on-off button
  • Arrangement mixer
  • Style Manipulator (a great feature, allows to mute/add parts and exchange parts with other on-board styles, effectively mixing and customizing your own rhythms
  • Keyboard velocity on-off button
  • One Touch button (automatically recalls preset accompaniment and sound setting suitable for the style chosen)
  • "Intel"ligent harmony button (adds harmony to the solo voices, played automatically as you play the melody)
  • "Organ" mode (EM-10s' for "split" section L+R)
  • Variation button that allows to recall variations of the standard GM set on board, for many sounds (i.e., pressing preset tone A57 (SyBas101) and then the Variation button, allows to get access to variation sounds "SyBass3" and "SynthBs1"
  • Powerful on-board speakers
  • Colorful panel scheme.

This keyboard is both GM (General MIDI) and GS (General Standard), and features "Style Morphing" (style manipulator).

Bottom line:  an inexpensive keyboard with quality GM sounds, interesting rhythms, and all-around fun to play - perfect for the beginner, intermediate player, or for piano-bar, and entertaining at family parties.

Roland EM-10 pictures (click on thumbnails to enlarge them)

       

       

 

Roland EM-10 manual

 Available at www.rolandus.com

 Resources:
  • Review in "Keyboard magazine" Janfebmarch 198___
Features at a glance
Year of release: 1999
Polyphony:  
Sound generation method:  
Preset memories  
MIDI: in, out
Sound expansion capabilities: no
Sequencer 2-track
Arpeggiator no
Effects yes: reverb and/or chorus
Velocity yes
Aftertouch no

 

Links

 

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