The Roland FANTOM-0 Synthesizers

Roland: The Synth Experts

For decades, Roland has been the Japan-based masters of digital pianos, keyboards and synthesizers. Sometimes they build other gear, but it's key-based instruments where Roland really explodes - and the aftershocks can be felt throughout music history. Back in the day it was vintage synth heroes like the Jupiter, Juno, TR808, TR909 and TB303. Forty years later, we're met with their range of big, hulking workstations and sample-based synthesizers: the Fantoms. Whether or not you'll find one in the orchestra pit at the opera remains to be seen, but in the studio and band realm, the Fantom has become a modern icon.

For the Modern Musician

Roland has never shied away from new tech, so features like the old-school alphanumerical displays have since been forgotten and replaced with the big, full-colour touch screens mounted onto the control panels of the Fantom Series models. The polyphony has also been ramped up over the years. So while we struggled with just 24 voices in the early nineties, the Fantoms boast a pretty accommodating 256 voice polyphony. All of that range is thanks to the on-board ZEN-Core engine, which really shines when you take one of these tanks on stage. Another modern perk is the expansion options, which can simply be downloaded from the Roland Cloud, so you can keep your synth sharp, fresh and fully up-to-date.

The FANTOM-0 Line-Up

The Fantom-06 features a set of sixty-one keys, and is maybe the most popular for gigging work because it gives users an excellent combo of playing options, manageable dimensions and budget.

The Fantom-07 is a little longer, accommodating the wider set of seventy-six keys. Why this specific number? Well, it was discovered long ago that a 76-note keyboard with a more modest pitch-bend section could still comfortably fit on the back seat of the average car. So, with this model you're getting a light expansion of your playing options plus touring ease (a gig bag, soft case or hard case is always recommended).

The Fantom-08 is the biggest offering of the three and comes with the note-range of a full-sized piano. It's also the heaviest Fantom going so, depending on your means, this might be the model that you set up in your studio space or living room and just leave it there. But the beauty of this model is the playability, all courtesy of a set of Roland-developed keys.

Each model also features Roland's own SuperNATURAL engine, which supports piano sounds that are as realistic as they can get. More engines also come built in, including an organ engine, so the variation as well as the quality gives players more than enough to chew on.

No matter which version of the Fantom you go for, you'll be investing in a singular and expansive (and expandable) synthesizer. You'll also get a mass of control elements to help mould and shape custom sounds. And, since these are Roland models, you'll also be getting the latest in a long line of mouth-watering legends.

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