Roland FG-10, "Music Timer"

[Cloudschatze]

Look to the sky!

It's a GS-compatible sound-source!
It's an alarm clock!
It's a lobby music machine!
It's an MT-32 wannabe!
It's a doorbell!
It's a sleepy-time noise generator!
It's an exercise instructor!

All this and more...

The Roland Fhqwhgads-10 (FG-10), "Music Timer!"



Built-in musical selections:

[Chimes]
01. Westminster
02. Westminster Chime
03. Simple Sound 1
04. Simple Sound 2
05. Simple Sound 3
06. Simple Sound 4
07. Simple Sound 5
08. Simple Sound 6
09. Image Sound 1
10. Image Sound 2
11. Image Sound 3
12. Image Sound 4
13. Image Sound 5
14. Image Sound 6
15. Signal Sound 1
16. Signal Sound 2
17. Signal Sound 3
18. Signal Sound 4
19. Signal Sound 5
20. Signal Sound 6
21. Buzzer 10 sec

The song selections have been programmed very well...

[Classical Music]
22. Méditation
23. Sonate für Flute Satz 1
24. Streichquartett No. 17 "Serenade" Satz 2
25. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
26. Streichquartett No. 17 "Serenade" Satz 1
27. Konzert für Flute No. 1 "La Tempesta di mare"
28. Sonate für klavier No. 8 "Pathétique" Satz 2
29. Ouvertüre No. 3 BWV 1068 Satz 2 Aria
30. Brandenburgisches Konzert No. 3 Satz
31. Suite "Water Music" Movement 2 Air
32. Brandenburgisches Konzert No. 5 Satz 1
33. Symphonie No. 6 "Pastorale" Satz 3

[World Beat]
34. Annie Laurie
35. Home On The Range
36. Loch Lomond
37. Szla dzieweczka
38. Cielito Lindo
39. Funiculi Funiculá!
40. O sole Mio
41. Londonderry Air
42. Walzing Matilda
43. The Red Sarafan
44. Camptown Races
45. O Vreneli

[Image Songs]
46. Day Break
47. Morning Mist
48. Wake up!
49. Energy
50. Mother Earth
51. Macrocosm
52. Arcadia
53. Adventure Land

[Evening]
54. Auld Lang Syne
55. La Golondrinas
56. Ave Maria

[Environmental Sound]
57. Birdsong
58. Seaside
59. Riverside

The next two selections were a surprise, and are apparently only in the Japanese models...
HEY EVERYBODY! It's RAJIO TAISOU time!

[ラジオ体操]
60. ラジオ体操第一 This is the "official" song.
61. ラジオ体操第二

[Caliburn]

Cool.  What is it?  And why the heck is it called a Music Timer?  (LOL at the Egg Timer, BTW.)  Is this an Engrish thing?  (I noticed Japanese characters on the case.)

-Luke

[Cloudschatze]

Cool.  What is it?  And why the heck is it called a Music Timer?  (LOL at the Egg Timer, BTW.)  Is this an Engrish thing?  (I noticed Japanese characters on the case.)

-Luke

It's a Roland FG-10, "Music Timer." (I have no idea what "FG" stands for...).

This one was probably Japanese-only, but its rackmount counterpart, the FG-1000, saw international distribution. (An English manual for the FG-1000 can be downloaded from Roland US.)

Roland produced a few machines, like this one, that were probably intended for public-broadcast purposes. It has a GS sound-source, built-in songs, noises, and chimes, not to mention external audio inputs. Conceivably, you might use it to play timed music in a lobby somewhere, or provide hold music for a telephone system, artificial chimes for a clocktower (like my town), etc.

I just thought that it was interesting because, well, now we know where all of the leftover MT-32 casings probably went. 

[Caliburn]

I see.  So it really is a music timer, of sorts.  When I read that the first thing I thought of was a metronome, and I thought, umm, it's awfully elaborate.

So if you really love grey, and don't mind having incorrect text, you can now customize your MT-32's exterior, like people do with their cellphones and iPods.  Myself, I'll hold out until they come out with an emerald green model with tailfins and white-rimmed feet, though.

[Rhizome]

How does it sound? 

[BlueMax]

Nice to meet another Homestar Runner fan! 

I hope noone loses interest because of The Cheat's crude animation style...  that's not how H*R always looks. 



That said, what the heck is that gadget?  A fancier MT-32 with extra... goodies?

[glendower]

that thing is to the limit!

[Cloudschatze]

How does it sound?  

I imagine that, when playing incoming MIDI data, it probably sounds no different than an SC-55 or compatible.

A fancier MT-32 with extra... goodies?

No. The only thing it has in common with the MT-32 is the case styling. That said, there is a similar unit that does have an LA32 chip (if an obscure reference is to be believed...):

[MikeSol]

And I thought the white cases of the CM-32/CM-64 and the SC-55 ST were ugly! Roland (and Edirol) should really stick to BLACK.  That color looks pastel to me so it reminds me of Easter.

[mace]

And I thought the white cases of the CM-32/CM-64 and the SC-55 ST were ugly!

And that is if they stay white. 

[MikeSol]

[And that is if they stay white. 

You reminded me of my first and last white Christmas tree I ever bought. It turned yellow by the second Christmas.

[Rhizome]

there is a similar unit that does have an LA32 chip (if an obscure reference is to be believed...):

Good grief that thing is big 

[mace]

That little thing sounds pretty darn cool to me! 

So the japanese spoken stuff is actually stored on the unit?

[Rhizome]

Has a good selection of tunes that's for sure 

[Cloudschatze]

So the japanese spoken stuff is actually stored on the unit?

Yeah. I'm not sure if the samples are triggered via MIDI, or what it's doing exactly.

[BlueMax]

Where do you find these gems?

[Ari]

So basically, it's a Roland SC-55 in an MT-32 casing?
Cool! I want one too! 

[Cloudschatze]

Where do you find these gems?

The Land Of the Rising Sun. 

So basically, it's a Roland SC-55 in an MT-32 casing?

Sound-wise, yes.

[Cloudschatze]

So basically, it's a Roland SC-55 in an MT-32 casing?

Sound-wise, yes.

Bah... So this isn't completely accurate.

The FG-10 does not appear to have instruments in variation banks 126 and 127 (CM-64/MT-32), which is strange, because, after opening it up, it shares the same GS-daughterboard-thingy as found on the GPPC-N/A boards and inside the CM-500.

Well, almost the same. the CM-500 board is labeled "RLP-3037," whereas the FG-10 board states "RLP-3079."

Since the GS-board is the only thing connected to the DAC, the vocal samples (and possibly some of the chime samples?) have likely replaced the MT/CM tones, and are hidden somewhere in an undocumented variation bank. Finding them ought to be loads of fun...

[Rhizome]

...shares the same GS-daughterboard-thingy as found on the GPPC-N/A boards and inside the CM-500...

...as found also in the CM-300 (opened mine up some weeks ago)