The Roland VK-7 is an electronic keyboard introduced in 1997 which simulates the sound of an electromechanical Hammond organ. Like other electronic musical instruments that emulate (or "clone") the sound of the electromechanical tonewheel-based organs formerly manufactured by Hammond, the VK-7 is referred to as a clonewheel organ. Currently it is replaced by the VK-8 and the VK-88.
Since transporting the heavy, vintage electromechanical Hammond organs to performances was cumbersome, there was a strong demand amongst musicians for way of recreating the Hammond sound in a more portable fashion. Refinements to Hammond emulations eventually led to the development of relatively lightweight electronic keyboard instruments such as the Roland VK-09 (1981), KORG BX-3 and CX-3 (1980), Roland VK-7 (1997), and Kurzweil K2600 (1999) that produce a fairly realistic re-creation of the Hammond tone.