I think this is raising a red flag to T2/3 and S900 users.

Why would Yamaha STOP making a 61 arranger that is SO successful? It wouldn't be in their best interest at all...

And, again, a brand new 'pro' arranger with a 76 and totally new features and sounds, styles, etc., is simply a risky move for a company already gun-shy about the idea. No... simply a Tyros and/or an S900 with absolutely NOTHING added or taken away other than the keybed is all we are asking for. No R&D, no new styles, no new OS, no new features, no new sounds, nothing nada zip....

Just a 76 tacked onto the same internal parts, sounds and OS. Pretty simple, eh?
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Look, Steve, if you are still lurking, I've got one other suggestion. Perhaps a way we can BOTH win. A simple OS modification that would allow a 76 to control the 61 arranger....

The problem using an external controller on an arranger is that the arranger's Registration takes it's internal keyboard, and divides it up into the ranges for each Part, allows velocity curves to be different for each, routes aftertouch to the correct destination, changes split points, assigns the correct, range for arranger control, etc., etc., but to do all that from an external keyboard requires some pretty fancy programming, none of which is, of course, controllable from the arranger's Registrations. You have to do double the programming, and even then there is a lot that just doesn't work right....

BUT... what if there was an "Arranger Mirror' channel? In other words, send the arranger ONE MIDI channel, from top to bottom of the source keyboard, and have the arranger itself map those ranges, controls, destinations, all that other stuff, JUST AS IF IT WERE LOOKING AT IT'S OWN KEYBOARD.

There is a very similar function on my K2500. No matter how complicated the Setup, eight zones, multiple destinations, controller mapping, velocity cross-splits, you name it, if you send the K2500 ONE 'dumb' MIDI channel from another keyboard, the Kurzweil maps all those splits and everything to it. It basically just treats it as if it were the raw input from it's own keyboard.

Now this, I imagine, is probably VERY easy to do. The arranger already is doing this to it's own keyboard, all the code has to do is do exactly the same to a MIDI input of ONE channel only. Simple, no?

Now, you could hook up ANY 61, 76, 88, MIDI guitar, you name it, and the controller will have the same functions as if it were the REAL arranger keyboard. Maybe an NP-30. Maybe an XK8, maybe a Motif XS7/8, maybe anything the customer wants...

If Yamaha Japan are adamant about nixing the 76 PSR and Tyros, perhaps they might consider adding this to the OS. Who knows, this could result in the sale of TWO Yamaha keyboards (an arranger AND a 76/88 controller) to someone who at present is unable to buy any... That's good business sense, isn't it? Even if we were to use our existing 76's, you'll still get a 61 sale out of someone who wouldn't buy one under any other circumstances.

A simple OS addition to get MANY additional sales of existing products... Sounds like win/win to me