Hi Diki.
You playing live out, much, James..? Solo, OMB work, that kind of thing?
All Studio work theses days mate. I am thinking about going back on the road again though. My wife is not happy about that though so we will see.
Bet you aren't using an MS...
Quite a few toys in the Studio but the only thing getting any use right now is my KORG OASYS and the V-Machine. So much so that I will be selling my M3 very soon and a few other items.
I've down sized my Studio in a big way over the last 2 years. Works wonders too, I get tons more work down now and my quality is much higher.
Open stuff has its' place, but as the best tool for the average arranger OMB to use, it still has a VERY long way to go.
Ok, but lets look at this another way. Technically it's not the fault of the open keyboard. There is not one single Arranger VSTi in existence anywhere that has it's own sound engine and I doubt you will ever see one either as arrangers are becoming increasingly less interesting.
You can probably find a million workstation VSTi's though. So from an OPEN keyboard point of view, I don't think you will ever see one becoming a out of the box all dancing arranger like a closed keyboard comes.
Not everyone uses arrangers in OMB settings either. The last arranger I played with on stage was a Technics Kn800 and since then I've used workstations. Played 7 nights a week with just a Trinity for many years.
Hanging out on KORG Forums I can tell you I'm far from alone. Most people there who gig use workstations, and the arrangers. It's a pretty mixed bag if you ask me.
Content, content, and more content. THAT'S what the arranger market's vast majority want. You don't think Yamaha would LOVE to save a fortune and sell their arrangers with no usable styles (obviously, a HUGE part of R&D for a new model for them, or Dom could have afforded it, too), and leave it all in the hands of their users, do you? They aren't that stupid. Lionstracs is, apparently.
Yes but lets compare the difference here.
Yamaha are selling a closed arranger keyboard that offers a set list of features and functions that cannot be expanded at any point by the end user. It's a closed system.
Lionstracs are not selling an arranger or a workstation. They are selling a VST HOST that you can use to run your third party VSTi Synths on. So no matter what way you look at this, the only duty Lionstracs have is to provide a platform to you that allows you to install your VSTi's on, and that the entire system and it's custom software runs flawlessly.
They are not responsible for any sound produced. That lies with the developer of the VSTi.
So comparing it to a closed keyboard is pointless when Lionstracs are not even responsible for so much a single factory sound. If it comes totally empty but functions flawlessly, then job well done. It's an OPEN keyboard and it's up to YOU to install what you need.
Its a very different concept.
Different tools for different jobs. Want to make utterly original music, ambient soundscapes, groove based music? Open keyboard's your best bet every time. Want to go out to a restaurant and entertain the diners with some jazz and light pop, oldies and standards? Open keyboard is NOT the best bet, in fact, it's the WORST. Dom never got this. Still doesn't, IMO.
Well I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the OPEN keyboard is universally better in any situation when the person playing it and how technically minded they are matters just as much as what instrument they own.
An OPEN keyboard is technically limitless, so if you have the abilities to handle it, then it will surpass any closed system in a heart beat. If the user doesn't, then this is not for them.
The only way I could see an OPEN keyboard being universally better as an arranger for every level of user is if Dom hired a programmer to setup all the styles and optimise them with the sound engine so that the keyboard is all singing and dancing out of the box with no effort at all.
I only wish he could play worth a damn. The MS might have turned out FAR more a player's tool than a studio wonk's. Still could be, if he bothered to make it a GREAT arranger, THEN add the 'open' stuff. But he always felt that 'open' was sufficient by itself. It's resounding failure to make any serious inroads to the arranger market ought to convince him of his error.
I'd like the opportunity to do the demo work myself, but I can't see it happening.
Cheers
James
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