I'm going to start a series of threads that promote ideas and discussion about features that are not currently available (AFAIK) on arrangers, in the hope that some sort of dialog can get started here other than 'My arranger is better than yours"....... Here's my first......

Has anyone used Steinberg's Groove Agent drum machine software? It has one of the niftiest new features I've seen in a long time (actually, several, but here's the first). There is a button labeled '1/2 time' which keeps the inside motion of a groove (the hi-hats and other busy parts) but changes the kick and snare to 1/2 time hits. Brilliant!

This is SO useful for doing breakdown sections, or changing the whole sound of a groove, opening up the space for another element or anything else that comes to mind. It's a very MUSICAL option, rather than just a clever idea, and provides a very drummer-like experience.

I would love to see this feature on a future arranger......

Just in case anyone doesn't understand the '1/2 time' thing, what I mean is that if the regular beat goes;

Kick, snare, kick, snare.... the 1/2 time beat would be;
Kick, and , snare, and , Kick, and , snare, and........

thus slowing down the beat to half time, while the hi-hats stay mostly the same.

Probably in an arranger context, you could leave the accompaniment parts the same, and just have 1/2 time alternatives for drums and bass, and get a very useful variation on a basic groove.

Ideas.....?

That looks like a good feature to me. On the Yamaha arrangers, I would like to see more rhythm and groove tweaking in real time.

Beakybird

I would like to reverse that as well, for 'double time' in jazz tunes ...
t.

Applause!!man i wish my board had some of your ideas Diki!!

I would like to see a "half measure" fill added to Yamaha arrangers.

I believe it was/is on some Roland and Technic instruments.

Ian

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Remember to leave good news alone.

Yes, the 1/2 bar fill is still a Roland feature..... real handy for country tunes....

I guess it all boils down to having MORE variations and MORE fills, and just labeling them musically. I sure wish arranger manufacturers would concentrate on arranger specific features to improve, and spend less time trying to turn them into compromised 'do it all' features.

An arranger is first and foremost all about triggering styles, and the first place to make that better is to give us more of them with more variations and fills. A 'Guitar Mode' is all well and good, but I'd happily trade it for four more variations per style, and a 1/2 time button would make it less complicated on the front panel.....

I got around the 1/2 bar fill by making the styles using a program Michael Bedesem made for me called StyleAdjust...my idea, his programming expertise.

I believe Jorgan has a program that does something similar.

I also program the 3 intros as style variations; effectively giving me 7 instead of 4.

It's more work, but until they come up with more variations and a half bar fill, it's a fair workaround.

Ian

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Remember to leave good news alone.

Right Ian
http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/software/filledit/index.htm

Regards
Jørgen

you know what future feature i would totally welcome..buttons Exactly like those on a calculator!!..nice rubber,silent functioning without that "clicking" most make nowadays,seems the current are just dying to fail & get gummy

Oh, not for me thanks. I hate rubber buttons - too spongy feeling, I like the positive click. I've never had a problem with them on my board this past 6 years.

what kind of board you have renig?how many hours a week do you put in?

Soft, hard, click or no click, all that REALLY matters is MTBF....... mean time between failure, and dust and moisture resistance (really, part of MTBF).

I can get used to most button feels as long as the action is consistent and positive, but I tend to hang on to my arrangers for at least five years or more, and actually PLAY it for up to 30 hours a week, so reliability is my overall concern.

Manufacturers have to understand that the primary play buttons - ones that are constantly being used (Stop/Start, Variation and Fills, break/mute and part select) - tend to get hit with close to the same force that we play the keys. It is VERY hard to scale your force back for a quick button press and then go back to banging the keyboard, so these buttons ESPECIALLY need to be very strong and reliable.

BTW.... Roland decided to take the 1/2 measure fill function off of the front panel and give it a hidden place in the touch screen menus (you CAN put it on an assigned switch or footpedal, but there are few of these to share between MANY needed functions). A very poor design decision.......

I seen a documentary earlier this year where some company was in the tinkering phase of have a keyboard hooked up to the guys brain waves,and was actually obeying some of his commands on what function he wanted it to do..thats my era of music!

Hi

I've had my Korg i30 for about six years without any problems at all. Even the EC5 pedalboard on which I have the right-hand pedal assigned as a sustain pedal has been trouble free. I probably spend about 12-15 hours per week playing time. Everything wears out over time, so one day something will give out, I guess - probably me. Yikes!

My body has definitely been less reliable than my Roland.......