if that's the best controller, what would be the best module for live..for sounds, bass/drums rhythms..etc.

Mo, I don't know if it's best, because I haven't tried a lot of them. Some of them had very bad reviews. George Kaye told me the Behringer wasn't very good. Some of them are too heavy.
I'm familiar with the PCR M80, and the PCR-800 is an upgrade and offers more features, so I'm going there next.
I'm using the Ketron Midjay for module. I think it sounds GREAT, and very live. I'll try to post some songs soon.
DonM

Hurry

took my E60 in for warranty work on d-beam and tap tempo today. hope to have it back soon, they said d-beam
may have just a bad solder connection. hope so.

after playing the E60 for hours, i took my Korg is35 to the
little Italian restaurant gig tuesday night. it was first night
of a probable steady so didn't want to have nav problems, just stay with the familar kb until ready. I gotta admit, i was dragged by the 61 keys, the key feel and the sound of my Korg after the Roland. Just a big letdown, I could nav like a champ but i couldn't get my head into a groove until 2nd set. Was like I had a new kb and trying to adjust.

Carlos Peluzza, a famous timbale player from Lima who has been with the Fania All-Stars and Tito Puente, came
in on last set and played my keys. He sounded good and
he's used to a Triton, so he liked it. so it's not like I was kidding myself about my Korg, it's just that the E60 blows
it away in sound and feel. All the more frustrating that there is so little player control for live gigs. won't go into detail, been there, done that earlier on.

Are there people that can reprogram an OS? there are enough buttons to do all i need, but they are not assigned with a live player in mind. That would be a better alternative to controller/module. No weight problem w/
the E60, has monitor speakers, great sounds/styles/tone edit/mixer/etc..Not sure Midjay will be as good..anyone
want to compare Midjay sounds/styles to say, G70, which
more of you are familiar with--should be similar to E60.



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Miami Mo

There's an English guy named Richard, on the Danish G70 forum, who has written an amazing piece of software to help with batch programming Roland UPGs and UPSs.

I admit that the controls don't always do what you would prefer (but Roland guys will say that about Korg's, and Ketron guys will say that about Yamaha, yada, yada, yada), but it is possible to program the registration to do what you want.

Of course, for guys with huge songlists have a herculean task programming all the registrations. Richard's software (called the G70 Session Manager) allows you to select as many registrations (UPGs) and batch apply destinations for controllers, keyboard modes, reprogram OTSs, re-order Set Lists, many, many things that are tedious to do one at a time.

It is truly revolutionary for the G70. We have quite a few E60/50 members, now, and perhaps he could be persuaded (he charges a nominal fee for the full program, but it is functional without the extras) to reprogram it for the E60/50.

Give it a try......

Diki, I don't really understand a word of it, sorry. I just would like to have all 4 d-beam buttons be for controls,
instead of just one...all 4 one-touch buttons be saved fave sound banks, have a dedicated fade, a dedicated bass/drum-combo-full like the gw7/exr7 and stuff like that.
but i'll contact Richard, if you can tell me how to get to the Danish site..

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Miami Mo

http://www.selskabsmusikeren.dk/

Roland tend to expect you to have a separate UPG (registration) for each song you do. This is how their Music Assistant (Song Book) works.... a separate entry for each song. When you do it this way, you can set up what you want the D-Beam to do for that particular song (after all, it can only control one parameter at a time, and you wouldn't want to have to reprogram it in the middle of the song!).

Richard's program allows you to select ALL the songs (UPGs) that you want it to do a certain function, and batch apply that parameter. Along with any other changes you don't want to sit and add to hundreds of UPGs...

Diki,
thanks for info, sorry to be away here for 2-3 days. I don't use songs at all, so Richard's program no help to me. I also don't see the advantage for me to sequence so I can play 2-handed. I always play 2-handed, because i use piano/rhodes/organ/guitar/vibes about 90% of the time and only use other sounds as "spices"-using a split w/gtr in LH. I use full keyboard mode, even for the occasions i want to pump my own lh bass, so I don't feel my left hand is just boringly repeating chord patterns that I want to be released from. I'm varying what i do with it. any anomolies that may appear in the chord recognition here and there are mitigated by the fact i mostly use just bass/drum,..i think Roland does a great job w/bass lines.
Anytime i have tried what many arranger players do..have the LH not sound, but just voice chords in shorthand, or even in full- i have felt totally disoriented. some good players have sat in on my setups and they feel exactly the opposite, they can't stand to have the LH sound if that's what is controlling the changes. they say, hey, can you take this out please? for whatever reason, i like and need to hear it sound..it's a different thing I'm doing, I guess, and it fits my musical expression, and sounds good in that context, even though some musicians hearing it find it puzzling because it's not what they are used to hearing.

unlike most, i don't consider myself OMB..even when i'm solo. I think of myself as jazz player/singer who happens to have a nice "little" rhythm section helping him out. To have to play against any preset background sequence, other than the arranger bass/drum loops themselves, is not what i would most enjoy--which is why I'd rather not play any sax when solo except brief interludes against a repeating pattern on the same chord..again as a "spice'-i'm not interested in showcasing my act as a sax act with keyboard omb behind me. hence "keysvocalssax", not the reverse..I stopped taking leader dates on sax when i started on keys in y2k, and only use it in full on rare sideman calls, jam sessions, or when another kb player sits in on my kb rig, or on guitar. this should help explain why it is so critical for me to have as much on-the-fly control as i can, getting controls into song format or user saves won't cut it the same way for me. and using a controller w/ a module means a Midjay..could be great but
big step for me plus I don't know if I would like midjay.
that's why i just wish there were some way Roland or Roland users could offer OS improvements.

I realize my concept is not the majority concept and is liniting-- and certainly self-indulgent, since I'm pretty much out of the loop of commercial dates.
on the other hand, my musical satisfaction is at a higher
level when i do work, and they like what i do, because i know they are enjoying the creative aspect of it, as I am, and not just hearing their favorite tunes done in a competent fashion.

.


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Miami Mo

Mo, I think you just explained why you are unlikely to see the OS "improvements" you require. I think that even you would agree that marketing common sense would dictate that the manufacturers (sp) respond to the many, not the few. Your dilemma seems to be that what you require is a highly customizable OS yet you seem unwilling to get "down and dirty" with the OS. What you probably need is something like a Mediastation along with a "hired gun" programmer to set it up for you. Just a thought.

chas

PS: this is not a put-down; lots of people feel the same way you do.....the problem is, each of you wants something different.

chas,
a highly customizable OS is not what I'm asking for..or need..and a Mediastation is way overkill for me, even if it wasn't too heavy for me to handle. all i'm asking for is some modest features that most mid to upper-range kb's had a few years back, in fact- some of the low-enders had it as well.

Roland has the bass-drum/combo/full buttons on its low-mid-end GW7 and Exr7, but not on E50/60. Some of the new lo-end Yams have sound tailoring knobs now-even though that isn't something I must have. the e50/60
tries to do with 3 pages of menus on one d-beam button replacing what used to be pretty standard: dedicated fade, various part mutes, etc. Hard to understand why 3 d-beam buttons that could be normal controls are now filled with sounds and effects that are pretty much in the normal sound bank areas. there is no place to store a modest amount of fave sounds, except in full user setups.
Most other kb's from lo to hi end have had at least that.

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Miami Mo