Donny,
DonM played the Midjay styles for me over the phone. My biggest concern is that I'm worried about conflicts between the i30 and the Midjay. I want to keep the i30 because of the styles and a smoother transition to the Midjay. Maybe later if I love the Midjay I'll get rid of the i30, but don't bet on it. I downloaded and read the manual. Very, very interesting.

Now it seems that you and DonM both commented that you had a couple of issues about the Midjay that you weren't elated with. Would you please state the issues here?
You too Don, I forgot to ask what were your hang-ups of the Midjay.
Boo

Boo, my issues were from comparing it directly to the Sd1.
The Midjay doesn't have a Rotary effect for the organs (can't slow down and speed up).
The vocal harmonizer is different, it is a Vocoder. I'm getting used to it.
Only one mic input (SD1 has two).
I'm sure there are a few more, but all are relatively minor. In C that would be Am
So far the advantages far outweigh the drawbacks.
Gotta run,
DonM

bricboo - If you purchase one please let us know what drawbacks you find. I'm planning on purchasing one in the next couple of months and would like to get all the info I can before purchasing.

Thanks

Ed

Boo....I wouldn't get a Midjay if I were YOU....your too hung up on the i30 if Im being honest.......if the i30 makes good music for you as you say then keep it save money & take your wife out to a nice dinner & show...no need to buy anything else....

The Midjay is NOT a full blown Arranger....if that's what you do & mostly just play KB then dont buy a Midjay unit...
But if you need to play a KB hooked up with awesome styles & sounds, with most of the essentioal arranger onboard features, plus mix & match playing WAV/MP3/SFX/SMF/VOCw/harmony/plus Record & be able to work all these modes of operation in realtime ALL AT THE SAME TIME if needed with great navagation & very kool editing features on each in just a 7lb package.....then Buy a Midjay! You cannot just compare the MJ to an Arranger its a different animal....BUT In the Right hands its an AWESOME Piece of modular equipment, once you do your homework, set it up JUST FOR YOU & you won't look back....I know I won't ...
I love mine and so do my audiences every night & day that I perform for them....It realy gives me so much flexability for any venue....I even just finished a new CD project totaly recorded on the MJ alone with super results.....
I hope this helps you my friend!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 03-31-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 03-31-2006).]

Donny,
In your opinion will I be able to swap back and forth using a style from the i30 to do a tune and then on the next tune use a Midjay style without taking 20 minutes to make the change.

I'd like to leave the keyboard in full mode to play piano or guitar along with the Midjay style for the vocals.

Don said it would work from the "thru" of my vocal harmony unit and that a note from the i30 would trigger the Midjay right into the intro. These were some of the things I'm worried about. I'm mighty close to giving one a try.

If it works with the i30, I'm going to like it as much as you guys. I can tell. I may just use it with a controller some day! Who knows?
thanks again,
Boo

Donny,

Just curious do you do any of your own back up vocals; recording harmonizer and/or recording individual parts? If you do do individual parts do you have to start from scratch if you make a mistake?

Regards,
Ed

Ed......No you dont have to start from scratch if you make a mistake on a track as we all do when recording.......its sought of a suedo Multi track recording operation that works very well.....

You record your music first.....then SAVE/NAME it as a song WAV file.....
Then you would Record your vocal track using the saved music track as your backing track.....then SAVE both.....
then Record the harmony track using the new saved music/vocal track........

Remember you can also record using all modes at once too!!! WAV/MP3/SMF/SFX/DJ loops/Styles mixin & matching as you go along....its really awesome if you have a good creative imagination!

Boo .....with the MJ you can record all your backing tracks at home using your i30 or MJ styles etc .....
then on a gig just take the MJ your SAX & Mic and PA and your on your way buddy.....no need for a KB

Donny,

Thanks for the info. This sounds like exactly what I have been looking for.

Presently, I use the Motif Classic to produce backup vocals, along with the Tyros as an arranger and also to play back with sequences but whenever I record a new wave as a track I have to Start from the beginning which is a real bummer. Plus the I believe the ram in the Motif Classic is only 64K which is quite limiting.

Hoping to get the Midjay in the next month or two.

Have you by any chance used or heard the optional Harmonizer in the Midjay? Do you know what the cost would be to add the harmonizer? And finally, what's the best price and place to buy this unit.

Many questions and I really appreciate everyone's patience and time that it takes to respond.

Regards,
Ed

Ed,
I do have the harmonizer installed. It is strictly a Vocoder. It "sings" the notes you play on the keyboard. It doesn't have automatic chordal harmony.
You can assign it to left split, right split or midi. It has options to have the voices sound an octave above or below your voice, plus "True". The default setting seems to work best for me. It keeps the notes close to the octave in which I'm singing and sounds very natural.
The mic and harmonizer each have 3-band e.q. and effects settings.
I have started to like the harmonizer a little better, but you must put a little thought into using it. If you are singing a C note (in the key of C) and you push an E and G, for example on the keyboard you will have three part harmony. If you just press one key, you will have one harmony voice. If you press 3 keys you will have 3 harmony notes sounding.
It does allow you to do some interesting things such as hold a note with your voice and do moving harmonies.
On/off can be assigned to the Ketron footswitch (optional). If you install the harmonizer it will be essential to have the footswitch because there isn't a really simple way to turn it off or on with your hand. You must change screens to do that.
Big drawback: there is no indicator light or signal when the harmonizer is active or off.
I have asked Ketron to address this in a software update, but so far AJ has not responded to it.
Every time I call up a registration, the harmonizer defalts to "on", so before starting I must remember to push the foot switch to which I have assigned the harmonizer, since I rarely want to start a song with the vocal harmony on.
The jury is still out on whether I will continue to use the harmonizer or go to an external one. I'm trying to keep the setup really simple and prefer to use the internal one for that reason.
DonM