I'm having a pickle of a problem selecting the right style for the right song.

Let's take a song like, "Be My Baby". This song has that signature beat in the intro and throughout the song, however if you select a regular 8 Beat Rock Style, it's just not going to sound like the song or that signature beat.

How do you guys match the beat to the song so that it sounds remotely like the song your playing?

Al

use a SMF & play on top




[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-06-2007).]

... or you could try to edit the style adding the missing part (after all you are a drummer, aren't you?), or could program a multipad to play on top of the style.
Re. Donny's suggestion, you could use the midifile to convert it to a style, complete with intro, verse, chorus, fills, etc.
The most difficult part will be transposing all the chord changes so that the part you will be converting will play in the same chord (usually Cmaj7).

Donny, I think that is the most honest answer I've ever read on the SZ. I have owned arrangers for about ten years now, but I always seem to rely on SMFs instead - for that reason. Arranger styles are great, but I guess I don't spend enough time with them to really know how to use them properly or shall I say efficiently.

Al, your question is probably one of the best questions I have ever read on the SZ. I want to know this answer too. The closest I've come to finding an answer is using the Music Finder (choose your name), but I'm guessing the real answer lies in learning our keyboard's styles inside out. I'm looking forward to other answers.

Kind of like what Donny said:

I download the original and play it on my laptop. The first thing is to get the correct tempo. From there, at least on my 3K, I try different styles by changing the style while playing (to keep the tempo default). I am working on a 50's medley and others and do it this way - works great for me.

As Dreamer said, I end up muting tracks to keep it clean and utilize my variations, endings, intros to the max.

I was up till 1:30 am doing this sort of thing - time races by

Good luck.

EMC Styleworks Universal easily converts any SMF to a style.....a must have program

http://www.keyboardstyles.com/styleworks.htm
http://www.keyboardstyles.com/stylefactory.htm


[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-06-2007).]

I see where this is going and that's great info. But i was thinking about the times you think of a songout of the blue and have no idea what style to use to play it on the fly.

Time signature dictates style.

Feel of the song (reggae,tango,cha cha,8beat etc..) is step #2.

Cassp this is where being a musician comes in ...ANY song can be played with any style if you know how to improvise & have great timing.

The first thing ..before you search for the right style is to record the progression in your "chord sequencer"..

Now if you are really good at this, you can start morphing different parts from other styles, and filter out particular parts to zero in on the tune...Most of the time you can come up with a workable style this way...

Of course you will need to get a G1000 to do this......


When I go through new keyboard styles, I play a style and then get song ideas from the style...then catalog them..This is easier then having a song in mind and try finding a style..