Hi Fran,

I just wanted to thank you again for making your way over to the Hammond Organ Center yesterday so we had the chance to meet face to face. It was a pleasure speaking with you and hearing about your past store ownership experiences, etc.

I hope you had a safe trip back to your home. I made it back home about 10:30pm last night and had a great nights sleep so I could be back to the grindstone bright and early this morning.

Anyway, thanks again for making the effort to visit.

Best Regards,

Dave


------------------
Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

Dave Thanks for the invitation...I enjoyed the visit...Thanks for taking the time to show the Genesys PRO..It is a great board...Maybe I might have one down the road..

Dave, if you ever make it across to Southern California please let me know so I can catch with you as well. Though we are lucky here to have George Kaye in Reseda who presents arranger keyboards in their best light.

Nigel

....and what about Fran's opinion on the Genesys? I would like to hear that, you have the time Fran.

yea Fran, spill the beans... tell us what you thought of the GPro. I have yet to get my hands on a Genesis board in the New York area and I highly value your opinions.

Al

Hi Nigel,

I will definitely let you know.

Best Regards,

Dave


------------------
Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

Okay time to spill the beans...
Dave showed me features for about an hour and a half..
I previously asked Dave some questions via email that he answered prior to the demonstration..
Primarily I asked about:
Can you select,search any of the formats[smf,wav,mp3]while one is playing..likewise while playing in arranger mode?
Dave answered..not exactly--butyou can make a data base of the above, the limitation is you have to remain in the folder group selected___if you go out of the group___what ever you are playing will stop..This is a work around,but not as good compared to Ketron Midjay..
I asked Dave if the Genesys Pro can change the key of a MP3 or Wav in real time..his answer..no.. The Midjay can change Wav but not MP3's...
I asked Dave if a drum track can play[realtime] with a SMF[like Yamaha]..he said no..Not without recording the drum track to the SMF..

One of the things I like to do,is have the option of assigning the SMF channels[multiple,to a single vocoder channel..as example 1.3.4.5 to channel 5],,I do this with the G1000 and an external harmonizer. I have not found any instument yet,that can send this assignment to it's own internal harmonizer.
Dave is going to investigate this further.
These are the topics I asked before the demo..

Now for my views[initially]..
First..The Genesys Pro is built solid[it reminds me of the SD1..only with 61 keys].
The buttons are solid.Layout is good[have to get use to it though].
Some multiple windows,with a handy escape button to take you back to the previous window.
Screen is two tone,not very large,but okay..
Key feel is very good..again reminds me of the SD1, and the PA1X..
The harmonizer sounds good,especially Dave's illustrations..up to 4 part harmonies..Quick assignable edits for the harmonizer.
Edits for the sounds are excellent.
Just about any parameter is available.
It will compete with stand alone workstations.
Controller features are very good, including velocity switching of tones[like the G1000]..
Continuous controller options abound also..

Sounds are subjective,as we always say..
The acoustic piano is decent..I still prefer the Roland acoustic pianos, but I think the Genesys Pro piano is better than Yamaha's piano..Again it reminds me of the SD1..
The only sounds I actually listened to were:
good strings,good trumpet, decent guitar, good bass..
Organs were a mixed bag,like all instruments.
Presets ranged fron average to good...None sounded as good as a VK sound source..
I didn't quite figure out access to effects, including the rotary effects..

What I like about the Genesys Pro in recap:
[keep in mind, I only spent a little time with the instument].
Solid construction and keys..
Strong edits.
Great synthesis parameters.
MP3 and Wav playback.
Strong harmonizer.
Recording[audio] functions and burn to onboard CD burner..

Over all the Genesys is a great instrument, that may find it's way in my studio...My other considerations remain..G70[still have to play it] and Midjay[spent a day with it , but have to try it again to see if some bugs were fixed..

I'm sure Dave will be happy to elaborate on some of the things I mentioned..

Hi Fran,



Of course I am!



Well, the fact is I could have (and probably should have) just answered a simple yes to your original question. Using the Data Base function, which takes two button presses to access, you are presented a list of ALL the songs located on the internal hard drive; this includes all file types, i.e. SMF, GEM Song, Wave file and MP3. Highlight a desired song and press Play and that song will start. During song play it is possible to scroll up/down the DB List and find the next song. If you wait for the current song to end, you then would press Play to start the next selected song. Or if you press enter during song play, say at the very end of the song before the clock actually stops, simply press Enter and the selected song will immediately play back, no matter if there is a format change or not.



Would someone please give me a scenario where this would be useful or necessary? Is it that you are not happy with the drum tracks of the SMF’s that you use? Or is it that the SMF selects standard GM drum kits and your arranger has access to better drum kits than in sequence play mode? Just trying to understand. Thanks.



The technique you use is interesting and I am sure it gives you additional possibilities in harmony. One thing I just thought of that would make it possible to do what you want using the Genesys is to copy/merge the SMF tracks (channels) to an open track. Remember SMF’s are 16 track total and the Genesys has a 32 track sequencer so this does not present a problem. One the desired tracks have been copied into another track, simply set the Vocoder Track within the Vocal Genius to the newly created track and you are done. These steps would take no longer to perform than it takes for you to make the necessary changes in your current set-up and in fact would allow you to not rely on the external harmonizer.



Just a quick comment; the monochrome screen is a pleasure to use when playing under bright stage lights of varying colors, which can render sections of a color display useless. And the contrast slider directly below the display makes it very easy and fast to correct for sitting/standing positions and anywhere in between. And having the buttons to the left and right of the display is nice when selecting sounds since it is much easier to know you have made the proper selection due to the tactile response of the buttons.



If I would have known your interest in piano sounds, I could have shown you that there are way more than just one set of acoustic piano multi-samples to choose from. The only acoustic piano you heard was the Fazioli 10’3” concert grand. There are also a 9’ Steinway and several others like the original FFT Merge Sampled acoustic piano sound from the GEM Pro 2. Sorry I didn’t go into more detail there because there is a ton of versatility in acoustic piano sounds from the Genesys.

Thanks again Fran. It was nice to meet you in person.

Best Regards,

Dave


------------------
Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 08-05-2005).]

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 08-05-2005).]

In a previous post in another thread, I said to Domenik of Lionstracs to watch people like Dave doing their job, using the forum to promote their products without resorting in fights.

I am glad to be right
Theodore

Dave, On the Yamaha PSR3000 and Tyros you can play a midifile and while it is playing you can select any style or variation available and push the start button for the style section and the drum track used for the song file will be substituted for the current style and variation selected and the tempo will be sync'd to the song tempo. You can select any of the four variations and fill ins and they will change in real time while the song plays. At anytime you can hit the stop button and the original drum track will play and vice versa.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California