hello friends!

i did not post much lately on the forum (but still read your posts) because i am happy exploring and knowing my new keyboard by myself; still, that does not mean i gave up on this wonderful place!


as some of you know, i have a new Roland E60 arranger, wonderful keyboard, and i thought i would share with you some demos of it.
just visit my webpage, and find the demo link.
the page is still not finished yet, but that shouldnt bother too much!

http://adimatis.xhost.ro

[This message has been edited by adimatis (edited 02-16-2007).]

Great stuff.....thanx so much for sharing with us ....its nice to hear some nice home made demos vs factory....nice job...would love to hear a few more in the ballroom dance genre....Cha Cha, Merengue Swing, Waltz, 6/8

stay well

A lot of people here would probably be very interested in how you feel about the key action on that 76 note key-bed. How do you feel it stacks up against other arrangers you've played, and perhaps can you compare it's 'feel' to some of the synth workstations out there?

There are so few 76 note arrangers to choose from, and most that want 76 keys place a slightly higher priority on how well it plays......

Is there anything that feels similar, like Triton76 or MotifES76 that would make for a comparison?

hi adi,
i've had an e60 a couple of weeks..i'm trying to decide
whether or not to keep it or trade it in for the pa800 when that comes out. I like the sounds and styles, I love the 76, it just falls short re on-the fly controls for live play--you can only do one thing at a time w/foot controller..same w/d-beam (and you need a clip-on light for d-beam for gigs or it won't work in low/medium light) I find the keybed Ok, not great or bad..just decent.. the speakers are tinny.

i didn't like the natural piano, the superior piano is only a little better, so I came up with this, tell me what you think:

take the classical piano on p3, which is muddy, go into
tone edit on menu page, reduce resonance to -64, and increase cutoff filter to +35/+45, depending on your taste....tell me if u like it..i'm loving it.

------------------
Miami Mo

Adimatis nice stuff. I'm with Donny would like to hear more along the ballroom genre.

hey!

donny, stephen,
next time i will update my demos and i will post also some ballroom stuff. the styles in this genre are not any less than what i posted already.

kvs,
i will try your settings and give my oppinion. but i must say, i still like natural piano best. not that the sound itself is greatest, but doesnt sound bad at all to me! speaker are decent, not very lound, but for loudness of course you have to use a pa system. nevertheless, for practicing and playing for one small room audience shoud be enough.
about controls... this is where i would change some things if i could (but i cannot!). i really miss the four pads from my previous korg. and also the fact i can not mute tracks of a style knowing exactly what i am doing... i thought the "bass&drums, combo, full band" options found on exr series or gw7 was a good stuff, too bad i don t have it on my e60.

diki,
i know, keyfeel is a major factor when it comes about buying a new keyboard! it was same with me! so, indeed, i can tell you from my experience that this factor can change everything. i did not like yamaha feel too much, this is what drove me away from it, despite the other good things.
anyway, compared with korg pa50's keys, E60's are more firm and rigid - meaning they are not flimsy or weak. the touch response is good, not perfect. sometimes when playing fast some accordion line for instance, you can easily miss some notes (in this case a is good to set a light or fix velocity level).
i shortly had a korg triton le, i can tell you i liked that keybed, and E60 is somewhere there, but still, not that good. i couldn t say anything about motif, since last time when a (shortly) play one was two years ago.
i made a comparission with roland xp60 before, because i have played for years with that keyboard. so, E60 has a longer course of the keys and i think the keys are also a little bit longer, but other than that, they are pretty close. not that they are the same (rememeber, xp60/80 was the flagship for synth line of roland, 7-8 years ago) but they are close.

best to you!

best compared to what? when u try classical w/the changes I suggested then say yea or nay...takes
only a minute. go to p3..choose classical..hit menu..
hit tone edit, change last 2 on right...-64 on resonance,
+35/55 on filter..tickle keys.voila!..

.... nice improv ... really nice recordings ...
thank you ....
t.

[This message has been edited by santantoni (edited 02-21-2007).]

Great music,I really liked it. I am quite impressed with the sounds of the E-50,which only confirms my desire in wanting to get one,since I have looked at it's features and sounds for a while now.
I can only moan about one thing in your performance: the guitar bends in the 3d demo. The music is very cool,I was particularly impressed at the intro,very nice fusion harmony...but the guitar bends are far too uncontrolled . Don't be offended,though...if you consider that I have been playing electric guitar for many years,and the fact that I have always been very strict on perfect intonation of bends and vibrato,you know where I come from...

Still,I prefer a creative musician with some uncontrolled guitar bends ,than boring music with perfect bends.
I must say,though,that I too find very difficult to emulate guitar bends on keyboards...
Practicing them for a minute a day,very slowly and minding that the bent note leaves and reaches the intended pitch exactly,is a great way to improve...
Just a tip,which really is the way that it's practiced on guitar.
Your demos were very cool.
Looks like the E-50 is a very good 'inspiration' instrument... the way it should be. I am just waiting for an used one to come up on eBay But I know it won't happen too soon...

[This message has been edited by santantoni (edited 02-21-2007).]

[This message has been edited by santantoni (edited 02-21-2007).]

no offence at all, since i agree with you! it was even funny a little bit to listen to my guitar line after recorded it... everything was recorded in one take and definitely the board is wide enough hard to make it right.
well, i will update all the demos soon, as i will upgrade also the content of webpage.

about learning how to use the joystick for bending and vibrating the guitar sounds... is a little bit hard indeed. i tried to watch very carefully the guys that demo some arrangers, but they are doing it so fast (they know how to do it already) but i will eventually learn the right technique.

Sorry,I forgot to mention the most useful thing : to practice vibrato slowly.
Without mentioning that,my previous suggestion is useless
As far as watching other people demoing arranger keyboards,it's useful,no doubt,but I suggest you listen to some mind-blowing guitar piece where the player has great vibrato skills...there are so many pieces and players,but one piece in particular that had great impact on me as regarding vibrato,is John Norum's 'Shimmering Highs'.
The slow melody at the beginning was an eye-opener for me as regard vibrato,not to mention an ear-opener
Once you hear that kind of vibrato,it might spark more ideas as how to perform it on keyboard.
I still have not tried to emulate expressive guitar vibrato on keyboard,'cause I am busy with learning other things about harmony etc, but I sure will try it sooner or later

Enjoyed the demo's - nicely played - keep em coming!
Regards
Mark!

The problem with bending on an arranger, to imitate guitar or horns, etc., is that a LOT of the time the 'real' thing bends on chord boundaries, rather than just in-between.... EXACTLY the time you have to take your left hand off the bender to trigger the next chord. Very frustrating.....

Here's a little tip, something to practice until it becomes natural......

Always try to decide BEFORE you make a bend whether you want to continue the phrase, or can make a break. In other words, let's say you wish to bend up to a note, and immediately keep playing (or add other notes into a chord).... You will get a far more natural result by playing the note you wish to bend TO, and starting the note with the lever already bent down, bend up TO the note you want, and then carry on playing. If you bend TO the note you want from above or below, you will have to release the bender (which often makes a little glitch in the transition) before you can continue playing.

Another little tip is to find all the sample boundaries in your favorite guitar or sax patch. That is, the two adjacent notes where you can hear a timbral change as the keymap uses a different sample for the next range of keys. Now, you can choose whether to bend the note below the sample boundary, and THEN hit it, or play the note above the sample boundary without a bend, or even bend down, THEN hit it. You will then get a pronounced change in timbre FROM THE SAME NOTE (that you hear, at least!)

Anytime you can increase the timbral range of a sound, you increase the expressive potential at your command. Horns, in particular, have a huge range of timbres they can produce with just one note. Any way of improving this on a keyboard is a plus.

It takes some practice, but you can play melodies that have little relationship between the note PLAYED, and the note HEARD, because you are constantly using the bender to shape the pitch of the note so that the NEXT note is slurred or glided to, or adjusted in timbre.

Have a go at it and see what you can do!

thanks guys for tips.
santantoni, i've listened to the song you were talking about and indeed, what a fantastic guitar line! and i understand in what way was it a "ear-opener" for you! i will practice also after listening to that.
diki, you are right about the technique, definitely makes more sense once you've been doing it for a while, in the right manner. now, i will try to improuve mine. anyway, i did not consider my self having a guitar playing technique yet, anyway.
i'd like to have my webpage updated soon and i will post some new demos.
happy playing!