Hi,

advice would be very appreciated:
I´m looking for an arranger keyboard.
A few words on my musical interests:
1. I would like to create my own music at home, use the keyboard as workstation and won´t use it for live performance etc. I´m not so much into ballroom stuff, my favourite music is soul, R & B, hiphop (no techno!), acid jazz, rock, jazz and latin music (salsa). I feel a little "between the two worlds": interested in modern pop music, but arranging it the old fashioned way via chords etc. I find arranging samples boring and it seems to use up lots of time if done decently.
2. Usually I am working with the onboard sounds, tweekability is not so much needed (but a good effect section!)
3. I am a guitar and conga player. So keyboard quality is not so important.
4. Sound System Quality is of lower priority
5. I have worked with the yamaha q 70 and the roland pma-5, tried out the q-700, but I found the variations of one style (only start, A, B, two fills, ending) very limited. Fills very often did not seem to fit in. MC 303, 505 and the yamaha eqivalent were to much into techno, filled with poor sounds and for a chord oriented guy like I am not satisfying.
6. My ideal keyboard:
a. Natural sounding styles (drum & percussion section!)
b. Many styles, many variations of each style (progressive drum features)
c. vast possibilities creating new styles from existing
d. Stylesection oriented towards modern pop music (funky etc.)
e. workstation-qualities: sequencer etc.
f. very good and versatile drum and groove section
f. Composing section powerful but no to comlicated
7. What I´ve read in this forum:
solton X1: very natural sounding styles (recorded by real drummer), many style variations (true?) but the list of styles puts me off: the keyboard seems very ballroom oriented. Very few "modern" styles, it seems. Is there a convincing library of different stuff?
yamaha psr 9000: very good sounds, many style variations (true?) but I guess the styles are very much like the ones I´ve heard from the yamaha gear (I found most roland styles more impressing), ballroomoriented or modern styles ?
Roland EM 2000 / G 1000: Many drums, many styles, poor style variation (true?), more modern music styles than the competitors I suppose, crappy packaging (em 2000)
KN 6000: buggy?
well, thtas a long posting, sorry for my English. I appreciate any kind of help and advice. Maybe an arranger keyboard is not suitable for my needs? (neither band in a box or likewise)

Tanx so much and merry Christmas


Heinrich

Hi Heinrich,

Though I am a 'live giggin' keyboard musician, it sounds like we have similar musical tastes (soul, R & B, hiphop (no techno!), acid jazz, rock, jazz and latin music (salsa). I have a Technics KN5000 and find it works great for these styles. There have been previous postings that suggested that Technics keyboards are geared more for 'Mantovani' sounds (lush strings) etc but actually the KN keyboards cover a 'broad spectrum' of sounds/styles which include a 'healthy dose' of the ones above.

Yes, the new Technics KN6000 is still buggy (not recommended at least until the chord recognition problem is worked out) but I 'HIGHLY' recommend the KN5000 as it both sounds great, is EASY to compose, navigate and operate. Also, because the KN5000 is last years 'top of the line' model, you can probably pick the KN5000 up for a good price.

The stock R&B / soul, funk, jazz & latin styles are very good yet it is VERY EASY to customize, create your own, or import your own custom patterns/sequences into the KN5000. With so many of the current R&B & modern pop grooves available on the internet as free downloadable midi files, it is easy to load them into the KN5000 and convert/create your own custom KN5000 style patterns. Each custom Composer Memory (ABC) file can hold up to 6 different fill different variations and 12 variation patterns.

Previous to owning the KN5000, I was using a Roland RA-800 (module version of the Roland G-800) and found it both awkward and frustrating to operate. I find the Technics KN5000 extremely easy to use and the operational design condusive to both composing & playing music, yet it is vastly powerful & deep (tweekable) making it the friendliest Arrqanger Workstation keyboard I have ever owned (easy to make edits and parameter changes 'on the fly').

Though other brand/model keyboards may have specific sound and style strengths, the BIGGEST STRENGTH in the Technics KN5000 is in its' 'ease of use' for composing, sequencing and creating your 'own' custom styles. I strongly urge you to check out the KN5000.

- Scott

Hi Heinrich,

Interesting comments you made about the X1! As a very happy owner of one of these, it has all the styles you could want. If you got the Hard Drive version, there are more than enough 'modern' styles as theres around 400 more styles, and a lot of them are dance/disco etc.. and Latin. Theres more than enough modern styles there.

As for Latin styles, you will not hear better Latin styles as on the X1.

Alternatively, if its just styles your looking for as a priority, maybe you should check out the Korg I30, this keyboard has some amazing styles. They are fairly cheap now almost half price I think. Its a great workstation as well, Ive created songs on this keyboard very easily. The only problem I have with the I30 were the sounds, although usable, they were not as good as the other top keyboards, I think this was because they put all their effort into the styles.

Good Luck,
Danny (UK)

Scott and Danny, thanks so much!

The KN 5000? Hope I can check it out soon but a few members in the old arranger forum seem not to be in favour of this keyboard (sound and styles).
X1: I heard only the styles on bank A: very good drums, very nice fill ins and breaks, but very few styles that go with my musical taste (soul, acid jazz, hip hop). Surely it is a gem for pro entertainers but I guess I need something else.
I30: You´re right, the sounds are a weak point...
Can anybody give me an advice about the roland em 2000 and the yamaha psr 740?
a. quality of the styles (eg. hip hop, soul) b. number of variations (4?), fill-ins (4?), starts, endingsin creating new styles?
c. possibilities in creating new styles?

Help is again very much appreciated.

Heinrich