alright, i found a local retailer carrying the Tyros at a relatively good price. It looks like i might make the purchase this week. Are there any last things for me to think about. ie. will the tyros last me,should i consider the motif, kn 7000? thanks!

ses

You really can't compare the Tyros to the Motif ES, I have both and they are 2 different boards in essentially all respects.

You need to decide whether you want / need an arranger or a workstation.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 09-10-2003).]

well, what is the best way for me to decide?

ses,

Let your ears decide. You need some quality time with the boards you are interested in to see which one captivates you the most.

Al

you are right my friend, I shall follow the path towards enlightenment

There is no dealer in my area that carries Tyros, Genesys, KN7000, SD1, or VA7.

However, they all carry PA80 and most likely they will carry PA1X.

Believe it or not I am forming my impressions about these keyboards simply from reading these topics in synthzone.

If you have the chance to try some of these keyboards, this is a great opportunity that many of us do not have. I conquer with all: use your ears.

It depends what you will use the board for.

Are you using the rythms a lot to accompany singings ? If that is the case, then arranger such as Tyros is the way to go. Many of the forum members are one-man professional entertainers and they CANNOT stay in business without arranger keyboard.

BUT if you use it in a band with other people playing rythms(drums, bass, etc) then you want the MOTIF like keyboards that specializes in the SOUNDS. This is also the case for those people that composes songs and creates rythms from scratch (lots of work). Even a composer will benefit a lot from an arranger. I believe MOTIF calibre keyboards will beat the sounds of Tyros any day. But if you try to have a full band YOURSELF and accompany singers/your own, then MOTIF will fall short - it does not have arranger features.

Nobody carries arranger keyboard where I'm at also.

I would suggest getting one from a place that has a 30-45 trial period. It's actually pretty hard to tell with a couple hours in a store. I hear of lots of players who get it home, only to find out they didn't try everything out, or they don't like the operating system or something.

If you want to try something and they don't have a trial period, and you don't want it, then sell it on ebay. If you buy right, you could stand to make a few bucks, Even if you about break even, whats the loss, if you're not really happy with it? A person could try all the keyboards they want this way.

Also, I am aware of some players in bands that use an arranger keyboard for various reasons. Maybe they do solo gigs on the side, or maybe they like to use it to practice or just have fun.

Very dangerous to buy a keyboard and never to have heard it. There is one in particular that a lot of players seem to like, and I thought it had the ugliest sound I had ever heard.Everyone that heard it, especially after they heard my PSR2000 thought it sounded bad. The operating system was atrocious, and the 300 page owners manuel was for a genius. That's one reason I ended up with a PSR2000. Previously I did not like Yamaha keyboards one bit. But they have really come a long ways.

Best
Scott Langholff

[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 09-10-2003).]

Scott has very good point. At ALL cost, buy one at stores that has 30 day money back guarantee like Guitar Center - it will save you lots of grief. There just too many things that can cause you to dislike a particular board, no matter how good people may say about it. I bought PSR550 that was raved by many people in this board and spent $600. It sounds great BUT I really disliked the way it handled the registration memories. And I had another offer a day later for PSR2000 for around $550 in perfect condition. The smartest thing I did was buying the PSR550 at GC so I could return it. Before that time, I also returned a CASIO WK1600 and PSR1000 - all were highly recommended to me and sounded good at the store for couple hours. But after trying them for a couple days, it is obvious that they were not meant for me.

Ahh, this is confusing me more now (which might be good) From what I have been hearing, the Tyros sounds are without equal. You are telling me that the Motif has better sounds? I mean, im really caught here between arranger and synth. On the one hand, I am primarily a composer and do alot of my work from home. On the other hand, I enjoy the ease of my 740 arranger and will gig occasionally on the side (my big gigs are usually on a piano though) . Is the motif significantly more difficult to learn? Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this : ) Thanks guys

Being you have a psr740....the logical upgrade is a psr2000/2100 great Kb's for the money.....save yourself some money! get one at GC...try it.. if not return it with their 30 day return policy...

Just some added thoughts: one question is whether you intend to be a "one man band" or not - will you need live backing or are you just going to play piano live? How many keys do you require for your live gig ? (if it's more than 61 then the Tyros is out). Workstations like the Motif can cover studio and live gigs but they aren't as well suited to one-man-band things without add-ons like arrangers are. The Motif has no hard drive option for storing midi files for example, though it does have some external storage options. The Tyros (or the 9000 Pro in my case) is truly made for stage use, offering a wide range of stock options especially for entertainers like voice harmonization (the Motif offers this with an added PLG card). And arrangers allow live improvisation while maintaining the one-man-band aspect. If you are a performer primarily, the arranger is the way to go. You listed composing work as your primary goal so it sounds like the workstation should be your first choice. If you use it with a laptop then you'll have plenty of live gigging options as well and you can add things like a harmonizer later.

Personally, I play several nights a week but I also work in the studio several days a week so I have a 76-note arranger for stage use and I'm about to replace my studio Kurzweil with the more-studio-freindly Motif ES 8. Hopefully songs created on the Mo will be compatible with my 9000 Pro, and when I want to dress to impress then I'll use both boards on stage (the Pro/Mo rig!).

Alright so this brings up a few more questions.

If i get the motif: 1. how much of a learning curve will i experience 2. how easy is it to integrate with my laptop (what will i need) 3. can i use it in conjunction with my Psr740 at the same time, if my primary work is composing (rather than one man band) is a Tyros really that unessesary? thanks guys!
ses

Hi,
in your compositions, do you actually use styles from an arranger, or do you multitrack and compose from scratch ?

Years back, to me. that used to be the big difference between a workstation and an arranger keyboard, the workstations didn't have styles.

Unfortunately I don't know the features of the current workstations, things may have changed.


best wishes
Rikki

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"Originally posted by Scott Langholff:
Also, I am aware of some players in bands that use an arranger keyboard for various reasons. Maybe they do solo gigs on the side, or maybe they like to use it to practice or just have fun."
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I've seen some people use arranger in the band including myself but not anymore. There are many times that you may press the "Start/stop button for the auto-rythym to start in the middle of your live performance and it's very embarrassing. If you will use arranger in live with other people, be cautious about hitting buttons. If I were you I'll get the motif. - Dan

how hard is it to use the Motif ES, i have no experience with synths! I am still leaning towards a Tyros despite the fact that most of my stuff isnt styled because it seems that alot of people have found the tyros useful for composing as well, but you guys are seriously making me think about the Motif.

Sesom163

From listening to your comments, I think you should get the Tyros. A synth will require you to create your own sequences and drum patterns and you must have a great left hand bass technique to equal what an arranger keyboard will give you. Out of the box, an arranger will allow you to concentrate on song composition, harmonies, and groove without having to worry alot about technique and programming.

The Tyros is killer at playing midi files, allowing you to play along to electronic sheet music with lyrics. The built in harmonizer will allow you to experiment with different vocals and give your performances a much fuller sound.

The Tyros rocks, IMHO, and it will inspire you to write and play songs.

The Motif is a sound machine which will force you to program your arpeggios, patterns, and sequences. Although you can do that on the Tyros, you MUST do that on the Motif.

I really don't think you can go wrong with the Tyros. However, you can become overwhelmed and intimidated by the Motif.

Hope this helps
Al

kbrkr, thumbs up to you for telling me what (at the very least) i wanted to hear. All of you have been very helpful, you always are, so keep it up Synth Zone.

Ses