Magica Alpha that was a good demo. I liked the style, liked the guitar and it did have a live sound to it. The drums fills were a little bit hit and miss but that is just a timing issue in terms of pressing the fill at the right time. If that was a standard style on the MS as it would sound shipped from the manufacturer then this is more like what i would expect of a top line aranger!! But if you designed this style yourself or had to tweak it for it to sound good then for me ( just for me) the jury is still out on the MS.

That is the best demo i have heard from the MS so far. Can you tell me whether or not gigga or vst sounds were used in the style if any ?

For the record, i believe that the sound at least in this demo was comparable with the top 3 arrangers in the market.

Finally, i can say i really liked what i heard.

Now....if the MS can have all its styles programmed to this level of musicality it could would be worthy of being called a pro arranger. That means that the MS would have to remove the styles that are poor or not up to standard because it actually does the reputation of the MS serious harm and also some of the demos on the MS site need to be removed seriously.

My question (not aimed at anyone in particular) is why, if the MS has styles like this are they not being used as demo's on the company's own websites ???

Surely this can only encourage purchases instead of some of the scary ones currently there ?

Yes, Magica Alfa!

A nice, simple style with dynamic sounding drums, good use of effects, and nicely balanced. Kudos...!

Now, as has already been said, when ALL of the MS style library approaches this level (or even exceeds it), it can FINALLY hold it's head up and look you in the eye while it claims it is better than a T2!

Quick question.... was the guitar with the vel-slides part of the style, or was that a right hand part..? I'm just saying because it seemed, right at the end, the slide triggers were set a little sensitive and every note you played had a slide, probably not what you intended. I must confess to preferring pedal triggers for performance tricks like this, so you can choose where and when they appear, rather than having them pop out EVERY time you play hard, whether you want them or not... Perhaps the voice can be re-programmed?

I enjoyed how little RH you played, I was finally able to get a small glimpse at how well the MS manages fractionally 'late' chord input, the bane of arranger playing! Every arranger has it's own way of dealing with this, and it's one of the most important things to an arranger's OS.

Anyway, please keep more of these coming. Perhaps if Dom sees how well they are received, he might finally see the light about 'content first'!
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Donny, yes, primarily it's a 76 note thing, then the V-Drums, then the OS and touch screen, then the GrandX piano sound (I prefer 'warm', darker Steinway type piano sounds to the bright, even brittle sound that Yamaha prefer), then the key-bed, the Makeup Tools, the constant updates....

OTOH, the T2 dominates in guitar sounds (I use a guitarist, so it's not the determining factor for me), the orchestral voices are great, the SA voices to die for.... There are many things that are superior with the T2. Everyone knows that I am no 'my arranger, right or wrong' guy. Only a fool thinks that there is NOTHING that could be improved, or no useful features exist in another arranger.

I know I could be perfectly satisfied with a T2 in a 76 note configuration, but until Yamaha offer me the choice, it's not a decision I am going to have to worry about!

One more installment from my friend Tito http://www.yousendit.com/download/TEhYa3ZOQ1JtMExIRGc9PQ
Bachata he called it. I don't think I have posted this one yet

Richard

Dear,

Thanks for your post. I'm surprised with replays.

About demo:
Style is part of MS and is factory on board. But this LSCP is part of MS and it is more streamed on guitars and drums. It is new LSCP based on new GM GIGA Sounbank 8530 V8

I must explain that LSCP is file where are all data of GIGA GM program changes are and also start volumes. Numbers of MS GIGA FILES are every day bigger and better. But you are right - it takes time. Same like all other keyboards. But my updates are free. I like LINUX and this open MS.

Only streamed was ovation guitar. I use it from library on MS existed. But that sound is really great guitar with velocity and not only that I can use one key for changing sound of this program all possible parts of taping, sliding, reverse etc.

Yes style is made with some velocity and I did not change that because I want to use ordinary style. I will fix that right now. Because of that I’m happy that here are some other members that can say what they hear.

Good thing of PC based keyboards are bigger GIGA files and that is great. I can use on any key severally different samples.

Thanks for replay once more and I wish you enjoy playing what ever you play.

MAGICA ALFA

Hi Magica.
Nice stlye there. Drums sound good, I wasn't keen on the fret noise you can hear all the way through, but it is certainly a huge improvement from the days when I had my Mediastation.

If Dom could get loads of styles onboard like that, then tweak and fine tune them even more, the MS would then be able to compete with some the other arranger keyboards.

At the end of the day the MS is not an arranger, it is more of a workstation with an arranger feature thrown in, that is still in need of a serious update, but it will get there some day

[This message has been edited by Craig_UK (edited 04-27-2007).]

Sadly, though, Dom keeps trying to make us think the MS is an arranger with workstation features, rather than the other way around. Claims that 'all other arrangers are obsolete' doesn't help him, when anyone that uses one as an arranger quickly bumps heads with the styles.

But I am definitely seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Basically, until the MS was able to utilize GIGA voices for EVERYTHING, it was always at the mercy of his onboard sounds, and he never could afford to develop a sound set that would rival any TOTL arranger. It's a massively expensive undertaking, and few companies, even the Big3 can afford to develop a completely new sound set for ANY new keyboard. Mostly they add just a few new sounds to an already developed set, expanding, rather than innovating. Dom could never do that, he had to start from scratch, basically...

I still think Dom needs to get together with a few TOTL GIGA sound developers (maybe Scarbee and others) that have already developed mature virtual instruments, rather than go through the expense and uncertainty of developing them in-house, and license them to pre-install in the MS, and develop ALL the styles for this. Otherwise, it is still going to be a bit hit-or-miss depending on the sound.

A consistent, balanced and comprehensive sound set is the necessary foundation for style development, and one of the weaknesses of an 'open' system is that this set is not standardized for style developers to work with. It's a cart and horse thing. Can't make a good style until you've got a good sound set...