http://tinyurl.com/26bx7g

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 07-04-2007).]

very interesting how the tyros is labeled "arranger" and not a "workstation"...

I am looking at my tyros 2 right now and says on it "Digital Workstation"

words are powerful advertising tools for the subconscious buyer.

Says it on a G70, too. Doesn't make it one, though..

When your sales and market share start to fall, don't actually do what your customers need, just slap a label on it that just SAYS it can do it!

because the G70 has a very good sequencer, a complex style composer and more edit capabilities than most arrangers..Also so many parameters and don't forget the harmonist possibilities too...Yes it is definitely a workstation by any definition..

I would think any keyboard that has patch editing, sequencing, and onboard mass data storage could be considered a workstation-it is the styles that make a keyboard an arranger. Put them all together and you get an Arranger Workstation. -my 2 cents

I remember a few months ago starting a topic on the definition of an arranger and some people felt it was a frivolous topic.

With respect to arranger v. ”workstation”, we also have to look at the difference between having a “workstation” feature and the complexity of that feature.

Most people erroneously think that the complexity of a feature determines whether the keyboard is a “workstation”.

Two of the most recognized features of a “workstation” are a sequencer recorder and sound editing. Once a keyboard has those features, they can legitimately be called a “workstation”. Regardless of the complexity those features exist and whether people use them.

Remember, as discussed here, the editing features on an “arranger workstation” it was felt that arranger players can not use them.

Detailed editing is one of the essential features of a workstation. K2600, MotifXS, Oasys, FantomX, M3 etc., ALL of these have editing capabilities FAR in excess of just about ANY arranger (possibly PA1X excepted).

They ALL have extensive arpeggiation capabilities (unlike most arrangers) and are capable of the production of ANY modern style of music AS WELL as older styles (unlike most arrangers).

They ALL talk fluently to ANY other piece of MIDI equipment, no matter the dialect of MIDI they need to hear (unlike most arrangers). Sys-ex, ANY type of controller codes, ANY channel, any of which can be mapped to any controller the workstation possess, which are usually FAR in excess of most arrangers.

They usually don't make ANY assumption about how you need to split the keyboard, either by position (at LEAST eight zones is the norm) or by velocity (again, multiple overlapping velocity splits is the norm).

They ALL (except for the least expensive) have samplers, with VERY detailed (down to the sample start and end points and loop markers (usually several loops and often release loops), and again, VERY detailed voice editing, usually with multiple choices of filter types and curves.

MOST of them have multi-track audio recorders built in, with close to DAW capabilities (not simple two-track 'capture' devices, with next to no editing)...


'Why would anybody NEED all of this?' probably a lot of you are asking... This is why you are playing arrangers. You DON'T. You need the interactivity and 'get out and go' attitude that an arranger is best at (me too, don't get mad at me! )

But please don't think that just because it has the word 'workstation' on it, that it compares to a MODERN workstation...

But this is like saying that, because, in the distant past, a 'sports car' was the only vehicle that could go 70MPH, ANY vehicle nowadays that can go 70MPH can be labeled a 'sports car'.

I just feel that for a MODERN arranger to qualify as a 'workstation', it should have MODERN workstation capabilities, not those from several generations ago...

And Fran... One of the most fundamental features of a workstation is the ability to edit a voice, and then store it WITH THOSE EDITS, to be called up into any setup you are using. The G70 (by itself) is completely incapable of this most simple, basic workstation feature.

This one omission alone disqualifies it (IMO) as a 'workstation'.

And a harmony generator (and style editor) is pretty much an exclusively arranger feature. I can't (off the top of my head) think of a single workstation with one...