I, myself, am not clear about the distinction between RAP and Hip-hop but I was referring to your statement "I don't like rap especially with all of the "F" words" and wondered what that had to do with arranger styles, as "F" words could be applied to any style, ie. "Take this job and shove it" is actually pretty graphic. Anyhow, I'm an ol' fart as well and am very glad there are still people around like you who can enjoy (and play) current music styles and still respect and pay homage to the greats of the past. Let's keep their legacy alive. BTW, there's a singer from down your way that I always loved who passed away not too long ago, his name was Johnny Adams, a soulful dude who used to play mock trombone solos. Did you ever hear him or hear of him? So many great unknowns from the N.O. area. Anyway,

Peace,

chas

Chas,
Johnny Adams:
I won't cry and I won't shead a tear
I'll keep on loving you year after year
Even though you've left me
Oh I Oh I, I won't cry.
I practiced this tune when I started back playing a few years ago and then forget about it and I've never played it on a gig. I need to make it current.

Donny,
I can't leave I just came back a few months ago. I meant posting this off topic stuff like this on a topic about arrangers. I get off track easy.
Cheers my friend,
Boo

Hurray - Thank the Lord I'm not alone!

I am 57 and also have no interest in waltzes, tangos, rhumbas, foxtrots etc. etc. etc. taking up memory - and more, importantly, using up loads of direct access buttons on the front panel.

What I mostly do is stuff like Whitesnake, Tina Turner, Bryan Adams, Anastacia, odd bits of Motown, Gary Moore etc. etc. Stuff with BALLS.

That said - I recently acquired a PA1X to experiment with. Whilst it does a great job of the type of material I normally do, I am getting a lot of pleasure out of the superb big band jazz swing type styles on this. Also some of the hotter latin styles. They are so good that they INSPIRE you to play that type of material. I wouldn't use these on stage, as the band I play with doesn't cover that type of ground, but they do give a lot of pleasure back at home.

To me, the right answer is to have a good selection of front panel buttons for direct selection of styles in generic grouping, but enable absolutely every style memory position to contain a style of your own choosing. My ideal arranger would come with a set of discs (or a CD) each containing lots of styles grouped by type - everything from Hip Hop and Garage to Strauss Waltzes, polkas and so on . Then, you could load the stuff you liked and just not bother with the stuff you would never use. This would also help with selling arrangers into different national markets, where tastes differ from country to country. One set of master disks suits all. Take what you want - ignore the rest.

For the less technical, the dealer could oblige and pre-load a selection to suit the customers tastes.

I don't think I would apply the same restriction to the sounds contained in the instrument. Even though my tastes tend towards rock music of one sort or another, there is always an odd song that benefits from the inclusion of an unexpected sound from another genre to suprise, delight and add spice to the mix. For example, prior to the Beatles & the Stones, you didn't hear too many sitars played on chart hits. Same idea with the banjo doing the lead part in "Swamp Thing" a few years back. So who'se to say that you will never use that odd eatern sounding thingy that could be a strangled wasp in a bottle? Might be just what's needed to sharpen up a particular number.

Regards - Mike

Korg PA units & a few others let you delete ALL factory styles so you could load whatever styles you want & make it your own....as it should be.

AMEN!!!

I forgot, can you do this with the Tyros or PSR Units ? if not .....why? :confused"