Scott,

I prefer the Solton's chord mapping over Yamaha's. On the surface, the 9000Pro seems to be more flexible with 7 user selectable 'Fingering Modes' which changes the way the keyboard recognizes the chords. This is a good thing and all keyboards should have this feature. Unfortunately, none of the fingering modes in the 9000Pro suit my playing style and it gives me the wrong chords. I prefer to play in the pianist mode (full keyboard), and I also like to have the bass looping from my lowest note (I like to play the bass note). The 9000Pro does not have this fingering mode!

Solton has a pianist button that switches the keyboard from split to full mode. And then there are the 'To Lowest' and 'To Root' buttons which switch the bass loop. This is done easily during live playing with various button combinations. So far, Solton has faithfully recognized all my chords.

On the 9000 Pro, the fingering mode selections are burried deep in a few menus and then one has to scroll down to select the fingering mode. This is not acceptable in a live situation where I need to switch fingering mode from song to song.

I don't think it is hard for Solton to include the rootless voiced chords you requested. I think they should add it as an alternate map and make it a user selectable option. This will make a lot of players happy...

Henry

Cliff,
I don't think I said November for the next release of keyboards from Yamaha. The low end PSR's will be available this year, but the 10,000 or whatever it will be called I expect by NAMM show 2002, which would be shown in january or february. I have no concrete date for this, just my talks with Yamaha people.
George Kaye

Hi Henry01,

It's great to hear that the Solton's chord recognition system is working well for you. This further demonstrates the diverse needs of different players. I was impressed by the SD1's many useful features including the one you mentioned, but with a keyboard of this class/quality, it is a shame that it cannot be upgraded to recognize the commonly played rootless chord voicings in full keyboard mode as well.

Henry, I agree that offering an alternate 'user selectable' chord voicing recognition map, or better yet, a "user customizable " one, would be the BEST and most flexible way to go and would provide the answer to satsifying the needs of the largest number of keyboard players out there.

As I had stated in an earlier post, a "User Customizable" Chord Voicing Recognition Map feature is already included on the newest top of the line Lowrey brand arranger style home organ ,so this clearly demonstrates that this feature could be easily added to our arranger keyboards as well.

I spoke with our good friend George Kaye today and he has sent "numerous" emails to both Bell Solton in New York as well as Solton Ketron in Italy. He still has not received any reply from them and it has been nearly two months now. If we don't get a response from Solton soon, I can only assume that they are not interested in listening.

Scott http://scottyee.com

Scott,

Solton engineers have added numerous new features in their last few OS updates on the X series. They are constantly making improvements to their products and release these ROM updates to the public. They added a 4th chord recognition mode in their latest update (3.2a). I would not be surprised if they include the 'rootless voiced' chord mode in one of their upcoming ROM releases. Stay tuned...

Henry