Donny and I were talking yesterday about starting a thread..A thread that we all would give hints how we use arranger keyboards.
Not a comparison post, but a generic suggestion, and "tell how", thread.

It is okay to use a brand or model for specific suggestions..

Let's all think about it and come up with ideas and suggestions.

Realize we are all from different backgrounds and skill levels, this could be very helpful to all of us..

Just to start off with a hint..
The Yamaha arrangers going back to the PSR2100, has the capabilities to play the style[drums] , of the user's choice ,in place of the drum track of a SMF, in real time..This is a great feature, to liven up a sequence and also to eliminate a wrong drum instruments that the sequence track, plays wrong[keyboard]...The style drums will correct this..
It also makes things interesting..As an example , you may have a 16 beat drum pattern recorded in the sequence..try selecting a cha cha style[drums only], now start the arranger play while the sequence is running...You now have a completely different feel to the midi file...And this also allows you to add fills and variations [drums] to the sequence.

I hope we all find this thread interesting and give it your support with comments..

Arrangers work in so many ways for many diffeent players thats the beauty of these instruments....Another kool thing that I do on stage is "while Im playing" a song in style mode I'll bring up the Registration page & look for another song for my next selection, then when Im ready at the end of the song Im playing I simply just hit the coresponding button next to the new song title on the display screen and "BANG" it immediatly goes into the next song with all my Reg setups "without any lag time" in between songs keeping the people on the dance floor....this is the POWER of Registration use versus the Lacking features of the MFD which I hope will be fixed someday in the future thru updates.....I have many more uses but Im off to another double gig now......hope to read more on this interesting thread when I return home this evening on How YOU DO IT with an arranger KB!!

OKAY...I'll jump in.

I had been playing the new generation of Yamaha arrangers for several years before I discovered how to transpose SMF's, AND the KEYBOARD'S keys to the key signature I wanted to sing in. For instance, maybe the SMF needed to lowered 2 half steps, but the keys had to be raised to +3 in order to be coordinated.

The Transpose + and - buttons regulate transpose as a MASTER function. But, in order to transpose your MIDI FILE and THE KEYBOARD'S KEYS individually, first hit "DIRECT ACCESS", then the "TRANSPOSE +" button.

From there you can select MASTER, SONG (the SMF file) and KBD. Once all the keys are coordinated, it is just a matter of saving it all to a registration.

I can't speak for brands other than the Yamaha, but I'll bet most, if not all, of the newer arrangers offer this feature.

Eddie

Eddie, yes other keyboards do this also..Roland, you change the SMF key in song tools, and the keyboard transpose in real-time or save to a performance[similar to Yamaha's registration], along with the SMF link..

For weaker or thin-sounding tones/instruments, I layer a 2nd tone that compliments the lead tone, and save this as a registration.

There are so many tone-shaping parameters available, delays, attack, chorus, flanging, echoes, reverbs, spatial, etc, etc.

For example, on a 12-string guitar, I might set the 2nd tone to be the jazz guitar with the attack or harmonic content set low, reverb up a bit, and slight chorus added. It helps fill or sustain the 12 string sound in parts of a song where the notes are held out for longer periods (half, whole notes).

On a preset organ tone that I liked but wanted to have more 'punch', I adde a 2nd organ but it sounded muddy, so I added an electric piano, cut back on the chorus, brightness and harmonic content parameters and that gave me the punch without the piano hammer-striking sound.

So many parameters and variations are there to pretty much mimic any tone you want.

I usually hear layering used to add other instruments to the delivered sound, to increase the size of the band, like strings with piano, the sax section with the brass section, but for lead/solo sounds, layering 2 or more tones that harmonically compliment each other works great.

Hi
When I setup songs on the Wersi Abacus (All OAS instruments operate the same) I normally use the Quick load feature on the main screen, and then just load in what instruments I need to the appropriate layer, and also any styles I need, (You can assign up to 9 voices per layer (3 right hand, 2 left hand, 1 pedal) and also up to 9 styles. these can be styles, real drums, midi etc, or a mixture ) I then setup any settings I need (Footswitches, etc) and then store all the information in a preset with the name of the song, that way the amount of presets you need to use during a song is minimal. (Most can be done with just 1 or 2 presets) It also means I don’t have to remember were the sound that I want is.
BTW. On the Wersi when you select a sound/style group button on the panel, 9 voices/styles appear on the touch screen, as well as all the levels. (I.e. you do not have to scroll through the levels; you can just select them directly onscreen)

Bill

Hi,
I use it mainly as a playback device for my songs/music pieces. I play (and sing) over pre-made MIDI files.
I agree that this is not the typical use of an arranger. However, my keyboard has only 2 variations and I'd get bored to death if I had to use them. Fortunately, there is the OMB which helps me play styles that are found on expensive boards but still I can't get used to playing with styles.

Regards,
George

Great thread idea,this is what forums should be about spreading the knowledge.
Myself when playing styles I often mute a style part and replace with a suitable MULTI-PAD. The Factory PADS are very limited so although PADS can be made, I find it easier to take a Riff from a built in style and use as a PAD. You can build up a good selection of suitable PADS to compliment and replace style parts.
Style Riffs can be copied & pasted into Cakewalk to make MUTI-PADS.

One thing I do on my Genesys pro is assign the fill >, fill <, fill to self, vocal harmony on/off and the start-stop to foot pedals.

This helps in two ways: it makes me avoid pressing the fill buttons with my hands, thus freeing up my hands for other thing such as playing the keys and muting and on muting style tracks.

Also, I can sound more like a real band since I could have fills anywhere in the song because when I put in a fill is not dependant on whether or not I have a free hand.

Now were talking ARRANGERS BABYYY!!!
many people will learn many thing thru this thread for sure ....
keep the tips coming