I know some will disagree, but i think a better name for music companies to give an arranger keyboard would be something more like: "Music Simulator"
what do you think?

Well... it can be thought as a instrument for "simulate" music before its out

a better name can be Multi-Board System

I like "arranger workstation"...that says it all!!!

a "Simulator" keyboard? . . . sorry, doesn't get my vote.

I have to agree with Fran on this one. Though my Tyros2 is in fact an auto accompaniment keyboard, Yamaha still insists officially to call it (as evidenced of which appears printed on the keyboard itself) a:

"Digital Workstation"

Why didn't Yamaha officially call it an arranger or similator? I think because these terms conjur up negative images of them not being legitimate keyboards, and geared to one fingered left-hand amateurs/hobbyists of who lack (so called) traditional pianistic skills. I think once more trad piano/synth players discover the Tyros2, they will discover the benefits auto accomp arranger playing affords, Yamaha may then, hopefully designate Tyros2 by (imo) it's more complete & appropriately fitting name:

"Digital Arranger Workstation"


Scott



[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 02-12-2006).]

What was that name somebody tried to stick on them a few years ago? We all voted it down.
Anybody remember?
DonM

That name was Hoxophone and this name is
still used in many countries of the world.
A hoxophone is an arrangerkeyboard and some
of the best keyboardplayers in the world
use this name. My friend Mart Weeho, a great
stylemaker for G70 does and so do I.
However I am not a topkeyboardplayer.
Musicsimulator is not a good name !

Orchestrator keyboard

Yes, that was it! I've never heard it before or since until now. Strange how different nationalities use differing terminology.
DonM

And it's a good thing.

While the dictionary definition of the word Hock is a hind quarter of a large animal, I typically hear it used for pork.

The name "Hocksophone" conjures the image of a saxophone (or a xylophone) made for a Hock - a pig.

To me the main difference between an arranger keyboard and a typical synth or a "workstation" is that the high-end arranger is primarily intended for live performances. Hence, I would vote to name it "Performance Workstation".

Regards

We must invent a 3 (max 4) letter acronym, that must also be easy to pronounce, so my bets are:

Spontaneous Music Generator.....SMG
(sounds a little spooky)
or
Musical Idea Performer......... MIP
or
Musical Idea Creator............MIC
or
Music Style Player..............MSP
or
One Man Band....................OMB
or
Busker Oriented Keyboard........BOC

or simply

Non-Pro Keyboard................NPK


how about those???


P.S. I am joking about the last one.

I can go on for ever...

Look Ma', No Hands.............LMNH
Cannot Read Staff..............CRS
Play Like a Pro................PLP
Not A Synth....................NAS

and the list is endless...



[This message has been edited by trident (edited 02-13-2006).]

Oh! I LIKE SMG! Spontaneous Music Generator--that's me!
DonM

IPF.......It's paid for.

I like "Arranger".

I'm sure Yamaha didn't just pull the name of their a.. They spent thousands of $ on market surveys, studies, etc. before using the name.

I deal with the Japanese quit regurly at work. They are very detail oriented. They even want to know the name and maker of the pen we use for marking the product serial number.

Jerry

It is a Hoxophone, not a Hocksophone.

Sounds the same

Hocksophone sounds good to me. I had to go into hock to buy mine.

Tom

STB - Simply The Best
DAK - Digital Arranger Keyboard

MMB - Magical Music Box

"ARRANGER FAKESTATION"


As perceieved by many "Not In The Know"
out in the Audience

This is got to be the best ,
its called an arranger because its many instruments you can play all alone, and so its called
THE ALONE ARRANGER.

(where,s Tonto)



[This message has been edited by nardoni2002 (edited 02-13-2006).]

Tonto...they closed shop back in the 80's...Didn't they?

Oh, you meant this Tonto[Silverheels]..

Here is the other Tonto.
http://www.isaotomita.net/tonto/biography.html

Nice to see so much support for a Hoxophone.

Does a Hoxophone really exist? I googled and wikipedia'd the word and both came up blank.

What about: OMRBwS&SWMI&DSTYCSOTFwHtHaSoM
One Man Realtime Band with Synthesized and Sampled Waveforms Manipulating Instruments and Drums So That You Can Sing On The Fly without Having to hire a set of musicins

The real spelling should be HOAXophone because there are lots of hoaxes that people told about it.

BPA & GAP.......Better Play Alone & Get All Pay

That is an old joke. It is a Hoxophone and
not a Hoaxophone.
If you do not like this name you don't have
to use it. Than stay with arrangerkeyboard.

It is not Hoaxophone, nor Hocksophone, nor Hoxophone - that is an arbitrarily made-up word, and incorrectly at that.

A short discourse in etymology:

The definition of "Hox" from Dictionary.com is hox

\Hox\, v. t. [See Hock. [root]??.] To hock; to hamstring. See Hock. [Obs.]

and "Phone" has many meanings, all related to the Greek root, which means "Sound".

Clearly, the arranger keyboards have nothing to do with hamstringing the performer; if anything, they promote creativity and assist in live performance, without having to wait for the band members to show up and practice their chops.

Also, most arranger keyboards today do not have speakers; hence, they produce NO SOUND, and calling them anything-PHONE is incorrect.

Whatever you may want to call an arranger keyboard, a "Hoxophone" it is not, at least not in English language.

Regards

phone in Greek, ("öùíÞ", pronounced Fonee, fon=like von in German) means "voice"

The greek for "sound" is "ihos" ("Þ÷ïò", "i" as in "it", hos as in "hose"

This is strange, but in Greece when they refer to arrangers they call them harmoniums. that is the closest English word I can imagine

[This message has been edited by trident (edited 02-15-2006).]

FEMA Keyboard -

Finger Everything Manually Automatically

How about

The "Cash Cow"

Different stories but they don't make sense.
Hoxophone is just a name and you can take it
or leave it. For me and many other players
it is a good name. If not for you, no pro-
blem, do not use it.

In Russian/Ukrainian/Belorussian maybe even Polish language the name for arranger keyboard sounds like this: "Samogray" or "Samograyka" it sounds a little kiddie, which translates to english to something like "Plays by itself", whole eastern european/ Slavic countries use that name.

Also Remember when Yamaha's PSRs used to be named "PortaTone" ?

Well, we don't call it like that here in Bulgaria - an eastern european country. Arranger keyboards are known just as "keyboards".

But I admit "Samograyka" describes it perfectly! I think this is the best suggestion so far.

George

I can see where the "Samogray" would come from. However, it has strong negative connotations - in Russia or Ukraine, where many people still learn how to play piano (or at least used to until recently), this name would denigrate the player, alluding to the fact that it is not the player but the keyboard itself that is playing.

I think that as a group of people performeing in front of the audiences, we would want to emphasise the fact that it is the performer who is playing, and not the keyboard itself. We have had a number of threads in this forum dealing with this, and I believe none of us want to promote the idea that it is the keboard, rather than the performer, who is playing.

Regards,
Alex

How about "CLONE ARRANGER" ;-)