We recently has a stimulating discussion about what we call "flr2006", ie; arrangers & softsynths, and an unrelated post on another forum has given me an epiphany. I thought I'd share this with you guys and see what you thought:



I'd heard this before but it makes more sense in light of the softsynth vs. hardsynth discussion. I thought we'd see a new breed of Yamaha softsynths when they acquired Steinberg and basically bought VST technology but it hasn't happened (yet?). In fact, Yamaha buried it's only XG softsynth some time ago, Roland makes proprietary softsynths for their hardware only, which leaves Korg as the only one of the top major three keyboard manufacturers to be making true softsynths (and even then, only emulations of their hardware products).

There's little doubt that softsynths are going to be increasingly seen as viable for live use, and they are multiplying like rabbits, so developing host instruments makes a lot of sense... it may be an inevitable result of progress. The two keyboard/instruments makers that are leading the way to the future in my mind are Open Labs and Muse Research, both American companies. Also, I think that laptop computers are growing in capacity and have a place in modern musician's lives so many of us are finding ways to incorporate them into our stage rigs.

I never saw this trend towards softsynths as a cultural clash before now, but as I recall the many years I have suffered with the difficult operating systems, slow upgrade offerings, translated-to-English owners manuals and frustrating customer support from Y/R/K instruments in the past, I realize that my flight to softsynths may indeed be a need to get away from Japanese keyboards. For example, I have no interest in the Tyros 2 because it's a closed-architecture instrument that doesn't address my needs for a serious 76 or 88 note keybed, and it never will. It may actually be offending Yamaha Japan that we (American and other non-Japanese consumers) would suggest making a 76-note Tyros. The Roland G-70 and Korg PA1X-Pro have also come up short in one way or another for what I need (polyphony, lack of pro recording outputs, lackluster sounds, limited computer interfacing options, etc.).

When I look at my studio and my stage rig and think of what it would look like without the Japanese products I've relied on for so long, it changes everything. It's a little like finding the cause of a mysterious pain that's been bothering me and finally knowing what to do about it.

Does this ring a bell for anyone else?

Jim,
I feel your pain... I also in the back of my mind am always looking for something different that will do it better, give me more choices, make my gigging life easier vs the Traditional gear, KB's, software, we now use & are used to .......hopefully as technology improves at a rapid rate people will realize their own specific needs & try to search for what their little nitch in the music world, put together out of all the gear, software, etc availabe and try to compile a rig that is perfect for them personally to achieve their goals musicaly. This is the future and if you dont stay on top of it you will fall behind technologicaly.....manufactureres know this obviously and tend to string us along....but I see a trend in fustration as you above mentioned making many rethink options & that is a good thing, we have the power as consumers to make changes......good luck in your quest, it will become a reality for sure

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-13-2005).]

If this 'cultural' psyche, and its inherent intransigence, is the prime underlying reason behind all this, then it surely makes no commercial sense.

Is it then to be assumed that markets for their products are so strong in their home countries that, in their eyes, the rest of the world can go hang? I really can't see that myself. If there wasn't any profit in the global marketplace they wouldn't be there in the first place. Why would they retard their own progress?

Things that make you go hmmmmm, indeed.

No, Y/R/K products have a strong European and Middle Eastern base as well as their home Japanese market. There are even specialized products for these markets while some products are sold in Japan only (some of us may recall begging for Yamaha's XGWorks to be updated for the US market like it was for the Japanese market - it never was). As with arrangers in the past, the websites, demos and info related to the Yamaha Tyros 2 appeared in German well before English. I believe there is a certain disdain by these companies for the American market. Perhaps it's residual from WWII, perhaps it's part of some negative global perceptions of Americans, I don't know. But it is their real strength in the global market that allows Japanese companies to behave this way.

I have no personal animosity against Japanese keyboard manufacturers, their people or culture. But I do personally feel that my business has gone undervalued and my money could be better spent in the future.

You make some excellent points and, to quote Billy Joel, you may be right.

Esh, I think you provided a very thoughtful analysis. In addition, big corporations find it difficult to change and often are caught up with short term planning and current year bottomlines. They make good money with hardware....so why change. If software solution tug at them.....well just buy them out and so on. This will work for a while but good solutions cannot stay bottled up forever.

Roland has shown some initiative and flexibility with their HQ-SoftSynths and providing Windows XP with a standard wavetable. This is a small step.

We will see what the future brings. I just am happy we have alternatives and can make music with tools of our choosing!!!

I feel the gap is between US and Europeans, at least as far as arrangers go (this is, after all, where most of them are designed and/or voiced). My G70 doesn't have an Enka style anywhere, but abounds in schlagers and beer-hall styles utterly out of step with contemporary US music.

We have a chicken and the egg situation........ Roland (and other arranger manufacturers) don't sell arrangers well here because the styles are too old fashioned or European (Tritons and Motifs fly off the shelves mainly due to the little hiphop and rap loops), and they don't develop styles for the US arrangers because they don't sell well!

Sooner or later, one of the big three is going to change, and wipe the floor with the competition! Arranger sales are a fraction of workstation figures, yet the arranger is, by far, the better tool for hiphop and rap, which relies on short, repetitive loops.

Roland and others repackage their arrangers for the Oriental market, why not the USA?

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 10-14-2005).]

As far as soft synth arrangers, I think it will be a wave of the future but for most folks I think it is pretty tough to get through the proccess of the learning curve. That is why I stopped playing around with Live Styler and OMB and Jammer whatever it was.

I am surprised that some company or enterprizing individual hasn't started selling soft synth arrangers ready to go for people like me who don't want to screw around with a bunch of computer programs.

I think if this were available, a few hundred good styles and voices using some of the fantastic sounds out there, being sold with or without the laptop, would have pushed me over the edge and I would have gone that route. To this idea add the service of updates down the road for a reasonable price and I think you'd find a lot of players, including myself going this route rather than considering a Tyros 2 or whatever.

As it is, for a light weight good module I chose the only real choice out there now, which is the Midjay.

It was the first Ketron I had ever heard, and it impressed me enough to add it to other product lines that I currently handle.

I would still love to hear some mp3's from someone using a soft synth arranger. Just enough to hear the sound of it. I don't care about the players playing ability or anything. I would really rather hear that than the demos from the companies that sells the different voices. It's just like when I listen to a standard arranger, I want to hear what live play sounds like rather than a sequence, as I prefer to know what I can sound like playing live rather than the other, which quite often is not a true example of what the live style play will sound like.

Best

Scott Langholff