Hi Boo

Maybe what I was saying was not important, but I was not joking. I certainly consider your point about the loop length to be important. Style fatigue is a major problem for me using an arranger keyboard. So anything any manufacturer can do to less this fatigue is appreciated. Longer loops is certainly one approach to addressing this problem.

You are also undoubtedly correct in pointing out that the factory styles on the Korg i30 use longer loops than do other arranger keyboards.

I was only making a minor point that even though the factory styles of Yamaha (and from what Fran says, Roland) may have short loops, they are both capable of using styles with 16-bar loops and longer. In fact, the Korg i30 styles can be converted for use in those arrangers. I would not want someone to make a purchasing decision based on the false impression that Yamaha and Roland arrangers cannot use styles with long loops. If they choose to make the decision based on what the factory styles are like, then that is fine.

But returning to your main point about the tedium of a 4-bar loop repeating over and over, I am in complete agreement. And it probably bothers the PROs among you more than it does me. Recently I find myself drawn to my Roland XV-5080, which has no autoaccompaniment (other than rhythmic loops) because it sounds fresher. The next arranger I buy will have to address this style-fatigue issue better than my PSR8000.

To say that a keyboard is "best" for anything is a big statement, particularly when it is no longer in production.
I have many styles on my PSR9000 that are longer than 4 bars, and the same was true on the X1 and KN5000. And the KN5000 came from the factory with a style converter disk that made it easy to convert styles from other manufacturers. It also had the facility to turn sequences into styles ONBOARD the keyboard. Certainly not limited to 4 bars. If it had a hard drive that didn't cost a million dollars and any kind of decent mic processing, I would probably still have one. All songs are not suited to long styles, just as all songs are not suited to short styles. The manufacturers must always compromise by trying to be all things to all people and of course that isn't possible while keeping the prices reasonable. At least not yet.
Personally I haven't ever even heard styles from GEM, Casio (top end), new Korg, Farfisa or any Roland after the G800. So I can't even say which are best for me, much less best for somebody else.
I think the last time anybody went out and bought a keyboard on my recommendation was when New Jersey Donny bought my KN5000 to replace his Korg. Fortunately that worked out and we're still friends. Tom still pretends to like me after buying my X1 too, but buying that was mostly his idea! Would you believe he traded a PSR740 to me and gave money to boot!!! But I digress. . .
I find myself turning off sections of the arranger so I can play more authentic background parts. Sometimes less is more. Of course for Boo, this is not an option, because last time I looked it took two hands and a mouth to play the sax. (By the way, folks, he plays the chrome off that thing!)
I'm the proud owner of a Boo CD.
Just a few short years ago (here's the OLD pro talking), there was only one choice in arranger keyboards--Yamaha. Now they have plenty of competition and it gives us many good choices. It always boils down to what best suits the individual needs. Sounds like the I30 is the one for you fo far, Boo. But have you played all the others? Does the I30 have 4 variations of each style along with 3 intros, 3 endings and various fill, all of which can be used in real time? I don't know, just asking, but these features certainly relieve the style boredom to a great degree.
DonM


[This message has been edited by DonM (edited 01-03-2001).]

Don Mason please check your mail!