yes Ian agreed but you would struggle to make a composition without using a style. Maybe using odd time signatures or intersting intros /endings. Recording in styles is fine if you want to follow a basic song format but if you want to work from scratch most people will struggle with a PSR. I am a fan of the yamaha range but its sequencer limitation disuaded me from getting any of the Tyros products despite their undeniable sound quality

Spalding,

I'm a big fan of using styles...making a recording from scratch doesn't interest me much anymore after years and years of studio work...perhaps it's just my natural laziness, but at this point in my life I want things to be fun and easy.

I have a very recent Cakewalk program...didn't even bother installing it...I like the immediacy and the fun of using the style...if I do any sort of editing, it is with the style...I like making my own so that my recording is different.

Also, recording a whole song without the thought of editing forces me to play an entire piece of music accurately...it may even involve a bit of practice, but in the long run, I benefit from this in my "live" performances.

I don't think of either way as being "better"...just what suits me more at the time.

If I do decide to go back to recording from scratch, I'd probably use a software sequencer.

To each his own...

Ian

My workflow usually involves laying down a guide track using the arranger, for which I am VERY grateful there is a built-in sequencer in the G70 (I never said they had NO use!). I then transfer the SMF by USB back to the computer and open it in Cubase.

I then start muting each arranger track, and replacing it wholesale with my playing, which gets rid of the 2-4 bar 'snippet' sound of arrangers, and perform a REAL bass line, with voice leading and walks that go where the chord structure goes (probably the biggest weakness of arrangers is the bassline never knows what the NEXT chord is until you get to it, so leading and walking are close to impossible).

A bit of editing to the drum track (I'll often leave that intact if the feel is right, but I'll change the fills up so none completely repeat, and add in any stops or breaks that the arranger couldn't manage), and it's mostly done.

If it's intended for performance solely on the G70, I'll then transfer back to the arranger, and do some fine-tuning to the drumkit (changing snare and toms pitch, panning), and some some basic voice editing in the Makeup Tools (easier there than dealing with the sys-ex from the computer!) and a final Save.

If you are content with the song as performed by the arranger alone, then the computer is not a necessity, and for the 'I got to have a sequencer for when the moment strikes', I say that I never HAVE said I don't want or need a sequencer onboard AS WELL as a computer at home, they are very handy for capturing inspiration (or the lack thereof!) wherever you are.

But unless you do the bare minimum of editing, rearranging, deconstruction or wholesale reconstruction, a computer makes a FAR better tool than even the best onboard sequencers. As I said earlier, you CAN surf the internet on a cell phone... but if you had a computer, you would probable prefer to do it that way...

I totally agree with both Ian and diki. How you use the sequencer is not of any consequence so long as you get the musical output that you intended even if you start it on board and finish it on a computer . But...... Yamaha is definately losing the potential extra sales because they have omitted an onboard sequencer with the detail that is available on competion keyboards. I have never decided to NOT buy an instruiment becuase it had a feature on it that i rarely use. But i have chosen not to buy an instrument because it did not have a functions that i wanted.I wont hijack the thread any further although i guess these posts are actually relevant.