Rather a LOT more expensive than an NP-30, though.. (you have to take that into account, or we'd ALL be playing the Oasys!)

Excactly!! save your money its well worth it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U9OPrBnAKk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag53JgXTQNQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-DSh9t1qiA

Hi Diki

The YPG's really do impress me in sound and in key feel. I also have to deal with a bit of carpel tunnel, so a lighter action would be fine in my estimation.

Gig or stay at home? Don't know yet. I mainly am exploring doing music in different ways lately. One thing is, while I love the arranger, with my background on trumpet, sax, drums, keys and playing in bands, find myself wanting to be more of the total sound.

So, I've been experimenting doing left hand bass, pedal board bass, full keyboard piano, left hand manual guitar parts with left hand piano and other voices usually with only the drums on. I've been experimenting having a rhythm guitar going automatically, but it sure does compromise what I do with my hands.

So it's really about exploring new ways of expressing more of me rather than all the gadget's.

Scott

Thanx for those links Donny. Those board are pretty nice.

OK, no edit, so when I was mentioning left hand manual guitar parts, I meant to say right hand piano and other voices.

I will always approach this as an organ and am thinking of having the two set up with pedals.

Straight piano can be nice, but I've seen way too many top notch organists when I was in the home organ business to ever really want to just play piano. One sound really doesn't cut it with me. Variety to me is the biggie.

One great player comes to mind and that's Rick Ionne (sp). I first saw him with Wersi and last I heard he was a clinician for Roland.

OK, no edit again, but it seems to me that with most modern music the built in styles are fine, but as soon as you really want to do a swing, jazz or even foxtrot type of thing the arranger sounds so canned with those repitious backgrounds.

As far as comping with your left hand with the arranger going, I've never heard anyone get it to sound exactly like a regular piano player would again because of the compomise you have to make playing chords with a certain voicing and having to hit the chord pretty close to on the beat so the bass and guitar are correct. Rather unnatural sounding to me.

It's the state of the art though. I've never heard one of them do what I'd really like it to do in the older styles. So, I always tried to make up for that with right hand things.

I actually believe that's why we all, some more than others, are changing keyboards as much as they are. We get bored with the best of the best arrangers and look for new styles to make it fresh, then we get bored with those styles and on and on. IMHO

Sounds pretty good for a $300 keyboard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jvuchCUkBg

I have the NP30 which I use mainly as a controller and I will say with absolute certainty that there is no way those sounds were coming out of the keyboard. It does the job I want it to do perfectly but it does not sound like that and I dont think that the greatest pianist in the world could produce that tone. As there did not appear to be a feed out to an amp I wonder how it was done.

Trevor

To my ears it doesn't sound too bad for a cheap board, except that what detracts for me is that some of the notes/samples don't sound "proper piano quality" ie. produced 100% by hammer hitting string.
There seems to be an element of "plucking" in the sound sometimes which adds a (slight) tinny quality. It became noticeable in the second (slower/quieter) Baartmann piece.

Not that it would influence any decision I might make to buy it as if I did I'd use it as a controller for Ty2.
I'm currently undecided whether to go for it or wait & see if TY2 successor adds extra keys- or even switch to Motif.
Too many keyboards can lead to unused clutter aound the place

John