Steve,
Thanks for coming into my store today. We did have fun! I enjoyed meeting you and showing you what are arrangers are capable of doing. I hope to see you again soon. I too enjoyed listening to your songs and visiting your web site.



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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

Nice website, good songs. Steve, I think you'll find that an an arranger keyboard will help you compose and perform your songs much easier. Think of all the studio time and money you could save by recording your stuff yourself with some simple PC software ( or a small 4-8 track recorder) to go with your arranger. Just a thought; your arrangements are simple enough to do solo.

BTW, stick with George Kaye. He'll do you right and steer you into the right keyboard for you. He's knowledgeable of most make and models and he's a good guy too. Good luck.

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Cass www.cassponline.com/

Donny,
pitch correction is as legit as any other tool we use. most incorrectly think they are in perfect tune just because they think they are not horrible..there are so many degrees of being out of tune.

it's more than ears, because
if we record we can usually hear where we are
not quite there and we are all surprised and depressed when we are not. but it's harder to hear when in the act of singing, plus a lot has little to do with ears, but with untrained sound production technique. you can have fantastic ears for pitch and still sing out of tune.
try this..ask a disinterested party to listen to you sing with and without the pitch correction (has to be far enough away or with
loud enough background music to cover your
natural unmiked voice) ask that person which way you sound better..I'll put money on it
thatthey say you sound a LOT better with the
pitch correction.

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Miami Mo

A little off topic, but not really: HankB has an E50. His MusicPad Pro thing fits perfectly, landscape-oriented, on the music rack. It looks as if it were made for it.
DonM

Lucky thing she didn't recognize you .

Sorry, sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it. Getting robbed at gunpoint is no laughing matter, but the (unintentional, I'm sure) phrasing made me chuckle.

On topic, I use an arranger to both write and "quick-arrange" new tunes. I work with several singer/songwriters in the area. However I find myself using workstations to track 'final' instrument parts (although, in most cases, arranger voices are just as good, quality-wise). I don't use either for live performance (jazz organ trio). For serious demos, I would look elsewhere for recording capability although either might be okay for a "quick-and-dirty".

Although it's easy to say 'throw money at the problem', I'd say, get the best instrument you can, arranger or workstation, at the budget you've set, and start a new savings campaign for some decent recording equipment. At your price point, I don't think you can find something that will fill both requirements to your satisfaction. Just an opinion.

chas

CHAS

Yeah I totally agree...I've had a "used" TRITON EXTREME 76 on layaway at GUITAR CENTER for 3 weeks now....at $900...was just kicking around the idea of an ARRANGER

Last night they set it up for me and it just blew me away...I can just get a dedicated drum machine for fills/intros etc...But i can copy all the drum patterns to the sequencer...I THINK THE SOUNDS ARE AWESOME INCLUDING PIANOS...

The ARRANGERS accompaniment I wouldn't utilize as well a several other functions...

I felt the extreme 76 "ACTION" felt much better action wise than the ROLAND FANTOM 61...I CAN GET A NEW ONE OF THOSE FOR $1300 (floor model only)

But I felt the extreme 76 was better in so many ways...touchscreen and all the COMBI SOUNDS...TOUGH CALL THOUGH AND IT IS NEW

The Fantom may have a drum machine on board which I'm waiting for Roland to open to confirm...

But I agree I need a workstation...But I did investigate the ARRANGER avenue pretty thoroughly...Not quite for me for my ONLY board...

Now USED 76 KEY TRITON EXTREME $900 or "NEW" floor model "FANTOM 61" for $1300???

Thanks

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Steve A
http://www.soundclick.com/stevealtonian

[This message has been edited by Steve A (edited 02-14-2008).]

Hands down, go for the Triton Extreme. With 76 keys and those great Triton sounds - go get it.

I agree with Cass about those Triton sounds. I prefer it over my MotifES and my SonicCell (FantomX engine?) but of course, that's purely subjective.

chas

It's just a shame that those Triton pianos suck bigtime... even the expander board. Get the sample loading option SCSI board, and look around at some sampled Akai sets. I don't think you'll be happy piano-wise until you do...

Hold on a second... Korg have released the PA800's piano as an upgrade for the PA1X. Presumably, you load it into the sample RAM. Does anyone know if this piano has been released for the Triton series sampler? This one is playable, at least...

I still think that we are getting song-WRITING and song PRODUCTION confused, here...

If you want to make the final CD for release, then a Triton is a great tool. But if you want to sit down at a keyboard, and experiment with chord progressions over an inspiring rhythm, and try to write a song, quickly, the Triton will only slow you down. I think an arranger is by FAR the better tool for writing the song. You seemed to indicate that the recording end will be done with real musicians at a later stage (and don't let anyone kid you that doing it all on a Triton or anything else, for that matter, will sound as good as the live players!).

Be careful about using the wrong tool for the job...

BTW, I have a Triton as well as an arranger... the Triton stays in the studio, and sees active use on CDs. But my arranger goes home with me every night, and gets played for when I am working on songs, trying to arrange, trying different 'feels' out on a song...

You can't do this with a Triton. By the time you have written the different drum loops, laid down a bass line, a few chord tracks, an hour has gone by, and the inspiration (or the desire to experiment) has gone. On an arranger, you can try a dozen different 'feels', a dozen different structure arrangements on a dozen different tunes all in the same time! That's the song-WRITING aspect.

Don't get the two confused.

Diki's advice is exactly what I explained to Steve when he came into my store. I explained to him that the Triton is great if you have the knowledge and the time to record every track you would need for your song. You would have to record a drum track, then a bass track, etc. etc.
The arranger on the other hand would allow you to just get your idea down quickly and easily and especially if keyboard isn't your main instrument, you wouldn't have to be a great drummer to record drums, a bass player to record bass, etc. etc.
I also told him and showed Steve the negative of the Korg Triton piano sound compared to the Roland piano sound.
Usually, my Trition, Motif and Fantom customers are not my guitar player/piano player/ singer/songwriter customer. These are usually the arranger customers.
It's interesting to note that at this years NAMM show the product manager from Korg for pianos and arranger keyboards is trying to get the word arranger out of the korg advertising and replace it with the word "songwriters keyboard". This sort of sums it all up!


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com