Funny, I thought the G70 styles sounded much better after they were reworked for the T2 and PSR-3000. Same goes for lots of other keyboard styles. Of course, the folks that took the time to rework the styles figgured out why they didn't sound great, then took the time and effort to rework them into something very usable.

Todays high-end keyboards, unfortunately, don't seem to sound very good out of the box, but most can be tuned to sound very good--it just takes some time and effort on the part of the owner. And, YOU HAVE TO READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL! There are lots of folks that never seem to be able to extract the Owner;s Manual from the zip-loc plastic bag. And, if they do, they spend at least 5 or 10 minutes reading it before placing it back in the bag, or just tossing it in the trash. The next step, of course, is to post questions on the various forums asking "how do I do...?", which can usually be found on the second or third page of the manual.

I think my biggest gripe is with individuals that really don't take the time to explore their keyboards, the vast majority of which are very good. It is absolutely amazing just how much is packed into the OS of today's keyboards that is never used at all. I still come across musicians that have owned a keyboard for 2 to 3 years that didn't know there was a way to tune the onboard EQs.

What I would really like to see more of on this forum is posts that say things such "Neat, new way of tuning my XXXXX keyboard and saving the information. Or, how I set up my mic settings to improve the vocal harmony." Sure would be nice to get back to these kind of positive posts guys and gals. Hmmmm! Also noticed there are darned few ladies posting on this forum as compared to some of the others. Rikki is the only one that I can think of at the time. Ever wonder why they don't frequent this particular forum?

Cheers,

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Hi Gary,
great comments.

One would have imagined that, that is what a forum is all about, sharing your experience & expertise & trying to help other members.

best wishes
Rikki

I completely agree with Gary. When I bought my Yamaha PSR3000 it was because of the support or info sharing from other PSR users I found on another forum. And to this day they contribute tons of useful info that others can make use of. I also agree that owners need to learn how to use the keyboard - my story is a perfect example. Last week I put my PA1X on ebay after one week of ownership. During the past week I discovered tons of things I can do with sounds, performances, etc and was very glad today when Ebay emailed me to tell me it had not sold. I too was expecting a lot from the keyboard "out of the box" so to speak. It would also be nice if other Korg players shared their music - not to compare with others or to showboat but to demonstrate what they are doing and what is possible. As a new PA owner I hoped to find a forum where exchange of ideas and info flowed freely - by the way - before anyone thinks I am ungrateful - I do thank those of you who have answered my "newbie" questions and appreciate the time you took to do so.
Hey - just a "newbies" thoughts.

Hammer

Gary as always great thoughts in your post. I agree with your point on G70 styles souding great when tweaked for the Tyros 2 and Psr 3000. When I realized that about half the songs I played at gigs last year on my T2 were using G70, Korg and Ketron reworked styles I started getting restless and started looking for a new board.

On the subject of Rikki, I'm happy she owns a PA800 in 2 months she's shared some valuable info with me on the Korg OS.

I'm guilty of not delving into an OS as deep as I should. After working with computer OS all day at my full time gig solving user problems that when I get to the keys evenings, I want to play and enjoy, possibly improve my playing a bit. I suppose it's a lame excuse Not to mention with the knowledge shared here by folks like Rikki and yourself it can make some of us a little lazy



[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 02-21-2008).]

Take the time to tweak those styles on the instrument they CAME on, and you get as significant an improvement as porting them to another arranger altogether. Every style is just a launching pad for YOU to make it yours. Expecting it to come OOTB perfect for YOU is a dream. Every last one of us prefers a different sound, and a different amount of space to play over. But I feel that so many Yamaha users like the Roland styles because they have a whole different ATTITUDE towards how much the arranger plays, and how much room is left for you. It isn't necessarily the sounds, it's much more the actual performance.

Just as one player is simpler or busier than another, given exactly the same piece, so different arrangers have the same philosophy. It's not just a question of how MANY parts are playing, it's about how BUSY the part is...

I have always felt like Roland EXPECT you to play the important stuff. All the ACC parts are designed to support you, not take over and do it all for you. Yamaha's and Korg's, OTOH, you can hold down a LH chord and sing over the top, and it's complete! Finding room for your own contribution, given how up-front the ACC is, always strikes me as harder to do on these arrangers.

But port them over from Roland, and you have the best of both worlds. The sounds you like best, with a style 'philosophy' that gives you more room to stretch out and play. For me, personally, the Roland drums are what make me stay on the G70, rather than jump ship but take the styles with me (that and the lack of a 76 from Yamaha). But for those comfortable with the 'sound' they already have, these ports offer up a totally different way to play that the built-ins let you...

I have to disagree with the topic. I played a PA500 at GC today and it sounded very excellent. I had people standing around and they loved the board. It sounds as good as its big brother (800) and very nice looking. The keys felt fine for now.

I left scratching my head wondering why in the heck I traded my 800 for the lemon I'm stuck with now....

zuki

Zuki I thought you traded the SD5 for a Tyros 2 ?

Nobody is that foolish.

Zuki....have you ever owned a Ketron product in the past? The OS is a bit different but once you learn it its quite logical.