Oh My! Look what started. I didn't expect it to go crazy, I thought some may get cranky. This might just be the biggest thread I ever created.

Thanks for all the different opinions!
I didn't intend to divide anyone



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God Bless,
Mikey

www.mikeymaestro.com
www.myspace.com/kidconcert
www.balloonanimal.com
www.1000colorcards.com

And did the sky fall? Did the ground open up? Did legions of Yamaha haters rise to bite you on your butt?

No, they did NOT...

So why the reluctance now? You didn't feel it back then, what changed? To be perfectly honest, I WANT to hear these custom styles of yours. I WANT to hear what a real Yamaha demonstrator can do with the incredible sounds and OS of the current Yamaha's. I want to hear stuff played on Korg PA800's, PA2XPro's, Ketrons, Wersi's, Mediastations.

I want to hear what skill level is needed to be able to play 500 shows a year, to get booked solid in jazz clubs or political rallies... I want to hear how well some of us progress on our new equipment... and whether it actually DOES sound better in their hands than their last arranger.

All I can do now is READ about it. And that, my friends, is NOT the same thing.

Look, in a way, this IS a community of friends, or at least colleagues, and many I would call BOTH. You know what? There isn't a single musician in my area I would not invite to a gig of mine. Whether they would want to come or not, well, that's up to them. But, to be perfectly honest, there is NO-ONE who I would tell 'do NOT come to my gig, do NOT listen to me...'

But that is, in a way, what we are saying to each other. 'You CAN'T listen to me. It wouldn't be appropriate, I don't feel you deserve to, the dog ate my homework, whatever'

So, I'm still curious... Why NOT here, but other forum's members are OK with it?

Look, I'm fine with anyone choosing NOT to... Their choice, and nothing anyone can do about it. But I'd simply like to point out that SOME of the assumptions made about why one shouldn't post here are quite patently false. This is, in fact a very diverse, loving (in a dysfunctional family kind of way ) and interesting bunch of musicians, and it pains me that few of them want to be heard.

This is NOT 'double dog daring' you all. This is a genuine desire to hear WHAT you can do, HOW you do it, and whether it's arranger or kazoo, I don't give a damn...

Anyone that WOULD like to share that still feels unwilling to post publicly, well, my profile lists my email. Send it to me privately if you prefer. But I urge you to reconsider how hostile you think this place is... Sure, we get rambunctious, even testy at times. But we keep talking to each other, no matter what. That's a sign of true friendship, IMO. If I HATE somebody, I just won't talk to them, period. We see so little of that here, I hope some of you reconsider your positions.

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 04-24-2008).]

That's nice, Diki...glad you feel that way.

I'm content to keep things as they are for now.

Ian

I think when someone challenges you to "put up or shut up" that kinds of sets the tone for the reception you can expect from your postings.
As I remember Diki it took quite a bit of prodding for you to post something and there was a few that weren't impressed.
Not because it wasn't good, don't get me wrong, I liked your stuff and I commented on the other forum.
But you were prodded into posting in the middle of a heated discussion and of course once sides have been chosen nobody is gonna back down.
Same with Charles and Ian well I guess all of us at one time or another were told to "put up or shut up"
Ian has sent me some stuff by email and he can send me more anytime he wants I enjoy it.
Charles I'd like to hear your stuff I'm not sure if I'm into hardcore Jazz but I'd sure enjoy the performance.
Same for Capt. Russ if you ever get around to it.
And of course I always love to hear from DonM and Uncle Dave. (I did not purposely leave anyone out)
I always love to hear talented individuals doing what they do. But I can understand why you don't want to post to an adversarial environment.

My usual disclaimer...

Diki,

You can hear some examples of what I do by going to my website at www.travlineasy.com and clicking on listen to the music. It ain't Jazz, but it's what I do. As for some examples of custom, Yamaha styles, you have mail. I think you'll have fun with them, and most are excellent examples of what can be done with style creation programs, both on the keyboard and on the PC.

Enjoy,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary....

I really enjoyed listening to your songs great job! You have such a soothing natural voice combined with excellent playing.
Is that the Psr3000 or S900? I wish more people would post links to their websites also to listen to songs.

Thank You

Thanks John,

Everything was done with the PSR-3000, Crown Cm-311A headset mic and recorded directly to the PC using Acid Pro 4.0.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Firstly, you KNOW I'm not the one going 'put up or shut up'... I'm the one going 'put up', but if you don't, keep posting anyway!

Secondly, my only initial reluctance to post arranger music was I had none to post! At that time, I was hardly EVER using the arranger section other than strictly drums, and that's not what people wanted to hear. So I made a posting at the old G70 forum with a simple bossa done completely OOTB arranger style with OTSs, to help dispel the G70 slamming. As I recall, it was pretty much universally accepted.

The rancor came later, when I posted it a SECOND time during a heated time with Donny, where it got lambasted primarily for not being new, nothing to do with the sound!

And since then, I have posted occasional work, to illustrate different aspects of arranger use (none of which has taken any flack). So, obviously, a little rancor hasn't exactly scarred me!

If I can accept the slings and arrows of public exposure (heck, we do it live every day, why is a forum so much scarier?!), surely some of you can, too?

Diki could it be that when someone offers so much opinions & criticism about arrangers good or bad it logically would be assumed that that person knows what he is talking about & can certainly play as good as his talk? I for one love to listen to other players. Why do people always try to down play the fact that they play in arranger mode? That's where the strength lies in an arranger keyboard isn't it? This whole thread is very confusing if you read it back. What have we really gained from the replies on this? I'm trying to put it all together.

Give up John - the most qualified pyschiatrist couldn't make sense of the complex personalities here...just read and enjoy