Careful John..keep your hand on your wallet....you may be talked into that Fender Passport system in a few weeks..

And then the next thing Donny gets, and the next, and the next....

It would be interesting to add up the cost of everything Donny has purchased (and then traded) in the last year Stay tight on Donny's heels at your own (wallet's) risk!

It's like T2 meets the E09 because this guy has the personality of a Terminator.

I didn't like the piano sound much in the demo. Subjective, of course.

LOL

Yes. But you won't make that case on this board. You will likely be labeled an arranger-basher and reminded that "this is an arranger board". The fact that this misses the point seems to be irrelevant. The fact that a piece of equipment can be used successfully by a professional doesn't necessarily make IT 'professional'. One could use a hammer from WalMart to build a house but that doesn't make it a professional quality hammer.

Despite the protests of those that will go into great detail to explain how they use it in ways not intended by the manufacturer (full piano on top of SMF's, Bass and drums only, vocals over Mp3's, etc., etc., ad nauseum), the truth is, it's primary function is to provide automatic accompaniment. This has always been the province of high-end home instruments, most notably, home organs. They were never designed for, or seriously marketed to, professional musicians. The proof is that you never, ever see one in a first tier venue. You may also notice that the people who take the most issue with this position are the ones with the least amount of traditional (classical) training. No matter how you slice it or spin it, music produced by arranger keyboards, played as arranger keyboards, is not 'live' music.

Using one (in OMB situations) to maximize one's profits is fine, as far as I'm concerned (although I wouldn't personally go out to hear one), but let's not pretend it's about the music. If you believe that, then you don't understand the concept of music as a creative art form. JMO, of course.

chas

From the dearth of people willing to play for us here, and post demos, I'd say this forum is about music as a form of LITERATURE

And I hate to say it, chas, but you might have noticed that a large part of contemporary music is not 'live' in any sense of the word. Loops are a form of 'automatic accompaniment', even more so now MotifXS and most of the TOTL WSs can follow played chords... And they are on every chart thing on the radio and most CD's.

Just because OUR kinds of arrangers haven't gotten around to making a serious attempt to sound as contemporary as the WS's do, doesn't mean they are in any way significantly different.

You'll see MotifXS's, FantomX's and Korg Tritons on every major stage. Why are OUR form of automatic accompaniment any less professional?

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 06-12-2008).]

Sorry, double post

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 06-12-2008).]

Then I would also include those KB's if used in that manner. The question is, who is the musician; the guy that triggers the loop or the guy that created it?

As far as posting, I have little interest in hearing someone posting a midi file, whether in the form of a style file or played directly as a standalone SMF. On the other hand, if not using styles, what would be the relevance (of posting) on an 'arranger' board? This leaves (as the only justification for posting) the bain of the music business, the amateur or semi-pro vocalist. Me, I can live without it.

chas

Hi Chas
Organs are used in plenty of top tier establishments, and arranger keyboards are just single manual organs, (Hence you can add a second keyboard and pedals) so that’s one theory that doesn’t hold water.
As to Midi files etc, then if the user has created these themselves, and they play everything else that is possible, then you are still hearing just there own performance, but much more enhanced and realistic.
Theatre organs had pianos, drums, whistles and all sorts added to them which were not played by the organist, but just triggered from the keyboards and or tabs, which in your eyes I presume means even these players/instruments are not professional. (And should not be listened too)
Always look at the bigger picture.

Bill