Here's a link to my web site. At the bottom there is a link to details about the Jam.
It's January 18, 19 and 20.
PLEASE let me know if you are coming!
Thanks,
Don www.donmasonmusic.com

Don, don't make it sound like a lot of fun...I told my wife it was work related...

You have her believing music is WORK???
You're my hero!!
DonM

All I know is I'm coming Don ....
so have the Gumbo, Po' Boys......& all the other great things you guys eat down there ready.

Lets Jam baby!!

Hey Don,

I'll be there. I'm driving the Jersey boys in from Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Joe

------------------
Songman55
Joe Ayala

Joe, I will be hauling around a couple "BIG" keyboards....you better rent a large car....just kidding..

God bless you ... ...
t.

Fugettabouttit !!!

Uh, wait a minute. Weren't you supposed to be my diet role model? Man, New Years seems a million years ago, doesn't it?



chas

Chas just watch the carbs btw that was a Seafood Gumbo......although the Po' Boy is cheating a bit ....but there's those great Steaks at Ernest's....Ahhhhhh whats the use... "Laissez les bons temps rouler"

Chas forget the diet for now..jump on a plane & get down there for the jam we gonna have a party baby!!

There area about 20 confirmed so far, and there are about that many more waiting to decide.
DonM

Don't forget to try the boudin...

Wish I could make it. Have fun, take LOTS of video. And try to find a camcorder with a line in!

Whoa, sounds like you are all in for a great time. I purchased last years video from Joe Richards and it was well worth it. This years should be even better seeing you all in action. Unfortunately, some family circumstances derailed our plan to attend. Enjoy!

Joe Lee Richards will videotape for us. He will take a signal from the main mixer for the audio.
He runs a PBS TV station in Arkansas and has really good equipment.
DonM

Last Call Baby ......Git Er Dun!!!


common down! This Sunday!

Jay is bringing pulled pork sandwiches and my Cajun wife is cooking Gumbo for Sunday!
DonM

Oh man I can't wait!!!

Do they have beignets in Shreveport??? http://www.cafedumonde.com/beignet.html
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM !!!
So, light, so fresh, soooooo GOOD !!!

t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 01-12-2009).]

Soooooo FATTENING

.........I'll take a dozen please

Steve wish you were coming !!!

Lots of bad weather everyone be careful out there!

------------------
Bill in Dayton

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USLA0426?from=36hr_fcst10DayLink_undeclared

looks good for the jam

Say Hello to Forrest Gump

if you guys record video, please make sure that you get good audio, go directly to portable recorder, so we can hear AUDYA at its best, (as video camera mics suk)

thanks guys...

Yea, Donny I wish I were coming too the jam. We were looking forward to it. After watching the video my wife said she'd love to go to it. Shes from the South and I gotta believe Hank B and Don M singing those country tunes sparked her interest.

Steve,
I'll call ya when Don is on stage at Ernest's tuesday night so you can hear him

Joe Lee Richards will videotape for us. He will take a signal from the main mixer for the audio.
He runs a PBS TV station in Arkansas and has really good equipment.

good to hear,

nothing worse than hearing bad audio on good demos,

well maybe... bad demos with good audio :-)

Demos Shemos we gonna party!!!!!

I think I have a good idea of what gear most of us use, but it would be nice if everyone would post what keyboard they play and if they are bringing one.
I know about DNJ and Fran, Hank, Semilive, Hammer, the local guys and a few of the Texas guys, but knowing all of them would be a help in getting set up.
Thanks,
DonM

We'll use it all Don don't you worry.....just set em up baby!!

We're there to Jam!!

48 hours to go !!!.....

5 Hours to go.....I'm coming off a double & can't seep I'm so excited

It's JAM morning. Sun is shining and heading toward 66. Semilive is coming over to help me and Hank set gear up.
Players should start arriving after noon. At least 30 have told me they are coming.
Susan has cooked 5 gallons of Gumbo and JayR is bringing Pulled Pork Sandwiches.
AJ will be demonstrating the Audya about 5:00 p.m. and again Monday at noon.
After the Jam session tonight, anyone who wants to can come to my house to watch the football playoffs. Good old Tivo--the musician's best friend.
Tuesday night, those still here are coming to Ernest's to "help" with my regular "gig".
I plan to take most of the night off and let the other guys do the work.
I wish everyone come come!
DonM

Sounds like you guys are going to have a ball. I'm looking forward to seeing the DVD, hope everything goes well, and with any kind of luck, the Ravens will be headed to the Super Bowl. I'm heading out to play a corporate party today, then a single every day next week.

Keep us posted, Don, and keep up the good work,

Gary

More Great News--Hammer just called and he can come after all. We'll have another Tyros 3 to play with. He's on the way now from Denton, TX.
DonM

------------------
Bill in Dayton

Bad News. Fran has come down with a virus and didn't make the trip. Just heard from DNJ, and he and Joe are on the way from Dallas and will be here about 4.
I'm loading up to go set up now.
More 2nite!
DonM

All I can say is: You shoulda been here!
What a great session we had. DNJ and Joe Ayala can sound downright country when they try. Both great pickers and singers, and SHOWMEN, they blew everybody away.
Hammer had the Tyros 3 shining. There were several other Yammie players, using S900s, PSR 3000, and 2000. Vince Ramos put the SD1 through it's paces. Janet sounded great on the S900, as did Mike. Semilive Bill P. had his antique PSR2000 and his guitar and sounded outstanding on both.
Joe Lee was so busy video-taping everything, we never got around to letting him play, but we will tomorrow. Jay R brought great sandwiches, but he didn't play either--said he wanted to listen and learn, as did Don Patterson.
There were seven keyboards and a guitar all routed to the Bose L1 through two mixers, and everybody sounded great. I used a Peavey 12-channel mixer as the main mixer and 12-channel Behringer as a sub mixer.
There were wires everywhere, but it WORKED.
AJ arrived with the Audya about 5:30. He did a short demo that quickly turned into two hours. He will also have it there for us tomorrow at noon before having to catch a plane.
I think most everyone was impressed by the Audya. What interested me most was the wonderful real-time control the player has. Many assignable sliders and buttons, several inter-active features, three intros and endings plus fills and three BREAKS per style. The list of real-time features is really long and I've only touched on a few, but one was that the bass and style parts seem to "learn" what you are playing and add variety to what they did, based upon your playing pattern. Hard to explain, but great to hear.
The sound was next to incredible. You would think a live band was performing for you.
For Dikki, I had AJ play every type of chord he knew and the arranger played them flawlessly. He also told me that the audio styles were user programmable, but it takes a lot of work because they are quite complex.
There are 360 factory styles, and I think he said 85 percent of them use audio. The ones that didn't still sounded really good. It's hard to explain, but they seem to have really done the homework on this thing.
Of course it took about three years, so it SHOULD be right
The vocal harmonizer sounded great, and there are real-time sliders for both the lead vocal and harmony parts. I'm sure he will get deeper into the harmonizer features tomorrow. There are two XLR inputs, each with input level controls.
There are four audio outs PLUS two stereo outs, plus Aux outs and aux ins.
I haven't heard another arranger piano sound as good as this one.
I wasn't crazy about the location of the style controls--in the middle--but AJ said they had to put them there in order to not compromise the size and length of the sliders, which are on the left, where I wish the style controls were. The pb and mod wheels are above the left hand, as they were on SD1 I think. Workable, but not ideal to me.
Halfway through the demo, I got up and put a for sale sign on my E50. But it's not for sale as I think it's the best low-price arranger on the market as far as my needs go.
Even after I get the Audya, I will keep it as back up, probably.
If there are specific questions you have for AJ, I'll try to get them answered tomorrow.
As for me, I'll most likely have to have one pretty soon.
DonM

Let me start by saying that I Love SUSAN MASON'S gumbo!!!! and let me tell you these Southern Folk really make ya feel at home Southern hospitality is no myth in Louisiana.After 5 Minutes I felt so comfortable & engaged in the musical festivities....people playing great music, dancing, in a great room right on the lake with a super view!! Being the Eagles lost I needed this fantastic party to put me in good spirits. Don really did it this time & is a tremendous master of ceremonies making all feel comfy.Jammin with the boyz was awesome so many great musicians & singers like Hank B, Dale, Joe Lee, Bill,Hsmmer, AJ, some Ol'Hayride boyz too "Grand Old Opre", etc, & good ladie singers too.
We had a great time on the first night more to follow in the days to come. Stay tuned!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-19-2009).]

Don,

What does it weigh? My G-70 is a beast.

Tom

The Audya is 18.5 Kg (38lbs) quite light for a 76 note arranger.
I've had mine on order for quite a while, can't wait for it to arrive.

Would someone please be kind enough to ask AJ at this meet, if the Audya comes with a 40gb or 80gb hard drive as standard and also what is the maximum available sample memory?

Ketron UK told me they can't see anywhere under the keyboard where you can expand this, but they have mentioned the machine shows around 4gb, which is possibly shared memory with the internal sounds as well as user samples? It would be nice to get the real answer from the horses mouth so to speak.

I will ask. On my way now to meet Joe and Donny for breakfast, then to AJ's seminar at noon.
DonM

Cheers DonM.

Does anyone know if the Audya supports Akai format samples and maps them automatically?
From the way Ketron UK have been mentioning if I have Sound Fonts, does the Audya only use this format? Any help appreciated.

Please... SOLO the audio track.

OF COURSE the MIDI section can play any chord you want. I want to know what chords the audio loops have (and DON'T have)...

As expected and to quote the Beatles " A splendid time is guaranteed for all."

Don be sure to put me on the mailing list for a DVD once Joe makes them available. Wish I could have been there.

It comes with and 80-gig HD, upgradeable at this time to 500 gigs.
Dikki, AJ played an audio-loop style and it played flawlessly every chord he threw at it, at least to my ears.
I think you would love this thing once you get to hear it. I'm sure I'll have one soon and you can meet me somewhere and test it to your heart's content. I'll buy lunch!
I didn't ask about sample format. I'm sure AJ will jump in here once he gets back to Philly and unwinds awhile. He has had a hectic, across the world journey the past few weeks.
DonM

But you didn't solo the audio track, did you? If the extensions are added by non audio tracks, it might easily fool you into thinking you heard it from the audio track.

Look, AJ, the thing is out. Why not just state for the record how many different types of chords the audio loop tracks actually play? There has to be separate recordings for each. No tricks, no adding the extension with a MIDI sound.

How many chord types have been recorded? It's a simple question...

If the end result is that the style on a whole sounds good, does it really matter?

... whew ... after a 2hr delay in TX (due to snow in Philly), I can safely say I'm back home now. I need to hit the sheets, but wanted to check out the forums first ... see if I had any questions.

Dikki - For the AUDIO parts/Loops (even when soloed as we did today (Monday) with the UNPLUGGED Styles to show of just how the audio ALONE sounded), ALL chord parts have been taken into consideration (hence some of the delay in the release) - meaning when you play (e.g an A chord), all extentions/variations of the A chord - (dim, 9th, Maj, Min, Min7th, AUG ... etc) are recognized by the AUDIO and MIDI parts of AUDYA. Because we streem the Audio directly from the HD, memory wasn't an issue here.

I hope this answers your question (at leat this one about chord recognition). If not, please let me know (with examples) and I will respond with "Yes/No" if a chord type you list is not currently recognized.

Thanks ... going to bed now.

AJ

Hee Ha baby we havin' a great time here at the Louisiana jam!! Yesterday we had a few less people due to scheduling & some had to get back to their perspective lives......after a great country breakfast we went back to the Jam room and started all over again hitting the keys & singing, trading solos etc, etc, & my buddy Hank B sang my favorite George Jones song for me "She Stopped Loving You Today"....it's amazing how so many pro musicians can come together & meld into one single sound as if we played together for a long time simply AWESOME!!
The hospitality here at the American legion hall is first class. We jammed into the late afternoon Then shot out for lunch to downtown Shreveport to a historic place call Fertitta's "Home of the Original Muffada" Italian Sandwich a real Louisiana favorite, Susan Mason joined us also..OH man are they so good! We had 3 of these giant creations. Afterwards we went back and really got serious & jammed the night away Don M, Myself, the famous Joe Lee Richards on guitar right next to me could make that Telecaster talk baby!, & Joe Ayala who blew us away with his super smooth vocals & KB playing, I love that man!!! it was a special time that I will never forget for sure...I'm telling you that we could of hit the stage somewhere & gave the audience a Show they would of been on their feet for all night long!! Killer licks, tradin' Vocals & harmonies beyond belief & everyone sat back just right in the pocket for an outstanding mix which really sounded great through the Bose PAS system.......it doesn't get no better, after the night Jam Joe went back to Baltimore sniff sniff, Joe Lee hit the Casinos......& Don M & myself hit the Shreveport Night Life... a real HOT Blues Club to see the local talent...WOW!! it was super players ripping licks & singin the blues....then we hit Binnion's "Horseshoe" Casino & caught a great Country R&B band in the CMT lounge on stage, after that at around midnight we hit the Waffle house for a great late night breakfast.....Fran would of Loved this! YUMMMYYY! .....I had so much fun, but....., it ain't over yet!! Tonight we are all going to "ERNEST's Orleans restaurant a great Famous Local Restaurant & Club where Don M will be performing
http://www.ernestsorleans.com/

.....more to come stay tuned!! Joe Lee has this all on Video also for DVD's later on when editied.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-20-2009).]

WOW! Great report Donny. Sure wish I could have been there instead of shoveling snow up here. Looks like 2010 is when I'll be heading south, either by boat, plane or car--but definitely headed south.

Enjoy the remainder of your stay,

Gary

Thanks DonM for the hard drive info.

80GB is definitely better than 40GB being reported on some European sites. The manual Ketron uploaded a few weeks back is right. Just to see if this 4GB of memory which Ketron UK mentioned to me is correct now. If it is 4GB even if it shares the memory with the internal sounds etc, it's still far more than Korg and Yamaha offer with their arrangers, so roll on Audya.

AJ said it was 4 gig.
Ian, Donny hasn't played a midi file the whole trip. Everything from styles or full keyboard when someone else is playing. He can really play!
DonM

This was posted on another forum by someone at the Jam, thought it would be of interest here too.

"I was at the jam on Sunday. Unfortunately my wife was feeling unwell all day, and she kept a brave face for as long as she could but eventually we had to leave earlier than planned. Hammers T3 sounded great, I thought much better than the other 'normal' keyboards.
But what about the Audya. I suppose everyone will have their own opinion. This is a Yamaha owners forum, and I am sensitive to that, but for me this instrument was in a different league to any other arranger I have seen, and raises the bar significantly for arrangers. The important sounds are amazingly authentic. Ketron has always been known for this, but there are some improvements - for example the accoustic piano sample is practically perfection, and the human chorus voices so real my wife was convinced it was the vocal harmonizer and AJ was singing. But the two real differentiators are : the use of audio loops rather than midi loops in the styles : and the way a player can control the arranger during performance.
For example you can trigger a break or fill just by pressing the LH chord a bit harder. The keyboard can be split at multiple places and given different voices and all pitched if you want as if they are in the middle of the keyboard. The layering is more innovative than I have seen before because you can make the voice layers respond to the velocity- eg you can have a sax layered with a brass section, and set it so only the sax sounds till you hit it a bit harder and have the brass sound by itself and the sax disappear. Or you can have them layered conventionally, or whatever you want. You can smoothly overlap voice changes by holding a note so the new voice appears over the top of the old. You can float parts in and out of the style on the fly. These are just a few examples of the bewildering range of possibilities.
Audio loops in the styles must be the way of the future. Much less mechanical and the bass and drums will even change their riffs during a style variation depending on how you play - just like real players.
It has 76 semi weighted keys. seems built like a tank and has performance features I never even dreamed of, way too many to describe here. Nothing about the cost yet, but if it was thousands more than the T3 it would seem about right, however, surprisingly the rumor is it may be a similar price.
I was quite skeptical about the way that they announced the Audya two years ago then failed to produce it, and I am sure its still something of a work in progress, eg only a proportion of the styles use audio loops. There may be some layout things that can be improved, and all this functionality probably means a significant time investment to become expert, but nonetheless, this seems genuine step change. If the designers at Yamaha, Korg and Roland are not huddled up trying to figure out how they can respond, they certainly should be.
Mike"

Hammer

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DonM:

Ian, Donny hasn't played a midi file the whole trip. Everything from styles or full keyboard when someone else is playing. He can really play!
DonM[/QUOTE

Shhhhhhhhhh

Let's Jam baby!

I'm relieved to hear that, Don ...and I'm glad you guys are having a great time...wish I could have been there.

Ian

I am glad that has finally been put to rest !!!
To quote Dire Straits:
"He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play
Dedication, devotion,
Turning all the night time into the day"

Way to go, Donny ...

t.

PS DAMN I wish I could have been there ...

Sorry, AJ, I am still not sure I am on the same page as you... (must be my thick head )

It's not what chords the Audya RECOGNIZES (that's a function of it's chord recognition algorithm, and I would expect that it recognizes what you play as well as any other arranger)... it's how many chord types dopes it PLAY.

In other words, on the audio track, if I play a C6,9 does the audio track play a C6,9 or does it just play a C? If I play a Cmin(maj7), does the audio track play a Cmin(maj7), or does it just play a Cmin?

I'm sorry, but I get the impression you are dancing around this issue... I can't see how I could have asked the question any clearer in the past or now... But I have a feeling that you could EASILY be clearer in your answer.



The question WAS asked. Could I PLEASE have an answer...?

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 01-20-2009).]

we are having a grand old time here In Shreveport.....I got another few things on my dream list out of the way.....For breakfast Don M took me to the best Po' Boy sandwich restaurant in town....OMG!!! I had hugh Deep Fried Shrimp Po'Boy sandwich...it was awesome, with about 20 big shrimp coated in a light seasoned batter on soft Home baked Long rolls with lettuce tomato & Remoulade Sauce YUMMMYYY!! Then off to big music store for some shopping & meeting some of Don's good friends all musicians....we proceeded after that to go setup for tonight's Gig at Ernest's Orleans restaurant where Don & myself will perform....after a few sound checks we took a break & now dream number two.......Susan Mason again didn't disappoint me and bought a Madi Gras "KINGS CAKE"... OMG!!!! it's soooo good I always wanted to try one!!....
Now were getting dressed for tonight and I'll have more to come after we have some Marinated Giant Crab Claws & Steaks at Ernest's then the jam begins on stage for the paying audience ........this here Jersey cowboy gonna kick some butt tonight!!

l8tr



[This message has been edited by DonM (edited 01-20-2009).]

Just got home from one of the greatest nights of music that I ever had...OMG!!!!!


Too tired to post until I fly home tomorrow...

Stay tuned

I'm using DonM's computer btw,
DNJ

[This message has been edited by DonM (edited 01-21-2009).]

Donny, I'm glad to see that when it came to eating healthy, you were strong enough to overcome your own willpower. Careful you don't get mistaken for Joey Defrancesco by the time you get back. Better start getting used to your new nickname.....Donny "Fats" Pesce .

Glad you enjoyed the local cuisine. I'll be going down there (NOLA) in the spring, so I'll be looking forward to it.

chas

[This message has been edited by cgiles (edited 01-21-2009).]

Donny and DonM wow!!! You guys tore it up in the South. Wish I had been there.

Well I', back in snow country. I sure had a great time at the jam. I must thank Don Mason and his lovely wife Susan. They are the greatest hosts in the world! They showed us an awesome time. It was a thrill for me to meet all of the people there and jam with them. I think Donny, Don and I could have played together for the rest of the week. I sure would have loved it. If you weren't there you missed something very special. I made some really good friends. I know I'll be running up the road to see Donny Pesce on a regular basis, and I'll have to go back to Shreveport to see Don at Ernest's. It was a great time and I thank you all.

Joe

------------------
Songman55
Joe Ayala

And finally, for everyone that enjoyed the wonderful hospitality and food at the Shreveport Jam, there are four words to keep in mind "South Beach--Phase One." Yep, time to shed those pounds.

Sure wish I could have been there. Next year for sure.

Gary

DIKI's question still remains unanswered...

i agree, BIG difference between "Recognizing" and actually PLAYING" the chords, (Diki referring to actual AUDIO grooves, not midi playing complex chords)

will the AUDYA's AUdio grooves play lets say a CMaj7+5, or Cm7 add11, C7+13, ???

AJ?

I took Diki's suggestion and played a C6,9 chord on my G70. It played it just fine but the difference between that and a C6 were barely noticable by my trained ear. I also tried the Cmin(maj7)what an awful sounding chord. In the performance of a tune there wouldn't be one person in a thousand that would notice the difference between a C6 and a C6,9. Diki's original skepticism was about more normal chords like diminished, minor 7ths, 6ths, augmenteds, and such. When the report came out that the normal chords worked he had to change it. Including 6/9 chords and minor major 7ths is a real leap.

We've heard reports by some of our members who have been playing arrangers for years that the Audya sets the bar much higher than the current batch of arrangers.

If this is the greatest sounding arranger ever, a cut above the rest, I'm not going to pass it up just because it won't play a few of the more obscure chords that the audience wouldn't notice anywhy. What they will notice is the realism and great sound.

The question is moot.

Tom

Moot to you...

Sorry, old boy, but you've never played a tune with a chromatic descending line over a minor chord? Cm - Cm(maj7) - Cm7 - Cm6?

Too weird?

And if YOU can't hear the difference between a C6 and a C6,9, that's fortunately not MY problem. I can. Many here can. And the chord is widely used.

But what is amusing is first I am criticized for not having played the thing before I talk about loop issues, small sampler sizes, things like that, and here you are, as far removed from a try as me, and you are definitively stating that it is good enough...

I guess that for YOU, trying it first is not needed for an opinion. It's just ME that shouldn't have one, eh?

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 01-21-2009).]

And no, if you had bothered to read my posts more than just cursorily, you would have seen that I was NEVER in doubt about the basic chords. Yes, it has GOT to have maj, min, dim, and aug or it won't work AT ALL.

But all the extensions? My point all along has been that Yamaha's Mega voice technology, and Korg's Guitar modes are capable of VERY realistic guitar parts without forgoing the ability to play more complex chords. And all that is needed to make them even better is simply better samples (which may come out in future models, whereupon you can set these styles to use them). They are editable (should you want a slightly different picking or strumming pattern), and you can easily change the guitar sound for a different flavor to the same style.

Loops CANNOT do this. All they are is all they are. Initially VERY impressive, but unless you are the type that NEVER changes a ROM style, NEVER needs more styles than the ROM provides, and NEVER tries to create your own styles (Ketron have already acknowledged how difficult this is to do), I can imagine them tiring on you quite quickly.

If I were restricted to ONLY the ROM styles that came with my G70, I would be in trouble. What percentage of styles that YOU use are ROM? Unaltered? Unedited..? Now imagine that, unless you are willing to suffer a VERY noticeable drop in sound quality, that's all you could use...

Not a very appetizing prospect, is it..? This is why I have been saying all along that the commitment to a constant stream of new 'live loop' styles from Ketron is going to be essential. Of course, in these troubled economic times, what guarantee would we have that Ketron even survive, let alone toss us this bone with (as I have explained) little expectation of much return on their investment?

But go ahead and buy one... maybe from an owner, I will FINALLY get an unambiguous answer to my query...

How many different chord types and EXTENSIONS have been recorded, per style?

I just got back from delivering DNJ to catch his flight in Dallas. Now for an hour nap and back to work as usual.
I had a GREAT time.
Tom,
You'll love the Audya!

Dikki, I use all the basic chords and 6ths, 9ths, dim, aug, etc. I don't use any more complex, at least on purpose. Sorry I didn't understand the full nature of your question, but I'll have one soon enough and I'll try again for you.
DonM

Thanks, Don.

Tom..... Look, I've got reservations... It doesn't mean that the product is BAD! It just means I've got reservations. I've got those about the G70. Didn't stop me from getting one.

But I feel that if we discuss the issues (and what the hell else are we here for? Hat advice from Donny? ), perhaps a manufacturer might realize they exist... and do something about it. My feeling is that 'live loop' technology comes along JUST as we are starting to get VERY good MIDI production of guitar playing.

Mega Voice emulation, especially with the T3's new guitar specific NTT's, and Korg's Guitar Mode is very good. Is it as good as a loop? No. Of course not. UNTIL you want to change it. Whereupon, with the loop, you are screwed. Drum emulation is getting extraordinarily good with multi-velocity drum samples with variable room samples, and patterns played on electronic drum kits by REAL drummers, using those samples. Is it as good as a loop? No, it is not... UNTIL you want to change anything. Whereupon, with the loop, you are screwed.

These are reservations... It doesn't preclude me using an Audya (bought my lottery ticket today!), but it's a worthy (IMHO) topic of discussion on an arranger players forum. You may think differently. Let's NOT discuss anything to do with this...

Starting with you

Unless I am missing something here AJ answered the question directly. He started his answer talking about the audio part and not the midi. He also stated that the audio loops can play extentions. "when you play (e.g an A chord), all extentions/variations of the A chord - (dim, 9th, Maj, Min, Min7th, AUG ... etc) are recognized by the AUDIO and MIDI". So am I reading it wrong?

So...will it play an Amin/maj7th, or an A7b9...or an A6add9?

What about bass inversions or do the audio tracks always play the root...or leave it out?

You wanted us to ask.

Ian the Curious

He stated what would be RECOGNIZED... not what would actually play.

Look, it's simple. Each style needs three audio loops to cover the three different tempo ranges they cover. Then they need 12 different versions of each tempo range for all twelve keys (unless there is some realtime pitch transposing, which hasn't been mentioned), then they need at least the major chord types (maj, min. dim, sus4 and aug). Now that is 180 loops.

But add in 7ths, maj7ths, 6ths, 6/9's, dim6ths, half dims, 7b10 (or #9's if you prefer!), sus4's, and so on and so forth, and you are talking a MASSIVE amount of loops that need to be loaded up for each style, or if they stream in realtime (hard to imagine this without at least preloading the first part of the loop), at least a MASSIVE number of different loops that need to be recorded (and this is going to effect cost and availability).

And this is just for ONE variation... multiply it by four if the audio part changes between variations (one would hope this!), and you start to see the problem...

If simple basic chords are all you need or expect from the guitar part, this should not be a problem. But when Yamaha and Korg manage quite complex guitar playing very realistically and yet STILL don't restrict your chord choices, at least to me it seems obvious which is the technology of the future and the present.

Loops provide a great shortcut to sonic bliss on the guitar part, but it comes at a price. What that price is, I have yet to be informed. But put it this way... I certainly NEVER get a 'you REALLY don't need me to play that chord' comment from any REAL guitarist when asked to play a Min(maj7) chord.

the way i see it is that most people don't know how to play those complex chords so they don't care if the AUDYA plays them or not....

BUT, Diki asks some VERY valid and SIMPLE questions, for which have NOT YET been answered...

DOES or DOESN'T the AUDYA play ALL Chords and ALL variations of the Chord (via AUDIO)?

Diki wants to know which chords the AUDIO handles and which chords the midi handles...

And i too am interested in knowing...

What are the AUDYA's chord limitations (with audio loops)?


AJ? can you answer?
inquiring minds want to know...

no more "beating around the bush"...

This great Jam wasn't only about the Audya far from it. maybe a new Audya thread is in order. Or new jam post.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-21-2009).]

Diki,

I didn't say I couldn't hear the difference, what I said was it is barely noticable for the fleeting second or two the chord is played. Start the arranger, solo the acc part on the g70, start a style, play C,E,G,A. Now add the "D" to the chord, big difference huh? Now add back in drums, bass and the rest and tell me how big a deal it is to add the 9th.

Yes I have played that progression but as a moving progression never with a C,Eb,G,B all held down at the same time. The second Dm progression in "After The Loving" does exactly what you were saying.

Diki, we just disagree on this one and it's time to put it behind us and move on and make music.

Tom

"He stated what would be RECOGNIZED... not what would actually play."
actually, if an audio track recognizes a cord type that would mean that it plays it unless again I am missing something. One of the questions to ask is if The audio tracks are just playing the 1 and 5 of the chord so extentions on the audio track may not be relevant as it relates to the over all sound of the style.

Dikki,

Sorry for the mis-interpretation. When I wrote 'recognized', I ment both - recognized and played - no use to an end-user if an Arranger recognizes chords but can't play them.

AUDYA will recognize AND PLAY ALL chord types meaning all variations of the following chords:-
A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

This is a huge data base of AUDIO which is streemed from the Hard Drive in real time.

Hope this clears this up, and sorry for getting to you later - I've been rather occupied lately.

AJ

Dikki.

Looking back at another question you asked, we have a new KETRON feature called AUDIO STYLE MODELING. This permits the user to replace the audio parts of styles (Drums, Bass and Chord 5) with many from an on-board libruary. The same can also be done for the Audio or Midi Arps and licks (Assigned to Chord 4). In AUTO mode, a Style can be made to sound different EACH TIME YOU PLAY since the audio part-selection can be switched at will (meaning different loops used at different intervals within the same Arranger), breathing 'life' in to your Style and eliminating the loops- feeling usually associated with Arrangers.

As for the Bass, we have a feature which after a couple of redundant chord progressions, the BASS (and in some cases the guitars too) automatically 'plays' bass notes/parts (or walking bass lines) leading to the next predicted chord. This is hard to explain with words but better to explain with an example (which we'll soon have up). Ofcourse all of these INTERACTIVE ARRANGER tools can be disabled by the user when they wish.

Thanks,

AJ

AJ, so you are saying EVERY chord type was recorded for EVERY audio part/style/break/ fill/variation..no matter how complex the chord?

i find that very hard to believe

no offense but...
i'll believe it when i HEAR it...

see you in NY...let us know the NY date/time/place

leezone,

I am certain AJ is not out to misrepresent a product.. Basically you are questioning his integrity not only as a musician, but as an employee of Ketron.

Personally, I am tired of all the redundant questioning of the chord recognition ...

If you have any more doubt, wait to see it in person...

OK, so, just to put this to bed (wouldn't want to upset any of our members who seem to be averse to any investigation short of playing the damn thing ),

If I PLAY a C7#9, the Audya's audio track WILL play a C7#9 chord, and not just a C7 chord? It's the extensions I am most concerned about (for now! Wait until I get going about how the loop audio handles played chord changes at odd times or slightly late!).

Tom... I've already put this behind us But seeing as it was Ketron I was asking this information from, rather than you (who felt duty bound to spring in to the defense of this poor, poor maligned arranger manufacturer!), would you mind if I got this answered to MY satisfaction, and not yours?

You may not give a rats whether certain chords get played or not... Is it OK with you if I do...? No?

Sorry...

i'm not accusing anyone of misrepresentation...

but saying "it plays all variations of chords" does not mean the same to everyone...

not saying either that AJ is not well versed in music theory either...

i know what would put this issue to rest,
a quick simple video of the AUDYA's audio tracks playing complex chords...

or i guess we gots to wait..

again, i will believe it when i hear it, until then i am NOT convinced, no matter what ANYONE says...

There's got to be a list SOMEWHERE at Ketron that details which chords were recorded...

i just CANNOT imagine asking the guitar player to record ALL possible chords, on ALL styles/fills/variations/breaks/ etc...

can you Diki?

I have already voiced my doubt at this.

To be honest, I still think I'm getting the runaround.

But let's suppose I am NOT... They have a recording of every possible chord you could ever want, with all it's extensions and suspensions. How complex do you think recording all that was? What are the odds that you think that YOU could do that yourself, should you decide to make a style yourself (it happens, you know! )?

What do you think the odds are that Ketron themselves are going to be spitting out tons of new styles when it apparently IS as complex as this? To my mind, it's a Catch-22.... Either there aren't a whole lot of chord extensions covered, in which case the odds of lots of styles go UP, or they have them ALL covered, in which case the odds of a quickly expanding library go down.

It's hard to imagine BOTH cases being true.

Dang, Dikki, it just may not be the keyboard for you.
Only time will tell, conjecture will NOT.
DonM

Diki,
I don't care either. I hope you get your answer. I hope to see it in Fort Wayne in March.

Tom

Now there is a great post....thanx Dan

Bull... Time won't tell. Ketron could say RIGHT NOW

This is no more a secret to Ketron than whether it has USB1 or USB2. No conjecture involved... other than from us while we wait, and wait, and wait for an answer from Ketron.

Want the conjecture to stop? ANSWER THE BLOODY QUESTION.

Simple as that.

And I am tired of all the redundant evasion of the question.

We get it, Dan.... YOU DON'T KNOW.

But I wasn't really asking you. I was asking Ketron. AJ, or anyone who knows. Not you...

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 01-22-2009).]

Well he did answer the question it is you who is choosing not to believe the answer. Recording all variations may not be the way that Ketron gets the audio tracks of the Audia to recognize extentions of chords.

to the genesys

You are correct (above)!! But unfortunatly, I can't say much more on this (nor how we did it).

AJ

I had a feeling that not all chords were recorded,

i guess it's something like individual notes are recorded,
and then triggered,
combined as per chord played
then chord plays, perhaps???