Exactly my point Diki & Squeak......it's two totaly "different" worlds........

first of all hip-hop & rap style music SHOULDN'T be played on arranger KB's because they weren't created on a arranger KBs....secondly DJ's spin these songs at parties 99% of the time & there are a very small majority of good LIVE Hip Hop or Rap bands singing & playing this kind of stuff anyway because of the same reason...they create their backing tracks & sing on top......
USE THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB....this melding of the style era IMO will never come to light although its a nice idea
As good as computers are to improve music in the last 40 years they have also destroyed it in other ways also....think about it...... ! REAL people playing instruments is on a slow downward spiral & its all our fault.

What the F#%K happened to real music & playing together like this dammiiittt!!!

Ahh whats the use...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMWdJpU9t5Q&feature=related



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 03-06-2009).]

There was a newspaper article in the Rimmini, Italy paper several weeks ago, which reported that Generalmusics owners, Mateo and Danielle Galanti were in trouble with the Italian Government over money they owed the government. The article was in Italian and we translated in into English and were able to get this much out of it. There was some kind of fraud, it reported having to do with multiple factories and employees working in these factories. I don't know how it resolved, but this is probably where this rumor started from. When I called the offices here in the USA, I was told by an employee of GEM that he had heard the same rumors and didn't know if they were true or not.
Generalmusic is a very large company in Italy and I would hope everything will come out OK and they will continue to produce products for world wide distribution. I traveled to their country in 2002 and was treated to tours of their factories and sightseing in Italy. It was one of the nicest experiences in my 39 years of being in this business.
As to Roland.......I know that here in the USA Roland has decided not to carry the E80 any more. I was surprised they were selling what was left for such a cheap price right after NAMM and when they told me there were none left and that was it, it didn't surprise me. I also know that this bad economy is having an affect on everything in all industries. Cutbacks are being made at all levels and product development will suffer.


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

My Roland buddy mentioned there may not be any new TOTL arrangers (E or G series) from Roland in the near future.

Hopefully that is not the case, and Roland will still maintain presence in that area, along with Yamaha and Korg.

Competition always makes 'em better.

Ian

Sorry, Donny, but the music of the 30's wasn't made on an arranger, either... In fact, NO music on the radio at all is, was, or probably ever will be

It doesn't stop an arranger from doing older music well, because it has the sounds and styles appropriate for that music currently in it. But they would do today's music equally as well (or as badly, depending on your point of view!) if voiced and styled for that format.

The whole point is, yes, a WS is probably what the music was created on. But it wasn't created in realtime, it isn't performed in realtime easily on those WS's, and even modern hiphop and rap music has intros, verses, choruses and fills. Despite some chord recognition starting to cross over to WS's like the MoXS and M3, etc., they are STILL quite inferior to an arranger at the basic control of song creation, live.

But because the manufacturers balkanize the lines so rigidly, you never get to actually see what a well styled modern arranger COULD do if the sounds and style teams were not mired in the eighties. I say put the same teams on arranger style design that design the arps for the modern WS's (and arp is nothing more than a different word for a style Part), and you would SEE what squeak is talking about.

In the meantime, just try to find an original DJX. Listen to how contemporary it sounds (despite actually being MUCH older than your S900). Then imagine something contemporary like that... If you were a younger player of live music (rather than a bedroom laptop jockey) you would be all over these.

The DJX is a real cool instrument...I still have one here tucked away in my store room...and, you're right Diki...the styles are still pretty contemporary even though it is several years old...the one I have is mint and a real keepsake.

Personally, I'd like to see more country styles, and more jazz ballads.

Ian

The Yamaha DJX (the old cool blue) was an arranger in it's own category. It was unlike ANY arranger on the market. This board was designed for MODERN music. It wasn't choc full of waltz, polka, big band, ect. This thing had UP TO DATE styles on it. It was released years ago and even one today would hold up well against any current arranger and still do BETTER at modern styles of music...., AND IT HAD KNOBS PLUS A RIBBON CONTROLLER! You could even do some crazy realtime pattern mixing by using the keys to mute various parts of the pattern. Yamaha really did their homework on that board.

Donny you need to get your hands on one if you can find it. Hell maybe Russ has got one tucked away somewhere

Donny you're looking at this through dark glasses man. It's not your flavor of music.., you don't play it, you don't write it.., nor do you perform it. You see no reason for this type of keyboard because YOU wouldn't use it. That's just YOU bud There are many younger people out there that would snatch up an arranger that had modern styles or something like the DJX, but updated a bit. The number of DJX's yamaha sold is proof enough of that. I'd still have mine..., but I wore that blue beast out!

Yamaha in a way tried to bring something like the DJX back..., this time it's called the MM6. It's styles aren't really as hard as the original DJX.., nor is the sound set. Yamaha learned from the original DJX what an affordable modern arranger would do to their upper line.

I have the DJX original...the DJXII and DJXIIB weren't nearly as useful...or as much fun to use.





[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 03-06-2009).]

The DJXII was released to kill the line. Version 2 just fell short on the whole thing. They took away the LCD display and added that 1985 LED.., don't get me started on the color scheme..., and they took away TOUCH RESPONSE on the keys of all things. It was obvious Yamaha's intention was to kill the line with version 2.., but still try to sell as many of those as they could.

The first time I played version 2 and the box version I laughed so hard!!! At the time I still had the original. I left that store thankful I still had the ol blue.

Donny this is where you should post a pic Find one of the original and that gawd awful version 2....

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 03-06-2009).]

Roland already uses SRX cards extensively, why not incorporate styles into a loadable card and then the keyboard could appeal to different ages and genres with the switch of a card.

That's def another way of doing it. That way Roland could continue to make the traditional arranger to cover the standards.., but offer an expansion card that would had a whole slew of modern styles and patches. It could be done.., if Roland WANTED to do it.