Originally posted by LIONSTRACS:
[BThe example is really simple: give one G-70/Tyros 3 to Diki and then you know how will sounds...
Then give the same G-70/Tyros 3 to Michel Voncken...for sure will not sounds the same..
[/B]
Let's put it this way, there's probably a lot LESS difference between what Michael and I can do on a T3/G70, and what an experienced VSTi/style programmer/sound designer and I can do on an MS...
As is so apparent from most of the MS user posts, the skill set to use and create great music on the MS is FAR greater than that needed to create great music on most closed arrangers. No offense to Micheal Voncken, but somehow, I doubt that even HE could pull a masterpiece out of his hat on the MS without CONSIDERABLY more work than it takes to get one out of the T3. Bottom line is, he CAN switch on his T3 and make it sound amazing OOTB. I defy ANYONE to do that on an MS...
So, fair enough... As I've been saying forever, you SHOULD be able to make great music on the MS. But what your customers REALLY need to ask themselves (before they buy one for the 'potential'
) is, do they REALLY have all the skills necessary to turn what is essentially a blank canvas into a masterpiece..? Because I think you'll find the majority of the arranger market (and, to be honest, a fair proportion of the WS market, that certainly wouldn't buy a MotifXS if it came with NO arps already programmed and a soundset that needs the majority of it replaced with other samples) are more a 'paint by numbers' crowd.
In other words, few of us start with pretty much NOTHING, and manage to create great music out of thin air. That's the whole PURPOSE for arranger styles and WS arps... To give us a leg up on creating professional sounding music. Sure, we want to put our own touch on things, but the whole point of an arranger is to help provide the backing tracks as a jumping off point for our own creativity.
NOT have to learn programming styles, loop manipulation and DAW skills just to get a bloody tune out to our friends and families (let's face it, arrangers are still mostly home keyboards, as are a large percentage of even WS's like M3 and MoXS).
I USED to use WS's, samplers, all that stuff, back in the day when arrangers basically sucked, and had to create all my music by hand, slowly, laboriously, tediously (and expensively, like when I had to hire drummers to come in and play my Hart Dynamics kit so my drum tracks didn't sound stiff
). But those days are over. I can use arrangers like G70, T3, PA2Xpro to make superb backing tracks, and use their MIDI data to drive VSTi's at home for recording purposes. All in a FRACTION of the time it used to take.
And I can take that same arranger out on a gig, and it just WORKS. Very little setup, no drama, and all the arranger features (like OnBass, fer Chis' sake
) that a gigging pro needs. Not to be TOO modest, but I think that I AM your 'top end' demographic. I am a pretty technical, computer savvy arranger user. And even
I don't want to mess with this. There's a diminishing return with technology. And it diminishes more, every year. To make something noticeably better than a 80's model arranger didn't take that much work
But to make something that is significantly better than you can make on a PA2/T3/G70/M3/MoXS takes a LOT of work.
And, lest we forget, the arranger is primarily a LIVE music tool. Most people that NEED to work with VSTi's and loops are already doing it with GIGA, Ableton Live, ProTools, etc., in a studio. But, out on stage, doing what we do for a living, the stability, ease of use and ease of setup is what marks what MOST arranger players need. You can continue to go the course you have chosen, and ignore 99% of the entire arranger/WS market, or you can pay SOME attention to what would make the MS sell in huge numbers, make you a rich man, and make our jobs easier. You have the hardware to do it.
Or, you can continue selling to a tiny handful of people that ARE capable of taming the MS, and quite a few more that simply don't realize how impossible the task is, and think that magically, the MOST technologically advanced arranger will automatically equate to advanced music. Which is VERY apparent (to those not self-delusional) that it doesn't...
Your choice.
BTW, no, you won't be getting a cease and desist letter from me. But it would have been POLITE to ask first. Oh, whoops...! WTF was I thinking?
Forgot who I was talking to!