The engine might be contemporary, but those samples are pretty much 10+ years old. A lifetime in dance music...

Just as open arrangers seem to have trouble without the TOTL content being provided for the user, it would benefit Korg to make a sampler load with the 'best of the M3' dance sounds and styles, which could be loaded OVER say the Ballroom ROM bank, or Bossa Nova sections of ROM styles (you can always load them back in later.

But a PA2 on the store shelves, with a bunch of REALLY good modern hiphop beats in it (and the cheezy oldies removed!) MIGHT be the thing to reawaken arranger respect amongst the young...

I still think some kind of arpeggiation is going to be needed, though. Curiously, all this takes is SOFTWARE, though. Korg COULD rebrand the PA line with this simple addition. Doesn't even need new hardware.

C'mon, Korg...

You could always stick a Qchord on top

TWD

I wonder how complicated this is, can it be done by someone with the 2 keyboards or you need more gears (or access to the pa2x software upgrade way) also what kind of knowledge one need to have ?

MJ

MJ, I think for a project this large and complicated, the manufacturer themselves are the ones to do the job. They have access to the original sample data, and the arps and loops in the M3 (it's their copyright, actually), so they ought to be the ones profiting from it, I guess...

They also have access to the sample decompression routines inside the PA (their ROM is probably compressed 2:1, so you would get double the samples compared to a straight sample load), and other parameters probably hidden from the general user...

The thing is, the product needs to be commercially available. That's the only way the arranger is going to make a resurgence, IMO...

I think that TOTL arrangers are going to price themselves out of existence. It's already getting to the point that only well-heeled ol' folks can afford them. When it gets to the point that the manufacturers can no long get 4500-5000.00 for a machine that should be priced around 1800.00, R&D will cease and they (TOTL) will disappear like the dinosaurs. BOTL and lower MOTL will continue with BOTL being the last to go. This will be the likely scenario unless some company like Casio comes out with a blockbuster that sets a new standard for price and technology. Could happen.....probably won't. Why? Casio wouldn't be motivated to do it without a large or potentially large American market. That market won't exist until such a machine becomes available......therefore, Catch22. JMO.

chas

I don't believe that $5,000 is too high a price for a TOTL. Fifty years ago, top of the line keyboards such as Vox, Farfisa, Rhodes, and Gibson were at least $1,000. In 1980, keyboards such as the Sequential Prophet 5 cost $5,000. When you consider inflation, $5k isn't a bad price for the TOTL.

Duane O
Sacramento, CA

Certainly not. Many of my T3 clients are retired on a modest income.

I don't know who you consider as "ol' folks", but the majority of the T3 users I'm in contact with, are in their 50's and early 60's.

At 60 myself, I don't feel old...just older.

$5000 isn't outrageous for people to spend on a full time hobby...many people spend more on golfing, or other hobbies.

I still move a lot of Tyros3, although the S910 has taken fair sized piece out of it's sales, but at quite a bit less that $2000, one gets an instrument with most of the same features, sounds and styles at roughly a third of the price.

still, there will always be those who must have the best, whether it be an Acura over a Honda, or a Tyros3 over a PSR-S910.

Ian

I remember hauling a $10,000. Yamaha organ in a $500. Chevy van. It's all a matter of priorities!
DonM

I remember those days, too, but I also remember a basic PC without a HD selling for $7500.00 and up. In most other areas, the cost of technology has gotten cheaper.

chas

its a tricky one because our income's are divided up more than they used to be. Its so sad that high end keyboards like the Tyros have to justify their existance by selling large numbers to retired people who are not really skilled players. (hence features like the song libraries and registicks, one touch rythm presets, aoc and single finger chords)

I am not taking a shot at those people because many are my friends, but I honestly feel that given the choice a large number would still prefer to play an nice two manual organ.