Diki,

what is the closest Ketron dealer to you where you might be able to find an AUDYA?

BY the way, I did mean ALL the brands in my post above, of course, Roland is included, I have test the GW8L/Prelude and it falls short, and here is why.
Let me say that they have Cumbias Radio 1,2,3,4 & 5, Cumbia Traditional 1,2,3,4,5, Cumbia Romance 1,2,3,4,5, etc, etc....there is VERY little difference in tempo and perhaps SOME instrumentation, that does NOT justify the amount on EACH one of them....same with Paso Duranguenze(Northern Mexico region) 1,2,3,4,& 5, that by the way,is NOT the same or even similar to the Paso Doble (Spain).
There are several issues with correct instrumentation and musical phrasing in many of their Latino styles, is obvious that the persons that designed those styles, did not completed their research, you must be immerse or have born in that culture to know how is play that particular gender.

In the case of Roland, my guess is that they wanted quantity, not quality, that explains the number of those styles, BUT, I must admit, is the closest "attempt" to try to do it right.

------------------
mdorantes

OFF TOPIC: I hate to be call LATIN, I don't speak LATIN!! LATIN ITS NOT THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF LATIN AMERICA!! Nobody speaks LATIN IN LATIN AMERICA!!

WHATTA!!!!

Well, OS2 for GW-8 adds qhuite a lot of the amazing 'Makeup Tools' abilities from the E and G-series arrangers. If the part is OK, but the sound is wrong, it's a snap to change that. Wrong playing, though, that's tougher, but all in all, if the majority of the style is in the ballpark, and just a part or two not quite right, it isn't that major of a task to perhaps erase it and put in your own...

At least it's good to know that, in the eyes of someone that DOES play primarily Latin music, the little cheap GW-8L is the LESSER of all the evils out there! You know, I always thought the sounds in it themselves, especially the new Latin music drumkits, are by far the best thing Roland has come out with so far. Perhaps all it needs is for someone familiar with REAL modern Latin music to produce styles for it? At it's price point, a good set of third party styles might be bundled with the arranger by dealers...

And it's nearly a thousand miles to and from my nearest Ketron dealer. Not a trip I'm prepared to make to simply slake my curiosity. I still think the thing is priced too high for what I can justify, at this time. My G70 may be a little bit long in the tooth by some of YOUR standards, but I'm more of a 'ten year cycle' kind of guy.

Quite possibly, in another five years, the audio loop technology may be more mature, and all chords are covered without MIDI substitution and streamed off a nice SSHD with excellent reliability. And with any luck, someone will be producing them at more real world prices.

I'll certainly check one out if anyone near me gets one, or a dealer within 100 miles carries them, but my part of the world, even local towns are over 50 miles apart! So I'm not holding my breath!

Vlio- yes the term "Latino" "Latin America" always seemed odd for the reasons that you pointed out. Here's what I undersatand:

The origin of the word "latin america" comes frome France, in the nineteen century, in purpose to rename "iberian america" (iberian=spanish+portuguese) and including french speaking countries of america (guyana, haiti, caribean islands) - So the word "latin", that include Spanish, Portuguese and french cultures was used insted of "iberian" that excluded the french-speaking territories.


Generally, american people are comfusing all the meaning of the next words,
to resume, the real meanings of these words are :

Hispanic (hispano) =
coming from Spain or related to spanish languages and culture.

Iberian (ibero) = Coming from Spain AND Portugal, related to Spanish and Portuguese languages and cultures.

Latin (latino) = Coming from a latin-based country, related to countries with a latin-based language and culture. (NOT only to latin-america.) - Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Romania + their former colonies in america.

Hispanic-american (hispanoamericano) =
Coming from a spanish-speaking country of america.

Ibero-american (iberoamericano) = Coming from Spanish and portuguese (brazil) speaking countries of America.

Latin-America (latinoamericano) = coming from a country of spanish, portuguese of french language in America.
The use that is made in some countries in America, using Hispanic and latin as interchangeable is wrong.



[This message has been edited by montunoman (edited 04-10-2010).]

Mdorantes- I wish much success with your project. It seems like the Latino market has been neglected.

Leezone- could you perhaps give some specific examples of what Roland has done wrong with the GW8? I know my Latin music so I'm familiar with the jargon (2-3 vs 3-2 clave, rumba clave, tumbao....) My background is in Latin percussion. Please understand I am not trying to be confrontational at all. You have tried the GW8 and I haven't and I need informed opinions such as yours to help me decide if this instrument will work for me.

Good Explanation,,,,,Thanks

After calling all over the state to find the gw8 with no luck I finally came across one today at a little mom and pop music store closde by my house. I only go there to buy my little girl piano sheet music- they hardly carry anything else...

anyways to my surprise the gw8 was sitting there and I got to spend about a 1/2 hour with it.

I wasn't too surprised. The cumbias sound nice but the other styles that I need (merengue,salsa,bachata) sound kind of yucky. Persoanlly I don't care for most of the voices either. My budget line Yamaha e413 sounds lots better.

I'm sure in the hands of a top notch singer/keyboardist it could work well. But I need all the help I can get!

I've been able to find some pretty good Latin stlye files for my Tyros 2. The new "Gran Salsa" and "Cumbia Nova" are pretty darn good. I hope Yamaha continues putting out some more good Latin.

I decided to get a flight case and lug the Tyros 2 down to Mexico. It would have been nice to find something lighter...

Nah Leezone, does Montunoman live under a stone! Or are house prices in the USA on the up again, I think not! This thread has been highjacked, in about 5, now who whould have thought of it? BTW I am staying over on Ketron SZ there's no contest with AJ, he's not in the knife drawer every morning.
Leezone you keep up the good work, I will take a peep every now and again to see how you are going on, but that's all I will be doing. I do hope Nigels coping well with it all, he's very tolerant.


Tony

[This message has been edited by Tony Hughes (edited 04-27-2010).]