Well guys, the companies have to put these instruments in some sort of category in order to market them properly...we wouldn't want to see another disaster like what happened to the Roland arrangers.

The NP-V80 is sold by Yamaha as an electronic piano with some arranger features.

The GW-8 is sold as a "workstation" by Roland, but it's single finger chording betrays it's origin as a home keyboard...the same goes for the G-70.

Ian

So the single finger chording of the NP-V80 makes it a 'home keyboard' too, then, doesn't it?

So much for it being a piano, then!

When you start to use the definition that a marketing idiot uses rather than your own common sense in deciding what something actually IS, you have crossed the line from reality into dream-land, Ian...

Doesn't having to repeat slavishly the Company Line ever get tiring...? Is there some rule that says you can't use your own judgment?

My G70 states quite clearly on the front panel that it is a 'Music Workstation'. So I guess that completely destroys your assertion that it is a 'home keyboard'. I mean, if Roland say it is, it MUST be, mustn't it?! Who are we to argue with the marketing divisions?

The DGX and CVP also have single finger chords, and they, like the NP-V80 are piano based arrangers.

You see, I prefer to go by what Yamaha calls them, so there is no mix-up...why fuss with the marketing people?

I only have to demo/play them and teach people how to get the most from the instruments.


We can play the definition game till the proverbial cows come home, and the NP-V80 will still be an electronic piano with arranger features, and single finger chords for beginners...AND, the G-70 will still be a Music Workstation (according to Roland, at least) which is actually an arranger that includes a single finger chords feature for beginner workstation players, I suppose.

Personally, I think if all these high end arrangers were intended only for pros, there would be no single finger chord feature at all.

But, it is quite obviously a carryover from when they were designed primarily for home hobbyist players, much like the organs were many moons ago.

Ian

I think you guys should stop this long distance relationship and just get married.



chas

There are 'pro' horn players using arrangers that might need the single finger option..!

There are single finger triggering of loops on WS's... yet they are still labeled as 'pro'...

The problem with definitions, especially those made up by marketing people (I'm afraid, as a salesman and demonstrator of Yamaha's, Ian, you sadly have to be lumped into that group) is that they bear little relationship to reality. They are merely conveniences for their own limited vision (they are marketing people for a reason!) of what a product can do.

But until you can come up with a definition for the NP-V80 that makes it into a piano, but DOESN'T make pretty much all other 76's into pianos as well, you simply haven't got it pinned down yet...

Me, I tend to want to make my own mind up about things. No good can come of abrogating that responsibility to a salesman, for Pete's sake!

I'm happy for you Diki..an unmade up mind must be a messy thing...I'm tickled you've got it sorted out.

I do have the distinct impression, and so should you, that Yamaha know what they are doing marketing wise, especially since they are still making (and selling) MOTL and TOTL arrangers, whereas companies like Roland, who failed miserably at marketing their mid and high end arrangers, had to leave the segment altogether...maybe Roland should have called/labeled them "Home Keyboards" instead of naming them "pro instruments".

The home market, for arrangers, as well as other keyboards, like digital pianos, is where the higher profits lurk...as well as more overall sales...I've been doing this stuff for quite some time, and that's been my observation.

So, I'll stick with my little job doing the demo/clinic thingy and enjoy the kind of gigs that are far easier, more enjoyable, more rewarding, and much more monetarily lucrative than playing the bars...sometimes I snag an occasional dinner music gig; a nice addition...and, as far as trying to explain to you how Yamaha markets it's products, I'll leave that to the more qualified amongst the company...call Steve again, he knows far more about that side of the business than I, and if he can't answer all your questions, he'll surely know someone who can.

I know Yamaha's marketing practices and jargon well enough to reinforce my clinician work, but, for the more stubborn and harder to please interrogators, I'm more than happy to pass them on to one of my more knowledgeable associates.

Ian

BTW, I'm not a salesman...I'm not allowed to sell...I simply point the client/customer in the direction of the person in front of the cash register.

I also rarely quote prices...that's the store's job.

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 06-07-2010).]

Well, like me, I see Peter believes it's a piano with arranger features.

Very nice little unit...should do very well...the NP-30 digital piano that it's based on, has been a great success for Yamaha.

Ian

Are there any demos of this keyboard out there with someone playing it yet besides Baartman's?

Yes it is interesting to see Yamaha have NO demos of this instrument.

Speaks volumes for what they think of the sound and the styles on-board

Dennis