I wouldn't be surprised to see that (or a new Prelude) inside a year. Roland are pretty good at updating software for older (but still in production) arrangers as they come out with new stuff. OS2 for the Prelude and GW-8 upped the stakes quite well.

What's weird is that Roland seem to have abandoned the MOTL and TOTL market segment, but now seem to be working hard at putting MOTL and TOTL features in their BOTL arrangers... Not sure how that's going to work for them, but it's good for us!

I can't find it in my heart to agree with you about the QRanger, though. Sure, it might have the POTENTIAL to be a good arranger, but I GUARANTEE that the day you get your BK7-m, it will be a MUCH better arranger in practical, 'go out and do the gig tonight' form than the Mediastation, which you have had for YEARS. Let's face it, if the Mediastation actually DID live up to its potential, you would never use anything else!

Hi Diki
Perhaps you missed this link posted in another thread about a week ago

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=57931

Bill

It's still about content and integration, as far as I am concerned. An arranger, even MORE than a workstation, stresses things to the absolute limit by needing total integration right from the start. Arranger players are basically 'I need everything, and I need it NOW!' just to get the basic operation that an OOTB closed arranger provides. Today I might be playing oldies, tomorrow funk, the day after, jazz.

You buy an off the shelf arranger, you are going to be able to do that, at least competently, the day you buy it. Until the software arrangers start to come with the quality of INTEGRATION of sounds that hardware ones do (I know that, individually, software sounds completely destroy a closed keyboard's sounds, but try to find an entire sound SET that is as well balanced and as comprehensive as a closed one, well, I'm still looking!) and a style selection as varied and as well suited to the samples they play as a hardware ones are, these things still don't address the needs of the majority (the VAST majority) of the market.

When one of these things comes out where you can buy one, turn it on, sit down and play style after style (of whatever genre you feel like) that utterly annihilates any closed arranger, then the world will change.

Until then...

Hi Diki
From the way I read the article, what you have said that you want, the module is designed to provide, however as Musikmesse 2011 isn’t until April, we will have to wait a while longer to see if it delivers.
Tastenpoint customers will also be getting their own style/preset combinations for the Groove, which will be specifically tailored for the European market.

Bill

Well, that's PART of it... being tailored for the European market. There's a lot of us with money over here in the US. And we don't play schlager!

But I saw nothing in the specs about having a fully integrated soundset. Looked like a laundry list of different, mostly not TOTL sample sets to me. I am just not sure how many people realize just HOW complex a task making a comprehensive, COHERENT soundset actually is. It's not just a case of finding good sounds, it's having them so the ALL work the same way, blend together sonically and EQ-wise, all respond to velocity and controllers identically, and all the other things that makes a soundset. Arrangers essentially set out to have sounds set up that, you replace ANY sound with any other sound, it's essentially going to WORK (or at least not stick out like a sore thumb). I've never worked with a software product yet that fit THAT bill...

You can stretch a lot of mileage out of a good style by re-voicing it. Change out jazz guitars for acoustics, change pianos into Rhode's, change stick kits to brushes, or rods, or hands, change electric basses to synth basses, you name it. String lines changed to woodwinds, saxes, whatever.

Without a soundset that makes experimenting with doing this a painless operation, you are less likely to try. Or succeed. I wish more people were appreciative about what an amazing job most closed arrangers do at a task that seems to have eluded most software sampler makers.

Nah, you folks "over there" play 90% Sinatra, Big Band Brass and Jazz, the 10% left are Country, or as we call it, "Horse Jazz"!

The European or other markets is just as different and have a lot of variations just as the USA market. Different need for different taste and goals.
To me the arranger keyboard (Autocomp) are about the option to play with styles. If no styles, I would never buy any arranger, but keep on pump air with the Accordeon midied up to OMB5 or Elka .... nah, today it most truly would be a Ketron unit.
So, the bottom line are: The more quality styles who fit MY ears and MY taste, the better!

Btw,
the word Schlager means something who is popular or a HIT. In Scandinavia we have something common, Scandinavian Country. But if you're not a famous group or person with your own special musicstyle that public demands, you have to play all kinds of music styles if you want to make the audience happy. I guess it all depends of what type of occation you're performing.
So you see, Sinatra and a lot of others was/is Schlagers as well, depending of what time they was on Top Of The Pops. The average age of your audience will quickly show you what's Schlager when respond to your playlist.

If it does include lyric read ...why such a small display screen?

I've never understood that myself, Donny. Tiny screen, tiny letters and words that you can barely see. With a display that small it's nearly impossible to read lyrics--even with 20/20 vision.

Gary

Exactly Gary.....even with all it's greatness in Sound & Styles the new Tyros 4 has so much "wasted display space" which they haven't addressed since Tyros's inception..........
I hope in future models they increase the display size at least a few inches more a full bright 8" x 8" would suffice.

Hi Fran

Looking forward to reading you review on the Roland BK-7m. It is a most welcome developement, arranger modules are very

thin on the ground. I'm like a kid looking forward to Christmas.

Frank