If in the future a TOTL arranger could not be bought what workstation would you replace your gig setup with and why?

hammer

My quick response would be a Roland XP80...why? Because it worked for me before...76 good feel semi weighted keys, decent sounds, expansion boards, multiple zones, decent sequencer,,could be programmed to use as drums, bass, piano and color sound on a pedal..all the ingredients I need...


But, PLEASE don't take away my G70...

the motif XS or XF . right now even with the Kronos in the picture, for realism of real world instruments , they cant be beat.

If I was still looking for some kind of automatic accompaniment, I would simply move downmarket if only TOTL arrangers were not available. Most of the MOTL or even BOTL arrangers are pretty decent, nowadays...

But if I had to move away from an arranger altogether, I'd definitely want to check out the Kronos. Karma, with the right programming and content, is starting to look like a workable alternative. If I had to go with something available NOW, then the MoXF with the Karma software seems workable, too.

But, bottom line, if TOTL arrangers disappeared overnight (like what happened to Roland!), in fact if ALL arrangers disappeared overnight, I already HAVE an arranger that will keep me satisfied for the rest of my life. Got TWO, actually!

Lets face it this is NOT going to happen so enjoy your Tyros4......PA3x.....AUDYA.......and everything released before.

Never say never, Donny! If we can't GROW the arranger market, all it can do is shrink. The sooner the open arranger reaches fruition, the better! Nobody seems to be doing anything with a TOTL arranger that would attract an under 30 year old away from a WS (or even an under 40, maybe!), and none of us are getting any younger!

Either the arranger goes for the younger crowd, or things end up like 'home organs', super-expensive niche products for ailing geriatrics or the tiny few aficionados.

Hmmmmm ? seems to me the arranger situation at this time is just a replacement for the HOME ORGAN (Lowery accmp)market of the 60's/70's/80's as it is now less the Wood ... I've been in this game way before arrangers were introduced and survived no problem on stage with just programing backing tracks & playing on top for many years....sooo if the eventual demise of the arranger is evident in our lifetime I say bring it On......styles ...backing tracks who cares I know I can play and make good music either way.........with the repetitious sound of arranger styles I sometimes think of returning to they way it used to be where you could program tracks, and kool basslines, etc.... The Motif, & Kronos, have enough tools to really make this a very good alternative.

Hammer, you seem pretty sure of yourself that arrangers will disappear one day i.e. "When" Arrangers Go away as opposed to "If" Arrangers go away.

In fairness I think arranger technology will continue to further meld into workstations and we see evidence of that with the Motif XS/XF arpeggiators and the new Korg KRONOS beat maker, etc. In fact the Korg Pa3X has many 'workstation' features on it making it essentially a 'workstation' with full blown arranger functionality. But I digress...

If arrangers disappeared from the planet as of today - thank God they won't though - then I would probably spring for a Korg KRONOS because of its SSD hard drive streaming capability making the Motif XF look childish by comparison. 12 GB of data can be stored on the KRONOS hard drive which is always there when you power it up essentially leap-frogging the Yamaha Motif XF considerably. It's also included in the price of the KRONOS from what I understand whereas the Yammie XF are flash memory "add-on" boards you have to pay extra for. The KRONOS also has 9 synth engines with all the top of the line Korg synthesis technology built in. You can also play along with rhythm patterns that are also included. Plus expansion capability plus many other cutting edge features and technologies besides the nice big high resolution touch screen LCD display. If the $3,500 price tag holds up for the 88 key version it will be a veritable steal in my opinion. The WAV ROM expansion boards are an additional cost but that's to be expected. The KRONOS should be a HUGE seller no doubt and kudos to Korg for bringing real excitement back into the workstation keyboard market once again.

BTW Fran. The XP80 is out of production and therefore it might be rather difficult finding one used. It was a great keyboard during its time though. Not to fret though because Arrangers are going to be around for quite a while in my opinion. Yammie's T4 and now Korg's new PaX3 fresh off the assembly line tells you that manufacturers still see arrangers as a viable market. I continue to think that workstations will keep adding arranger features and functions to them down the road. We'll see.

KRONOS has my vote though if arrangers no longer existed. Brand new with bleeding edge technology... and it's got a factory warranty to boot. Can't say that about the now obsolete and out of production XP80 unfortunately.

All the best,
Mike

Whatever happens, I'd be content with one of the current crop of arrangers for the rest of my playing days...either a Yamaha PSR-S910 (or the next S-series) or a Yamaha Tyros4, which I am seriously considering, now that my demo Tyros3 is sold. I'd also be quite happy with a Tyros3 or Tyros2.

I don't want a workstation ...I'm VERY lazy, and they are too much work; hence the word "work" in their name.

If I really had to do without an arranger, I'd go the Band In A Box route.

Ian