Would a Stubby Holder be too much to ask??? hehe



Allan

Thanks for bringing this up again, DIKI.

As a non-performing songwriter, I use my old Yammie to help me "flesh out" new, original songs. The cost of most high-end arrangers can be prohibitive and I'd like to see a model available without speakers. (I never use mine when recording and always use headphones.) This might reduce the envelope a little or possible make space for more features. I'd also like to see a model with even fewer than 50 keys to reduce the width of the keyboard. I never play with my right hand. (In my case "play" means I normally use one finger chords on the left hand side of the "board.") I make no bones about it... I'm not a musician. Just a songwriter trying to compete in an already overcrowded market.

I catalog my style disks for quick retreival and "tweak" each style to suit the genre of the song being created.

I don't know if its only a problem with older Yamaha Arrangers but I'd like them to provide a way for the multi-pad volume to stay at it's adjusted volume when switching from Main C to D, etc. It can raise havoc when you attempt to get more or different instruments into a song and suddenly discover that the multi-pad accompaniment has reverted to volume 100 instead of volume 50 when you push the button to go to Main D. I've also noticed that the on-board multi-pads appear to begin, miss nearly a full measure then begin again after being selected.


I don't really need a hard drive so my ideal machine would continue to have a floppy drive. This might also reduce the cost a little. I could also do without the on-board recording feature because I use a USB digital recorder between the keyboard and my PC... where I do final edits. Most importantly, I'd like to retain the power of the Tyros Engine even if it has to be a pared down S910 version.

In my case, smaller is better. My once massive studio space is now a bedroom closet... LOL... and I need room for all my other recording junk.

Hope I didn't hi-jack your thread, DIKI but this seemed like the perfect place to bring this up. Thanks for understanding.

Dave Rice

http://www.ShowCaseYourMusic.com/DaveRice/

Rice, you can forget floppies, they aren't even making them anymore. You can use one USB thumb drive and have 100 times more stuff, all neatly organized, than you can with a stack of floppies.
We'll have to drag you, kicking and screaming, into the new century.
This module, controlled by a really small keyboard controller, would be ideal for you.
I even have a two-octave Alesis controller sitting on the shelf, and it's available REALLY CHEAP.
DonM

Hey Don:

A thumb drive would work. I use them now to transfer songs from one PC to my internet Laptop. Still, the cataloging capability might be a little more complex but I could work around that easily. Don't most (if not all) controllers require MIDI connection? MIDI appears to be the next thing down from Rocket Science in complexity... LOL! I have difficulty just using more than one track of my digital recorder.

Educate me a little and we might just see what the Alesis could do for me. The learning curve is what I'm worried about. It's all I can do just to stay focused on writing songs, getting them recorded and then running the gauntlet in Nashville with 20,000 other gullible fools who think they might stand a chance in getting a cut by George Strait or Reba MacIntyre... LOL! (Or someone else of that stature... even Josh Groban would be acceptable in a pinch.)

Thanks,

Dave

All the Alesis controller would do for you would be call up the chords from the module. It wouldn't require much setting up as far as the controller. There would be a learning curve on the module since you are mostly familiar with Yamaha.
I'll help any way I can.
Don

Hey Don:

My internet provider has some kinda goofy security feature and it gets in the way when I try to e-mail from a site, like SZ. Anyway, when convenient, either PM me or e-mail me with some numbers I can crunch. I'm assuming this approach would involve abandoning (at least not using) the PSR-2K?

Thanx,

Dave

Most of us use Auto-fill, these days. Four fills, or sixteen, we still use the same four variation buttons to get fills (hit the same variation for fill-to-same). I don't think this would confuse the average user. And, while some of the things I ask for might be complex to make, in PRACTICE, they add no complexity to what the player does. Just gives more MUSICAL results when you do what you already do...

I would love to see an arranger that moves it all one step further...

By combining a typical arranger, KARMA and the Matrix from Ableton live intoo one big engine... A style would have like 8 tracks with 8 parts... top line buttons would switch all tracks to the next part... But you could also switch inidividuall style tracks. Normall intro/fill/begin would still be available... but also Karma fills, and they would play ontop of a style.. Next to the system should also allow audio fyles that can be transposed(elastique) to reflect the right chord.

Next to i would love to see more options for direct controll over the sounds.. some knobs would be highly appreciated as well as a ribbon controller..


Most important would be full master keyboard functionallity, which would let you assign every button and/or controller to any external function you would like..

An application that would function as /VST host/VST plugin/extensive editor/ on a remote computer... most top model synths allready have this for years and years.


... and every good arranger should have both 61 and 76 key versions, but tghat would not be a new feature

Diki I'm pretty sure MOTL/TOTL arrangers from Yamaha, Korg, and probably Ketron already do what you are asking for. Take a look at the style creation sections of their manuals that discuss Note Transposition Rules (NTT / NTR), Wrap Range, High Key, etc. On a Yamaha for example, the bass will change octaves if a C-chord is played with C3 instead of C2 as the bass note. In fact if you're not careful, the pattern can exceed the natural range of the selected instrument!

Roland are a little behind the others in this regard. They implemented the "Alteration" message on the E-series, but frankly Yamaha, Korg, Ketron, and even Casio give the user more control over how the arranger engine will adapt the style pattern to chord input. Since the BK-7m manual doesn't mention anything about style creation, I guess we'll just have to wait for the G-90! (Hmmm, come to think of it, I wonder how the Prelude and the BK-7m deal with the alteration message if one is embedded in an E-80 style track...?)

Personally I would like to see more user customization of chord recognition rules. For example: a user could specify minor 7ths instead of 6th chords for certain inversions (on Yammies, 6th chords always seem to get in the way!) Optional 2-note fingerings for augmented, diminished, and sus4 chords. More control over how on-bass chords are recognized (for example, user-defined interval or lower split point to specify an on-bass note); single note as full major or 1+8, etc. Also more user control over rootless types. These options could simply be a series of check-boxes that overlay the existing chord recognition modes.

Another option (which is implemented in the Live Styler arranger software, but not in any hardware arranger that I know of) is a user-adjustable window for intelligent chord input. Many of you dislike the simplified chord system because an unintended chord can be recognized and sounded prematurely as soon as the first one or two keys are pressed. One solution would be to have a user-adjustable delay "window" from real time to 35 milliseconds (ms) before the chord is resolved and sounded. This would allow a less-precise player to sacrifice some responsiveness and playability for better accuracy and fewer false notes or false chords in the resulting score.

To me, the defining functions of an arranger are chord recognition and style pattern transposition, so these software enhancements should receive careful consideration and treatment by the manufacturers.

I also like the idea others have suggested of some randomness (as an option for practicing at home, not for professional performance!) I never fooled with a Karma but I think it would be neat if the backing were a little different every time depending on what kind of "mood" the computer is in. It might even encourage me to practice more! Good thread!!

Well, it would be for Yamaha..!