Whew!... glad to hear that Deane....so maybe with some dedicated homework on the vArranger I'm pretty sure in your hands you can make it shine !

I always loved Ketron's clarinet sound - best in the biz for this clarinetist's money. I often do a Pete Fountain style set around Mardi Gras time, and I love the crowd reactions when I break out the old licorish stick! It's one of the best things I ever studied - the wind control is what made my voice so strong, and the phrasing was something that only a horn player could know about. I recorded a backing track of "Stranger on the Shore" just so I could toot my horn once in a while! ( I miss it ).
Anyway - I digress .... the clarinet sound in that Ketron module is wonderful.

Dave...Maybe you can hook up a SD2 module to the pa800 to get those great Ketron sounds?

Nicely done, Deane, and I must say, that rig sounds very good indeed.

The styles sound fine to me.

I loved the Alexander's Ragtime Band, which you played very well.

I love doing that tune using the Tyros4's SA2 Clarinet, which, to my ears, blows away (pun intended) any other arranger clarinet I've ever heard or played. Like David, I play clarinet and sax, but also flute, and the occasional oboe, but keyboards are my major love.

However, being able to play various wind instruments has been very beneficial in helping me express myself using Yamaha's terrific and very expressive SA/SA2 voices.

I'm like you and Scott in that all I need to gig with is the Tyros4, and no other additions are needed, which only add to the complexity and time of setup/tear down...I like keeping it simple, but very effective.

Thanks for the demos...the vArranger is quite a neat piece of work.

Ian

St Louis Blues was outstanding, nice sounds, especially the trombone. The vArranger sounds like fun. I enjoyed the recordings
Larry

I think what is really outstanding is the software is the work of an individual who sells and provides outstanding support via his forum, the internet, and email. His attitude towards his customers is very unique in the world today.

I'll probably mess with these recordings and try to balance them a bit later this week. The software has unlimited possibilities.

Deane

Deane,
Again thanks for the recordings and for your input, but I know little or nothing about vArranger, so a few questions:

How good is vArranger without the SD2?
Can I play T-4 styles using vArranger hooked with an S910?
How much does vArranger cost? Is there a free trial?
Is vArranger compatible with an IPad?
Finally what is the cost of an SD2?

sorry...lots of questions, if you or anyone has time to answer, I'd appreciate it.

http://www.varranger.fr/

349 euros = 494.6028 US dollars

Larry, here is Dan's website.

http://www.varranger.fr/vforum/

The SD2 will cost between $360.00 and $399.00.
Dan's software will be around the $500.00 level pending the Euro and Dollar exchange rate. Yes, there is a free demo offered. vARranger runs only on Windows - Dan recommends Windows 7 now.

Larry, What I like about the product is that it is an open system which is being improved on a daily basis. I am also excited about the idea of being able to select the best styles from all the MFGs instead of being locked in so to speak. I have never used a computer for making music so this is all new and really neat for me.

Right now the software will play Ketron styles and Yamaha Tyros line styles. Dan has indicated other MFGs will be added. I have not tried any of the Tyros line styles with it yet but I have heard they play well. I do not expect the sound to be just like my Tyros 4 but I bet they will be very acceptable.

Dan has some examples of the Yamaha styles being played on his website.

Hope this helps.
Deane

Hi Deane, and thank you for talking about me positively

Your recordings are pretty good. After only 2 or 3 days of playing with vArranger and SD2, you already produce some music.

I sent you my advice on the vA forum.
http://www.varranger.fr/vforum/index.php?topic=399.0

About the support, I am like you, a gigging musician, who is trying to sound the best with arranger keyboards, and make people dancing.
One of the reason that I created the vArranger software, was because I was not able to communicate with the Keyboard company, to get an answer when I found a bug on the keyboard, or to have added some features of my ideas.

That's why, I now try to always take care about every musician who trusted on me.

The truth is that I am the first who benefits from listening to you.

vArranger is now far more advanced that when I was alone, programming only for myself. Users want always more and more that's literary push me to continue improving the software always steps ahead. But I love it.

The next coming feature, I am working on right now, is to be able to create a perfect midifile from your selected styles and entered song chords. It will be a FAST way to create backing tracks, and basis for studio recording. I will post a demo video soon

I have a question for you, The S910 cannot play the Tyros 4 styles?

Continue to have fun discovering vArranger