For quite some time now I have been wanting to write this kind of article on all of those things that I reflect on when visiting the SZ or other forums, and all related to arranger keyboards.

To begin with I think we should realize that apart from the age aspect,(most arranger keyboard players and performers won’t see the age of 50 again, no offence to the younger ones, au contraire……) but here on the SZ forum the majority of arranger players are (semi) professional performers. (Scott, Donny, Fran, Don, Dave, to name but a few). As such the keyboard market is a substantially different one from the arranger keyboard market in Europe where after all the keyboard playing harks back to the old days when many a family here in Holland and nearby countries would have a home organ (Eminent,etc) either related to religious practice or not. As such I think more than 80% of arranger players here are still homeplayers. A significant detail to remember when reflecting on the aspects still to cover.

Having programmed on many keyboards over the last 20 years, basically sounds and registrations it strikes me time and time again how there seems to be an insatiable desire for STYLES. Even recently someone remarked here how he was working his way thru literally thousands and thousands of styles for his new Korg PA keyboard. The question is whether his time and efforts will be worth it cause in my experience the best styles are either residing within the keyboard already or are supplied later on by the manufacturer either as an update or simply as a free download. Of course there are those professionals who occasionally program their own styles but generally they are far and few between. And then of course there are the few companies, particularly in Germany who actually sell styles ( at quite a price) and some of which are really good, many do not pass average though. What few people have managed to do or are bothered to do is to use a basically good style and transform it into yet another good or even better style. Particularly on the Korg arrangers this can easily be done. In my experience Yamaha players are generally content with what is thrown at them either by Yamaha itself or by aforesaid companies that produce off-the-peg styles.

Yet another remarkable phenomenon in my view are the insatiable desire for SONGSTYLES. Particularly Yamaha players have a virtually limitless array of songstyles. Personally I am not all that fond of songstyles but that is because I do not perform publicly/ in front of an audience. I can well understand that professional performers need songstyles that remind the audience of the hit that they are trying to cover. Not always a very creative process but it is what I would call the “ feast of recognition “.

As regards SOUNDS and REGISTRATIONS it has to be said that 80% of arranger keyboard players, in particular the ones at home do not get past the factory stuff, apart from nano adjustments to these aspects. That of course is a shame cause the present day arranger keyboards offer so much more and what you hear out of the box is often less than 50% of its potential. Soundwise there is a most peculiar phenomenon as well. We keep on hunkering for new and better samples and bashing one make in favour of another. The people in the audience do not hear the difference anyway but apart from that :
How many sounds do you really need and actually use ? Most arrangers have hundreds of ( on average very good) sounds arranged in approx.. twenty banks. Piano wise you will need two or three good pianos at most. ( for solo piano, for rock and for whatever). And if you go down the list that goes for most divisions. My contention is that if you have 100 no even 50 good right hand sounds that you actually use it will be plenty. And however close they may come they are never the real thing cause an accordion player will hear the difference straightaway and the same for a sax player etc. Funny come to think of it....

Wich brings me to REGISTRATIONS. Where there is a lively black and white market in the trade of styles no such thing occurs when we deal with Registrations. (user programs Roland, performances Korg, registrations Yamaha). We all program them to some extent but where to get or buy good ones, no one knows. Swapping hardly takes place because either one thinks his own programming below par, or because they have invested so much time in it that they do not want to give away their hard work and/or ideas.
As you all know I dabble a lot in this area offering lots of Resources for the Korg PA arrangers. I have yet to come across someone who wants to swap registrations , or think it is a worthwhile endeavour. A shame cause they can get the creative juices flowing imho.

Finally we come to the merits of keyboard makes, their weight, size and internal amplification. Again here is a substantial difference in the approach by (semi) professional and home players. Belonging to the latter category I swear by keyboards with internal speakers. After all it is dead easy to switch them off and replace them by whatever monitor or amplification system whereas vice versa is impossible. On top of that I find that all of one’s programming will sound different from the moment you alter the amplificiation system. For example I have programmed extensively on the PA800 but when I hear my best registrations on a PA2X they sound different, sometimes even better often less , depending on what speakers system is being used.

Thank God we are nearing the end of the road as to which make is better etc.etc. For starters there are only two or three worthwile makes left in the field of arranger keyboards. And as you know it is my conviction that more often that not you are better of with having two different make keyboards at your disposal, no matter which price range. The differences in quality are getting negligible. That does not mean that they sound the same. As has often been said, and I agree, Yamaha for example sounds more like a CD production whereas Korg and Ketron give you the feel of a real band behind you.Having both at your disposal must be the dream of any musician whatever his proficiency or likes.

I think that in this day and age we are a lucky bunch to have these ultra modern arranger keyboards at our disposal and I hope that in time next generations will continue to enjoy them ( no doubt with even more possibilities and even better samples) and that they will not grow extinct with the passing of time. There, I have said my piece !!!

Regards,
John

Well said, John

I agree with most of what you have said, and what I don't is purely subjective anyway.

Bernie

Hi John

Nicely put, however!

I think you’re treading a little on dangerous water when saying there are only two or three worthwhile arranger manufactures out there. (Although I know what you are trying to say)

One thing you have missed though, is the accelerated pace that arranger owners are adding a second keyboard and pedals to their arrangers, (Yamaha users in particular) as users get bored with the repetitiveness of styles, and so now prefer to try and do their own thing.

As I see it, song styles are primarily for home users so as to give them an idea what to play and how to set the instrument up, very few pro users need them, as they can play in pretty much any style they want, (Or record their own Midi or audio backing for a specific song) and adapt styles on the fly to suit any song. (Remember audiences could recognise what a performer was playing long before styles (Auto accompaniment) came out)

Overall a very good and positive post, and look forward to more.

Regards

Bill

Hi John,

There are some fantastic styles available for download. However as you stated correct, I have to listen to thousands to find the hundred or so that I want.

I do not use song styles as me and my wife sing praise and worship only when we do open air outreaches. Our music sounds similar to Hillsong and I use mostly Ballad and Rock styles.

On my Yamaha I did some extensive style modifications for use by myself only. It became quite easy to mix intros, endings, variations and solo tracks from other styles with the one I intended to use.

All of this is new to me for the Korg. Until I become more proficient with the PA50SD, I'll settle for now to the finding of good styles only. Some of the one's I've found thus far beats any style residing on the arranger itself, although those are already good as is.

Soon I'll make a recording or two from the Pa50SD and post here to demonstrate just what I mean. I'll slowly phase out onboard styles with better ones until I have what I want.

If you know of any Korg editing tools, please let me know. I do not like to edit styles at midi level, this takes all the fun out of keyboard playing for me as it just becomes too tedious.

Anyway, just my two cents.

Keep well all,

Henni

Thank you Bernie and Abacus,

Hennie, may I refer to another topic of mine here, as the resources on offer for the Micro are identical for the PA50. I will be happy to furnish you with them free of any obligation. see:
http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthread...r_Ko#Post341302

best wishes,
John

Hi John,

Thank you for your kind offer:

buildtofly@yahoo.com

or

hennie.vanrooyen@exxaro.com.

Keep well my friend,
Henni

Hi Guys,

you've probably found this site already, but, just in case.

http://www.korgpa.com/en/support/bonusware.html

You probably should have all the tools onboard that you need for style editing/recording. I'm not familiar with the pa50sd o/s, as my pa800 is the first korg I've owned since my i2 , some 20 years ago.
I had a quick look at the manual, it appears to have a lot of the tools my pa800/pa3x have for editing, though not as clearly set out .

If you're referring to pc editing tools like you get for psr's, they don't really exist. i think thereis a midifile to style tool, but I'm not aware of any others.

Hi,

Tx for the link. I had some of the stuff, now I've got everything.

Henni

Hi Guys

Keiths site might be of some interest to you also.
You've probably run across him thru yamaha .
He compiled a lot of the stuff that was written about on the korg forums , over a number of years.
Tutorials, articles etc & some software

http://korgpa2xpro.yolasite.com/

Hi Rikki.......a question.......I'm not that enthusiastic about using a touch screen, it's too "hit and miss." I prefer buttons. On your PA3x, can you navigate through the "sounds" and the "dance patterns" somehow by just using buttons or tabs?

Mark