It's got the sounds, it's got the loops... but they ain't EASY to play. Maybe why they aren't getting played.

DJX was pretty popular round here when it was out. It got discontinued pretty quickly because it ate into the sales of keyboards MUCH more expensive. Yamaha don't like to have much in common between lines... and certainly don't like cheap keyboards showing up their WS's.

Why not let the market place decide the issue about arrangers? Who's paying for these boards anyway? Parents? If the younger players are not buying arrangers, so what? I'd wager the manufacturers know their market. I'll play bossas until the market dies off. Tastes change, sure. If so, I'll quit. Wonder why an enterprising company hasn't designed an arranger around rap and hiphop and left off the traditional stuff?

Yeah I hear you. Most young people in their 20's and 30's will opt for a digital piano or a workstation keyboard. There's still a stigma attached to arrangers. The biggest one being they compare them to toys. The stigma was instilled in the formative years of arranger production and it still lingers today unfortunately. I can imagine many young people won't take the time to play the current crop of arrangers and it's a real shame. Because if they did play a mid or high-end arranger they would realize the "toy" designation is long gone. Ingrained perceptions are hard to break and dismissing them outright doesn't help matters. In other words, they don't realize what they're missing.


The question posed by Deane was a simple one. If you can get by with lower cost gear that sounds great then why bother buying an ultra expensive high-end arranger? Makes sense to me. Hence the possibility the Big Three (and Ketron) might discontinue their high-end arrangers in favor of great sounding MOTL arrangers that won't break the bank. I think the Roland BK-9 is a prime example of that.

I haven't played the Korg microArranger but if Deane says it sounds good that's good enough for me. I still think there's a market for ultra expensive high-end arrangers e.g. Tyros5/6/7/8/9 etc., but that market is rapidly shrinking in my opinion. Although if the world economy recovers to pre-recession levels then they could roll out the "big guns" at a later date. Time will tell. Hopefully they'll reduce the prices to 'pre-greed' levels once they do. Or rather, if they do. Again, time will tell.

All the best, Mike

The stigma about arrangers comes from them being stuffed with Granny styles! Got nothing to do with them being 'toys'. DJX was a 'toy'. Sold great to the kids. Because it was designed for them... Wouldn't have sold hardly any if it were stuffed with waltzes, polkas and beguines!

Sadly, the arranger manufacturers are ignoring their own future, pretty much guaranteeing the slow, sad decline of the arranger...

Remember the 'home organ'? R.I.P.

Soon to be joined by the arranger, because no manufacturer will take out the Granny styles and market it specifically for the young.

Arranger or OMB concept is huge else where except for US/UK,
Mid east/EU are asia ,OMB arrangers are doing well.(playing newer dance songs)

I have to disagree on price levels. If you compare today's arranger prices with what they were 20 years ago, they have gone up very little, if at all, when you consider the overall inflation level.
Gasoline price has increased maybe 10-fold during that time. McDonalds will cost you five or six bucks compared to a dollar or so 20 years ago. How about a new car? Get ready to shell out 30 to 40 thousand for a pretty fancy one.
I gave $8,000 (at dealer cost) for an organ in the 80's!
I'm not saying I wouldn't like to buy a less expensive arranger, and I do, because today's PSRs or other MOTL models are WAY better than what was available 20 years ago at any price.
I have paid more than the cost of today's arrangers for the peripherals such as mixer, effects processors, vocal processors, external modules,etc., that are included on most decent arrangers now.
I'll bet almost anyone on here would pay $5000. for an arranger that had EVERYTHING they wanted on it. Of course, no two would be the same because we all have different needs and wishes.
DonM

I just checked with my friend that owns the local music store about the sales of DJX's. He said he sold all of his at and below cost just to get them out of inventory. Most sat around for years - even the kids didn't want them.

Gary

Maybe he is confusing them with the DJXmkII... which was a dud.

Guys all I got to say is this: Where I come from, (and I am probably the youngest member here...) Arrangers are being bought and used all the time. Both by kids (yes, youngsters) and pro's and it (one man band) is a very profitable business here.

The reason i'm the only one here saying this is because all those guys in my area don't post on this forum. They probably couldn't care less about it any way. They get their way around arrangers very quick and have tons of friends who can help if they have a problem.

May I add also that we here don't care about the styles ANY keyboard comes with, because we almost all use custom made styles. We don't buy a keyboard based on the styles it has, but on the usability.

I don't mean to offend anyone here, quite the contrary, all i'm trying to say is that the arranger business is NOT DEAD, NOR WILL IT BE FOR QUITE A WHILE. Even for the young guys.

"Reporting from Brooklyn"...

Be nice to hear all these 'custom styles' you guys are churning out...