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#392137 - 08/24/14 06:57 AM
Re: Have Arranger KBs died out ?
[Re: Dnj]
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Senior Member
Registered: 11/12/08
Posts: 2443
Loc: Bluffton/Hilton Head SC USA
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Personally I think the market is full of enough things. Live entertainment is evolving and actually playing an instrument is being pushed aside with the spotlight on vocalists. Its been said before, for most venues no one cares how the music is coming out as long as its good and the attention is all on the singers. Last Friday on the Today show they featured another flavor of the week new band. Behind the singer I noticed some classic Fender amps. Nothing plugged into them and the whole act was done to pre-recorded tracks. The drummer did actually hit some drums but I guess he couldn't fake that. Milli Vinilli was ahead of their time. If a situation calls for a live act as in Jazz or Classical then it needs to be totally live. Even if its just a piano player in a restaurant. Just play the piano, thats whats expected. For the rare occasions that will allow some arranger playing I think there is enough variety out there to cover it. I'm really happy with my BK9. It does all I want or I think I will need. I think Roland realizes that too, how much do you need to justify the selling point. Would I like an Audya, sure, but would it justify the cost, no. For the hobbyist who wants the greatest, sure. I don't think young musicians really know much about arranger as there are numerous keyboard that will just provide bcking tracks and recording so they are pulled toward those.
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Bill in SC --- Roland BK9 (2) Roland BK7M, Roland PK5 Pedals, Roland FP90, Roland CM30 (2), JBL Eon Ones (2) JBL 610 Monitor, Behringer Sub, EV mics, Apple iPad (2) Behringer DJ mixer
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#392140 - 08/24/14 09:21 AM
Re: Have Arranger KBs died out ?
[Re: Bill Lewis]
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Senior Member
Registered: 08/23/04
Posts: 2202
Loc: Dayton, OH USA
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I think arrangers played with-out midi files are tough to work with for some genres & eras of music. As my repertoire begins to add more and more content from the 80's and 90's, it doesn't play to the unit's strengths, which are styles. Don't get me wrong-I'm not abandoning arrangers anytime soon. No way...they are terrific for many, many useful kinds of musical performance. As new wave became popular, the construction of a typical pop song was different than it had been prior. Instead of the band chunking along from chord to chord, there emerged the use of "lines" - melodic riffs, that would be built upon by other instruments. Sometimes there's a suitable workaround that sounds fine, sometimes there isn't. If you try and play "Take on Me" without the signature riff, its usually sucks. Stuff from Duran, Duran, the Police, the Talking heads, etc...doesn't seem to translate well. Sometimes, as I've said, there are creative, well-played modified versions of tunes that work...but its cumbersome to get the arrangers to do it well. I am moving closer and closer to adding a high end loop machine like a RC 300 Boss RC -300 to some of my performances. That opens up a world of possibilities that are difficult to attain right now. I'm also thinking of adding an electric/acoustic guitar to the mix that would also be a game changer for me. Its more expenses, more stuff to carry, and it wouldn't really be suitable for 100% of my shows---but I think in time, it would be. Its as much me trying to think ahead of the game-prepare myself so I stay relevant in the SW Ohio music scene. Plus, the idea of developing a guitar/loop machine component to my act sounds like a helluva lot of fun.
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Bill in Dayton
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#392141 - 08/24/14 09:59 AM
Re: Have Arranger KBs died out ?
[Re: Dnj]
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Senior Member
Registered: 03/21/03
Posts: 3748
Loc: Motown
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I disagree that there are not a good number of excellent keyboard players out there. In both the commercial and religious fields I see lots of young talent emerging, and they're playing organ and piano along with their keyboards.
As for arrangers, they IMO are great for established music genres, but not for doing much with the newer music. Even Donny has to admit that he uses mp3 and smf to augment his arranger styles. I just bought a new keyboard; it plays .wav and mp3 files. All I have to do is transfer my smf to either type and go. As for the 15% of arranger styles I use, I can build a song using my arranger keyboard, record it as an audio file and play it on this new 73-key beast of keyboard.
As much as I agree that the simplicity of an all-in-one keyboard is the way to go, I must also admit being limited to arranger styles is not the wave of the future. We already have 'live drums,' why not live guitars, saxes, synths, etc...
I started this drummerless thing with a simple Roland drum machine and it worked fine for a long time. Then I switched to an i3 and thought that was going to be it. I'm now on my fifth Yamaha and have had several Rolands in between. I'm actually going back to a regular keyboard with a BK7m as a sideman and may even start using my PK5 pedals. Since most of my music is already prearranged one way or another, I rarely need an arranger keyboard.
That said, I'm still using my beautiful s950 for the foreseeable future...
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