I never mastered playing the pedals on my orgel, three parts and vocals were just to much for me.. Thats where i switched to more piano and arranger type of playing styles..

However, of lately with all the articulations and controll you want to use for expressive sounds, i am using my feet more and more, for expression pedals, SA switches, soundchanges on the fly, damper, sostenuto, wah wah in real time, which works much more naturall for me as its paert ofd the process of creating that single solo sound..



instead of styles, i am using more and more arps and soon karma, keeping it simple, combining stuff out of nothing and creating my own sound... in the end the arps are so much fun to play around with on my Motif XS rack... cant way till my Kronos finally arives..

I get around the sameness in styles by editing, usually fairly extensively...I have a folder with donor styles that have interesting parts like string phrases and piano/guitar chording. I've also used converted styles from other manufacturers, mostly Korg; many of their styles have really nice donor parts due to being programmed over 8 bars or more.

Jazz styles are especially challenging to keep interesting.

However, sometimes you want styles (or at least parts of them) to be very repetitive, depending on the goal and genre.

All my custom styles are programmed over 8 bars or more, and I usually reprogram the three Intros to be available as extra Variations (able to play chords over them) and stop/fills rather than the easily identifiable factory programmed parts. It's also possible to use phrases and parts from styles from different genres by using the Groove & Dynamics feature in Yamaha's Style Creator to mold them into shape.

I don't play bass pedals as often as I should, I suppose...I have access to them, as we use them in the studio for several purposes, often as switches for functions on keyboards. Like Bill, I don't have the speed I used to have years ago, which is why playing Bebop and fast jazz/swing is much more fun (and sane) using styles, especially if I can reprogram with interesting bass lines.

To me, the bass line is the most important part of the style, even before the drums...I can play a style without drums, but if it doesn't have a bass line, it just seems to have no direction or foundation, especially if I am using alternate root chords (slash chords).

Arps are cool, but, at least for now, and for the genres I am playing, I don't find them as flexible as one of my own reprogrammed styles with at least 6 Variations, and additional parts can easily be added using Multipads, so I haven't seen the need for a Motif or an MOXF...I think Karma would be fun, but again, I don't intend to invest in more gear unless I have a specific need for it.

Ian

Ian could you post some examples of these custom styles, dynamic, groove etc,. so some of us can get an idea of what they sound like and possibly learn how to create them ourselves?...
sounds interesting.

Donny, my small "Frankenstyles" style collection (87 styles) on PSR Tutorial would have some good examples, as many were made using the described methods.

Many of the style parts (pads and phrases) have more movement and variety than the standard styles and, for example, the styles with organ in them feature an automatic speed up/slow down Leslie effect, mainly in Var C. String pads will play subtle phrases.

http://psrtutorial.com/sty/collections/ian.html

As far as describing style creation (I use the Style Assembly feature the most) , it was far easier to do clinics on style making in person than it was describing on-line, as seeing how it is done saves a lot of words which is why I was adding it to some of my store clinics/demos.

I suggested a YouTube style tutorial to Yamaha shortly before my retirement, but they weren't interested in the investment, and nowadays, I don't have the ambition for it either.

Ian

I have some of your custom styles that you posted on PSR awhile back.

They are terrific!!! I have incorporated several of them into my sets. They have allowed me to play several songs I would have not performed prior to receiving them.

Thank You.

Regards,

JerryGHR

Thank you, Jerry...I'm very glad you found them useful.

Ian

Personally, I really enjoy playing and performing with styles, especially those that are song specific. If I wanted to play without styles I would have learned to play the piano better, or go back to just playing my 12-string Yamaha guitar and using the old Roland drum machine. Sure, some variations of the styles are a bit too busy, so I just don't use that variation. But, by and large, those styles are really great, especially for an OMB entertainer.

I was horrible with bass pedals, and yes, I tried using them many times, but I lacked the coordination to use them efficiently. Consequently, I hired a great bass player, who was with the band for 5 years until cancer got him. Same was true with the fiddle. I could play a mandolin pretty good, and still have one hanging on the basement wall as decoration, but I couldn't play the mandolin and guitar at the same time, so I stuck with the guitar and hired a mandolin player, who was also a great fiddle player as well. This guy, a WWII vet who was a US Naval aviator, played the best bluegrass fiddle I've ever heard. He was still playing at age 95 when Alzheimer's got him. Our band's lead guitar player is still around, playing the NH circuit with a beatup acoustic, Martin guitar and singing Marty Robbins songs. He and I are the only ones still alive out of the 5 guys that were in the band.

One of the main reasons I switched to playing an arranger keyboard was the styles. When I heard that first keyboard I was hooked. I suspect that I'm not alone in this. Then, when I heard all the voices/instruments available, I was really hooked. For the first time in my life I was able to play the vibes using piano keys, and I had a drummer and bass player to boot - WOW! And, their timing was perfect - no drifting around anymore - life was sweet.

Now, I'm sure that some folks enjoy using their arranger keyboards as a single instrument - I'm just not among them. I guess I'm greedy - I want to use all the features. I want to hear that entire band behind me, wailing away on the drums, bass, rhythm guitar, and hitting those fiddle licks while I'm singing Alabama's Mountain Music and playing some right hand runs.

That said, Alan is an incredibly talented individual and can play circles around anyone that I know, personally. However, in all the years I've been on stage, I can assure you that after 20 minutes of that kind of performance, MY AUDIENCES would be throwing rotted produce at you. Neat stuff for playing at home, but that's about as far as it goes, at least IMHO. For me, give me some styles and I'm a happy camper.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program,

Gary

Thanx Ian I'll check these out..

I think where Alan McPike's non-use of styles really becomes important is because of his repertoire, which, although quite varied, still seems to focus primarily on instrumental jazz and swing with lots of improvisations.

He is not locked into the bass line dictated by a style, nor does he have to "play along" to any auto rhythmic comping provided by an accompaniment. He is essentially free to change gears anytime the mood strikes him.

That's what makes his playing so powerful...he is the bass player, the soloist, the rythym player, a part time drummer, an orchestrator/arranger, and he is exceptionally good at all of it.

Knowing what I know about playing multiple parts at the same time makes his performance all the more impressive.

And, he loses nothing when he accompanies a vocalist...he simply makes them sound even better.

He's the real deal, for sure.

Ian