This may sound like an oximoron,but for those who want to go deep, the sky is the limit.

rikkisbears,

I do not want to convince you to buy, I just use your case to explain how the software works and its capabilities. And how they solve problems in the real world.

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Groovyband Live! (GBL) supports up to 3 midi input devices for notes input.

You have 2 (your arranger: 61 synth action keys; and your piano: 88 hammer action keys). How can you use them effectively?


GBL supports 3 types of voices:

1) Acmp voices (8 parts): driven by the sequencer for style playing.
2) Lead voices (4 parts): played maually. On Yamaha arrangers these are known as L/R1÷3. In GBL they can simulate that and do much more.
3) Aux voices (4 parts): played manually AND assigned to a second/third keyboard/pedalboard.

Aux voices are customised/saved with each style and travel with it. When you load a style the Aux voices are set up automatically to match the given style.

Aux voices can be used to embellish a performance: having always ready 4 parts to play on a second/third keyboard/pedalborad IN ADDTION to the (OTS) lead voices, can be handy.
Aux voices can be configured as layers/split or any combination in between, because for each of the 4 parts you set:

1) Where you want to play it (2nd or 3rd keyboard/pedalboard)
2) The min/max note range.
3) The min/max velocity range.

Lead voices can be configured as you like from L1÷3/R to R1÷4 (and all the combinations in between). Every OTS (you have 8 for each style) can establish a different partitioning. You can assign an OTS to every main, not necessarily in the canonical order 1->8. OTS (and MAINS) can be reordered at the push of a button. The link between an OTS and a MAIN is preserved even when reordering them.

You have an independent harmony function (fully configurable) for each of the 4 Lead parts (and saved with the OTS).
If you set R1÷4 to play different instruments, each one playing different harmonized note(s), you have an effective way to play quartets of instruments as in a real orchestra (complex multi timbral chords).
As usual all possible combinations are possible, the limit is only your imagination. Not the tool, anymore!


rikkisbear could decide to use the arranger keyboard for chord recognition and lead voice play. And use the piano keyboard for aux voices (possibly using only one, a piano for example!).

Or it could decide the other way around: arranger play on the piano, aux voices on the synth action.

No matter what: the sounds of both keyboards will be correctly configured each time you switch a style.


P.S.: A performance, among the other things, stores the position of the split point, and optionally can refer to a NULL (empty) style.
The empty style NEVER plays any accompaniment part: its only pourpose is to establish the split point and chord recognition machinery so that you can drive your OTSes (and possibly their harmony functions) as a conventional synth 4 parts wide performance.

By loading a single registration (whose number is unlimited) you load a bank of 8 performances (each one 4 parts wide) + global 4 parts wide aux voices (driven by the 2nd/3rd keyboard).
With the software we supply 3440 unique OTSes in all musical genres (good sounding and perfectly balanced). You can use them without any tweaking for instant gratification. Or as building blocks/starting point for your own customisations.

We have also a "smart split" mode, on by default. For those interested, more in depth explanation here.


There are many ways to use our software. Probably calling it only "realtime arranger" is reductive .....


P.P.S: Have you noticed that we have a comprehensive, up-to-date user manual written in clear and plain english, for those willing to master the subject?

Are there any You The demos of this program working in a live mode situation, setting it up,
so we could see how live changes are made and the fluidity of the the variations, sounds, etc,...
pictures are worth a thousand words

You are right: pictures worth a thousand words.
But also: no theory and pictures (and YouTube ? videos) can substitute and are as effective as direct real practice.

We did not (yet) invest in producing pretty marketing videos (we are a small company and till now we put all our resources into the product development, which we steadily improve at a fast pace: changelog).

But we do offer a fully functional demo, with curated content with a quality and immediate gratification on par, if not better, with an HW arranger. You can make any test, discover every feature, learn it at your own pace. No hurry. We are confident in our product, the only way to convince people is let them try it first hands.

You decide if it works for YOU, and if it is worth the admission fee.
Should you decide to buy, having you tested it beforehand thoroughly, will have very little chances to regret!

ok then, Good luck with your product,....it looks interesting.
I hope some day a few buyers will show it off on You Tube
Personally I need to see and hear it in action
for my own needs if so.

Merry Christmas and enjoy.

So far no youtube video’s of groovyband to be found..

Anyway.. the first appthat takes it beyound hardware arrangers gets my money...

Think about features like VST support (allready in V-arranger)
A modern interface for assigning sounds and VST effects to the keyboard, like having 4 zones with up to 4 Layered sounds, just have a look at roland jupiter 80 how they handle splits
A great set of sounds..to mimmick the current hardware arranger (V-arranger allready has this)
A great edditor for sounds
Support for 8 or 16 multipads
A modern mode like ketrons launchpad and multitrack audio player

Etc, etc. Etc....


The first one that creates an engine that surpasses both the kronos workstation and the SD90 by ketron in functionallit... and the genos/pa4x in sound quallity has my money and owns the future..

Both versions currently try copy the mid class arrangers..
The future is for the program that creates a stellar new expereince..

That's a pretty high bar, but who knpws?

Hi Groovyband,
thank you for all the info, it is going to take me some time to work thru what you said. I did download your demo, but, at the moment, I have Xmas guests coming to stay ( I hope) so don’t have the luxury of time to work my way thru it. After Xmas I will definitely check it out.

I tend to agree with Henni, the fact that you use a psr with your software is sort of misleading, it at first gives one the impression it’s a psr style player like One Man Band, and the old Live Styler program from many years back, even Dan’s VArranger 2.
It sounds like you possibly could have picked a different brand of keyboard like a Korg or a Roland to base your software around? but Yamaha might have been the easiest to work with, I don’t know anything about programming , so just guessing.
I think as Henni said, one needs to treat it as a seperate instrument an arranger in its own right, that just happens to use a psr as a base .

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I fair to see any benefit from most, if not all, software based players, especially for someone that never appears in front of a live audience or sells their musical creations.

There are so, so many powerful tools at built into our arranger keyboards that are right there at our fingertips that never get used to their fullest extent, and some are never used at all because the player/owner has never taken the time to explore all the possibilities and features.

I know of several players that have never taken their owners manual out of the zip-lock back it arrived in with their new keyboards. Yet, these are the same folks that are constantly on line posting questions how to perform a certain task, or complaining that the keyboard cannot do this of that, when it actually can but they never cracked the manual to discover how.

Every style, voice and sound can be edited right on the keyboard, then that information saved to a registration so it can be instantly recalled at the touch of a single button, and this can all be done while performing in real time. I made a damned good living for more than 30 years on stage and never found a use for ANY computer generated voice or sound. No VSTs, none of that stuff. I messed with Band in a Box and several other programs, but never really found a need for them over all the fantastic features already at my fingertips, features that were also very user friendly.

Lean to work with what you already have!

Gary

Gary,

Ever cared enough to peak below the stage of famous rock bands, using mostly guitars only? I did and it looks more like Google's servers than anything else I've seen. You'd be AMAZED!!! by what you'd find my friend.

Do you think John Denver would have approved? We are all operating in different environments and our needs and desires are different.

And here we are down playing a single tablet lying flat on your arranger only...

Henni