I share your sentiments.

Arranger technology has reached an amazing level of sophistication where they can convincingly emulate a full band under the hands of an expert player.

You have to admire the talented R&D team at Korg, Yamaha and Ketron for all the features they managed to introduce in their top of the line models.

However, you never know what surprises these manufacturers have in store.

I would like to keep my hope alive for even more innovations down the line even while realizing that we are a shrinking audience.

Using the Nectar Pacer MIDI Foot Controller with the Yamaha GENOS

I got the Nectar Pacer MIDI Foot Controller to work flawlessly with the Yamaha GENOS.

The Pacer has 24 Presets.

I programmed the 10 Switches in Preset A1

Each Switch is programmed to transmit CC messages on MIDI Channel 16.

Connect the Pacer to the MIDI IN Port B on the GENOS

Turn on the Pacer

Turn on the GENOS

Make sure the GENOS is set to receive MIDI messages from an External Controller via MIDI IN Port B on MIDI Channel 16

MENU | Menu 2 | MIDI | External Controller.

To keep matters simple, I am using the default mapping of Preset = All Parts

Activate the following 3 buttons:

• ACMP
• OTS LINK
• AUTO FILL IN

Make sure the SYNC START button is engaged.


Press Switch 1 on the Pacer.

This will activate INTRO 2

Play a chord to start INTRO 2.

Try out all the 10 Switches:

Switch Function
1 INTRO 2
2 INTRO 3
3 FILL DOWN
4 FILL SELF
5 FILL UP
6 BREAK
A INTRO 1
B ENDING 1
C ENDING 2
D ENDING 3


Here is the User Guide with detailed instructions on how to program the Pacer with annotated screenshots:

http://www.davidapps.net/pacer/pacer_genos_setup.pdf

If you wish to skip the programming part, you can download this SysEx file for Preset A1

http://davidapps.net/pacer/pacer_genos.zip


I am delighted with the easy integration of the Pacer MIDI Foot Controller with the GENOS.

This is an excellent device to have if you are using an 88-note Digital Piano as a controller keyboard and find it awkward to reach up to the Style Controls on the GENOS.

I have an opinion:

Arranger keyboards will always have a place. They are used for many reasons besides playing out. My reason; when I stopped playing with my band, I missed it so much that I bought an arranger and continued my dream at home. The trumpet should here, then the piano, now a sax solo. It is only the imagination of a user that dies.

John C.

I often draw comparisons with the decline of the arranger with the decline of the home organ. Once upon a time, it was the dominant keyboard of its day, with only a few professional keyboards like the Rhodes and the clavinet as alternatives.

They got more and more capable, more and more complicated, more and more expensive, and then music changed and they no longer sounded anything like current pop music. It was being made with synths, drum machines, sequencers and rock guitars, none of which the home organ could do well, especially without an astronomical price tag (Yamaha GX-1, anyone?!). Young people looked at the home organ and the music that was being made on it and said ‘Thanks, but no thanks!’ and moved on to firstly synthesizers, then workstations and rarely looked back other than a reverence for the B3 for rock music or jazz. The nail in the coffin was the appearance of the first true arrangers, developed out of the marriage between synth/sample technology and the primitive auto accompaniment sections of the last generation of home organs.

The home organ didn’t die out completely, but its days of being the main home music maker were gone. Now, let’s look at this in the modern context…

Modern arrangers are amazing instruments, the top end at astronomical prices. But they suck at doing modern music, which revolves around the easy triggering of loops and arpeggios, quick and easy visualization of the clip content, and modular synthesis or emulation of vintage synthesis. They also have a terrible image problem with young players, faced with a battery of hokey old styles and almost no contemporary content when first switched on. Imagine how popular arrangers would have been when they first came out if stocked primarily with 20’s and 30’s styles! Yep, it’s about that bad!

So, here we are at the end of the line, fewer and fewer being sold, a wider and wider gulf between modern pop music and what they are designed to do best, prices rising at the top end, and the low end being constructed cheaper and cheaper in China, and now, to top it off, a global pandemic that has decimated the professional arranger players usual venues.

Does anyone honestly expect the pace of innovation to continue at its previous pace?

As to software improvements vs. hardware, the problem is that piracy is almost taken for granted, but building hack proof systems in arrangers is very difficult. So yes, the arranger manufacturers COULD update the OS to do more stuff, could release expansion packs of new sampled sounds and styles that use them, but where’s the money coming from to do this? New unit sakes have flattened, the truth is, if you want an arranger, you’ve probably already got one, the update isn’t going to sell much hardware. And piracy will mean that only a small percentage of adopters of the new stuff will actually PAY for it. So, what’s the upside?

Yamaha seem to be the only designer who have found a way to protect sample packs, Korg have a system that is highly intrusive, difficult to manage and impossible to edit the sampkes. But neither of them have a way to key the OS to the hardware, so OS updates can be ‘shared’ freely, negating any significant way to monetize them.

Yamaha’s model of incremental improvement of hardware was the main model of the industry, every three years or so, some new samples, a few more pro styles that used them, a slight increase in effects capability, maybe a bump in polyphony, some new wrinkle to the chord recognition or guitar strumming emulation, rinse and repeat.

But this relies on constant upgrading by the users, and that relies on a robust market for the used arranger they’re selling to buy the new one. Tried to sell a used arranger lately? Not easy… not at a good price, anyway!

So, what’s the solution? Not one the industry is willing to do, I fear. To appeal to a new generation of players, the arranger needs to ditch the oldies stuff, and add a boatload of stuff to ease clip and arpeggiator features, move the sound engine more towards analog synth sound emulation, and pack it with clips and loops for today’s music. In other words, turn it into a modern workstation. And they already make those!

Personally, I think it’s more likely that some arranger functionality gets added to loop stations than the other way round. Too few of us already playing arrangers are likely to use that stuff. To be frank, I’ve heard very little user demos that leverage much of the NEXT OS stuff that got added to the PA4X, the touch screen control of arpeggios and modern things like that. You rarely see a PA4X in a modern DJ’s arsenal, or onstage with an EDM act. So, adding modern stuff to an arranger doesn’t seem to be a sales slam dunk.

So, as we get older, buy fewer and fewer arrangers, we see the echoes of the home organ’s decline. It took about twenty years to go from market domination to niche keyboard, and we’re in the middle of that, I think. What little hope we have revolves around loop stations getting more arranger features and practical tools like lyrics displays, easy gig operation, song lists, stuff like that, but I rather feel we’ve hit the zenith. There ARE things that could be improved in arrangers, better sounds, articulated samples, more variations in styles, better voice leading in chord transitions, more responsiveness to the player’s input (dynamics, ‘busyness’ of playing etc.) but where’s the money for all that development coming from? Not us buying as many as we used to, that’s for sure!

But at least, just like the amazing last generation of the home organs, we are going out on a high note. Personally, I don’t feel much desperation that we might be looking at the last generation or two of a keyboard that’s been around for thirty years or more. What I already have will see me out to the end of my career and continue to wow my audiences. In the end, it’s still mostly down to the player.

So, no tears for the arranger. Job well done!

Diki, you write a lot of words --- good, you take the boredom out of the day. (smile)

I lived in a time when the organ was desired by many – and when they were desired by few. I attended every organ festival in Orland, and a few Wersi concerts in Pennsylvania. Wersi was my favorite. I did my best to attend any organ demo in any store close to my area. I attended one demo/concert that had an organ duo, two Wersi organs, fantastic. They did not used organ sounds often. Big Band and the Pop at that time.

I fell in love when I first heard a muted trumpet play a solo with a small jazz band.

I tuned pianos for one of the largest Piano and Organ stores in S. Florida. I went to all of them, and some others.
Their demos were 90% organ sounds. There were many reasons for the decline in organ sales, I feel this was one of them.
When I asked why organs sounds were used mostly, I got an answer I was not expecting. We are interested in the gray-haired old ladies, they have the money, the young generation did not. This gets ugly, so I’ll stop.
John C.
PS, I had a Wersi organ that I could remove the top part and use it on a job. (nice)

I wasn’t grey haired enough for a Wersi! Skipped that whole bit and went straight to silver, LOL But Wersi needed more gold than I was willing to pony up!

It’s a definite home niche in the US, but Europe’s got a bit better gig scene for the organ, and Japan still has a very good home organ organ scene. Sold home organs in the UK in the seventies, and always sold the most expensive to the oldest, worst players! Lowery’s, Yamaha’s, Elka’s, you name it. The more lights, the better!

I often felt I was more of a furniture salesman than musician..!

it is a dying erea in every kind of instrument. time has changed and live music is almost impossible to find in the western countries.

therfore there is almost no need for arrangeres, guitars, trumpets etc

we the older musicians who grew on arrangers still find it faccination , and we are amazed from the last keys that the companies produced lately , because for us those last instruments are a dreame come through , thats what i felt when i bought the GENOS and KESTRON SD90.

Using the Behringer FCB1010 MIDI Foot Controller with the Yamaha GENOS

After configuring the Pacer with the GENOS using the Continuous Controllers I decided to program the FCB1010 using MIDI Notes.

This is where I ran into a snag.

The GENOS allows remote control through a pool of CC# or MIDI Notes.

For example, if you navigate to this screen:

MENU | Menu2 | MIDI | External Controller

You see the default mapping of Preset = All Parts

CC#0/C#-1 = Style Start/Stop

CC#5/D-1 = Fill Down

CC#6/Eb-1 = Fill Self

So what is the MIDI Note Number corresponding to C#-1

The standard practice is to designate C#-1 as MIDI Note Number = 1 as you can see from this table:


MIDI Note Numbers for Different Octaves



So the translation should go like this:

Note_Name, MIDI_Note_Number

C#-1, 1
D-1, 2
Eb-1, 3

When I used these MIDI Note Numbers nothing worked.

After some investigation, I found that in Yamaha parlance, C#-1 = MIDI Note 13.

Yamaha’s numbering scheme is off by an octave!

This is what Yamaha wants you to input:

Note_Name, MIDI_Note_Number

C#-1, 13
D-1, 14
Eb-1, 15

Once I figured out this quirk, everything proceeded smoothly.

Please ignore my previous translation table that I posted.

This is the correct set of 30 CC# and MIDI Note Numbers the GENOS recognizes.

CC#, Note, MIDI _Note, Default_Mapping

CC 0, C# -1, 13, Style Start/Stop
CC 5, D -1, 14, Fill Down
CC 6, Eb -1, 15, Fill Self
CC 8, E -1, 16, Fill Break
CC 9, F -1, 17, Fill Up
CC 10, F# -1, 18, Synchro Stop
CC 11, G -1, 19, Main A
CC 12, Ab -1, 20, Main B
CC 13, A -1, 21, Main C
CC 14, Bb -1, 22, Main D
CC 15, B -1, 23, Style Start/Stop
CC 16, C 0, 24, Fill Down
CC 17, C# 0, 25, Fill Self
CC 18, D 0, 26, Fill Break
CC 19, Eb 0, 27, Fill Up
CC 20, E 0, 28, Synchro Stop
CC 21, F 0, 29, Intro 1
CC 22, F# 0, 30, Intro 2
CC 23, G 0, 31, Intro 3
CC 24, Ab 0, 32, Tap Tempo
CC 25, A0, 33, Style Start/Stop
CC 26, Bb 0, 34, Fill Down
CC 27, B 0, 35, Fill Self
CC 28, C 1, 36, Fill Break
CC 29, C# 1, 37, Fill Up
CC 30, D 1, 38, Synchro Stop
CC 31, Eb 1, 39, Ending 1
CC 32, E 1, 40, Ending 2
CC 33, F 1, 41, Ending 3
CC 34, F# 1, 42, Fade In/Out



I programmed Bank 0 with 10 Pedals for these Functions:

Pedal Function
1 INTRO 3
2 FILL DOWN
3 FILL SELF
4 FILL DOWN
5 BREAK
6 INTRO 1
7 INTRO 2
8 ENDING 1
9 ENDING 2
10 ENDING 3

The Behringer Foot Controller works as expected.

It has 2 built-in Expression Pedals.

The GENOS allows you to connect 5 Expression Pedals transmitting on CC#7, CC#1, CC#2, CC#3 and CC#4

They can all work simultaneously.

You can assign any of these 16 functions to these 5 pedals:


• No Assign
• Modulation
• Breath Controller
• Foot Controller
• Portamento Time
• Volume
• Pan
• Expression
• Sustain
• Portamento Switch
• Soft
• Resonance
• Release Time
• Attack Time
• Cutoff
• Reverb Send
• Chorus Send


Furthermore, you can limit the scope of these functions.

You can specify which Part you want your Expression Pedal to control:

These are all the Parts you can control with your Expression Pedals.

• Right 1
• Right 2
• Right 3
• Left
• Keyboard
• Style Rhythm 1
• Style Rhythm 2
• Style Bass
• Style Chord 1
• Style Chord 2
• Style Pad
• Style Phrase 1
• Style Phrase 2


I am thoroughly impressed with the comprehensive MIDI Implementation of the GENOS.

The Pacer is the ideal Foot Controller for the GENOS. In addition to 10 Switches for each Preset, you can connect 4 additional Foot Switches and 2 Expression Pedals.

The best foot switch for the job is the M-Audio SP-2 Universal Pedal.

The best expression pedal that is comfortable to use is the Yamaha FC7.

That gives you a lot of firepower considering the Pacer can store and recall 24 Presets.

The FCB1010 is just not as versatile. I do not like the squishy feel of the Pedals and there is limited visual feedback. It costs $70 less than the Pacer.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the Pacer to go with your GENOS.

I had to revise my User Guides to reflect Yamaha’s numbering scheme.

So here are the revised documents:


Using the FCB1010 with the GENOS

http://davidapps.net/fcb1010/fcb1010_genos_setup.pdf

Download the SysEx File for the FCB1010

http://davidapps.net/fcb1010/fcb1010_genos.zip



Using the Pacer with the GENOS

http://davidapps.net/pacer/pacer_genos_setup.pdf

Download the SysEx File for the Pacer

http://davidapps.net/pacer/pacer_genos.zip


Even though the User Guide applies to the FCB1010 and the Pacer devices, I have included enough information with screenshots to make it easy to program any other MIDI Foot Controller. The principle is the same.

The Pacer tutorial is using Continuous Controller numbers to trigger the functions.

The FCB1010 tutorial is using MIDI Note numbers to trigger the functions.



David

Using Foot Switches and Expression Pedals on the Yamaha GENOS

The Yamaha GENOS has 3 ports on the rear marked as:

1. Sustain
2. Articulation 1
3. Volume

You can connect either a Foot Switch or an Expression Pedal to any of these 3 Assignable Foot Pedal Inputs.

You can assign the functions by going to this page:

MENU | Menu 1 | Assignable

The normal behavior of the Sustain Pedal is to be ON only while the pedal is depressed.
If you find this behavior to be flipped, you can either change the polarity on your device or change the polarity on your GENOS by opening the MENU button on the top right of the Assignable page.

Roland makes a sturdy 3-pedal unit with Half Damper function:


Roland RPU-3 Triple Pedal Unit with Half-Damper function


I use this on the Roland RD-700GX digital piano. It works flawlessly. Unlike mono ¼” jacks that you find on regular Sustain Pedals, the RPU-3 device carries 3 stereo ¼” jacks. This is necessary to support the Half Damper function.

I could not get this to work on the GENOS.

I was hoping to use this unit as a 3 foot switch combo.



Here is what gave me the best results.

1.
Yamaha FC7 Expression Pedals


Yamaha FC7 Expression Pedal


This device is rugged, well built with a smooth sweeping action. It is one of those rare devices still manufactured in Japan and designed to last a lifetime. You can attach multiple FC7 units side by side. You must set the polarity to Positive on the GENOS.

A big advantage of buying from B&H is that not only do they offer free FedEx 2-day delivery but also pays the taxes. You would need to use their PayBoo Credit Card issued by Synchrony Bank with no annual fees.

A cheaper alternative to the Yamaha FC7 is the M-Audio EX-P Expression Pedal:


M-Audio EX-P Expression Pedal


It is better to pay an extra $10 and get the real deal. There is a reason why the Yamaha FC7 has become the industry standard.

I have two of these connected to the Nectar Pacer foot controller. The feel, action and size of the FC7 units make the two built-in expression pedals on the Behringer FCB1010 device feel like toys.




2.
M-Audio SP-2 Universal Sustain Pedals


M-Audio SP-2 Universal Sustain Pedal

This is reasonably well built. It has a polarity switch on the bottom. The action feels nice. The price is right at $25.

I am using 3 of these on the 3 assignable Foot Pedal Inputs on the GENOS.

However, if you are willing to spend $5 more, you can get the real deal from Yamaha:


Yamaha FC4A - Piano Style Switching Sustain Pedal

Roland and Yamaha have always had VERY different continuous controller electronics. Switch polarity was always the same, but the potentiometer specs are radically different. You have never been able to plug a Roland expression pedal into a Yamaha and vice verse and them work well. They do work, but the throw is completely off, almost all the volume change occurring in one area of the pedal’s travel.

The same principle would apply to sustain pedals that use potentiometers rather than switches (to be able to do half pedaling). However, you might still be able to use the Roland Triple pedal if you cut off the tip ring sleeve (TRS) jacks and replace them with normal TS 1/4” jacks… as long as you only ask them to do switched functions.