Hello! First time poster and happy to be here.

I have just acquired a PSR-SX900 to find out how it could help me create original music.

Previously I would typically make my tracks via DAW + VST/Hardware. This setup is powerful but has some limitations I was hoping to alleviate with an arranger.

I have made attempts with other arrangers (PSR-E453, Casio CT-X5000). The workflow was OK but sounds were not always excellent and some missing features made it frustrating.

Now with the PSR, obviously sounds are all quite good compared to what's available in the VST world.

But for creating music, this is where there is a workflow challenge.

The midi recorder is ok but not very good to get a scratchpad song model unless you record an entire performance on the fly. You cannot move whole sections of the song around and step editor seems more like fixing minor errors.

So the easiest way to assemble musical building blocks is via the style creator which would then be recorded as a final performance in the midi recorder as such:

>sounds > style creator > midi recorder (final performance) > export to WAV

The syle creator is actually very good but there are a few challenges (many clicks, cannot copy an entire block, only instruments one by one etc with the assembly function).

I have tried to find music of actual artists (not OMB) using these machines but there are too few. Youtube has a few good demos and lots of canned music which does not do justice to the sound capabilities either (mostly amateur users imo).

I am looking at replacing this unit for a MODX which has USB audio that I might be able to integrate with my DAW but would really like to give my PSR a chance (especially with the great sounds it has).

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks!

You can go different ways. Record MIDI (SONG) in SX900 and then switch it to DAW. Then you connect the SX900 to a computer, process SONG in DAW and listen to it all with SX sounds. If necessary, you can insert a pair of VSTs to fix what the SX is weak.

You can also record SONG this way, directly in DAW. Watch the video where everything is explained, and if you have any questions I am at your disposal.

Genos Style recording in Cakewalk

Thanks for your reply!

I want to stay away from the DAW until the last very possible moment.

Any tips on using the arranger to compose a musical creation from scratch ?

Thanks!

Initially, you can only record the left hand with Style channels. Then you switch to Multirecording and record a new channel, one by one.

Or start recording only one channel and continue with the next and so on.
Recording songs in SX / Genos has only basic options and you can't do much about it.

Hello and thanks for your response.

Yes it probably the best way for now to record the left side first and then adding layers etc .

I am not convinced it is superior to using a DAW like this but the sound quality and simplicity is a big plus.

I will continue to experiment with audio recording and playlists as this might open more possibilities.

I also found out in the styles demos that you can have multiple styles for a same musical piece (i.e. switching styles in the same song). This is another potential avenue.

Thanks,

Sorry, but if you want to create original music using an arranger, you will end up biting the bullet and combine the arranger with a DAW. Looks like you are already pretty familiar with a DAW and VSTi’s, so it’s not like you have to learn all that from scratch….

Bottom line, no, there isn’t a single sequencer in an arranger with a fraction of the power and ease of use of a DAW, and trying to do everything using a tiny low res touch screen will soon drive you mad even if the sequencer COULD do most of the even basic things we all take for granted on a DAW.

Arrangers make for very quick scratch pads for creating the initial song ideas, but fine tuning and replacement of less than stellar sounds with higher quality VSTi’s like piano libraries, drum libraries etc. is always needed if you wish to deliver top studio level production.

Plus, modern music (if you are thinking of composing contemporary music) isn’t really well suited to arranger chord recognition type production. It’s based around arpeggiators and clip/loop triggering, which gives a VERY different end result than arranger output, which is more intended to replicate older music.

But an arranger for its strengths combined with a DAW/VSTi for their strengths, that’s a powerful combo…

Thanks for your response.

Yes I realize it will never be as powerful as a sequencer than my DAW. I really needed to get away from the computer screen and hopefully come up with ideas.

I will re-think my approach perhaps switching this machine to a more traditional workstation (hopefully that will save to WAV like the PSR.)

Cheers

Personally, I wouldn’t render to a .Wav file until the very last step. It’s far easier to correct mistakes while you are still dealing with the MIDI, and fine tune and edit everything….

I have to ask, why do you want to move away from a nice huge display and a sequencer that won’t drive you crazy endlessly paging through different screens trying to find basic functions?! 🤪

The truth is, if you felt like a DAW was too difficult, you are going to be in for a shock when you try to use an arranger’s sequencer!

I am pretty good at performing real time so I can certainly record only the final performance (with some overlays).

I got the SX900 to get away from the screen/mouse and be more intuitive and spontaneous when compositing. I have owned many synthesizers in the past but they would always require some interaction with DAW which I am trying to get away from (I also work in front on the computer).

I am fluent with DAW/VST but it's not the same. Synth sounds are top notch but for more natural sounds the big libraries are a turn off for me. The SX900 sounds are mostly good with a few disappointments on the synth side (still not bad).

Maybe I should have gotten the PA1000 instead as the sequencer seems more capable and sound editing a bit more advanced.

I hope the SX900 may still be able to deliver but it's really hard to find anyone that really knows it well enough to confirm.

Well, yes, there's a difference between writing it and producing it.

If you're looking for a writing tool, arrangers are da bomb. As long as you don't want to do something they don't do well, like mix and match time signatures on the fly, or arpeggiate one part while you have normal chord recognition on another (arpeggiators don't care whet the chord IS, they just play the notes you play no matter what... this can lead to some interesting stuff an arranger can't do) you can do some pretty good final stuff.

But, at the end of the day, if you want to promote your writing at a pro level, they are going to want a pro level of polish and production. And that is VERY hard to achieve without a DAW to put the final polish on stuff. There's a reason you really never hear an arranger on a hit recording...

An arranger's job is to approximate a live band. But it's never going to fool anyone that it is one. Too much repetition. Take just the fills, for example. You'll never hear a real drummer repeat the same fill identically all the way through a song. You'll never hear a drummer play identically in the last verse than he did in the first. there's a build-up, a rise in intensity. Four Variations and four fills just don't cut it...

That's why, when you're done writing the song, it's time to take the MIDI data of the arranger's output to the DAW, and start editing some variation into things. Change each fill a little bit (or a lot!). Change the bassline a bit for the last chorus. Open the hihats a bit in the bridge, push the velocity harder on the acoustic guitars in the last solo... Add in some synced audio percussion to the drums (arranger tambourines are horrible!). Run the beat through a filter during the drop, sky's the limit.

Try doing all that with a hardware arranger sequencer and a tiny low res screen, pretty soon you are going to throw it out the window..! I've been a happy DAW user since the Atari days! I wouldn't use a built-in if you paid me!

Yes, I love my arranger, and am happy to use its built in sequencer to capture my initial pass. But the minute I'm done with the main take, it's off to the DAW for the grunt work..!

If your problem with using a DAW is distraction from the myriad options, try using a simpler DAW. Try the entry level versions of Cubase or Logic etc., fewer tracks, fewer editing options, fewer possibilities. You can always transfer the project to their big brothers for the final polish...