...today I purchased a Yamaha PSR373 keyboard......
Now why would I do a thing like that owing a ketron SD9 and a Korg PA50sd ? for you to learn for me to know

Regards,
John Smies

Okay, I bite, John. Why would you buy a beginner model PSR ?

Bernie

To use it as a sound Module. I am using a KMA with my Sx900 for the same reason.
John C.

I always have a beginners battery keyboard, to take on vacation, to play in the backyard or on the kitchen counter. After awhile I end up giving it away to a kid, and then I get a new one.

I guess John C. is closest to the mark but allow me to digress.

First of all you have to realize we are talking about a 199 dollar keyboard here !!! See e.g. Guitar Center. Though it has all the trimmings of a fullfledged arranger obviously many corners have been cut.
A comparison with the Korg Micro Arranger springs to mind , after all as I mentioned I still have the Korg PA50 which in essence is the KMA with full length keys.

So what does a 199 dollar arranger keyboard add to my current set up with Ketron SD9 and Korg PA50sd. Basically it is all about sounds because the Style department while many ( approx. 200 on this cheap PSR) lags significantly in comparison to e.g. the KMA, which sports many good styles with four variations.
Soundwise this cheap yamaha beats the KMA and similar Korgs in quite a few areas, noticably the more percussive sounds sucha as piano, elec. piano, ac. guitars, vibraphone and even in the organ and electric guitar department. (note that the KMA is at last twice the price if not triple and has small keys).
What does it add you may well ask in comparison to the Ketron flagship the SD9.?
Not all that much but it does in some areas , in particular the electric pianos, organs and the stringpads (which by the way are excellent in the KMA). It boasts over 600 sounds , a fair number of effects (progammable) and alas only 9 Registration spots. the internal amplification of this PSR373 is superior to that of the KMA.
One minus is that it has Midi via USB so if you do want to hook it up to your major keyboard ( but why would you want to) you could purchase the Kenton MIDI to USB host convertor, but it is rather pricey.
So summing up, incredible value for money , especially if you have NO Yamaha gear in the house. Concert piano is incredible for the price, many other good sounds some of them from the earlier Tyros models, 5 octaves, fullsized keys, good amplification, lightweight ( 4,5 kilos), can be battery operated, etc.etc.
In 2010 I briefly owned a PSR3000 and in the song here in the link I used some of the el. piano sounds that you can also find in abundance in this 200 dollar keyboard !!!
https://app.box.com/s/l8r7d1tf8r9k7ma8e8i1dl2hy3bkoa0o

regards,
John

P.S. I was even luckier to get the PSR as a slightly used secondhand with full waranty for 150 euros.....go figure !!!!

I kind of miss the older, simpler days when arrangers’ soundsets were based almost entirely on the manufacturer’s workstation line. If you wanted a G1000’s sounds run by your Yamaha, you bought a Super Canvas, and they were all there. A Fanton rack module got you most of the G70/VA series. A Triton got you most of the Korg soundset.

Seems like divergence has made a big increase lately.

Mind you, you want most of the BK-9 sounds (minus the VK organ section), the Integra7 module has most of it, including the incredible articulated SuperNatural guitars.

It seems a PITA to have to lug around a whole keyboard when a module used to do the trick… 🙄🎹😎

Diki,

I entirely agree with what you are saying. At least Ketron made an effort with the SD2 and SD1000 sound modules to try and keep up with their flagship arranger sounds ( though only succeeding half way imho) but the others have left us in the lurch allright. Image Yamaha releasing a simple soundmodule containing most of the sounds to be found on either a Tyros5 , the Genos or even the cheaper SX900....I am sure many Korg, Ketron and Roland keyboard owners would go for it , if the price is right of course....I know that I would.
Still the existing KMA arranger is a great alternative , also because it can often be bought secondhand, and the cheaper yamaha PSR series like this PSR373 ( note the 7 !!!) offer a reasonable alternative.
You mention the Roland Integra,but let's not forget that is in an entirely different price range !!

regards
John

Well, it’s still got way more sounds than the BK-9, and available used for less than half the new price of the BK-9 when in production. The Fantom Rack was no cheapie either.

Let’s face it, Yamaha or Korg aren’t going to pack every sound from a $5k TOTL arranger into a few hundred dollar module. The Super Canvas that had the G1000 soundset wasn’t exactly peanuts!

Yes, a cheap module will give you a bit of the ‘flava’ of another brand, but if you want the best sounds with good quality D/A converters for the same rich sound, you ARE going to have to open your wallet a little wider.

In the end, it’s not so much the cost, it’s the convenience. A rack module (or free standing one), if it can be run totally from your main keyboard, that saves you lugging around multi-tier keyboard stands, pedals, peripherals, and stops you being buried behind a pyramid of keyboards in front of you!

IMHO, the Roland BK7-m was a breakthrough product that few really understood or appreciated, leading to no copycat products. But in its way, it was EXACTLY what you want. Not just the sounds, but the full arranger engine in a tiny compact form factor.

Sadly Roland never took the new capabilities of the BK9 (the SN guitars, the chord sequencer, the HB Hammond section and mic input etc.) and crammed it in the same form factor. That would be a serious piece of kit, worthy of running alongside any modern flagship keyboard, including synth workstations…

Another in the long line of ‘Missed it by THAT much!’ Roland gaffes. 🙄🎹

Keep in mind that when I first began using an arranger keyboard, which was about the same time John Paul Jones joined the US Navy, they cost about $350, and mine was a Samsung (don't remember the exact model) and it had 35 styles and 30 voices. Sounded damned good at the time, it had no storage at all, and every song had to started from scratch, style, voice, tempo, etc. Each style had 2 variations, and no attached voices. Everything was selected on the fly, but I managed to keep my dead time down to just a few seconds at most. (a bit of pre-planning went a long way.)

Today, my aged Yamaha S950 has more voices in a single category than my old keyboard in all categories combined, the sounds are so very realistic that no one in the audience, and a lot of enterprising musicians, would be hard pressed to tell the difference if they had their eyes closed. Much of this lies in the hands of the performer and his or her ability to bring those sounds to life. My dear, departed friend, Don Mason was an absolute master at not only the guitar voices, but also many of the brass and woodwind instruments as well.

I could easily afford to purchase the best, top end keyboard available today, but I currently have all I truly need. I have explored every aspect of the operating system, and taken advantage of all the onboard programs. This brings a very important question to mind - Why or what more would I need that would make me sound significantly better to myself or my audiences (if I were still working) as an onstage entertainer? Realistically, NOTHING! I would not be able to decrease my dead time, which is currently less than a second, if I wish. In fact, I can actually blend, seamlessly, from one song to the next. Using the onboard MFD, I can actually search for one song, while performing another and select it with a single push of a button.

Today's keyboards are no longer manufactured from case hardened steel. Consequently, they are less than half the weight, yet just as strong, or stronger than their heavy, bulky predecessors, thereby making them easier to transport, which is a great feature. I clearly remember my old Roland 800, which if I recall correctly, tipped the scales at 52 pounds. It brutal just to get in on the X-stand. Back then, a lightweight amp weighed about the same as the keyboard.

Some of the new sound modules really sound great, however, I really do not see the need for one. Especially when you consider that the vast majority of today's arranger keyboards have all those sounds, and onboard software that has the ability to tune them with a huge array of effects. This provides you instant access to those tweaked and tuned voices with a single touch of a button or two, plus you don't have the hassles of connecting up another piece of equipment that must be interfaced with the overall system on order to play.

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I have always felt the KISS aspect was the best way of performing music comes into play here. I learned a lot from another, departed old friend, by the name of Lefty Kreh. He was the most famous fly angler in the entire world, and published more than 100 books during his lengthy career as an outdoor writer. When I asked him to edit my first outdoor article, which was published in Outdoor Life, it contained 8,000 words. He took one look at it and said "Hell, you didn't tell me you were writing a book." He went through the manuscript with a red pen, then said: "The secret to success is to use the least amount of words, with the lease amount of syllables to get the point across. This applies to everything in life." He later said, "You wouldn't replace an enter wheel on your car to fix a flat tire." He was among the most intelligent people I every knew in my 81 years on this side of the ground.

Good luck,

Gary

I’m often tempted to get an entry-level arranger as something refreshing, to focus more on the fun, creativity; basically I have too many instruments and computers for such limited space; I’ve got only a sofa for myself, so I have to walk 3.5 hours a day outside just to get enough space for my thoughts :-) well, it’s not really connected, but still…

But I feel that my manner of playing the PSR it still rather intense and doesn’t seem to become more restrained; buying a keyboard from me would be like buying a car which was used as a taxi :-) . Perhaps I get tired of that intensity rather quickly myself. Mostly I prefer to play my guitar, although I don’t feel confident while doing that.

Playing just some piano music now feels to me as rather intense as well. I consider piano as a very effective instrument which is too easy to overuse.

Perhaps, an entry level instrument can be a good balance.

There’s quite a strong competition in this area between Casio and Yamaha, so they both have to offer quite a lot for this price.

Well, people buy and sell things today rather easily, so it’s not like a big commitment. I’m just too lazy to do it; so far it is like “you are with me forever”, which could be considered as hoarding.

Gary, quite an interesting stuff. Indeed, books are “the more the better”, sometimes “words for the sake of words”, which is not always good for other genres.

I tried to find something about Samsung making arrangers in the past, so far no luck. But, I guess, it’s not the point.

Certainly, some upgrades are not justified. There’s also something which we lose with each change.

Even when it comes to songwriting, the truth is that any of existing arranger keyboards can only produce sound good enough for a demo recording. If you are lucky to sell a song to a big artist, the final track will be done with completely different means. It also seems that the most crucial part of a song today is actually lyrics, which doesn’t involve any equipment at all (just some craziness :-) ).

And entertainers rely more on their singing abilities. After all, it is quite a subtle area…