Quote:
Originally posted by Diki:
I think most anything will do a good job if YOU like the styles...

But I feel that, in a church, there is a little extra you need to do to the styles to make them work in a large environment. You mention the washed out sound of the Yamaha's, and yes, while on the whole I would tend to agree to a degree, I think you would be pleasantly surprised at how better they can sound by removing ALL the reverb (you are already in a large space - why add MORE?) and punching up the drum levels and bass (if needed) and removing any compression from within the arranger if it has one.

You should also take into account any compression that may be being applied to the church's sound system, and see if overly aggressive guitar playing, or singers that 'eat' the mike are ducking down the backing from the arranger. Compress those separately from the arranger...

Lastly is the matter of monitoring... to play well, to FEEL that the arranger IS a drummer, bass player etc., it needs to be as loud onstage as if you had a real one. Allow others to ride on top of the sound, rather than sit within it (as they would if you had real drums) will always change the dynamic, and the whole FEEL of playing music. Care needs to be taken here, or everything will sound 'flat' and uninspiring.

Best of luck with your search...


Thanks for the suggestions Diki (and everyone else)! I think I'll cart my DGX-300 over to the church and give your ideas a try. But I still want to upgrade to a higher-grade arranger in the relatively near future.

I called Guitar Center and asked if they were going to be getting in the new Roland GW-8. They told me this would be an "order only item," as they are not planning to stock it. (Maybe because their Yamaha PSR 550's and 700's won't stack up so well against it?)

I then called Sweetwater and asked if I could order a GW-8, and then return it if it wasn't what I wanted. They said that I would have 30 days to try it out and then still get my money back if I decided to return it--as long as I paid the shipping costs--theirs and mine ($19.99 each way). Not a bad deal for a 30 day "rental" if I decide I don't like keyboard and/or the styles.

But then I read on one of the GW-8 threads that this keyboard only has 130 basic styles (plus 100 “regional styles,” which I think may be referring to the Latin styles that this keyboard ships to North America with). This would be a problem for me, since I’m used to the larger selection of styles (especially ballads) that come with the Yamaha keyboards, plus I’m not a Latin music player.

So I'm thinking I might just wait for the new Yamaha PSR S950 to make its debut (supposedly they'll be shipping in Feb. 09') and then try one of them out at my local Guitar Center before I order anything on-line. But then again, I might get a serious case of “keyboard fever” and order up a GW-8 to preview right after the rest of the family gets their Christmas presents….




[This message has been edited by polarshift (edited 11-14-2008).]