Hi- I am seriously considering purchasing an arranger.

Does anyone have any experience using an arranger similar to the Roland V76 or Korg PA80 with their computer (Logic/Cubase)?

Do these arrangers work well with sequencing software with regards to MIDI? Can you export a sequence and it's accompanyment to the computer and tweak measures and midi data?

I am debating whether to purchase a synth workstation (Triton, etc.) or to go ahead an get an arranger.

Yesterday I tried out the VA-76 and was impressed with it's sound quality. There was so much to it that I could not dig deep enough into it in the half hour that I had.

Any replies with regards to the use of a computer based sequencer and an arranger (of any type) would be very helpful. Thanks.

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Visit: www.drums.com/george

[This message has been edited by gtrgtrgtr (edited 09-26-2002).]

gt,
While I have not worked with Cubase, I have Sonar and had a PA until recently. There is no problem with getting midi into and out of both the PA or the computer. To play it back as a midi file on the board, you just have to make sure you save in the correct format either midi 0 or 1, depending on which board you buy.

If you just want to play it straight back out of the pc, into the board,(rather than a midi file that you load) again, no problem, it works fine, essentially the same as a workstation. The only thing that makes a difference, if you play (record) it all in at once with auto accmp., it's going to record it all in one lump on a track. Some sequencing softwares like, power tracks, have the ability to disect it and put on seperate tracks, while some don't.
Terry

What sounds/patches/tones did you like in the va76? Isn't it similar to the Roland EM55? I tried the EM55 a while back and was not impressed. The sounds were similar to my $400.00 EM20.

Well.. it took me a while to figure out how to actually play through the patches without the accompanyment. I specifically recall enjoying some of the electric piano sounds- the Rhodes, the Bass sounds were nice and fat. The percussion/drums sounds seemed nice. Overall, the natural sounds were crisp and clear and not too synthlike.

When I play it again this weekend, I will try to compare it to the lower priced Rolands. However, I might just wait for the new Yamaha arranger to come out. For $100 less, it might be an option.

Regardless, I am interested in how many people use the arranger boards with PC/Mac sequencer software, and if there are any problems or glitches. Thanks for asking.


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Visit: www.drums.com/george

gtrgtrgtr,
I haven't done any sequencing yet. Will try this weekend to use my computer as the style player, instead of the onboard styles.
Here is a problem with the PSR540, but there is a work around solution:
. I learned that the Yamaha engineers had expanded the normal midi channel #10 (which is always alloted for drums) but they also added channel #9 for drums. We suddenly have channels #9 & #10 as drum channels. For some crazy reason, they used channel #9 for bass and snare drum. They used #10 for Cymbals. This is crazy. Everything plays well as long as you stay within the keyboard but this floppy cannot be used to play the file outside of the PSR 540 keyboard, using the internal programs to construct themidi file. If you load this midi files to your internet home page, as it came from the internal PSR540 sequencer, you will get these spooky sounds coming from channel #9, which my Roland Sound Canvas designates as "Fantasy"---- Need I say more!
Kevin