It's past midnight now here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I returned home this afternoon following an awesome (albeit whirlwind) opening day spent at NAMM on Thursday, and again today (Friday morning). Regretfully, I had to fly back home just in time to catch my early evening gig (back home), so won't be able to post a full NAMM report (including pics ) till tomorrow (Sat). In the meantime, to keep you all in suspense, here's a teaser.

Since my hotel was in easy walking distance (10 min) to the NAMM convention center I was able to hit the showroom floor at the opening bell (10am). For obvious reasons , I stopped by the Yamaha booth first, and had the opportunity to meet both Martin Harris (Tyros2 keyboard artist & software designer & Simon Inkley, principal UK Tyros2 OS Developer (directly under Yamaha Japan). Not only was I able to see Martin Harris perform on Tyros2 in the Yamaha booth, but later had the opportunity to see watch him deliver a special dealer stage presentation, where he showcased Yamaha's new digital kb's as well. I've thoroughly enjoyed Martin's performances on video, but to see him now perform LIVE really knocked my socks off. Not only is he a fantastic arranger player, but his traditional keyboard playing skills are awesome as well. He really knew 'just how' to milk the Tyros sounds & styles to best effect. As icing on the cake, I had the privilege of being able to spend some time with Simon Inkley to discuss both my enthusiasm & personal concerns/desires regarding Tyros2 with Simon Inkley. This of course included my desire for Tyros' MusicFinder to link to styles on HD/USB Flash Memory. Simon assured me other people had requested this as well, and would look into this further. He also mentioned that another Tyros2 OS update would be forthcoming soon as well, but couldn't promise whether this MusicFinder enhancement would be included or not.

Among many the many other exhibitor booths visited, I finally had a chance to have a close hand look and demonstration of the brand new Ketron SD5, as well as hear AJ's new SD1 Expanded enhancement. In one word . . . I was really impressed with the SD5's new 'riff' feature. This feature memorizes what chords & riffs you play, and then is able remember (memorize) your changes, including your playing style, then provides a playback loop based on all this, letting you solo over the top of it. All this is triggered LIVE. This takes LIVE spontaneous arranger style playing to a new (more exciting) level. I also had a chance to hear the new SD1+ expanded voices & styles created by AJ, and can concur that this really takes the sound of the original SD1 to yet another realistic sounding level, utilizing multi-layered (touch sensitive) sampling, to become more closely competitive to the Tyros2 & Korg PA1Xpro.

I also had an opportunity to stop by the Roland booth to catch a short demo presentation of the G70. Overall, the G70, when demoed, sounded impressive, but there are still a few issues that keep me from seriously considering it (yet). I expressed these (G70 chord recognition, some styles rather stiff, and voices bathed in excessive reverb), to the demonstrator, and though he acknowledged some of these, he obviously chose to maintain the company line to defend Roland's decision regarding these issues, saying it was simply a matter of taste.

Ok, I have a LOT more to share (including exclusive NAMM shots/vid I took ), but it's getting late (12:48am Sat morning) here , so I'm going to need to sign off and continue my report tomorrow (I mean later today: Saturday).

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 01-21-2006).]

Great I be waiting for all the report.
Thanks

Originally posted by Scottyee


Scott, thanks for the initial report I look forward to your post later today especially on the SD5.

Hi Scott

Thanks for your report.


If you don't know I can tell you that you can adjust the reverb volumen.

Regards Niels

[This message has been edited by nielshs (edited 01-21-2006).]

Nice one Scott, can't wait to see your postings on here and to pick your brains on Skype. Hope you had a good time m8
By the way, did you get to see the new Wersi OAS 7 in action and did Domenico show his face or Mediastation product there?

Well written as usual Scott, waiting for a more detailed review, especially for the SD-5
Hope you enjoyed your trip.
Theodore

Scott, thanks for your report, looking forward to see more. Could you elaborate on the SD5 riff feature. Does it memorize and replay your right hand playing as well as your chord changes? Does the effect tend to therefore create an overproduced or crowded sound? Would it be similar to that created by Ableton's Live software program? Thx... Glenn

Thanks Scott for the early report.

Graham

Thanks, Scott..also got your email. Just finished my 5-8:00 job and am on the way to the editing suite to try to finish a training video and sound track for the Arke staircase people (Lowes),which has to be presented Monday morning. My office number is 1-859-253-0390. My cell is 1-859-948-4687. I'll be in the editing suite over 20 hours between now and Monday morning.

I'll try to give you a call on a break tomorrow. Glad you got to meet my strange little buddies from Q-Lighting. We did the packaging for the Bil-Light, the Mini-teck and the Maestro, plus others in the medical/dental field, which is their main business.

If all else fails, I'll try to call Monday.
This edit of training materials for Lowes didn't surface until late Friday...that's just the way this business is.

Russ

Ok, here's a quick pic (at the NAMM Ketron booth) of the Ketron SD5:



In addition, I posted (on my website) some pictures I took at NAMM of fellow SZ members Dave McMahon and Ajua Alemanji (AJ) Ketron, Yamaha USA Marketing Mgr Mark Anderson,, and Yamaha UK keyboard artist extraordinaires & Tyros2 product developers: Martin Harris & Simon Inkley. Other shots include a picture of Elton John's signature RED piano, and picture of Capt Russ' buds (Andy & Ira Cooper) at their "Q Lighting" booth.

Go to: http://http://scottyee.com
and then click on the pictures page.

Scott

Hi Scott,
I liked Elton John's piano. Hi is really an extraordinary man but also a great musician.
It seems you had a good time at the NAMM.
Regards,
George

Hi scott,

thanks for the fantastic report of the Namm.
i'll going to look at your website for further information.

greetz,
notlos
www.notlos.com

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.......and he always sits down when perfoming on stage.....(see other topic that is raging on this issue) :-)

Regards - Mike

... ????? ... what??? where??? .. ???

t.

great pictures Scott, thanks for sharing.
Bebop

Hi,



I don't think this is a new feature since, if my mind don't fail, this was already available in old Roland arranger(s).

Someone else has good memory of this with me ?

Cheers.

Roland's chord sequencer, was a real time feature starting with the G800..

I suspect the SD5's riff feature far more sophisticated than any similar feature on an older Roland arranger. The riffs are produced as "digital audio" loops, but not merely memorizing the chords you're playing, but also interpreting what you're playing (such as fills) in your right hand as well. The keyboard then produces a repeating audio loop 'based' on your playing style, allowing you to solo over it. I don't recall remembering any Roland arranger ever having this digital loop creation capability, but then again, I could be wrong. I trust AJ will be back here soon, and write a much better explanation of the feature than I possibly can.

Scott

I remember a Yamaha model several years ago which when you stopped playing melody on the right hand a solo mode kicked in and added a solo while you just played chords and when you started playing again, the solo would stop.
George kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

George, since I'm sure you had a chance to watch AJ demo the SD5's 'riff' feature too, perhaps you can provide a better and more detailed explanation of how this feature works than I can. Is the SD5's riff feature similar (or a lot different) than the Yamaha feature and/or Roland's feature mentioned by Booby & Fran. - Scott

PS: realizing we were both at NAMM on Friday morning, sorry we missed each other again there.

Great shots Scott. Makes me miss the big city.
As for the SD5's riff feature, I believe it was the PSR 5700 that had something similar.
Eddie

wow . . . didn't realize this. I guess I jumped on to the arranger keyboard bandwagon too late in the game to have seen/played the PSR5700. Wonder why Yamaha removed this feature in later arrangers?


If you don't know I can tell you that you can adjust the reverb volumen.


Hi Neils: Yes, please share 'how to' adjust the G70's 'overall' reverb volume. If this is possible without having to turn the reverb down for each instrument patch individually, and Roland would also update their chord recognition table to recognize the following rootless style 'chord voicings' (and in all 12 keys of course):

F1 - C2 - E2: Dm9
F1 - B1 - E2: G13
E1 - A1 - D2: C69
E1 - Bb1 - D2: C9

I'd then seriously re-consider the G70 for "studio" work, especially for the G70's terrific key feel & intuitive OS navigation. - Scott

Really nice website, Scott...did you do it?

Russ

Yep, of course . . . who else? - Scott

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http://scottyee.com

Scott some good pics, thanks for sharing them.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry
http://www.musicchops.com/forums/

The yamaha model which featured this solo mode actually played a bunch of pre programmed solo riffs. I think it was not used after this model because it always played the same solo based on the key you were in and it got too busy within the accomp for most people.
AJ would have to explain this better but my take on the SD5 was that it just added more flavor to the actual style and doesn't try to solo over it but rather add some extra tracks and get a little more excitment out of the style. It was interesting to note that by just playing with different velocities on the keys, you could have more tracks play within the styles, sometimes adding horn stabs or Organ parts, etc. Again, only a few of the styles AJ demo'd had this riff feature. This was a prototype keyboard and the units when they ship will have lots of these "riff" styles pre loaded.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California