I'm going to keep bumping this............

Doesn't ANYONE appreciate the ability to take your left hand off the chord chores, and play two-handed?? Why are we not ALL demanding this (actually, pretty simple to implement) capability, no matter what manufacturer's arrangers we use?

Imagine the scenario.......... You play the intro to the song, and in the bar before the first verse, you hit Record. You then play the first verse and chorus by hand, and in the bar before the second verse, you hit Play. Now the Chord sequencer will play the chords for you (and you can still change variation and fills to give it a 2nd or 3rd verse 'lift') and you can use your left hand for counter-melodies, or a better bass line, or using the bender like a madman, or even downing a pint or two!!

WHY ARE WE NOT SCREAMING FOR THIS FEATURE?

Especially Roland users who used to (up to the G1000) have this on most of their arrangers..........

I don't know about you, but I actually am capable of playing more with my left hand than just chords. I sure would like to be able to use it more fully, once again ;-(

Isn't that feature on the Ketron SD5?
Starkeeper

Hi Diki
Calm down, I see your point and most instruments of a few years ago had this feature as standard. (If memory serves correct the first manufacture to incorporate it was Wersi in 1982, with the CX1 rhythm unit that was fitted to there analogue organs)
However you must remember that up to a few years ago, memory was very expensive, and as a chord sequencer used very little memory it was ideal.
Memory these days is quite cheap, so there is plenty of capacity to fit a full blown sequencer, which can record everything you need, and so this effectively makes a chord sequencer redundant.
Enjoy whatever you play.

Bill

No, Bill, you just don't get it......... (THIS is why more of you aren't howling for this feature!)

The chord sequencer is something you use LIVE, whenever you feel like it or need it, exactly like an arranger. You COULD record every single song you do to your internal Song Recorder and then play it back as an SMF, but then you lose ALL interactivity with the playback and structure, EXACTLY the reason you got an arranger in the first place!

You don't have to pre-prepare the song in advance, and you don't have to do it the same every night with the chord sequencer, and you can switch in and out of it's use on-the-fly while you are playing your Arranger.

Most of the reason we all use arrangers is to get away from the preset nature of SMFs........... Here is a way to help take the LH chord duties away, if you want, when you want, and use your left hand for the bender, or rootless comping, or ANYTHING.

From what I've read, the Ketron implementation of this idea has possibilities, but is somewhat different. First and foremost, there is a 32 bar limit to the loop, which you can't always guarantee is sufficient (though I agree, probably will do most of the time), and playback of the loop is not still under the players control - it either plays it back the same each time, or it applies it's own decisions about complexity and volume, when all you want to do, in all likeliness, is to vary the fills and variations on each go-round to avoid repetition. YOU are still in control with a chord sequencer. (IF I've got it wrong about the SD5, let me know)

Come on, everybody, what about this unbelievably useful function don't you feel YOU need? Let me know, because I still fail to see how anyone could NOT appreciate one......

Diki, I still play a G1000 for many reasons..including the chord sequencer..It is also the best song writing tool you can use...As you know we can enter the chord progression [in realtime], and we are not locked into any particular style, tempo[and tempo changes] and we can add fills , intros ,endings all in real time...

With all the great new boards of today, we still have members here that own both the G1000 and also a newer board[Tyros etc]..I honestly can't believe deep down inside, they know the better performance instrument is the G1000, especially if you use all the features available[chord sequencer, SMF playback, Performances with song links and many other features....All this we can use without going to variable menus..For example we can play or search a SMF while playing the arranger and vise versa[one button push away from playing...not so on Tyros2..

Hey Dikki! Wow! I never knew this feature (the way you explained it) even existed on any arranger keyboard b4. Though Yamaha arrangers include a so called chord sequencer feature, it doesn't allow you to record "live" .

Ok Dikki: I've finally woken up! Finally (for the 1st time) grasping the your description of how Roland's chord sequencer exactly worked, I'm with you "all the way" man! , and understand how useful this feature is for 'live' performance arranger keyboard players like us.

Up until now, I've repeatedly stated, that when playing in auto accomp arranger mode , that I thought 61 keys adequate, because the left hand is restricted to triggering auto accomp chords, and of which can be achieved (via full fingered chords/including inversions & smooth voice leading) within an octave and a half, but with the 'live rec' Chord Seq (Roland) feature ability to FREE the left hand up to play MORE than chords alone, which emphasizes the importance (and necessity) of a 76 (or better yet 88) note arranger keyboard now.

Ok. I encourage others here to jump on the 'live rec' Chord Sequencer feature bandwagon now, to let the arranger keyboard manufacturers (not just Roland) how important & useful a 'live record' Chord Sequencer feature would be.

Thank you Dikki, for raising this important topic again.

Scott

Scott the one parameter you need to set[to use the chord sequencer effectively in full keyboard range], to a assignable button...turn off the arranger recognition..This is easily available on the G1000...

I think the reason the manufacturers are not utilizing this feature...people[even those that have the feature] do not use the feature...They think it is too complicated..and in fact it is simple to use.

Now that Roland has got away from the feature, I don't think you will see it again on any board......only if Roland gets it together again, maybe the Yamaha, Korg, Ketron, and Gem folks will re think the issue..


Scott to prove my point..I know you used a Roland RA800...I bet you never used the chord sequencer!!!!

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 06-28-2006).]

Sounds like a great feature for improvising and also for playing in full keyboard mode. I've said a few times, that playing a piano is not like an organ. The piano music I've seen don't always use full chords, so the arranger won't recognize it. Sometimes the chord is arpeggiated (spelling?), so again the arranger won't recognize it. You don't always Hammer down full chords on a piano when the chord changes (even with both hands).
Starkeeper

Hello Diki
I think I see what you are getting at; you want to be able to record a chord sequence on the fly, and then be able to press one button to get the sequence to loop while you play with both hands.
If this is correct, then for arranger use in a gigging situation, I can see the advantages, however as most arrangers are not sold to gigging musicians, I think you will probably not have much luck.
One suggestion I would make, (Assuming I have understood what you want correctly) is to post it on a lot of different forums, to see if you can get others interested, and then get them to put the idea to the manufactures and dealers, that way if enough people want it, then the manufactures will no doubt incorporate it.
If I have understood it correctly, would you let me know, as I can then suggest the idea to Wersi, (Being a software instrument means it would be easy to add) and also post the idea on other forums I am a member of, to see if I can stir up some interest and make manufactures take notice.
Hope this helps.

Bill

I know mine isn't an arranger, but my Roland synth has a "chord memory" which probably doesn't operate as they did on arrangers, but this is a very useful tool when recording, and greatly helps when I want to free both my hands up from chords so that I can focus on splits and solos.

My chord memory not only has tons of presets, but I can record user chord sets as well.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 06-28-2006).]