Midi implementation. How well does your Keyboard do it? Here is a song I would like to post that showcases not only the XG Alto Sax but Midi implementation in general on the Tyros. The song is called "I Can Fly" and after you listen to it you will believe you can fly too. If nothing else I hope this song will make you at least begin to flap your wings.

I also wanted to post this song for Boo. Since Boo plays the Sax I thought this song would be an excellent source for practicing material. And somebody else may want to use it during a Gig break, etc.

Okay Korg and your Pa1X PRO - Pony Up! Anybody who owns a Pa1X PRO care to showcase your Keyboard's Midi capability by recording a Midi with no holds barred Midi implementation, ie., put the Pa1X PRO's best foot forward and see how well it stacks up in regard to Midi playback capability.

Or any other Brand Keyboard. Come on guys, DON'T BE SHY!! Roland is suppose to be the King of Midi. Oh Yeah! PROVE IT! Ketron will blow everything else out of the water. OH REALLY? Technics has sublime Midi implementation and sounds or so they say. >> Why did they go belly up then??? Besides the fact that their prices were outrageous. Could it be also that the vast majority of people didn't get excited all that much over their sounds either?? Even though their Keys are full size? UD?? Well? GEM Genesys/PRO, where art thou?? Let me hear what you've got in the way of "pull out all the stops" Midi implementation and playback capability. I double dare ya'! Where's all the competition?!?!? Casio?? --- Oops! Next in line please? Step up to the plate boys!!! Did you all realize that what you hear in the way of Midi playback on your Keyboard is also possible for the Keyboardist himself to acheive and attain that same sound quality capability and results by simply playing the Keys and using those same Voices whichever they may be? Hummmmm??

The mp3PRO version is for those on a dial up connection. Enjoy:

I Can Fly

I Can Fly mp3PRO Version

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 02-28-2004).]

Mike
Nice cut and sounds. Even before hearing Boo's response as a sax player, I can readily hear this is a keyboard sax.

By any chance were you a pit bull in another life? I love my Tyros big time, but man when you get a hold you don't let go and are even over selling me on the Tyros.
Terry

------------------
jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Mike,

Good cut, but in order to sound like a real sax you need the improv riffs and runs that sax players use with this type of song. I know a guy that can do this, and he does it so well with the 2000 that it really does sound like a sax--and a damned good one at that.

Thanks for sharing,

Gary

Mike (keybplayer).

You didn't specify whether this was a commercially produced midi sequence, or if it, and the sax lead was recorded by you. Please advise. Thanks.

Scott

Hey Mike, I hear the "sax" player trying to work his magic, I also know it is hard to do[I can't, especially for a long duration],We keyboard players have to think too much like a horn player, breathing, phrasing, fingering correctly, range of the instrument, and most important a sax patch without the fake vibrato, we need to control with breath control and aftertouch to sound realistic..All this is very hard to do..The best I have seen is Eric Persing[Roland]demo showing of a Roland S-50 sampler with breath controller...
As for SMF playback, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Roland "GS" instruments are the best..I think you just confirmed it with the Tyros.
I have used every instrument manufacturers best[Yamaha,Korg,Solton/Ketron,Technics,Roland etc,] and the overal clear winner is Roland GS keyboards[not Roland GM boards]..
A nice effort to show the Tyros sax in realtime play..

Since you asked.
www.Generalmusic.us/Genesys%20Ensemble%20Demo/MP3/grover.mp3

Now I am trying to be fair, this "song" was just Pad music for a demo, so this really wasn't meant to showcase any sounds in the instrument as this was intended to have voice over the music.

Enjoy!

[This message has been edited by PaulD (edited 02-29-2004).]

I'm personally a bit disapointed with the 'solo' sax sounds on Tyros, but on the other hand, the Tyros' 'sax section' voices sound quite impressive imho:
http://www.yamaha-tyros.de/demos.php

Scroll down to Tyros 'Voice Demos' section and have a listen to the 'LIVE Sax Section' with acoustic bass, trumpet, brush kit demo. - Scott

Mike,
To be honest a synth sax will never sound like the real thing, but, by the way the synth is played we can come quite close. A LOT of expression is needed while playing. I currently use a 2100 and I'll try to post a sample of what I mean.

Listen closely to Stan Gets and you will understand or Boo can explain better... it is never a single note played as in piano... kinda like a slide guitar where the note is reached by "moving to it from somewhere else" or a harmonica which sounds more realistic when you use the bender.

Also, the use of (2 in yam / or more -multilayers as in korg etc) can enhance the the output tone. Listen to a layered Sweet Harmonica + whistle or Sweet tenor + Growl sax (adjust volumes, octaves, pan, effects etc to desirable levels) and use modulation and bender. also remember to come to the note (accidently brush one other note before hitting the real note like, for C do EC where the E is soo slight and quick that it is felt but not noticed !! (just an eg.)

Playing ANY OTHER instrument on the keyboard involves a LOT of pratice and FEEL and excellent ear. getting the equivallent sound out is only accomplished by technic and our satisfaction is our reward !!

ATB

michael

Scott
The "sweet soprano" to me is awesome for my tastes of th Kenny G sort of sound. It's one of my top 3 favorite sounds on Yam's that have it.
Terry



------------------
jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Wow there are some many versions of R-Kelly's song "I believe I can fly" out there.. Not too sure on the sax on this one. I think it sounds like a keyboard. I think that the sax solo on this one should not have stuck so close to the melody. A song like this needs a lot of improv from a sax player, and a crap load of runs.. A sax really brings the song out, but I think the solo to this one was a little plain.. It needs more life. If I can dig it up I got a midi from a friend a few years ago.. He's a mean keyboard player, and he did this song with a sax as the solo.. He did a really good job.. If I still have it I'll post for everyone to hear.. Not sure if I still have it though.. Haven't listened to that file in a long time..

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 02-29-2004).]

Keyboard you guys need to get KaZaa and search for Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Johnny Griffin to hear what my definition of what a great sax sound is.

For my taste in true Jazz these are the greatest jazz tenor sax players to ever have lived barring none. Sonny Rollins is still alive. I like Getz and many others, but these 4 to me are the ultimate tenor sax players. Each one sounds different and unique but are the best.

Alto sax and Soprano are different animals. They both get old to me quickly other than the old ballads David Sanborn did. He did a great job on them. I don't like Alto or Soprano as much as tenor. KennyG plays beautiful soprano sax, but he's not a jazz saxophonist. He's said so himself.

I can listen to tenor all night. All of the players of any type sax today listen to these guys. Maybe not the jazz-fusion guys. In 1957, when we played what they call “jazz-fusion” today, we called it funk.

It's only jazz to modernists. It's not the same as traditional jazz. You don't have to like traditional jazz, just listen to some of the tunes these four guys did, and if you're a real musician you'll ask yourself, "how in the hell did they do that?"

Just think a minute, these guys recorded much of their stuff “live” with “junk equipment” by today's standards. They play in “tempos as faster than you can tap your foot” and you'll have to listen many many times to hear maybe one or two mistakes, if any.

It sounds impossible, unreal (sorry, again my vocabulary fails me). No you won't make a lot of money playing like that, but if you're bored with what you do today, listen to these guys and it will present a lifetime of challenges for any musician. Even David Sanborn, KennyG and all the modern guys. Any saxophonists you can name playing right now has nothing on these guys. There maybe one or two or three that are close but I don’t think anybody as good.

The part I don't like is that it takes 8 hours a day and 4 hours of live playing at night plus more pot or Budweiser than I can afford to get this good. If you try to do it sober you'll lose your mind.

What can I say! I bet if you count their practice time these guys didn't make a nickle an hour. You guys know anybody that practices 8 hours every day, even for 2 days. Charlie Parker did it for years.

Dave got me all squared away with the laptop this pasted week. I'm setting up a few things for gigging and the laptop will definitely make a difference.

When you put a folder from your Desktop computer on to a CD with EZ Creator and then put the CD into your laptop and drag the folder onto the start screen (Desktop screen on the laptop) the songs are copied as "Read Only" files it seems.

I couldn't re-save with the save icon in BIAB. When I would edit a volume or anything in BIAB, it would give the message that it was a read only file. You guys probably know all of this already.

OK OK I'll shut up now,
Boo

Mike,

My band is often booked as a backup band for performers that come through Ohio and surrounding areas. Just 3 weeks ago, we were the band for the DooWop show that is touring the country while the show was in Cincinnati. You may have seen some of these performers on TV since a past concert was taped for broadcast to promote the show and sell DVD’s. Anyway, this particular show featured among others, Maurice Williams, The Edsels, The Eldorados, Little Peggy March, The Spaniels, the Skyliners and Daddy G and the Fifth Street Band.

Daddy G is a tenor (sax) player. His plane was late getting in so he didn’t make it to rehearsal before the show. He was to perform his own material but also supply the sax, (what is DooWop without a tenor honking away between verses?) for the other artists’ performances. Being the trouper that I am, I pulled up the Growl Sax on my Genesys Pro and proceeded to do a sax solo in Rama Lama Ding Dong and everyone on stage turned and looked at me as if to say “How’d you do that?”

Once Daddy G arrived and was warming up, I selected the Tenor 1 sound and started copying his licks. He came over and said he had never heard a keyboard that could actually sound like a real sax. Even when I was playing this sound along with Daddy G, I was surprised at how authentic the sound was.

To duplicate an acoustic instrument using the current technology of sample-based instruments effectively requires several things. A good sample set and the appropriate assortment of synth parameters to mold those samples into something useful. Something that the instrument can’t supply is the ability to play a sound with the proper articulation based on what the real acoustic instrument is capable of producing as well as playing in the range of the particular instrument, etc.

To me, most keyboard sax sounds are either far too sterile (clean) or have been surrounded by an artificial ‘breath’ sound or an LFO produced growl or buried in reverb beyond recognition. The sax sounds in the Genesys thankfully do not fall into any of those categories. Again, it is extremely important how the sound is played. Playing outside the register of the real instrument, or playing note runs that are not common to the real instrument, will only emphasize the fact that it is an imitation.

Just my two cents worth. I started out with a good fifty cents worth of comments, but I cut it down to the above. Although I do have to point out that an instrument's MIDI Implementation has nothing to do with how the instrument sounds. If you want to talk MIDI implementation though, please feel free, because there is not another arranger instrument out there that is as capable as the Genesys when it comes to MIDI, sequencing, great sounds and a real synth editor, etc.
(Sorry, I just added another cent's worth of comment there)

Dave

Maybe the Europeans have the sax sound down pat. The AltoSax on my Ketron XD3 was absolutely stunning. On solos it could fool people.

One of the things REALLY holding me back on the Tyros is that I think it's sax sounds are terrible. It was interesting to see Scott corroborate this for me. I even listened to the Motif ES samples WITH the Virtual Acoustic plug-in board and I STILL thought the sax sounds were terrible.

Even Andrea's brilliant playing couldn't convince me that the sax sounds on the Tyros are passable. They simply sounded like the sax sounds from my Ensoniq Mirage keyboard/sampler from 1988!

It's a terrible Catch 22 - worse styles and better saxes on the GEM/Ketron but better styles, more reliability and TONS of support on the Yamaha's.

Ugh. I keep spinning my wheels.

Tommy

Here's Dexter Gordon and Paul Hardcastle teaming up to do "Birdland in Paradise":

Dexter Gordon on Sax

Best regards,
Mike

The Yamaha saxes, even the Tyros, have fallen behind, in my opinion. The Ketron X1 had a very believable sax, if you played it as a sax player would. I find myself simply not using the sax as much, which to me is no problem. The Growl Sax on the Tyros is pretty good in the right context.
Love those Tyros guitars though.
I am still looking forward to hearing the Genesys in person.
DonM

DITTO!

Only it will have to be the Genesys PRO for me. I couldn't tolerate lugging the Genesys (with onboard speakers "at over 60 lbs.") around after the first or second 'attempt' to do so.

Best regards,
Mike

Don & Mike,

Will the both of you be at the San Jose get together?

Hi Paul, is this (hopefully) a 'hint' that you're going to be able to make it to our San Jose, CA Synthzone Get Together?

I sure HOPE so, as I for one, as well as I'm sure all the other attendees are anxious to finally see, hear, and play the GEM Genesys first hand. Please CONFIRM whether you'll be able to attend, as well as when (day/time) you'd like to schedule your presentation. All other arranger keyboard manufacter/dealers are (of course) encouraged to attend our May 22/23rd San Jose Synthzone Get Together as well. - Scott

Please keep the checks ($10) coming into Bill (Bebop) Forrest:

Bill Forrest
195 Blossom Hill Road
Lot #279
San Jose, California 95123

The problem with built-in styles in arranger keyboards is you can never fully please everyone with what ends up in the finished version of the instrument. Some people want more Arabic styles, some want more polkas and I recently saw a post asking about more hip hop. The fact that there are 64 User Style locations on the Genesys and the ability to store hundreds of styles on the included internal hard drive or burn them to a CD right on the instrument makes for a very versatile instrument. If you are comfortable with sequencing it is not very hard to create your own custom styles or even edit the existing styles. There are websites that offer additional styles for the Genesys, some for free and some for a small fee. The RASS styles are particularly interesting because they feature sampled loops of real live instrumentation played by real musicians but still retain the ability to respond to tempo and key changes.

As for sounds, I feel there are many more sounds than just the sax that are more musically useful in the Genesys than what is available on some of the other instruments out there. As already mentioned in this thread, a believable reproduction of an acoustic instrument from an electronic keyboard is largely dependant on how the sound is played. But it sure helps if the sounds/samples are of higher quality and good programming as that makes the job quite a bit easier. Behind the scenes of the Genesys sound engine is a real full-fledged programmable synthesizer which allows for an incredible amount of sound modeling that is just not present on most of the other instruments. If you don’t care for a particular sound, it can be modified to your liking.

The Genesys is the most customizable arranger keyboard available and it doesn’t require the user to be an expert at brain surgery to figure out. Like any instrument, there is a learning curve, but the panel layout is very logical, and if you do get stuck General Music’s product support is very good (I happen to know the guy who provides support. Nice guy!). The Genesys has enjoyed a very high reliability since it was first introduced.

A final thought- All of the instruments/brands available today are pretty good. Each has their own pluses and minuses. I really do feel that the Genesys has more pluses than most. Am I biased? No, not really. I have owned all of the popular and not so popular brands of keyboard instruments over the years and have come to the conclusion that the General Music instruments offer more bang for the buck so to speak. I am not sure if it is unfortunate or not that the company is still relatively small in comparison to the Japanese companies and therefore doesn’t have huge resources when it comes to advertising, promotions, etc. I do think that they deserve a much larger share of the market than what they currently have. Thankfully, things are moving forward within the company very nicely and it may not be long before the name General Music becomes more of a household word. Although I am pretty sure that the company will stick to making musical instruments and not delve into golf carts, motorcycles, pocket knives, etc.

Dave

Dave -

I hear what you are saying, but as somebody that just came off a frustrating year of owning a Ketron XD3 I would stress that it is EXTREMELY important to have a lot of support.

I never got the unit to recognize my accordion's bellow sensitivity, which was a HUGE problem. Every note played on the right hand of my accordion had the exact same velocity. I simply couldn't use expression! I sent out several emails and never got a satisfactory response.

The polyphony was terrible and made using some styles with harmony unusable. I couldn't remember which styles worked with which version of harmony (jazz, full, etc.) without dropping out so I just quit using this valuable feature.

I bought a Yamaha AW16G and used the AW16G support group to get every single question answered on the spot. It was GREAT! Motifator is amazing, and there are PSRTutorial and SVPWorld among many other Yamaha support sites.

Nothing I can find for GEM and Ketron support. I mean sure, there are some VERY dormant (1 post a month) sites out there but that is no help to me. I even joined the Yahoo Solton/Ketron support group and it was very disappointing.

Why would I want to buy a keyboard that I have to search long and hard to just find a simple demo of it, and to see one in person is almost impossible? I can check out a Tyros and Motif ES at several stores within 5 miles of my house.

I don't care what else a company makes. Truth be told, the Yamaha R1 and R6 are unbelievable sport motorcycles. As a motorcycle enthusiast, these bikes are fast, reliable, and comfortable. My AW16G DAW from Yamaha is great. So what do I care if they want to make pianos, motorcycles, arrangers, etc? They are just a really big company with several divisions that do very different things. I am sure that their Keyboard division dwarfs both GEM and Ketron combined, so the fact they do many things just means there is more company behind them.

I've tried the Ketron route and was unhappy. GEM sounds like the same thing all over again. Love my AW16G and the support I get from it. I'll go the Tyros route and see if I'm pleased.

Just wish those saxes were a lot better. (I knew somehow I'd come back to the original topic!)

Tommy

Boo...GREAT CHOICES OF PLAYERS! I'd add Gato Barberi and Paul Desmond...just personal preferences...

Russ

Tommy,

I would like to point out, that Dave is the Product Support Manager for Generalmusic and besides him, and we have many others that actually frequent many forums and newsgroups. Generalmusic also has a policy that the dealers we select must be able to support the products they sell, so if you were to purchase a Generalmusic product, besides the resources available from Generalmusic which is fairly vast, you also have the resources from the store in which you purchased the instrument.

I think also, what David was trying to say about companies that make products other than Musical instruments, was not a put down, nor take away what these companies produce. However, a positive about Generalmusic is that Generalmusic produces nothing except musical instruments, and have been doing so as a family business for over a century. Everyone that is involved in the decisions actually plays, and most of them extremely well, giving a unique perspective that only a musician would have. Generalmusic, has always been known as an innovator from the from the time that Mr. Galanti invented the Piano Accordion, right up to today’s innovation with the genesys instrument and the Drake processor. To put it another way, there are many Ford and Chevy’s dealerships out there and they are good vehicles, but let us not put down the Lamborghini just because there isn't as many, nor is it for everyone.

Tommy,

Ditto what PaulD said.

And I didn't mean anything by the golf cart, etc. comment. And yes, they do make a good bike.

Seriously, the service (or lack there of) that you have experienced with the other companies you mentioned is not the case with General Music. As Paul said, I am the
Nat'l Product Support Mgr. for General Music.

Providing excellent product support is very important to me. Over the years I have experienced both incredibly poor support and also good support for products that I have owned. I know how important it is to have someone who can be counted on when you have questions or problems that need to be dealt with.

I have been involved in the keyboard industry for 25+ years in design and manufacturing and the retail side of the business as well. I chose to pursue General Music for a job because I genuinely believe in the products they design. I haven’t cut down other brands, in fact I said that all of the instruments available today are pretty good and they are. But if you really give the Genesys a fair shake, you might be surprised at just how user-friendly, versatile, great sounding and fun the instrument is to play.

Sorry if I came off as argumentative in my last post, I didn’t mean too.

Dave


[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 03-01-2004).]

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 03-01-2004).]

"if you really give the Genesys a fair shake, you might be surprised at just how user-friendly, versatile, great sounding and fun the instrument is to play."

I would love to give it a fair shake. I've been pretty aggressive in trying to see one since it came out. Paul has planned to come through and show me one, and Phil Huston from Dallas and I have been trying to link up, but so far it hasn't happened.
I don't know if I'll be able to come to the California get-together as it is a weekend and means I'll have to miss at least two nights of work. Chances are I won't be able to. And I shouldn't have to fly a couple thousand miles to see one anyway. Sooner or later though. . .
DonM

Dave and Paul -

In no way did you come off confrontational. I apologize if my post appeared to take that stance.

I have absolutely zero experience with GEM products, other than what I have read on this site and what I have seen on the web.

I was unhappy with my Ketron experience and incorrectly ported that sentiment to the GEM product line. My fault and I apologize for it.

I still wouldn't consider a GEM only because if it is that hard to even demo a product, how hard could it be to get support? This may be an incorrect assumption but it's how I feel.

A lot of Fords and Chevy's take their owners to work day in and day out and you can test drive one anywhere.

Tommy

I definitely understand where you are coming from. However, product support for GEM products is a simple e-mail or phone call away. I promise that you will get a response in a very reasonable time.

As for dealers, believe me, Paul is working very hard to see that our coverage is increased by good quality dealers that can and will provide the type of proper support to their customers that we as a manufacturer are willing and able to supply to them.

Dave

Russ,

Paul Desmond played Alto, so he doesn't count in the Tenor sax catagory just as I didn't mention Charlie Parker, Cannon Ball Aderly and a host of others.

Gato does excellent with the style he plays. All I'm saying is I think many who are considered to be great players today down deep wish they could play as well as the four I mentioned in my earlier post.

Maybe this will help. There are many very good quarterbacks today. I bet quite a few wish they were as good as Elway, Marino, and Montana. Every pass Farve throws breaks one of these guys records.

Sorry:
I know is VERY subjetive when ANYBODY talks about how a sound should sound like, is not just how the keyboard (any BRAND) generates it SOUNDS, how is PLAYED/attack, the bending usually is before reach the pitch....(Dito Fran Carango)...example: the Acoustic Guitar has 6 strings, and usually is either played down or up /strum/arpeggio....is most likely that the people I heard to their recordings/secuences, played like a piano, without regarding the 6 strings, and if is played down or up, depending what you are playing....., only VERY few know how to do it.
Well, you just confirm to MY ears that Ketron still the King in matter of sounds, not just in the Saxes, but also in choirs among others, I hope you listen to the ketron's choirs.....and that I put to rest...

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mdorantes

Boo..I agree...guess I didn't know we were only talking about tenor players.

The players you are talking about were from a special era, abd they took sax to a level that has never been reached since.

Russ

For the umpteenth time!!!! It all comes down to 3 things. Donny and Dave is gonna love this!

If you can sing and play your ax, ( keyboard for those of you in Rio Linda California), the keyboard to the client - patrons - customers whom ever (or is it who ever Gary?) is insignificant. Let me repeart that for the Rio Linda folks. If you can sing and play your ax, the brand of keyboard you use is INSIGNIFICANT to the people. IT IS ONLY IMPORTANT TO YOU THE USER!!!

I'd listen to Dexter Gordon play a $50 sax all night. He'd be miserable, but the average person wouldn't know the difference.

The third thing is ,"Can you entertain?" I've heard people that were so bad, I mean they couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, that I litterally laughed at them in-side my brain, and the customers where asking me, "isn't he great?"

The public's taste in music sucks. If it didn't, you wouldn't have drug addict bizzionarie rappers on every page in the newspaer killing each other and being arrested for drugs right?

I bet a million bucks Gary, DonM, and Scott could make a bunch of money with a Casio. Donny and Dave could do this too!

However, I'll go a step farther with them. I contend that they have so much crap with them on the business end, and laugh and smile and look at the people on the dance floor so much (for the Rio Linda Folks, that means they flirt a lot) that they could make a living just singing and playing a comb with tissue paper.

Dave, Donny this is the greatest compliment possible from a Cajun. This is not meant to be offensive.

Some got it and some don't. I won't make a lot of money cause I don't got all those attributes to entertain. I just want a few people every now and then to come up and say, Man! I thought Dexter, Getz, Coltrane and Rollins were the only guys that played "Polkadots And Moonbeams" and Darn That Dream" on the sax, and of course a few bucks here and there would help.

Brickboo,

Ditto. A good player can make anything sound good. I have seen it happen many times.

And I can't count the times when I've seen a performer who (whom?) I thought couldn't play his or her way out of a paper bag only to hear the audience just eat it up. As long as they are being entertained, they are happy.

So for the most part it doesn't matter what instrument is being played as far as the audience is concerned. And I agree with you that probably the only person that really cares is the one playing the instrument unless the audience consists of fellow musicians.

Occasionally I get booked for a gig where I am only expected to provide background music and not have any real contact with the crowd. In those cases, it certainly wouldn't matter if I was using the latest technology or simply brought my son's Little Tikes xylophone piano and had a couple of balloons to bang against the mic for rhythm. (Hmm, I might have to give that a try).

Anyway, most of the time I think I am my best audience, and I definitely know what sounds good, so I appreciate the fact that I have a great instrument to play on. I mean let's face it, most of us do this because we love it, and it is even more enjoyable when you like the instrument you are playing on.

Dave

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 03-03-2004).]

Nice observations & very true statemnts....
read it over & over my friends...
Truer words were never spoken!!



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www.donnypesce.com

I agree with Dave that knowing what sounds good is imperative for the Musician playing the instrument[s]. But I disagree that the audience is somehow less concerned or savvy when it comes to authentic instrument sounds. Although you can get by with playing a Casio WK series Grand Piano patch and the audience may enjoy it for the most part, when a truly authentic and superb sounding Acoustic Grand Piano Voice is played, the audience's reaction will most assuredly enliven and you will see the reaction on their faces that says: "Hey, that Piano sounds Wunderbar! (Wonderful)! - and I am really enraptured and enthralled by this sound experience I'm listening to!" That same reaction would be a stretch when the instruments you are playing sound less than what an authentic natural (as apposed to an electronic instrument) - should sound like. People aren't dumb. They know what an instrument should sound like for the most part and any deviation from authenticity is definitely noticed by them and your performance will suffer accordingly depending on your Keyboard's ability to produce authentic sounding instruments.

Best regards,
Mike



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 03-03-2004).]

I contend that the patrons are listening to the vocals and the songs being played. Not to how much the sax sounds like David Sanborn’s sax. Many in the crowd may even go as far as to ask the person next to them, “why do they try to play that stupid sax sound on a keyboard?“ Ha! Ha!

Keyboard, if what you are saying would be true, Dexter Gordon would have made the most money for the best sounds produced on a Sax when he was alive, and Jimmy Smith for the best organ sound so on and so forth. I bet those two along with Coltrane, Rollins and Getz, who probably made the most money of all the sax players; all put together didn’t make as much money as Paul, George, John and Ringo's butlers. Vocals and being an entertainer win hands down. Maybe 1% or less of the folks there will be interested in how much the sax sounds real and it could be because they have an interest perhaps in buying a keyboard.

It’s like the stereo argument. The stereo is for the guy doing the entertaining. The crowd in a hall will never know the difference in mono or stereo, especially if it a big place and the reverb is bouncing every which-a-way

I challenge you to a contest. You get who ever you think is the best player on the forum and give him whatever you think is the best sounding keyboard to play any instruments you want all night and I'll take Donny or Dave and I don't care if they even sing with crappy midi files, we'll let the audience decide who they liked best and I’ll bet $10,000 that the best keyboard player you know, playing the best keyboard to your taste, won’t even come in second in a two man contest. Ha! Ha!

I get all of this crap from hustling pool for 12 years in New Orleans. Put in another perspective from a pool hustler's point of view, your guy won't have as much of a chance of winning as a mule in the Kentucky Derby. Ha! Ha! Gottcha again!

Keyboard just trying to get a laugh. Hope you think this is half as funny as I do. This is what use to go on in the pool hall all day. Talk about a rush, always standing or sitting with your back to the wall. It gave a sense of what Doc Holiday’s life was like. With adrenalin flowing like that, we didn’t need any drugs. All I did was drink coke and eat the hot sausage. Those were the days my friend, I thought they’d never end.

I don't really see why you want to make this a competition between brands, but as far as the song goes: Sorry, I'm not at all impressed. If this is the best the Tyros can do, I think I'm very very pleased with my keyboard.

It is not about "what's the best keyboard". It's all about "what is the best keyboard for me."



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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk