At 60 years of age, everything related to technology that I learned in high school or college is obsolete.

My degree is in Journalism and Advertising. I remember learning how Linotype machines worked. There were no home computers. Ad layouts were done by hand with clip art from large books. Photography was done with a real camera and I learned to develop and print balck and white photos in the darkroom. Color darkrooms were too expensive to consider.

I did have an electric typewriter, but they were still quite expensive. I learned in high school on a manual.

My first "keyboard", in 1965, other than a piano at home was a Lowery organ. All it did was play organ sounds. In order to amplify it we wired an output to an external amp. It weighed a ton, and really didn't even have a good organ sound!

Now, like many of the others here, I can assemble a computer from parts, build and maintain my own website, make a digital photo, edit it, print it, or send it to anyplace in the world in minutes.

I can create my own CD, complete with cover and insert, for literally pennies.

The list could go on and on, but you get the picture. And I am far from unique, and far from the most accomplished "techie", even here on our own little forum.

As Gary so eloquently said, we must embrace the technology or be left in the backwash of those who do.

Make those keyboards as complicated as you want. I'll figure 'em out where others may not make the effort. Edge to me. Still, they must be easy to operate once you DO figure them out.

DonM www.donmasonmusic.com

Manuals are just a starting place. You really want to learn about keyboards? Synthzone is the place...and for PSR's and Tyros, you can't beat Joe's PSR Tutorial site. No where will you get more concise information and personal responses to any question you may have.

As for the technology, I played a PSR 5700 & Roland E20 on a double stand for about 9 years. It took awhile to learn how to operate these two vastly different KBs simultaneously. I then moved to a single PSR 9000 and had to learn a whole new OS. Then, to reduce the weight, I got a 740. Another learning curve to conquer. Then the 2000...a whole nuther animal.

When I went to sell the 740, I had trouble remembering how to operate it to demo it to the buyer. Guys like George Kaye, DanO and others that really learn the ins and outs of a variety of KBs are to be commended. Very few sales guys I have ever talked with seem to know much about even one.

Eddie

Hello............It has taken years of practice to play well on a keyboard. Why would one expect to learn how to operate a keyboard overnight? If all you had to do was press one button to sound like Yanni, anyone in your audience could walk up and outshine you. In today's world of "instant gratification" it's easy to be dissapointed in the operating learning curves of todays instruments. The technology changes so often it's hard to keep up. Sure...........maybe the manuals could be written better, but with all the online forums and websites available I've never asked a question that wasn't replied to...........usually within 24 hours. I've learned more online than from any manual! But the best teacher is YOU! Learn by doing! Nothing's gonna blow up if you push a wrong button...........Experiment!! You might actually learn something that way...............charley

I agree with the fact that the fill button has no business next to the ending button. There's lots of other buttons where it could be placed next to that wouldn't cause such a drastic change.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure simple things such as this out. It shows a case of carelessness and lazyness maybe if not stupidity.

I had a Dodge truck that every time you pulled the brake release handle, the brake pedal would just about knock you fingers off of your hand. Why put the realease handle anywhere near the pedal that flys up at maybe 150 miles an hour?

I have a 1991 Ford F250 4X4. If you're on the job site in the winter or after a rain and drive off in 4 wheel drive and then shift out of four wheel drive and you forget to close the ash try (I don't smoke but the ash tray was opened anyway) You could break a finger between the shift handle and the ash tray door when they collide against one another.

I mean these are engineers designing these things. What are they doing when they do the designs. Maybe they're playing computer games at that time too!

If I built my brick walls like some of these engineers design things, after 35 years my walls would be falling down killing people.

It shows a lack of something. What's the word I'm looking for DonM or Gary. Don went to college and Gary writes for a magazine.

Sometimes I'm too intimidated by these guys to even try commenting here. Us Cajuns we cheated to get through High School by the hardest.

Boo,

I think the term you looking for is "common sense." My dad had a couple sayings that always ring true--especially today. He said "The average person seems to be well below average and common sense isn't very common these days."

Cheers,

Gary

Hi Dnj

Good question.

Yesterday I bought an old Yamie arranger PSR5700 that seems a brandnew kbd.
I installed the old grandfather in a double Ultimate stand and made the mid conection with my Psr 2000.
Just some tips:
The grandfather made 7 or 8 years ago, is easy to operate and play, when compared with PSR 2000 with some features that I loved.
Individual buttons for each control (No pages and sub pages,and sub pages,etc)
Slide controls for each volume.
Perfect keys touch (I think that is the same of DX7 synth)= OH new PSR: whata shame!!
I always love the eletronic development but some features as individual controls are important for live musicians, IMO.
Regards
Chico

Ah yes....Chico..I certainly remember the Psr5700 for sure...I also think Gary Diamond[travlin easy] played one or a while on stage also....it was and still is a classic in the Arranger KB archives to this day.

Stay well

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-18-2004).]

I find the PSR2k so much easier to use than the PSR630. But you need to be happy with menu's!

Donny,
If your friend is a good musician, he could begin using the arranger in a very simple manner and, little by little, discover all the advanced possibilities. That was my strategy when I started playing, many years ago. A good and simple way to start would be turning the "drum machine" on, playing bass with the left hand and melody/comping with the right hand (piano, electric piano). A good musician should make this sound like a trio, almost immediately.
-- José.

I read manual only if I have to. Basicly because manuals very rarely answers my question. So far I've managed with PSR2K much better than with 740 before.

Luckily today we have PSRtutorial and synthzone!!