I had a talk with one of Europe's top Roland arranger demonstrators (I won't say who, but you have all seen him on some of Roland's own promo material) and he admitted to me that despite demoing G70's and E80's for Roland, he still uses a G1000 on his own gigs, strictly because of the Chord Sequencer...!

He gets around the sound differences by using a TD-10 module for drums, a Nord Electro for organs and Rhodes, and a FantomX for other sounds (plus a few other things) so in essence he is using a G70 WITH a Chord Sequencer.

Now if a Roland demonstrator can't gig without one....

I guess it's just one of those 'pro' features. The better your left hand is, the more it makes sense to use a CS. If you are already challenged enough just to play the right chord, right inversion at the right time, it's not going to help you much (might explain why so few are gung-ho about it!). But if one of Roland's top demonstrators admits that he won't gig without one, perhaps a few more of you might realize just HOW important this feature can be to a good player...

gotta love the chord sequencer... frees up your left hand so you can turn all those extra knobs and move sliders around... dam cant wait to buy my synth!! hehe

Perhaps I don't understand... how different is the Chord Sequencer, from step-recording your chords in advance?

Also, the cheapie PSR-225GM and PSR-270 had "chord banks" in which you could pre-record chord sequences, then trigger the changes in real time by pressing ANY one key in the accomp section. I always thought this was a good feature, and wouldn't mind seeing it as an optional mode on Yammy's higher-end machines.

My $.02,
Ted S.

You made your point clear Diki, I am sure Roland will reintroduce the chordsequencer in the next generation of their instruments.
The name of it shall be the Diki Chordsequencer.

LOL

Kind regards,
Tommy

CS is useless for my style of playing ...its just another feature that might be OK for a few as in every arranger you pick & choose what works for you...if its so important for you as you state just get a G1000 & midi the G70 to it....I say pick choose play & adapt with workarounds for what you want to do, bottom line is & will always be with me
"What do you sound like" that's all that matters, how you do it means squat in the end result...its an endless gear features game that will never end.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 04-25-2007).]

Is the chord sequencer something that could be added in a new OS version?

Ted, the main difference was that with the Roland system, you never have to input the chords in advance, it just reads what you input until you hit "play", and then it loops it, no interruption. Spontaneity being the whole point, I guess. Most use an arranger for the flexibility and freedom from preset arrangements.

This feature allows you that AND frees up your left hand when you want to. If you need more info, just search for "chord sequencer' and you'll find most of my posts!!

Wis, I am afraid that the Roland guy said Roland thought that 'not enough people used it' to make it worth while. I am just hoping that perhaps a few of you can see the point of this feature (it is, after all, a truly 'arranger' feature, NOT some ported over workstation feature) and make your desires known. Hell, I don't even care if was reintroduced by some other manufacturer, just as long as SOMEONE brings it back (a T2 with a CS? Wow!).

Look, I realize that this is something that players with weak left hands can't utilize, but if you consider that your left hand IS capable of doing more than just inputting chords, you might want to see if you can give this feature a try. Find someone with a G1000 or G800 (or several other Roland arrangers of that period) and test drive it.

Roland never really promoted the feature well, despite it's usefulness. All I'm trying to do is raise awareness better than they did!

I'm afraid the idea of lugging a G1000 around to trigger a G70 doesn't deserve to come from the lips of folk that won't even abide the weight of ONE Roland 76-er, yet alone two!

Here's just a short list of some things you can do with a CS you can't do any other way (in arranger mode);

Play two-fisted piano over chords that don't change or glitch as you get REALLY 'outside'

Use the bender whenever YOU feel like it, not just when your left hand is free

Twiddle the knobs on your synth AS you play it (for you, Nick!)

Play on another keyboard altogether (with two hands)

Play another instrument completely

Play your own bass line over chords that don't change

Have a drink WHILE you solo! (my personal fave!)

Left hand counter melodies

Move drawbars WHILE you play

And so on and so forth. Ad nauseam....

Now if NONE of these things would EVER be useful, you probably will never need a CS (but I would recommend working on that LH independence until you DO!), but I've got a sneaky feeling that there ARE some players here at SZ that might find one or two of those possibilities intriguing.

YOU are the ones that should be making the noise, too...!

Join in on the chorus.... "I want my, I want my, I want my left hand back!"

It could be in a new OS, it could come out on the NEXT G-series, it could come from another manufacturer, I don't care!

The frustrating thing is, Roland already have the code! It's not something they need to develop. They even have four well placed buttons (the Mark/Jump buttons for SMF play) that could do double duty and not even change the form factor. It is entirely a marketing decision, rather than a player decision.

Why pull a feature OFF of a keyboard if it was A) unique B) worked perfectly and C) you already have the code and controls?

BTW, Donny, just how would you describe your 'playing style', and what part of it wouldn't a CS help? I just find it hard to envision a situation where a CS would be of no use.

Don't tell us you are a 'One Finger' guy...!!

Or maybe you ONLY play the first verse and chorus of any tune..?

I appreciate that you feel you don't need one (or couldn't use one), I am just curious as to WHY... And also curious as to whether you have tried using a CS, or are you just rejecting it out of unfamiliarity? There are loads of features on arrangers that make you go 'why on earth would I need this?' (dual sequencers on Korg's, multi-pads on Yamaha's, etc.) and until you try them, you'll never know. The CS is VERY much like that. Until you've used one, it doesn't seem to make sense. Once you have, it's hard to go back to NOT using it!

I remember you posted that you also played 'Accordion,
Drums, Percussion (Timbalis, Conga, etc) Guitar, Bass, Harmonica, and Alto Sax'. Do you actually play any of them on the gig? Wouldn't you like to?