Casio seems to have made a good move, and I've always wondered whatever happened to the guys who ran the Technics arranger keyboards.

I heard that some of them moved to Korg, but it would be interesting to know for sure.

Larry

Personally, I think Casio are going to HAVE to copy Yamaha's Mega Voice technology, multipads AND SA technology and do it just as well as Yamaha to stand any chance of competing against them. Let's face it, even REALLY good sounding arrangers like the Roland's are generally very poorly received because they don't have these 'must have' features, despite having a long list of stuff the Yamaha's don't...

It's going to take more than just the kidnapping of a few Yamaha reps from the US to get the job done, and let us not get TOO excited... Product lag will make anyone who has JUST joined not have any impact for probably three to five years from now. They don't just sling these things together, or develop mature technologies like SA2 overnight.

From what I gather, it's the guys at Yamaha UK that have a LOT more influence on how the Tyros and PSR's get voiced and feature priorities, so purloining a few Yamaha guys from the US might not have as big an influence as you might hope. This ain't the Tyros R&D team here. It's marketing guys. Not that Casio couldn't do with some help to get them over the bad old days memories, but let's wait and see...

I think it will take FAR longer than you are hoping for.

If Casio wants to seriously get in to the arranger market, they would have to introduce something ground breaking and different to the market.
For them to accomplish this, product development and marketing would need to work hand in hand. One can not work with out the other.

Casio should start off with a teaser product.
They should start off with a cool/sexy looking product.
IMO this product should be something like an Akai MPC 2000.
It should be this cool” box” that you can connect to your motif xs, M3, PSR s910 Audya …..
It should sample, have styles and the ability to play styles and a sequencer.
I am leaving out all of the details.
But, once the cool/sexy game changing product is developed, it is up to the marketing department to take it and run with it.
The goal would be to get Casio in to normal keyboard circles. It should not be marketed as an arranger (although it will be). And, the reason it will be a “box” if people are still afraid to have a “casio” product as part of their rig, but can not resist the ground breaking sounds, styles and feature integration, they could “hide” it under a table or some place.

Another important part of the puzzle is that it would need to be reasonably priced. It should not be a high-end product.
The initial product should be cheap and they should make money on the additional content people could buy (sounds, styles and plugins). It should be a product that gets people thinking “Casio” in a serious way and look to Casio for bigger and better things. You would not be asking people to jump ship. With this new product, you are not asking people to get rid of their current keyboard and get the Casio. You are enticing them to add Casio to their rig and forcing people to look to Casio for serious musical products.
After the “box”, they could always add and develop to the line as needed.

I think Casio has the wherewithal to produce a pro-level arranger or any other type of synth if they wanted to. But I also believe that in order for it to be successful, they would have to start a new 'Professional' division, complete with a new name. Very few brands in the world are so identified with cheap, 'NON-PROFESSIONAL' products. Even the most un-informed non-musician in your audience would question your credibility if you showed up at the gig with a keyboard with CASIO emblazoned on the back. But ego might keep Casio corporate from ever going that route. JMO.

chas

Hey! I know what Casio should make that is groundbreaking!

How about an arranger VSTi player hybrid that DOES do what arranger players (in general! ) want, contains great styles and sounds OOTB and priced no more than an S910...?

Forget modules (too tiny a market). Forget being 'me too, Yamaha'. Give us what all the open arranger fanboys have been screaming for...

Only, this time, make it for ALL arranger players, not the tiny, mythical handful that think they can voice and style their own full arranger...

V-Machine sells for well under a grand. Looks like the engine is ready to go (doable, at least). Now all we need are the wheels and a body.

That's about the only thing I can think of that IS 'revolutionary'. The rest has been done, and failed at one time or another (or there would still BE modules). And, for Pete's sake! Why would you hook a module up to your MoXS with a sequencer in it, when the MoXS already HAS one..? There's NOTHING in your wishlist that isn't already out there. PA2X samples, has styles and a sequencer. T2/3, ditto. Nobody is falling over themselves to get those to add to their M3, FantomG, etc..

But a REAL VSTi based arranger? Only Wersi has succeeded making one of those, and they are now gone (or at least in serious trouble) and they can't make them affordable. If anyone can make one affordably, it would be Casio!

The revolution will not be televised. It will make music to our ears. And NOT require us to be TOTL style and sound developers.

Hay people get akai products even though they have and XS.
Remember I did not release all the details about the “box”; nor will I.
And yes a VST player would be in the “box”.
Remember the “box” is only the beginning you can then release 61, 6 or 88 key versions of the “box”.
It would be very difficult (almost near to impossible) for Casio to get people to leave their favorite brand and get a pro Casio keyboard.
They have to lure and entice persons to their new professional line.

By a show of hands, how many persons will get rid of their current arranger for the next ground breaking pro keyboard from Casio?
Didn’t think so!

I used pro Casio keyboards for several years...I had a CZ-1, and VZ-1 Phase Distortion synthesizers, and an FZ-1 16 bit sampler.

I knew several other players who used these instruments as well...the synths were partly designed around the wishes and ideas of Isao Tomita, the great synthesist who dreamed of the ultimate Casio Cosmo synthesizer/sampler.

These products were very well made and very powerful, and I only sold them because I got into the arranger gigging.

Casio is very capable of making a high end arranger...the rumors I heard from someone in the know, that there will be a powerful arranger sometime this year haven't been denied, so anything is possible from this company, and now that Roland is out of the way, who knows what they'll come up with.



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 01-15-2010).]

Most but the blinkered and blind don't give a toss what name and logo is on the panel... Sound and capability is all anyone should care about.

Were Casio to make something I wanted, heck, were Lionstracs to make something I wanted ( ), I would buy it regardless of prior product.

Thing is, genesys, in this economy, biting off more than anyone can chew is going to go down in flames. You can't honestly expect that gargantuan wishlist of features to come out at a price anyone can afford, do you?

Baby steps, man, baby steps. Combine them ALL into an über-product later, when the crash is over... Perfect each component NOW, assemble them when we can all afford them afterward.

But I still think, as ARRANGER players, an MPC type product (which is what you describe) will float like a lead balloon (we already GOT arrangers, you see). And yes, were Casio to unveil what I actually WANT, I will drop ANYTHING in a flash... as long as I can afford it. So, there's at least ONE 'hands up'!

Diki makes a good point that it could be years before Casio comes out with a compelling mid-range arranger.

It is foolish to discount Casio because they make cheap keyboards for Best Buy.

All of Casio's products are good buys for what they deliver.

And the Privia PX-330 is a tour de force in that it is light weight with a great piano feel and a fantastic piano sound for it's low price. In addition, it has some entry level arranger features.

Even though Casio cannot make a lot of money in a higher end arranger, they might want to do it to add to their prestige.

Beakybird

Its all in marketing my friends; all in marketing.
You obviously would not market it as an arranger the same way you would market a T3.
And yes baby steps that is what needs to take place. And that is what the product would be.
That is why it can not be a full fledged arranger/synth. Not in this economy. The product would flop if they do it that way.