OK, Question...what does an arranger have that a Kurzweil K2600X has not???
STYLES my friends...that's it, and Jordan does not need or want style playing. He can do it all without that feature. AND he usually has other players invoved including many guitar bangers and a top notch drummer.

Styles are way to limiting for him. He likes Karma, Arps, his own programmed loops etc.

Lee S.

You are right. He may not need styles for the kind of work he does. What i was illustrating is what could be done with a little imagination using a style which is exactly what he did. I am not suggesting that an arranger is the ideal instrument for Jordan Rudess. But how many rudesses are there out there ????

What i am suggesting is that the 'limitations' that people insist are inherent in an arranger keyboard are in fact their own limitations with their imagination and skill. Not the instrument.

As for the T2 sounds... i dont know what to say. I dont think there has been an instrument made that can fulfill all your needs. In the mean time good luck with whatever you buy when ever or if ever you choose to accept the compromise that every musician has to make. That is that the machine makes a contribution to how you sound but you have to do the rest with your skill, talent and imagination.

Well, I got them all... Arrangers, WS's, synths, clones, VSTi's. You name it!

Thing is, when I'm trying to be creative, I want to use it ALL. I simply don't see the point in using an inferior tool (depending on what you are trying to do) as some kind of intellectual exercise. What the arranger does best, I use, in commercial and personal areas. But for what the WS does best, I use THAT for. For what the VSTi's do best, I use those...

So, I guess, as PART of an arsenal of musical tools, yes, nothing wrong with the arranger... But I simply see little point in trying to make one as the sole centerpiece of a production for anything other than live use.

I just don't see you as QUITE getting my point... Nothing WRONG with an arranger... just that, for certain things, there are better keyboards. And, pound for pound, just about 100% of all pros doing original music (sessions, studio, stuff you hear on the radio, etc.) are using something OTHER than an arranger....

But, I guess, they must ALL be wrong and you right, eh?

Not everyone can afford an arranger, and a workstation, VST's, synths, clones etc.

I believe Spalding's point is that you can achieve remarkable results within the limitations of your budget and your gear.

If all you have is an arranger that performs multiple duties, such as "live" play, recording and composition, the instrument has a lot of capabilities and power that the average (or even above average) person/player rarely explores.

Someone with Rudess' imagination, creativity and skill, could wring a lot of music out of a G-70, Tyros etc...far more than any of the posters here on SZ, in my opinion.

Ian

Thanks for being so succinct Ian :-)

Well, in that case, a laptop trumps them all...

Sound quality FAR in excess of ANY arranger out there, longer samples, more flexible recording possibilities, live-loop tools far better than any arranger, you name it... And probably much less expensive (compared to a TOTL arranger with the tools you say you want - sampler, etc.).

I mean, if we are going to pick a tool to be creative on, why not the MOST flexible, good sounding tool available?

I just started to look at this thread.
Correct me if I am wrong but I think when Spalding was talking about creativity he was talking about creative as in how you use an instrument not necessarily creative musically.


The creativeness that was being referred to in the example was that he took a workstation and used it as an arranger.
The fact that persons are say that could easily be done on an arranger only proves the point.

The reverse would be true. I am sure there is someone who could take their G70 and compose a song the same way they would do it on a Motif.

Yes what was being done in the example could be done easier on an arranger rather than a workstation. But it took a creative mind to use a workstation like that.