Two short demos by Bert Smorenburg on Audiolink Pads, and the USB Audio Player.

To me they are very interesting features and more importantly it looks like fun.

Nice bonus's for Yamaha S950 owners, not found in many (probably none) MOTL Arrangers.

Multipad Audiolink




USB Audio Player

Yay,.... Nice demos,..now everyone can play along with
Mp3 backing tracks, multipad tracks, etc, ... at this rate styles will be a thing of the past...like I always said you gotta mix it up and use all the tools afforded to us, especially if your playing today's music for the younger set..
Play along, Sing along, Karaoke along, it's all good.

I love Bert's demos Larry...thanks for sharing.

Although I'm not one to play over MP3's, SMF's, or Wav files (I use styles exclusively), many users, including pros, will find these tools very useful...and a lot of fun!

Ian

Yeah a lot of 'fun' quotient in there for lots of folks. Thanks for the vids. Larry.

Nice find Larry, sounds one hell of a KB. got you thinking now hey!!

Ian, there is a lot that can't be acomplished with styles, so in those cases playing over MP3s or SMFs is the only way to go. Who really cares how the backing tracks are provided as long as what you are playing over them is hot. The audience really doesn't care at all how the backing is provided.

I understand, Nigel...there's certainly nothing wrong with playing over SMF, MP3 etc...it's just that I prefer to play over styles. If I can't do the tune with a style, I simply do not do the tune.

It's a bit like the way I do recordings...I don't record anything on a CD that I can't play live in front of an audience; in other words, no multi-tracking.

That way, the promotional CDs I give away at my gigs are an exact representation of what the listener heard being played at my performance.

The one exception would be if I was recording a video soundtrack for a client, which would be something that I wouldn't play at my gigs.

These are self-imposed limitations, and constitute my own preferences in using an arranger "live".

I can definitely see where these other tools can be used, it's just that I don't like using them. I do, however, make it a point to show their merit during my clinics.

The S950 is a real beauty.

Ian

Yes Tony, I think I'm going for it, but only after I hear Ian's review...that is, if he ever gets his demo board.

The S950 has a lot of features for a MOTL arrangers, and would be a nice upgrade for my arranger playing. Anyone want to buy a near perfect PSR-3000?

Has anyone tried the Multipad Audiolink?

How about the USB Audio player?
Curious...Does the voice cancel work that easy on all mp3's?

This gimmicky feature on most KB units is hit or miss at most depending on how the song was recorded.

Larry, other manufacturers apply this feature, and it may depend on how the original recording was done for it's effectiveness.

However, most Wav. and MP3's appear to work quite well, according to those who have S950's.

No sign of my demo unit yet, Larry...hopefully this month...the S950 is selling extremely well, unfortunate for me, but very fortunate for Yamaha.

Ian