How much do you strip down out of a style? I'm always hearing that arranger kb players strip down their styles alot because they are so called Too busy?....whats the sense..defeating the purpose.....there's 4 variations to change if needed also to make an arrangement..
secondly I see many players use only PIANO 95% of the time also?
with all the sounds onboard can I just ask why?
And third using 8 registrations for ONE SONG?
That I'll never understand?...

Thoughts?

ok I'll duck now rant over....

It depends on so many factors, but simply put, I may find a style that has the bass and drum rhythm I want, but has horn or whatever that I don't want ... in this case I might strip out the horns and add a guitar strum using a pad ...
Just one scenario ...

A song like Mack the Knife needs to build and change keys so I use more than 1 registration. Bobby Darin starts laid back --- by the end he is really pushing.

One registration is enough for most songs.
John C.

why not just go up
thru the variations & use the transpose button for that song?

Why not just learn all the chords?

I usually just go through the variations as the song progresses, often returning the more subtle variation A toward the end. I sometimes play my own intros and endings as well, it all depends on the song.

Using 8 registrations per song (one bank) allows the player to quickly scroll through all the songs, title by title in Alphabetical order. I song per registration, saved in a bank of 8 songs, and using a particular genre per bank allows the player to select from the genre, however the disadvantage is that the player must remember which song is located in each bank, which can be somewhat confusing. Lets say you were looking for a country song, and you had 8 Country banks, each containing 8 songs. Where would you look for Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, which bank would hold it? Gotta have a great memory for that method.

As for the right hand instrument, well that's an individual preference. Some songs sound better with a piano, some demand a soft sax, while another would require a growl sax or maybe a trombone. Most of the time, the OTS settings provide me with the best instrument for a particular song, but not always. That's when I go to my custom voices which are saved in the User Voice section. One push of a button and I have 10 new, custom voices at my fingertips.

It all depends upon what you want to achieve with each song, and what your audiences respond best to,

Gary

Is that the same with memorizing the music & lyrics?

It depends.... If you want a more realistic live sound, that fulfills the realistic expectation of a full band, trio etc.

Weeded out the parts of a canned style, and maintain the same instruments within the band...
As an example using your 95% piano.....the piano plays 95% of the time...So does the bass player and drummer...(and keep the same bass and drumkit.... no one changes off in a single song if ever..

Nothing screams fake more than a busy style and bunch of instruments..

Like I said .. it depends ....on the player.

BTW: listen to any quality commercial CD...count the instruments you hear.... no way near what we get with overdone styles..

If and when I use a style it will maintain the same band members , not just for the song , but the entire gig.

Bass , drums, piano (EP), guitar, maybe a color sound like a sax..

And none of my guys are going to overplay... They each have a job to do.... just do it..

No ... There are far more lyrics and melodies ...

Fran’s analysis is right on the money. Often, less is more. At present, I’m playing a Yamaha. I’d love to use some of the big band styles. However, they just don’t fit a quiet dinner party. The brass riffs, intros and endings will blow people away, in a negative way. So, paring down the style parts is necessary, at least for me. That’s why on guitar gigs, I use Band In A Box, for its small combo simplicity.