|
|
|
|
|
|
#450328 - 04/13/18 02:29 AM
SPOILED FOR CHOICE............. REFLECTIONS.......
|
Senior Member
Registered: 05/05/00
Posts: 1384
Loc: koudekerke, Holland.
|
We certainly have come a long way as regards arranger keyboards but also as regards the way things are being discussed here on the SZ forum. I vividly recall the days, fortunately in another decade when there were acid exchanges of views as to which brand was the better one or as to whether Tom's keybaord was better than Dick's keyboard so to speak. As I said we have come a long way and seem to be rather spoiled for choice , even if that choice is basically limited to less than 10 keyboards. All three topkeyboards Genos,Korg PA4X and Ketron SD9 offer tremendous quality be it at a price and in fact the same can be said for their middle-of-the-range counterparts, the PSR975, the Korg PA1000 and the Ketron SD7. Odd man out would be the (extremely cheap) Roland EA-7. And of course there is the gamut of cheaper boards such as the lower range PSRs and PA 300/600/700......
Having to make a choice among these the operative words are : Money, Taste, Gigging and Vocalist.
If money is no issue whatsoever I guess anyone would simply buy all three topmodels or at least two of those. Depending on taste solely one may opt for any of those three or combine a toprange arranger from one brand with a motr arranger from another make.
As it seems to me that most musicians will have to make choices or sacrifices the factors Gigging and Vocalist kick in.
If you are a gigging artist your needs will/might slightly differ from folks like me who only play at home. PA's are to be considered ( another hefty investment) and built in speakers and amplifications become less relevant. Also regards software there are options to be observed. It has been countlessly mentioned how Yamaha players can fall back on an almost unlimited source of thousands of styles, most of them song related. to the gigging artis this may turn out to be a deciding factor. After all the audiences expect to be entertained and often want to recognise the song being performed, being close to the original.
The fact whether you are a singer or not contributes significantly to the choice or arranger keybaord imho. As someone pointed out very recently , being a singer you do not need a lot of fancy sound stuff but excellent basics, that is : drums and bass ,guitars, piano and for your right hand sounds: piano,guitars, brass, sax, and a few more. And it should sound as close to a real band as possible, hence one's predilection ( until recently) for either Korg or Ketron. Of course the introcution of the Genos has widened the playing field.... For those who do not sing or prefer instrumentals a wider gamut of (fantasy) sounds is often desirable hence no doubt that many (home) players, at least here in Holland, would go for the Tyros series, rather than Korg or Ketron.
But in a nutshell, I think we are spoiled for choice and that basically all that is currently on offer is absolutely stunning each in his or her own way.
Happy playing,
regards, John
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#450331 - 04/13/18 04:19 AM
Re: SPOILED FOR CHOICE............. REFLECTIONS.......
[Re: john smies]
|
Senior Member
Registered: 09/21/02
Posts: 5508
Loc: Port Charlotte,FL,USA
|
John, One could say spoiled in one sense, but confusion in another. You are right that it is nice to have choices, but to weed out the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, entails a whole lot of investigating and decision making. However, when all is said and done, the old days may have been simpler, but not near as much fun.
_________________________
pa4X 76 ,SX900, Audya 76,Yamaha S970 , vArranger, Hammond SK1, Ketron SD40, Centerpoint Space Station, Bose compact
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#450372 - 04/13/18 12:11 PM
Re: SPOILED FOR CHOICE............. REFLECTIONS.......
[Re: john smies]
|
Member
Registered: 11/11/04
Posts: 698
Loc: Russia
|
As my resources are quite limited, I’m rather dissatisfied with the choice I have. I just see that Yamaha has such a keyboard as PSR-EW410, with 76 keys, quite lightweight and affordable, and it takes only giving it a decent polyphony and few more decent piano and epiano voices (which Yamaha has) to make it suitable for professional usage, but Yamaha protects their sales of more (much more) expensive equipment.
You can say that it’s not a perfect world, but in areas where competition is much harder, the world seems more perfect – computers, phones, cameras – you can buy them on your pocket money now, but keyboards, even used ones, seem to be as expensive as they’ve always been.
I'd say, when it comes to keyboards, we have Apple, but we still don't have Android.
Edited by Kabinopus (04/13/18 12:13 PM)
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#450439 - 04/15/18 04:59 AM
Re: SPOILED FOR CHOICE............. REFLECTIONS.......
[Re: john smies]
|
Senior Member
Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
|
Just my opinion but, as long as we look to technology to fulfill our musical dreams and ambitions, they will continue to go unfulfilled. For me, a beautiful chord or chord progression is far more inspiring than any sound (or style) an instrument can produce. Seems to me that the things we seem to value most in these new technology-laden instruments are the features that most relieve us of the chore of actually creating and playing music. We've allowed ourselves to believe that choosing a 'style' that 'almost' fits a song is better than developing the playing skills to play it 'any damn way we choose'. No matter how much you tell yourself otherwise, you're looking for an easy way to accomplish things you are unwilling to put the time and effort into to accomplish otherwise. It is the ROOT reason why arranger keyboards are either unknown to or held in low esteem by some of the very professional musicians we admire the most.
Think how often the term 'bored' comes up when contemplating buying a new arranger keyboard. A lot of us buy cars and other gadgets for the same 'new car smell' reason. But music is different; it is an art form, something that is spiritual, emotional, that touches the soul. IMO, it's unlikely that TECHNOLOGY (alone) will ever satisfy that emotional need. JMO though, only valid for me.
chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|