Orchestra Swing1 style is perfect for these kinds of songs..

Wow, beautiful, I really enjoyed it.
I wonder how much I can get for my Sx900.
aaaaaaaaaaaaah, John C.

Thanks Donny, good pic.

One of my favorite styles for slow foxtrot songs...so versatile.

I also love Movie Swing2 also for many of my songs

using the articulation buttons can make
a big difference in the delivery of the sounds.

It's 100% Bert Kaempfert they mimic with this style.

My kind of arranger music....I hope the Trombone on the SX is pretty good as I really like them. If not maybe I can tweek it a little...

That's an awesome sounding trombone. Actually a great overall sound... period.

The Sa Trombone is amazing too...

I think that may be the area that Yamaha has nailed the best - the solo orchestral sounds.

Sounds like Yamaha has nailed it in EVERY category. I sincerely believe that if the Genos became available in a 61 key version with built in speakers, they would not be able to keep up with the demand. JMO!

Gary

You mean... like an SX900

Have to say the Genos sure has a wonderful set of voices and that T-bone sure exemplifies them! Lee, I took a stab at this tune using the same style on the SX900. Only a single voice (Sweet T-Bone) in the right hand. Perhaps if I added additional voices like Baritone horn I could coax a little more ambiance out of it, but the single sound seems to work well here. Hope you enjoy listening to the "Lil G" giving the same tune a whirl...

White Xmas - SX900 Demo

Believe what you may...But again, it's NOT a Baby Genos..
and if you can't hear the difference I don't know what to say.

Happy Holiday

Fran, the SX-900 comes very close, but no cigar. There are a few more features, styles and voices on the Genos, but for the first time in years, I do agree with you to some degree.

Randy, that was an outstanding rendition and I loved listening to every note. Bravo, old friend.

Gary

Here is an analogy.. IF I kept my son Darren for only 3 and 1/2 hours, and returned him (my wife would not have liked that concept}

We would never know if he was a chip off the old block.... or not!!

Thanks for the listen and the kind words Gary! On the cigar thing, I thought I heard that the Genos family was passing out cigars when the SX was launched.... Just sayin' TEE HEE HEE!

Donny, I think you're missing the points made when we reference the Baby G. (I'm saying all this with LOVE)
First:
No one disputes that Yamaha has saved some of their best stuff for the Big Daddy. That's the way it should be. Lincolns and Fords are not the same either, though they often share many of the same exact parts.
Second:
The choice of the term "Baby" is used with reverence to the genealogy of its derivation. It's a compliment, so no need to take offense every time we users reference the fact that Yamaha has given us a more economical solution to using the best technology they offer.
Third:
A Baby G is NOT the Big Daddy, but it IS a super close, more portable, more affordable option with a specific target audience. We call it the baby because it shares lots of the goodness that the Papa has. No one EVER said they were the same .... but it IS certainly a fantastic representation of some of the best parts that the Big G has to offer. It's brilliant that Yamaha recognizes the different demographics in the market, and makes a suitable offering for each.

We get it. You LOVE your Big Daddy, but as many of us have said before - it's not the answer to everyone's needs. Certainly not mine. Don't let the success of the Baby G diminish your enjoyment of the choice you finally settled on. Use your Genos. Love your Genos ... and if it ever stops bringing you the joy you clearly feel right now, then dump your Genos. You'll have no trouble selling such a wonderful instrument.
Don't be upset every time someone sings the praises of the SX. We're all here for the same reason - the love of music.
How, why, and how often we change up our gear is a distant secondary reason to why we are all brought together ... FOR THE MUSIC.
Enjoy this little ABBA tribute ...



(For tru ABBA fans, sorry I chose Amandas version. She has such pretty eyes.)

Genos samples are much richer then sx900...
as they should be for the price.
If you don't hear it I'm sorry.
I don't need an explanation...
My ears tell me every time.
If Genos sounded the same as the so called baby
I would have dumped it weeks ago..

Wow. Way to go Donny. Someone asks how the trombone sounds on the SX (it sounds wonderful) I make the effort to demo it, and your decisions to immediately go negative again, despite your continued ranting about "negativism". Funny I also recall several of your favorite quotes about "picking the board that fits your individual needs". I did that and am quite happy with my choice. No need for you to try to run my choice down. Wouldn't your time be more well spent if you just focused on enjoying your individual choice instead of running others' choices down? Happy Holidays DNJ.

Negative or truth?..
"Baby" and "Genos" should not be in the same sentence Imo. One is TOTL... One is Motl...
For many reasons as it should be for the price.

Once again...my choice, not yours to make for me. Thanks again Mr. Negative!

Randy,... We weren't talking to each other
let's keep it that way please.

We wouldn't be "talking" had you not decided to "go negative" in response to my SX900 demo. I'd venture a bet that your hatred of anything "non-Genos" will likely discourage others from posting any performance demo's (unless they have a Genos). Way to go! Just sayin'...

"No talk" works for me. No loss in this case as talking to you has always been and always will be a "one way street".

Hi Randy,
really enjoyed that. Brilliant bit of playing. Your saxophone playing skills , translate into your trombone keyboard playing skills, luv the piano.
Sounded fantastic.

Only one tiny thing, I found the bells a teeny weeny bit overpowering, maybe tiny bit softer?. Sorry,hope you don’t mind me mentioning that.

Rikki - thanks for the listen! Yep, the bells were "a ringing" - multipad a bit too loud. Probably ingrained in me from the days when I was 5 and my Dad played Xmas tunes on the piano. He always called me over to play the "bells" using two of the upper keys on the piano. I am sure I drowned him out too! HA HA.

Thanks for the kind words on the rendition. I guess I do tend to rely on the horn player in me when on the keys. Yammie put together a great style and it was a fun song to record. The "bone" on the SX900 is sweet sounding! Also, Love the German guy's website. Happy Holidays!

Hi Randy,
Rikki beat me to it. I plain loved it, not only for the trombove voice, but how you played it. Your years with the sax has,indeed, given you an edge, like Don does with the guitar. Those little embellishments make all the difference, and, supports the notion the it is the player, not the keyboard.

You guys can poo poo all you want, but Sweet Trombone on my lowly 970 is almost as good. If I knew how to lengthen the attack and make it a bit more legato, it would be even better.

Since i'm at it, one more observaion; How soon some people dismiss their prior keyboards as crap as soon as the new one arrives. I suppose it is protecting their decision to spend the big bucks. I say enjoy what you have, but don't naysay others, who, in your opinion, have a lesser instrument, when it could be just right for them.

Bernie - thanks so much! I do notice that when I play the horn sounds on the keyboard, I feel more like a horn player playing a horn than a horn player playing the keyboard. That is a testament to the quality of sounds that Yamaha (Korg, Roland, et al) have built into these instruments. So the instrument truly does inspire me to do my best to execute the music as it would be done by a trombone player in this case. So I am most grateful that you think I did it justice!

I also agree that the trombone sound is SWEET! Just a nice touch of vibrato in there and a nice mellow sound. The attack on the Genos has an edge for sure (as you'd expect). But as a guy who served 8 years in the Air Force band surrounded by trombone players, I am quite content with the quality of sounds I get from this keyboard. I salute and envy the Genos owners but am very happy with my keyboard!



Thanks for that too. Could not agree with you more! One thing I love about SZ is that we (hopefully) are all in here for the fun of just using arrangers and learning from others how to have even more fun with these wonderful inventions. Specifically, that is, arrangers of all types, sizes, manufacturers, and prices. Kinda like a car club where you have a guy who absolutely loves and would not give up his VW Beetle - yet he gets along great with the guy with the Jaguar. They are both happy for each other!

Thanks again for your kind words and for the listen! Happy Holidays Bernie!

PS - parting with my S970 was a very tough choice. Thank goodness Yamaha "Grandfathered" so many wonderful features and sounds from the S-line into the SX900. Combining the best of the S-line and adding many of the desirable features from the Genos was a wise move.

Hi Bernie,
Why don’t you ask, someone may be able to tell you how to do it.
Uncle Dave, altered a piano sound the other day to brighten it up a bit, so I asked him if there would be a way of softening up the sound of some really harsh string samples ( discovered one thing, don’t buy something that isn’t specifically for your model, it said psr’s, then In fine print, psr s970.)
On the sx they sounded really harsh, Dave pointed me in the right direction ie these are the 2 type of adjustments that will help , sure enough , played around with it, now they’re useable.
So maybe your trombone can be altered to suit.




Hi Bernie,
in some cases you’re probably right.
Some of us just wanted new toys. me, me, me. ( hasn’t made me a better musician, only I can do that thru practice) Haha
And that’s the main thing enjoy what you have.

Wow!!!! And I thought it was just me. Wait long enough and the truth WILL emerge.

ALSO, for those of you marveling at Randy's horn emulation skills, that's because he's a MUSICIAN, not a 'singer' using an arranger to disguise his lack of musical/playing skills. JMO, though. BTW Randy, wish I could find a Sax voice that sounded as authentic as your trombone voice. Sadly, that seems to be the hardest (at least for me) to emulate on a keyboard. I think it's because the instrument itself has so many nuances (of tone and expression) that it's near impossible to capture with the controls available on most synths (including arangers). Breath controllers help but they seem to have gone out of fashion, I don't know why? Anyhoo, congrats to all you guys and gals out there who are happy and satisfied with your BABY GENOS'(S ?). (Help me out Uncle Dave, what's the plural of GENOS?)

chas

Be nice to us old people, Chas. I, as I have stated many times in the past, am NOT a musician! I was an entertainer that used an arranger keyboard to enhance the songs and music I performed - sure wish I could still do it, but unfortunately, life is like a roll of toilet paper - the closer you get to the end of the roll, the faster it comes off.

All the best,

Gary

Hmmmmmm .... Geni? lol

I guess it's "Genoi". Greek nouns with -os have -oi as a plural. Like 1 Gyros, 2 Gyroi

Kinda like Moose, Dave. You have a single moose, or a herd of moose. Lots of things with no plural.

Gary

Yeah Gary, maybe that did sound harsh, but to be honest, it wasn't YOU I had in mind. Also, I was trying to make the point that a guy/gal that's highly proficient on an acoustic instrument (like Randy), is probably going to do a better job of emulating that or a similar instrument. A horn player is going to think like a horn player, sing like a horn player, whistle like a horn player, solo like a horn player when on keyboards. The downside is that because I like his Sax work so much, no matter what he does on arranger I'm still always going to think of him primarily as a Sax player. The upside is that BEING a horn player, he probably know a little better than the rest of us which accompaniment voices best compliment the solo horn voice. JMO.

chas

Can't argue with that, Chas - he is a great sax player and I am fortunate enough to have met with him in person and obtained one of his CDs, which I frequently listen to when I'm driving.

Gary

Thanks Chas for the ever-so-kind words on my musician side. As all of us, I am happy to be a "work in progress". And, thankfully, the arrangers offer a wonderful avenue for learning and enjoying the fun of generating music.

On the sax thing, I rarely use a sax voice on the arrangers because you are right - the sax sounds and expressive capabilities are so broad that they are extremely difficult to create - much less play with expression. I have a Yamaha WX5 wind controller in the closet and the companion Yamaha VL70 tone module - they do a reasonable job of imitating a variety of wind instruments, but even when I played the WX5 I usually stayed w/the flutes, trombone, muted trumpets and fluegel sounds which are so much more realistic. I have a friend in Nashville who plays the wind controller exclusively. He has done very well with it and has even sold music to Time-Life. He's a rare case though - as you say, the wind controllers are a great idea that never really caught on like they could have.

I do believe that playing other instruments help a lot when emulating those sounds and arrangements on an arranger keyboard.
I started out playing Trumpet, then in college played Bass Guitar, then lead Guitar, then drums. Then the band back home needed an organ player about the time I graduated so I bought one and learned to play on the bandstand mostly. We had always had a piano and/or organ at home because my mom played, but I really never played them except to fool around a little.
The day after arrangers were invented, I sold my last big old huge heavy ugly organ, leslie, bench, pedals, dollies, etc., and never looked back.
Wish I had learned Sax at some point! Love to hear 'em.

I think from the first AKB I had I said that the sax is the one instrument that sounds the least 'real' ... the closest I ever personally got was a 'Sweet' or 'Soft' Alto on my technics Kn6000 ... made me think of Paul Desmond ...

I prefer Ketron saxes over Yamaha, Korg, or Roland.

Ketron saxes ARE good. And there is a great Alto Sax on the EA7.
In fact, I think all the natural sounds on Ketron are really good.

Hi Donny, that's really beautiful, thanks for sharing. I really love the gentle/mellow/softness of how it sounds here.

Hi Randy, that's lovely/superb playing and really enjoyed it too, thanks for sharing also.

Yamaha's Breathy Tenor Sax is very usable.
lets face it we are playing automatic sampled instruments....they sound close enough for sure....it will NEVER be better then the real thing no way no how....but close enough for the player and audiences to enjoy what they hear and that's the bottom line. You can also tweak a bit and maybe throw in some articulation button fx into the playing too.....
so let's not get crazy over whats real it is what it is right?

Thanks Gary! Yep, that was a fun "meet up" and I think I even got a sip or two of your famous "Kickapoo Joy Juice". I think Diki was on hand for that one too. It was great meeting you and the Mrs and I am glad to hear you are still enjoying the CD!



Thanks Danny for the listen and the kind words! Still striving to "tame" the new Yamaha, but every ride is another learning experience and well worth the effort spent. Happy Holidays and thanks again for listening!

It certainly is! I was experimenting with song creation yesterday evening and I eventually got the hang of it! The interface for song creation seems quite different to the Tyros & previous PSR method, but I got there eventually with it.

On the other hand the style creator feels quite similar to as always so that was a little easier to figure out.

Gary, wasn't that Randy you brought to the Revere (Dave was playing), I was with my wife and we ran into you guys...had dinner.. And yes I have Randy's CD too.

No Fran that was Ray Bastianelli

and answer your phone once in a while..just sayin

Randy nice job emulating a trombone player.

I just listened to your demo and the video Donny posted.. and heard two distinct things..

Yes the Genos does "sound" better... and Randy plays horn sounds better than the video fellow. Always a big mistake when a keyboard player plays a horn patch... they never let the horn take a breath... it kills realism.

Thanks Fran! Definitely agree the Genos has some awesome voices that the SX lacks. Thankfully, the Yamaha S-line arsenal has always included many very fine and very usable instrument sounds.

Genos made me realize how many features
although very good I don't need or use.

True. Makers pack so much stuff into all these boards that never gets touched. Really, the gigging muso sticks to the bread and butter styles and sounds for the most part. Everything else is just icing on the cake, nice to dig into now and again.

Randy, sorry, but I just got the chance to listen to this (other than on my 'dumb' phone) ... REALLY nice job ...
thank you

Thanks T! Always fun to play the holiday tunes! Thanks for listening and your kindness! Happy Holidays!

124 Great post and very true to the point for sure...
sometimes Less is More

That's right

Plus one to Rikki and Bernie. Yes your years as a great sax player shine thru. Nice work November Four Sugar Alpha X-Ray from Wiskey One Delta Alpha Mike!

What happed to CB's?

A lot of people started using the Bose L1 after seeing mine at the Revere that year. I must've sold a dozen units to musicians and clubs all over. Now, I'm playing the Babies in all areas!
Baby G (SX), and baby Bs! (S1-pro)

I'm sure that new JBL sound very nice, but it's fun to watch how all the manufacturers seem to play "follow the leader" whenever someone (like Bose) has a truly original idea that WORKS. I can't imagine needing more bass response than the S1s put out. I've even had to cut the bass on many occasions. They are extremely well balances, and full.

They went the way of the 8 track player. I think truckers especially those doing the long hauls use them.

OK that's a big 10/4 Steve...
now I gotta go watch the movie Convoy again👍

Thanks Brother Steve! Definitely appreciate the listen and the kind words!