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#503648 - 08/29/21 06:44 AM
Re: New PSR-SX900 user and music writing wortkflow
[Re: Yul]
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Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
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Sorry, but if you want to create original music using an arranger, you will end up biting the bullet and combine the arranger with a DAW. Looks like you are already pretty familiar with a DAW and VSTi’s, so it’s not like you have to learn all that from scratch….
Bottom line, no, there isn’t a single sequencer in an arranger with a fraction of the power and ease of use of a DAW, and trying to do everything using a tiny low res touch screen will soon drive you mad even if the sequencer COULD do most of the even basic things we all take for granted on a DAW.
Arrangers make for very quick scratch pads for creating the initial song ideas, but fine tuning and replacement of less than stellar sounds with higher quality VSTi’s like piano libraries, drum libraries etc. is always needed if you wish to deliver top studio level production.
Plus, modern music (if you are thinking of composing contemporary music) isn’t really well suited to arranger chord recognition type production. It’s based around arpeggiators and clip/loop triggering, which gives a VERY different end result than arranger output, which is more intended to replicate older music.
But an arranger for its strengths combined with a DAW/VSTi for their strengths, that’s a powerful combo…
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!
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#503672 - 08/30/21 10:15 PM
Re: New PSR-SX900 user and music writing wortkflow
[Re: Yul]
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Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
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Well, yes, there's a difference between writing it and producing it.
If you're looking for a writing tool, arrangers are da bomb. As long as you don't want to do something they don't do well, like mix and match time signatures on the fly, or arpeggiate one part while you have normal chord recognition on another (arpeggiators don't care whet the chord IS, they just play the notes you play no matter what... this can lead to some interesting stuff an arranger can't do) you can do some pretty good final stuff.
But, at the end of the day, if you want to promote your writing at a pro level, they are going to want a pro level of polish and production. And that is VERY hard to achieve without a DAW to put the final polish on stuff. There's a reason you really never hear an arranger on a hit recording...
An arranger's job is to approximate a live band. But it's never going to fool anyone that it is one. Too much repetition. Take just the fills, for example. You'll never hear a real drummer repeat the same fill identically all the way through a song. You'll never hear a drummer play identically in the last verse than he did in the first. there's a build-up, a rise in intensity. Four Variations and four fills just don't cut it...
That's why, when you're done writing the song, it's time to take the MIDI data of the arranger's output to the DAW, and start editing some variation into things. Change each fill a little bit (or a lot!). Change the bassline a bit for the last chorus. Open the hihats a bit in the bridge, push the velocity harder on the acoustic guitars in the last solo... Add in some synced audio percussion to the drums (arranger tambourines are horrible!). Run the beat through a filter during the drop, sky's the limit.
Try doing all that with a hardware arranger sequencer and a tiny low res screen, pretty soon you are going to throw it out the window..! I've been a happy DAW user since the Atari days! I wouldn't use a built-in if you paid me!
Yes, I love my arranger, and am happy to use its built in sequencer to capture my initial pass. But the minute I'm done with the main take, it's off to the DAW for the grunt work..!
If your problem with using a DAW is distraction from the myriad options, try using a simpler DAW. Try the entry level versions of Cubase or Logic etc., fewer tracks, fewer editing options, fewer possibilities. You can always transfer the project to their big brothers for the final polish...
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!
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#503688 - 09/01/21 06:41 PM
Re: New PSR-SX900 user and music writing wortkflow
[Re: Yul]
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Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
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One thing the DAW gives you that the arranger really can’t is the ability to split the output up by each individual sound for higher quality EQ, compression and reverb, etc.. Make multiple passes of the sequence with everything but one part muted, soon you have a multitrack recording of the whole thing. You can even separate the drum track into each drum, or group of drums. You haven’t lived until you’ve run the output of an arranger’s drum parts through a convolution reverb with an impulse of a REALLY good studio drum room!
Likewise compression. Your average arranger’s built-in compressors are garbage compared to a decent LA2A or 1176 type compressor VSTi, or a nice Neve type bus compressor on the final mix. Not to mention Lexicon and higher quality reverbs…
And yes, you’ve found the arranger’s Achilles heel, they are primarily sample based, so synth sounds just don’t cut it compared to even a budget virtual analog synth. You can spend a fortune chasing great synth sounds with hardware, when a few well chosen VSTi’s can be had for next to nothing.
Truth is, you CAN create with almost anything… look at how basic the gear was on some of synthpop’s iconic early 80’s hits. But nowadays, it’s more about the workload. It took massive skill to coax hits out of that old hardware. And, to be honest, it hasn’t got THAT much easier if you stick entirely to hardware. But a DAW makes it all easy…
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!
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