Now that the KN7000 is finally close to becoming a reality (premiering at Frankfurt Musik Messe March 13 - 17), I thought it might be fun to predict what new features & enhancements it will include as well as a chance to share our wishlist of what we’d like to see implemented.

1) Improved chord recognition in split keyboard mode
The KN6500 recognizes jazz style (Bill Evans type) rootless voicings in ‘full keyboard’ mode, but unfortunately does not recognize these same chord voicings in ‘split keyboard’ mode. The Yamaha PSR9000/9000pro & Ketron-Solton SD1 (on the other hand) recognizes these chord voicings in ‘split mode’ but not in ‘full keyboard’ mode. Interestingly enough, implementing chord voicing recognition in full keyboard mode is usually far more challenging. I would really like to see Bill Evans type jazz chords supported in BOTH split & full keyboard modes.

My prediction: I can’t wager a bet on this one, but I only hope Technics will follow Yamaha & Ketron-Solton’s lead (in split mode) on this because adding jazz chord recogniation in ‘split keyboard’ mode would be real easy to do, especially since they’ve already successfully implemented it in ‘full keyboard’ mode.

2) Mass Media Storage
My chief complaint with KN keyboards is the outrageous expense it costs just for a hard drive and then having to shell out additional cash for the hard drive backup software too. Other manufacters (Yamaha, Ketron-Solton, etc allow you to install a generic ‘off the shelf’ hard drive and even include (at no cost) the hard drive backup software. Mass storage devices (hard drives, flash media cards, cdrom burners) are relatively cheap now and certainly a lot cheaper than the proprietory 3rd party Keysoft Service hard drive that’s required to be used in the KN6500. Bob Hendershot’s excellent suggestion of a removeable compact flash memory card (128 mg) sounds even better than a hard drive because it’s fast, has no moving parts to breakdown, is removable, and you can get quite a few songs and styles (midi/Technics format) into a 128 mg card. My primary concern with using a CDR-W for storage of styles/songs is the slow access time.

My prediction: Even though I think the compact flash card storage system may be the best approach, I think that, if Technics decides to eliminate the floppy (and I really hope they do) that they will replace it with a CD-RW, because this would provide not only file storage & backup, but could support direct to CD burning of digital audio tracks (vocals) as well (like the upcoming new GEM Genesis will have).

3) 76 vs 61 keys
As a gigging musician who needs the lightest weight compact keyboard possible, I would forego the extra keys. It’s important to note, that in arranger style keyboard playing, you really only need about an octave to an octave and a half max in your left hand (left of split mode) to trigger the auto accomp harmony. Btw, I set the split point at F#2. This leaves nearly 3-1/2 octaves for your right hand to play melody, fills, & solos, more than sufficient I'd say, the same same amount of notes as between G (above middle C) and the top note (C) of an 88 note acoustic piano. For arranger keyboard mode playing, I see no advantage of having 76 keys. On the other hand, if you want to play solo piano . . . that’s ANOTHER instrument!

My prediction: this is a hard one for sure. Yamaha & Ketron went with the 76 note 9000pro & SD1, but they don’t include internal speakers. GEM (Genisis) & Korg (PA80) have stayed with internal speakers and 61 notes. I can only hope that Technics will stay with the 61 note & internal speakers approach on the KN7000. I typically take separate self powered PA speakers (EV SxA100’s) for medium to large gigs, but find that the internal speakers serve as excellent monitors and sound great by themselves for those smaller gig venues & at home personal playing enjoyment.

4) Support of standard midi file format

I really think this is where Technics has a lot of catching up to do. From my experience, at least on my KN5000, it is not easy to convert the auto accomp parts for standard midi file playback compatibility. On my Yamaha PSR2000 keyboard, your arranger created song is automatically converted to standard midi file format to make it easy for anyone with a standard midi file player and/or over the internet (gm midi) to enjoy.

My Prediction: I think Technics will include this on the KN7000. It is LONG overdue.


5) Better use of fills & integrated with variation buttons

The KN keyboards will allow you to use one of two fills available to trigger a variation change (incrementally/decrementally) but only with the internal styles. This is very limiting, especially if you use a lot of custom composer styles like I do. Also, this limits you to just 2 fills, not 4, as my Yamaha PSR2000 has. More importantly, Yamaha’s method of having a separate fill tied to each of the 4 different main variation buttons is far superior and something I really miss with the KN5000. Basically, Yamaha’s system works like this: There is a button setting which turns on/off the ‘fill to’ function. When this button is set to off and you press any of the 4 variations, only the variation will play. When the ‘fill to: variation feature’ is set to on and you hit any of the 4 variation buttons, the associated fills to that specific variation will precede the change to the new variation. A very slick approach imho because this auto fill works when you switch between panel memories as well, even with user custom styles. If I want a fill to occur when using a composer (custom) style on the KN5000, I must remember to press the fill in button (at just the right moment) and then the new variation button too. Can be tricky to ensure a smooth transition. I think Technics needs to follow Yamaha’s lead in this dept too.

Prediction: If Technics did its homework and studied the competition, then they should realize that Yamaha’s method is much better and will implement this on the KN7000 too.


OK, I guess I’ve said enough here. Time to hear from the rest of you now.

- Scott
http://scottyee.com

Oops, almost forgot, Here are two more IMPORTANT things that NEED to be added to my KN7000 feature wishlist:

1) Improve the style & song sequencer 'timing resolution' big time

I don't know about the KN6500, but the KN5000 only supports 96ppq (parts/quarter note). . . Pitiful at BEST ! Minimum acceptable is 480ppq. The Yamaha PSR2000 supports 1920 ppq. AMAZING!

Some people may think that 96ppq is sufficient but this is simply NOT TRUE, unless you're only into Techno, which thrives on robotic sounding rhtyms.

Timing resolution, second only to the quality of the sound sample itself is the single biggest factor in how realistic a style pattern or song performance will sound. The higher the resolution, the more accurately it will capture the live performance.


2) Improved Vocal Harmonizer

We all know about thi one , so I won't go into detail.

I've never guessed right before so I guess whatever I say means just the opposite of what they'll do. . . I don't think we will see a CDRW or a hard drive either. I think we will see much more flash ram possibly even giving us options to replace the factory internal styles with our own preferences from disk. Although I hope for removable standard flash memory like compact flash I don't think Technics has sense enough to use standard OEM stuff and will use something that is unique to Technics. They will keep their unique floppy drive. I do think they will improve the voice processor. They will keep 61 keys and built in speakers. They will support direct midi recording similar to Yamaha. I doubt if they will change resolution in sequencing and they will keep the 96 ppq.

Hope I'm wrong on most of this stuff. . .

Hi Scott,
I hope they sort out the vocaliser because in it's present form it is really not worth having. If they don't or can't then I hope they leave it off altogether.
I also hope that they include a hard drive as standard OR failing that make the keyboard able to accept ordinary hard drives like other manufacturers do already. HOWEVER I predict that they will only include hard drive as an option AND that it will still be a specialised unit at an inflated price.
I do think they will include as standard a cd rewriter as I believe that one of the cheaper panasonic models had one included not long ago?
As for the look....I know this is secondary but superficial as I am I can't wait to see what they come up with this time! When The 6000 came out I thought it was the best looking Keyboard on the market. Since then everyone else seems to have gone the sleek silver route so I wonder what they will come up with???
Whatever happens all this is rather exciting
Tony W

Hi Again,
My mistake It was not a cd rewriter as I had assumed it was some thing they call CD remix play. It was on the SX-MB100 and rather than me explain it (and get it wrong again!!) this is what Technics say it does..

Unleash your creativity with CD Remix Play!
Have you ever imagined that you're part of the band playing the music on your favorite CD's? Dream no more. The MB100 automatically detects* the tempo of a song while a CD is playing and lets you use the four central performance pads to remix phrases. You can add Voice, Scratch and other sounds in time with the beat by pressing the pads or keys, and mix sounds into the rhythm section. You can remix the rhythm too, with the help of the Fill-In button. You can also play along in unison, adding different sounds and mixing musical phrases.


Don't think I would ever use a feature like this but others may find it useful. I had the Roland EM2000 once over and some people raved over the 'D-beam' controller. I never did find a practical use for it. For me the above would be just the same I suspect. Apologies if I had anyone rushing to buy a Panasonic k/b for the cd rewriter !!!
ttfn
Tony

Interesting post, Scott. I heard a rumour some time ago from my dealer that a CD-RW would be included, but I agree with you that Bob Hendershot's suggestion of 128Mb removable flash memory is much better.

One point where I differ with you is where you say that you hope Technics eliminate the floppy. I use that as an easy medium for transferring styles I get from the internet into my KN6000. Since my PC is in a different room to my KN6000 this is really the only option. I certainly don't want to burn a CD each time!

Good to see you're still around, Scott. When you mentioned on the Arranger forum about getting the PSR2000 I wondered if you might be changing your allegiance. Talking of the PSR2000, another wish list item for the KN7000 is a much cheaper price.

Mike

Hi Scott, interesting points, see also my earlier post at
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/002857.html

which is relevant here.
We'll still need the floppy for loading commercial material meanwhile, as long as there are parts of the world not on the net.

The MB100 is just a teenager toy, in response to the Yamaha DJX (flop!) so is not really in the same quality league as the next arranger.

I'm sure I mailed you before about the 6000 having the same drum and voice maps maps as gm, and the apc to smf now allows much easier gm creation. Maybe not as easy as Yamaha, because their stylefile format starts off as midi anyway, but they have only recently put their sequences in ram rather than direct to disk, which was a nightmare for editing. There are pros and cons with each route.

I can't remember the chords on the 5000 now, the 6/65 goes up to added 9ths in fingered mode, and on to 6/9, 7/9, 7/11 and 13ths in full keyboard mode, is that the same as the 5000?

Also you have confused me about fills. The KN5000 has 8 fills per style, 2 fills per variation. Only 2 fills can be copied to the composer.
The 6500 has 8 fills per style, with 8 fills available in the composer and 8 fills in the custom.

The 'fill to' function is the same as Musical Style Arranger On/Off where you can choose to use a fill to change variation or not. You can either use panel memories for your registrations in these circumstances or even better put the registrations in the custom and use the MSA fill. Because you have 8 fills, you have 4 independant programmable fills to go up each variation, and 4 different independant programmable fills to go down the variations. So this is certainly going to be found on the next keyboard.

BRING BACK DYNAMIC ACCOMPANIMENT .... and PUT IT IN THE COMPOSER TOO... that would be worth having with programmable velocity/right hand note timing switching.

76... I agree with you 100%, but then I'm not a piano player...

the rest will be interesting to see...
Alec


[This message has been edited by technicsplayer (edited 02-06-2002).]

I hope that everything you desire for KN7 will be a reality in future.
And here his my wish... that the same edit possibilities existing in the sequencer will be extended to the composer. Or a interaction
between them. (sequencer-composer or composer-sequencer) so we can use the note edit function
And I would prefer a mormal HD disk more simple and easy to use with computers.
And an extension for a CD-RW.
And of course all your other wishes.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by technicsplayer:
We'll still need the floppy for loading commercial material meanwhile, as long as there are parts of the world not on the net.


Alec, you make a good point, but it would still make sense for the manufacters to start releasing their styles in CD format now. I believe most Windows & Mac application programs are only available in CD format now because it can hold so much more data, and also, CD production costs are so much cheaper. Because of this, the CDRw format has quickly become the defacto standard.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by technicsplayer:
I can't remember the chords on the 5000 now, the 6/65 goes up to added 9ths in fingered mode, and on to 6/9, 7/9, 7/11 and 13ths in full keyboard mode, is that the same as the 5000?


Yes, the chord recognition on the 5000 is identical to the 6000/6500. My issue is about ‘chord voicing’ recognition. The KN6500/6000/5000 in ‘full keyboard mode’ recognizes chord voicings made famous by legendary jazz pianist, Bill Evans. These consist of chords, which omit the root note.. This allows the piano player to (instead) play chord extensions/alterations giving the chord a more complex flavor. The chord’s bass note (in classic) jazz is left to the bass player (acoustic) to play. The beauty of rootless chord recognition in arranger keyboard playing is it allows you to play & sound as you would if you were playing as the keyboard player in a live jazz combo situation:

Here is an example (in the key of C) of a II-V7 – I chord progression which the Technics arranger keyboard recognize in ‘full keyboard mode’:

Chord: Notes played (left to right) as a chord:
Dm9: (F-C-E)
G13: (F-B-E)
C69: (E-A-D)

Here is an example of a two hand voicing popular voicing used by pro keyboard players when playing (comping) jazz blues changes:
Chord: Two hand voicing
F13: (Eb-A-D) (G-C-F)

My wish is that the above type chord voicings could be recognized (by the KN7000) in split mode as well. In the case of the two handed F13 chord, I would like the notes (Eb-A-D) played left of split point to be recognized as F13. My Yamaha PSR2000 recognizes these chord voicings only in split mode. The Technics KN6500/6000/5000,on the other hand, currently recognizes these in full keyboard mode only. My hope is that the new Technics 7000 will add rootless jazz chord recognition in split mode as well. These chord voicings are essential for the pro keyboard players with a background in jazz piano. I am particularly IMPRESSED that Technics was the FIRST arranger keyboard manufacterer to take the LEAD in implementing jazz chord voicing recognition as well as excellent chord recognition, especially in ‘full keyboard’ mode. It’s unfortunate that Korg, Roland, and GEM still do not support this advanced jazz chord recognition. I think this is one of reasons Technics arrangers seem to appeal to the jazz influenced keyboard player.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by technicsplayer:
Also you have confused me about fills. The KN5000 has 8 fills per style, 2 fills per variation. Only 2 fills can be copied to the composer. The 6500 has 8 fills per style, with 8 fills available in the composer and 8 fills in the custom.


Maybe I’m unclear about the way the fills can be utilized on the KN6500 keyboard. I thought the ‘fill to variation’ function only worked with the ‘internal styles’, not the custom composer styles. When I trigger a fill on the KN5000 (using a custom composer style), it only plays the fill itself and does not fill to another variation. I must manually select another variation button or panel memory button right after I hit the fill button. On my Yamaha PSR2000, even when playing a custom (composer type) style, I only need to press the variation button or panel button and the associated fill will automatically play preceding the variation. On the KN6500,. It’s great that you can have 8 fills and 4 independently programmable fills for each variation though. Please explain how the ‘fill to variation’ button works on the KN6500 when using custom ‘Composer Memory’ Styles.

- Scott

Hi, the 6/6500 custom works exactly as a preset would, with and without Musical Style Arranger functions, automatic fill up/down to variation, full music database programability with individual descriptions, music stylist scrolling etc.

The 6000 menus and functions are pretty advanced compared to the 5000, and there is a great deal in there you could not do before.

I see what you mean about the chord recognition.

I would still like a usb connection, with 44.1 kHz output like my Edirol UA gear. Perfect recordings with no analogue anywhere near the laptop. And it could double as a hard disk backup path.

But you would lose some of the (expensive) SX functions. The auto Alpha sort is indispensible with thousands of files...
Alec

[This message has been edited by technicsplayer (edited 02-06-2002).]