Are you addicted to style playing?

Are you addicted to style playing? only?...or do you delve into the features of the arranger and play SMf songs,
or use the sequencer to create songs in your own way. Or just use the sounds and play along with a band or backing tracks?

It would be nice if styles could play different time signatures in different variations.

I used to do that on Yamaha arrangers using
"multiple registrations setup buttons"
..Eg:Louie Primas "Buona Sera"
which goes from Tango to Swing....etc..

I do Styles and SMF's. I am leaning towards Styles more as I feel more invloved and sound more like me than an SMF. All my Styles and SMF's are very edited and simplified.

Love Louie, no one could do d Shufle like him. Must of been fun to see him in a Vegas Club back then. From what I hear on other forums its all acoustic guitarists with backing tracks now. Live bands have taken a back seat.

ok Let's get back to OP addicted to style play......
all good points Bill for sure....
but to me flexibility playing in many ways is always a plus.
But some players totally block out all else that is available to them within an arranger kb for whatever reason that may be.

Forgot to mention one important feature on my BK9. When you hit the track mute button ( which is programmable ) you get just the bass/drums of a Style. That way you can do a piano trio setup without reprogramming Styles. As you said much more flexible and another reason for 76 keys.

Sorry I got off topic and rambled before. Bored here waiting for Hurricane news. Damn ! they even closed the Bowling Alley so the PD could use it.

I am so far from being addicted to arranger style play..

Maybe 10 percent of the time.. Even then I filter out all the un-necessary parts.. I want bass, drums, guitar and maybe a sax( if not over played) .. I play piano and EP, in piano mode.(like I said .. 76 keys are a must)

Usually the only time I use a style on stage is to handle a quick request.. very generic.

I try to use it all - styles -factory or self modified (song specific or not), SMFs, mp3, dedicated button to kill all acc tracks but bass and drums, etc. ...
I've modified styles to switch from Latin to Swing or whatever, but changing meter - 4/4 to 3/4 takes more than that ... for those situations I will line up the two styles one after the other either in the User Style section or in the Songbook or a Playlist and switch the meter as I want ...

This was all SO simple years ago with my technics Kn6000 and its Panel Memory (registrations) ... gave me 8 different setups per style ...

Of course each of us should use what we are comfortable and happy with ...

Styles are all I use for a number of reasons.

1. I cannot play a piano.
2. I have arthritic hands.
3. The arranger allows me to get the "gist" of the song
across to my listeners... other publishers, producers and
artists looking for new material.

Multi-Pads are great for improving certain songs. Naturally, I would love to see more intros, fills and outro variations. Then there is always the need for better instrument emulation in country, bluegrass and similar genres in the form of dobros or flat-top resonators, etc.

I consider myself very lucky to have arranger technology available to me for improving the sound of my catalog of songs.

I use my Pa4X for style playing, singing and playing over SMF, CDG Karaoke, and playing in my band without accompaniment.

Close to one hundred percent style playing.
I use a couple of midi files, and a couple of CDG files, a total of maybe once a week.

https://app.box.com/s/wx9s9rzgifqi9ro4qiclnea0ol47mvks

One of the features of the E80 which I like to use is the

Minus one function that lets you mute the melody line of a SMF

and play it yourself,great for learning a new song.Here Ive used

it with a SMF of The Lost Chord using the church organ.

I'm like DonM. Almost 100% styles. I consider bass drums and one voice from a style still a style.

Hi Korg
Korg can. Found a way of doing it back on my pa800 a few years back. Was experimenting on how to do medleys within a single style. Different time signatures, different tempos.

What about addicted to style collecting ?

Guilty, styles which I will never have any use for, but, just in case. Haha

I use mostly styles, a couple of midi's and MP3 too. My wife absolutely hates midi files and karaoke tracks. She likes to be able to stretch sections, or sometimes just have the drums play as she loves to dance and get people up and dancing or even vamp as we figure out what we're going to do next ... . We are always playing with different combinations of musicians, some of them can really stretch a solo very nicely. I'd hate to cut them off, just because the track is about to end! I know there's ways of manipulating midi files and audio tracks, but I haven't gotten around to learning that yet, as styles work for most of the stuff we do anyways.

In the last ~10-12 years, I have primarily used styles. Years ago, I played keys in a 6 pc band so the "styles" were played the rhythm section of the band! :-) But these days, it's mostly with styles (often modified in various ways).

When I play my organ (Hauptwerk 'virtual organ'), I play just organ, manuals and pedals. I miss having pedals for certain kinds of non-style-oriented music on keyboards, but I kind of grew tired of carrying pedals and setting them up with everything else. So ~90% of my keyboard playing is with Styles, and ~10% is with no style (just playing piano, or strings, or orchestral, etc.). I have tried "for fun" playing along to MP3s and MIDI files, but generally it's not for me I find ...

Jim

My last set of organ pedals and bench weighed more than my keyboard, stand, stool AND PA system I use now! And that doesn't include the massive organ and Leslie and heavy PA I used back then.
I remember making a road trip to south Louisiana and barely having room for a suitcase after loading all my gear into my full-size 76 Chevy van.
As I recall, that $20,000 organ had maybe a dozen styles.

Not just keyboards but also organs have come a long way since then
Just look at the Wersi OAX1, almost as portable as a keyboard these days

Actually this might be the time for many to move back to dual manuall organs..
Wersi or Bohm?
Or a Crumar, viscount, Nord with a Ketron SD series arranger module..


The organs are getting better and better general
Purpose styles.

I use styles 80% of the time. There are many types of songs that do not require a set beat. Classical, semiclassical, show songs, and songs that allow you to express yourself without follow a beat.

No SMF, unless there is a reason.

Tony, one more time, I read the post and decided what I was going to write, and found you already posted most of what I was thinking. (nice)

The dedicated button that leave bass and drums and the pads can change a file dramatically.

John C.

Hi John,
You play show songs? Did you ever use the Broadway Ballad on the Psr?

West End Ballad is wonderfully on Prs units etc..

Hi Donny,, it is, I use it for so many slow standards. Reason I was asking was I converted it to my PA4X, and wondered if it might be of use to anyone else.

It could be of use to me if it would work on my Pa900 ...
Just sayin' ...

Yes I would like it for sure. Might work nice on the EK50 Thanks

Hi Donny , just noticed you said West End, mines the Broadway Ballad, similar, different piano tracks,might give that one a go too, found it in my psr user collection.

Either way I’ll upload my current one, and do the west end.

Hi Tony, this particular version will only work on PA4X, I totally re-recorded it.

I did do it for the PA3X, a few years back, some of it will need a bit of a tweak, I’m not great, with effects, don’t necessarily pick the best version of a particular instrument, and my volumes aren’t always right in a mix, leave that to the experts, but the notes and style settings should be ok, that’s something I don’t need to do by ear. Haha

I have a few I did over the years, theres a great little piano rhumba from one of the early psrs, I’ll send you the lot just case any of it may be of use to you, just noticed I did West end for PA3x.

Just grab what maybe of use, dump the rest.

Is it ok to send to your listed email?

rikki ... Yes, thank you very much...

Thanx Rikki.... I love playing The Wind Beneath My Wings using the West End Ballad..

Yes, I would like it!

Playing styles is not necessarily about an addiction. Although it’s can be different now, but it used to be that a lot of arranger keyboards didn’t have sophisticated enough piano and electric piano voices, which would sound persuasive without backing. As for other voices, like saxophones, flutes, or even electric guitars, they are usually monophonic, and require backing as well. And if your are a singer, either all your backing is (e)piano based, or you use styles, pre-recorded tracks or a real band.

I guess, just in scenarios like when you have to make a soundtrack for a movie or video, which usually isn’t based on rhythm, or your are a band-type person or a member of a orchestra; or you work in a classical genre —in these cases you won’t find much room for an arranger keyboard.



Wow, that’s impressive! I’d better not be complaining in your presence about lugging my “overpriced” and “overweight” PSR-S950 into my Hyundai Getz, which is the largest car I’ve owned (well, it’s larger than my friend’s Kia Picanto).

I've been meaning to say something like that. Addiction is the wrong word. Preference is better!
And, I'm so glad that great gear has gotten not only better but lighter, more reliable and relatively less expensive.

Now that you have a Korg again... use the "wind bt" from the PA1x

I am now searching thru all my Roland styles, etc, to find a suitable version just like Yamaha's "West End Ballad"...
it's in there "Somewhere" so I'll keep auditioning until
I find what I am looking for.....

Bill, the Sx900 can mute easily.

What about addicted to style collecting ? Wow, let’s not go there.

This was all SO simple years ago with my technics Kn6000 and its Panel Memory (registrations)
Tony, now you are talking about the Sx900, and ie dows it better.
Hi John,

You play show songs? Did you ever use the Broadway Ballad on the Psr
Rikki, yes, I lve it.

Playing styles is not necessarily about an addiction.
How true, how true.
Don, you are 100% on the ball, nice.

Not for everyone, just my thought:
1-Everytime I play with a Midi file it plays the same song the same way, no room for me.

2-No back tracks, but I like the Chord Looper, I am still in control, ready to express me.

3-I use original recordings for song that my keyboard and I can not do well. Cotton-eyed Joe, Trouble, Hot Hot Hot ---------

I want as much freedom as I can get without losing the overall thought.

John C.

1-Everytime I play with a Midi file it plays the same song the same way, no room for me.

why not mute some smf parts and play on top

2-No back tracks, create your own backing tracks leave out your part to play on top..
but I like the Chord Looper, I am still in control,ready to express me.
only to a point as you a slave to the looper just like a smf..


3-I use original recordings for song that my keyboard and I can not do well. Cotton-eyed Joe, Trouble, Hot Hot Hot ---------
Playing at home now you probably wont need those songs.....
but on a gig as a DJ you would.

I want as much freedom as I can get without losing the overall thought.
John anytime YOU produce music in ANY WAY you are in control of it...

John C.

Hi Donny,
does one exist , if not , maybe someone could convert it for you.

Such a wonderful type of style. Broadway Ballad I use for numerous tunes.

Even though it isn't always successful,I have converted quite a few MIDI's to styles on my Pa4X for specific songs to get more control.

I am still searching my Roland style banks and others....
I will also try a conversion if needed or create my own....

100% style play - I don't know how to spell middi

95% style play full fingering mode, the other 5% when try act like a pianist .....
Not much success so far, but if progression keep up at usual tempo, I'll probably manage play left hand piano and bass when I'm at my 250th birthday. 😁🎹

Hmmmmmmmmm so the style addiction lives on....lol

96.57% styles. Not an addiction. It's why I use arrangers.

Well they are there in arrangers so I use them basically as a OMB act necessity....
but I have no regrets of NOT using them because they weren't invented years ago
and playing keyboard back then was a different animal then today with a band
or creating multitrack smf songs backing tracks to play on top of..

another think that irks me is why do people always put their playing talents down when they talk about it here or wherever instead of being confident and proud of it?...really weird ..without confidence, you can never be a great player or sing imo.

99.9% styles. I consider singing my key to success, I DO NOT use SMF for anything other than learning a song that I really didn't know, but had lots of requests for from my audiences. I look at singing to an SMF file as nothing more Karaoke, but that's just my opinion.

As far as playing talents/skills, well, mine were mediocre at best, but over the past 30 years, I managed to make a damned good living with what I had. I made enough to support my family of 4, set up a couple retirement accounts, keep up with the latest equipment (as needed), buy a sailing yacht and sail it to the lower Florida Keys, and spend the winter of 2012 living aboard the boat in the land of sunshine and warmer temperatures. If my health had not gone to Hell, I would be in the Keys, sipping on a glass of Jim Bean Honey and playing music to scantily clad spring breakers.

Gettin' old ain't fer wimps and sissies,

Gary