Who is your favorite arranger player?

I really enjoy Allois Muller..




His left hand play is amazing...

Ralf Schink without a doubt the best for me his
expressiveness showing off the instrument is super
a true master on the arranger kb....

No doubt about it - my friend Walter, who lives in Argentina. He is a world class player, and a creative genius when it comes to putting together any song. Click here to access Walter's music page

He is followed by some great, onstage, entertainers, Don Mason, Eddie Shoemaker, AJ, and many others on this wonderful forum.

Gary

My favorite is Don M. He knows his instrument, has a great voice, and never over plays. (smile)

John C.

+1 for sure

Denny

A lot of very good players/Demonstrators...For me it has a lot to do with the players attitude, as an example I have met & spoke with Ralf Schink many time and he is very nice to communicate with.

+1
would love to watch Ralf demonstrate an arranger KB live
hopefully in years to come something new will come to market.

Haven't given it much thought, but will go listen to the guys mentioned.
I'm honored to be mentioned in the same context, but there are far better players than me.
Thanks though!

I listened to Raf. He is a great piano player, great organ player. I didn't see him use any arranger functions, though I'm sure there are some videos of him doing so.
Walter multitracks everything, which is indeed a function of arrangers. He is great at that. Never heard him do anything live, just playing arranger.
There is a guy who used to, or maybe still does, demonstrate Korgs who is really good. Can't think of his name.
Barry, on the Keyboard Player group in England, is excellent, as are many more who post there regularly.
There are so many ways to use arrangers, the question can't really be answered, in my opinion.
My "niche" is playing live, emulating guitars and other instruments, and trying to satisfy listeners. That is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what can be done with arrangers.

here you go Don ....Dirk Lindemann

My first choice is Don M. He really touches my soul. None better at guitar emulation. Number two is Travel'in Easy. Again, it's the pure musical joy that comes out in their arrangements. The auto arranger is their number 1 tool in their Snap-On musical tool box. They both are experts at getting the most out of the technology that we all have at our disposal.

Dropping down to #3, I'm going to go with Martin Harris. I think he has almost single handedly shown off the power of the PSR - SX900-700 line. Genos too! He has managed to get me to invest in the Yamaha line of instruments many times.

Peter Baartmans is a wonderful demonstrator of auto arrangers but I sometimes get the feeling after listening to one of his demonstrations that I, a mere mortal, will never be able to achieve that level of musicianship. Still, I love hearing just what these amazing auto arrangers are capable of.

That being said, "May the fourth be with you".

Brilliant! What a beautiful arrangement.

SZ's very own Dan O'Neil was always a favorite of mine year ago also..

How has no one mentioned Marco Parisi ? ... until now ...

+1

Or Yamaha's team Martin Harris, Peter Barrtmans, Michele Voncken,
Bert Smorenburg..

Everyone mentioned is great, but I always enjoy Tony from Bonners UK. He plays tunes everyone knows, and his chops never get in the way of his demonstrations of what the keyboard can do.

My favorite demonstrator was Michele Voncken who was apparently let go by Yamaha. Also like Harris and Barrtmans. Favorite Synthzone player is Don Mason.

Why do so many people answer the question with an arranger demonstrator?

Without doubt myself. I am so very good and I love listening to my myself

No serious my favorite one is Allois Muller. I love what he do with his left hand and he gives a lot useful tips.

Because they "sell the sizzle, not the steak." To a degree it's about marketing the product. If they get us talking about who is your favorite they've done the job.

I'd say Peter Baartman's is my favorite and I'm sure some of that has to do with seeing him and talking with him in a group setting of 5 people 6 years ago.

Demonstrators are very visible so many are aware of them. They generally are very good if not brilliant players as well.

I really enjoy our Rico's playing. He exudes the joy of playing music.

Yes Spark he really shows what can be done mixing it up using SMF
backing files and playing on top sounds great too.
He has a great voice also.

That's the first time I heard Rico sing - great voice, excellent timing, and I am confident that he could to the same routing using his arranger keyboard and without a midi file.

Thanks for posting that video,

Gary

I never heard him sing either- wow. Great style and control just like his playing. I am reminded of his bossa rendition of Stranger in Paradise. He just has so much fun when he plays. Shows me how much we need to enjoy the pure satisfaction of playing music where we all started, not just for adulation, attention, or for an audience.

I really don't like comparisons like this, BUT going just on the players here, I have to say Don Mason for how he uses the arranger, and how when I listen to his work I really think I am listening to a country BAND ...
And of course I must add Kabinopus, who plays so well ...

There are just too many wonderful folks (here on SZ and throughout the internet world) who are great inspirations. Have to say thought, that Allois Muller gets my nod as he doesn't even speak English yet he makes a great effort to convey his knowledge to those who don't speak German. He's a great musician and he makes great educational videos. And to the SZ crowd....well, "You're ALL my favorites"!

Benn listening to and enjoying a lot of Jerry Caringi from Toronto on the Audya 5. He's another with an amazing left hand.
Ciao,
Jerry

I always enjoyed Craig Knudson, although he has been pretty low key lately.

These demo's were done 10 years ago.








Jerryghr

Heidrun Dolde....
Lee

This guy is a very good player but it seems to me he doesn't need much Arranger help. LH Bass and a variety of RH sounds and drums from the Arranger. I think you could do this on any number of regular keyboards with a drum machine. ??? Again very good player and I'm not knocking it at all but it shows what you can really get away with. Imagine all of that level of playing and a vocal too.

If you CAN - assign the chord recognition to the RH, play manual bass and turn OFF the acc bass. This way the RH has lots of layers happening underneath. I do this a lot. Having a dedicated bass that matches the song to a tee makes it so much more specific. You can play hits, and syncopations between hands when you play your own bass lines that no arranger can anticipate, unless you have a specific pattern programmed. On the fly accents can add so much to an arrangement.

You know Don, one time I was being compared to a piano player who in my mind I clearly took a back seat...The man knew knew theory, played better, but the man making the comparison was having none of it, & clearly favored me. I told him he was crazy... He looked at me & said "I look at the complete package"...

I believe the guys look at the complete package with you....Rock on Mason

Me, of course 70 original songs and counting

Agreed, great way to make it sound more live. I can play LH bass no problem but it never occured to me when I went to Arrangers. Before that I always played bass pedals , did rhythm chords with LH, RH accents and solos, and sang. Goes way back to my B3 days. Now I chord with LH so maybe I should try doing more LH bass
Arranger are amazing versitile instruments if you dig into the features.

Many times, all you need to "fill up" an arrangement, while playing manual bass and chords is a pad, or guitar strum following your chords. Think of the many trios we've heard over the years where piano, bass and drums were the ONLY instruments used. Add a little "fluff" to the background, and your piano hand can get more creative, and thin out a bit for solo passages.

Steve A ... precisely how it was with our band in NY ... with the exception of our sax player who was the most talented musician in our group, player for player there were far better individual players than us, but as a unit, we were along the best ... As you said, it's the "complete package" ...

I know I'm late to the discussion but my choice is DonM

This guy understands how to make the G70 sound real.

... What's a G-70?

The all time heavyweight champion of the world

That would be muhammed Ali’s equivalent?
We all know what happened to ali?

Even the best get old Fran..
The new Fantom sounds so great
They really should make an arranger equivalent..


But then this thread is about arranger “players”
And i dont think there are many heavy weight champions that play arrangers

Best non commercial player >>

https://youtu.be/mPHjc5b2Ix4

https://www.youtube.com/user/rob69sax/videos

and europe's ( and the rest of the world) best demonstrator

https://youtu.be/f3JOmemE_3k