Grey Loki
02-29-2008, 07:28 AM
Alright folks - a few replies got posted into the Arranger Keyboards thread, so i'm gonna copy them to here and then we can carry on in a new thread, rather than spamming up the previous one.
I started off with:
I can't say I'm a major fan of arrangers - but I know Korg UK for one are putting more focus on theirs (the PA2x, pa800, pa500) than their synth line.
To hijack the thread slightly, I wish that this wasn't so.
People (that is, non-synthesizer-playing keyboardists) want more features for less money in their keyboards (and synthesizers, too), which means that manufacturers are shoving as much crap into their keyboards as possible in an attempt to cater to as wide an audience as possible, which at the same time keeps prices at around the same region.
What i'd like to see is more synth manufacturers bringing out cheaper well-made specialist units that can be then combined together into a rig, rather than shoving everything into a box and making a jack of all trades, and master of none.
Obviously, there are a few such things on the market (Waldorf's Blofeld springs immediately to mind, but only because i've been researching it recently), but the majority of specialist units are fairly old.
I just want to see some innovation - we have amazing technologies available to us at the moment, and I just don't see them being used; to use an over-used example, Korg's OASYS. Yeah, sure, it has everything packed in a box and is pretty cool and has a few improvements on existing technologies, but other than the fact that it's a massively powerful workstation, what's new?
If a few of you guys take interest in this, i'll start up a new topic tomorrow and we can have a good old-fashioned discussion about it ;)
Well said...
How ever, having just 1 keyboard can be very convenient - I think they should do both: all-in-one solution and specialized synths.
Receptor approach would be cool also... just upload your plug-ins to make your ultimate keyboard... but I still would prefer pure hardware synths - they have limitations and unique sounds, which is good... IMHO. Korg will always sound like Korg, like I expect, and Roland will always sound like Roland...
Yeah, a more "modular" approach would be great.
Like for example, let's say Yamaha in 2 or 3 years puts our the Motif EX (oh please do this!). They could start basically with a "Motif" body, but with an "S90" engine. In other words, just a tone generator. Then, just like a computer, you have expansion slots for various options which might include stuff like...
sequencer
sampler
synth engine expansions (a la the PLG line)
maybe an "arranger" module that would have style functions, etc... and work intelligently with the tone generator in choosing appropriate sounds by category and type.
extra DSP cards (effects, polyphony, etc...)
digital recording board (could be an add-on to the sampler board maybe)
connectivity expansions (USB, Firewire, S/PDIF/Lightpipe, etc...)
memory expansions (the 3 R's: ROM, RAM, and Removable)
All the control hardware would be in place from the start, or maybe they could have hardware expansions for that as well, for instance your sampler board, comes with the sampler controller interface, with bolts into a "blank" space on the front panel. Your sequencer board would come with all your transport controls. And everything could come with a firmware update/driver so that everything works smoothly.
Perferrably as much of this would be user-installable as possible (basically everything screws or slides in or out, adn gets connected with ribbon cables.
I think this would be a good way to keep costs down for the base version, and then users could add whichever options were useful to them, while avoiding features they wouldnt use. Possibly there could even be an option for a "separate" case for some of the stuff that would sit in a rack, on the floor, or on a desk to house some of these extra expansions (especially for smaller keybed models), with a special cable to connect it all.
Thats a very good idea, but the thing is - companies don't want to make the perfect instrument, they want to make money!
They just can't sell everything they got directly and then have nothing left to sell...
I'm sure - even with newest technology like XS, M3 or FG - there still lot's more, when they came from!
Recycling technology: that's the answer!
"Buying only thing you need" means spending less money for you - but for them, it means earning less money.
I think that while it may look to begin with that the big three would lose out because people won't be buying their massive workstations, after a time things will pick up - a lot of people don't get instruments such as the OASYS, or Yamaha's new Motif purely because of the price.
What if (as OM said) you could just get a modular shell for say, £500-£900 (or really, anything sub-£1000), and then add functions to it as you require, in the manner of the modular synthesizers of old.
Maybe even that approach is too much - a large array of small sub-£500 keyboards or external modules that did one thing WELL would be infinitely preferable to one massive workstation with pages upon pages of menus and submenus, and not enough controllers for it all.
I started off with:
I can't say I'm a major fan of arrangers - but I know Korg UK for one are putting more focus on theirs (the PA2x, pa800, pa500) than their synth line.
To hijack the thread slightly, I wish that this wasn't so.
People (that is, non-synthesizer-playing keyboardists) want more features for less money in their keyboards (and synthesizers, too), which means that manufacturers are shoving as much crap into their keyboards as possible in an attempt to cater to as wide an audience as possible, which at the same time keeps prices at around the same region.
What i'd like to see is more synth manufacturers bringing out cheaper well-made specialist units that can be then combined together into a rig, rather than shoving everything into a box and making a jack of all trades, and master of none.
Obviously, there are a few such things on the market (Waldorf's Blofeld springs immediately to mind, but only because i've been researching it recently), but the majority of specialist units are fairly old.
I just want to see some innovation - we have amazing technologies available to us at the moment, and I just don't see them being used; to use an over-used example, Korg's OASYS. Yeah, sure, it has everything packed in a box and is pretty cool and has a few improvements on existing technologies, but other than the fact that it's a massively powerful workstation, what's new?
If a few of you guys take interest in this, i'll start up a new topic tomorrow and we can have a good old-fashioned discussion about it ;)
Well said...
How ever, having just 1 keyboard can be very convenient - I think they should do both: all-in-one solution and specialized synths.
Receptor approach would be cool also... just upload your plug-ins to make your ultimate keyboard... but I still would prefer pure hardware synths - they have limitations and unique sounds, which is good... IMHO. Korg will always sound like Korg, like I expect, and Roland will always sound like Roland...
Yeah, a more "modular" approach would be great.
Like for example, let's say Yamaha in 2 or 3 years puts our the Motif EX (oh please do this!). They could start basically with a "Motif" body, but with an "S90" engine. In other words, just a tone generator. Then, just like a computer, you have expansion slots for various options which might include stuff like...
sequencer
sampler
synth engine expansions (a la the PLG line)
maybe an "arranger" module that would have style functions, etc... and work intelligently with the tone generator in choosing appropriate sounds by category and type.
extra DSP cards (effects, polyphony, etc...)
digital recording board (could be an add-on to the sampler board maybe)
connectivity expansions (USB, Firewire, S/PDIF/Lightpipe, etc...)
memory expansions (the 3 R's: ROM, RAM, and Removable)
All the control hardware would be in place from the start, or maybe they could have hardware expansions for that as well, for instance your sampler board, comes with the sampler controller interface, with bolts into a "blank" space on the front panel. Your sequencer board would come with all your transport controls. And everything could come with a firmware update/driver so that everything works smoothly.
Perferrably as much of this would be user-installable as possible (basically everything screws or slides in or out, adn gets connected with ribbon cables.
I think this would be a good way to keep costs down for the base version, and then users could add whichever options were useful to them, while avoiding features they wouldnt use. Possibly there could even be an option for a "separate" case for some of the stuff that would sit in a rack, on the floor, or on a desk to house some of these extra expansions (especially for smaller keybed models), with a special cable to connect it all.
Thats a very good idea, but the thing is - companies don't want to make the perfect instrument, they want to make money!
They just can't sell everything they got directly and then have nothing left to sell...
I'm sure - even with newest technology like XS, M3 or FG - there still lot's more, when they came from!
Recycling technology: that's the answer!
"Buying only thing you need" means spending less money for you - but for them, it means earning less money.
I think that while it may look to begin with that the big three would lose out because people won't be buying their massive workstations, after a time things will pick up - a lot of people don't get instruments such as the OASYS, or Yamaha's new Motif purely because of the price.
What if (as OM said) you could just get a modular shell for say, £500-£900 (or really, anything sub-£1000), and then add functions to it as you require, in the manner of the modular synthesizers of old.
Maybe even that approach is too much - a large array of small sub-£500 keyboards or external modules that did one thing WELL would be infinitely preferable to one massive workstation with pages upon pages of menus and submenus, and not enough controllers for it all.