New Realtime arranger software announcement

[groovyband.live]

We are pleased to announce the first release of our realtime arranger software. It runs on any Windows desktop/laptop/tablet computer (touch screen strongly recommended) and drives the sound generator of any PSR/Tyros/Genos keyboard (S950/S770 capabilities, or better, recommended).

The software offers vastly improved features over the stock firmware.

Visit our website (www.groovyband.live) to know more about the features, view some screenshots, read the manual and freely download a demo that includes 550 styles.

Groovyband Live! Team

[gerarde]

I found out you can only use their styles and they do not support using any Yamaha styles.
Sad, They might have sold a lot more if it was not so limited...

Regards,
Gerard

[Mikk]

Well this is a waste of my time. It comes up with a message saying it cannot install on my desktop.

quote/"It runs on any Windows desktop/laptop/tablet computer"/end quote

It looks like you are  giving out false info.

also, when install starts, the program is trying to connect to the internet.

This is not one I trust.





what do you think rdiazhin and Teknoss?

[Al Ram]

sorry for my ignorance . . . 

so, what is this for anyway . . . . ?

what can you do with it ?

I assume create styles . . . ?

thanks

[Jørgen]

Hi

Tried it... and uninstalled it again for the same reasons as mentioned above.

However at https://www.groovyband.live/installation/2002/ you read:

"The installation program will ONLY write in that folder and will NOT touch anything else in your computer (except the launch icons placed on your desktop). Therefore to uninstall the software you just delete that folder and the launch icon(s) on your desktop."

This is NOT true!!!

The Registry in Windows is filled with 30+ entries!!!

Make a decent uninstaller!!!

Jørgen

[groovyband.live]

Well this is a waste of my time. It comes up with a message saying it cannot install on my desktop.

quote/"It runs on any Windows desktop/laptop/tablet computer"/end quote

It looks like you are  giving out false info.

The installer checks if your operating system is Windows 7 or newer. If you are running Vista or older (> 10 years old) you will not be able to install our software.

You should also distinguish between a concise announcement statement (what we did) and a long and detailed specification list (that we did not provide).

"Any" Windows computer definitely does NOT mean that you can run it on Windows 3.1. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to clarify this point.

also, when install starts, the program is trying to connect to the internet.

This is not one I trust.

Our software does NOT connect to the internet in any way. But you did not manage to install it to check. The installer we use comes from a reputable vendor (https://www.advancedinstaller.com) and is an enterprise class serious product. As far as we know it does NOT connect to the internet as well; and surely not to our servers.

Anyway, you can switch off your internet connection and install and use the software at will. We absolutely do not care if there is an internet connection or not.


Sorry you wasted your time. We provide a free demo so that anyone can check by himself if the software works on his system, and if he likes it or not.
Before downloading and installing the demo you can also read a lot of infos on our site. And possibly stop there if you are not interested.

Regards.

[groovyband.live]

sorry for my ignorance . . . 

so, what is this for anyway . . . . ?

what can you do with it ?

I assume create styles . . . ?

thanks

From the homepage, just below the header there is a sort of "executive summary" with the main selling points. From there (big "More Info" button) you can go to a more detailed post titled "Features in depth". This post gives more details and links various manual chapters to have the most in depth explanation. And finally we have the complete online manual with an index.

So if you are willing to read, there is enough material to keep you busy for a while.

Regards.

[groovyband.live]

"The installation program will ONLY write in that folder and will NOT touch anything else in your computer (except the launch icons placed on your desktop). Therefore to uninstall the software you just delete that folder and the launch icon(s) on your desktop."

This is NOT true!!!

The Registry in Windows is filled with 30+ entries!!!

Make a decent uninstaller!!!

Jørgen

Our software NEVER writes anything to the registry. However Windows writes some information to the registry for its own purposes (such as: recent used programs, windows position on screen, and maybe other similar data).

We are not responsible nor in control of that.

We have just checked that on a fresh Win 10 install. If you post here a few of those registry entries we can confirm if this is the case also for your computer.

Regards.

[Gunnar Jonny]

I've not tested groovyband, but looking at both the pricelevel and compability, it looks like vArranger2 is a good, or maybe a better choice for many of us if a sofware arranger is needed or wanted.
vArranger2 play styles from most arrangerkeyboard brands, have it's ovn userforum and great & free support by the developer.
https://www.varranger.com/

... and no, I have no other interests by mention this other than from a possible user point of view. 

[Mikk]

To the moderators and other members.

I have already contacted the moderators about this, recommending it be removed.
The reply back to me, was  that it should be left because not many commercial  items for Yamaha were available to the members, even though he stated he had not looked at the topic.

This is one of the conditions of  the  forum for all registered members.

Members may use the "Classified Ads" board to post messages about music-related items they have to sell.  While anyone may refer to particular vendors in their messages, commercial advertising, solicitation, or links are not permitted and will be removed by the moderators.

http://www.psrtutorial.com/forum/index.php/topic,40714.0.html

Look at Posting Content.

Even though it states "Roger Brenizer" is the moderator for this, It was not Roger who contacted me about this.

[Roger Brenizer]

I received an email from groovyband.live asking for permission to post their software on the forum.  I subsequently responded to them and said that it would most likely be alright to do so; however, I advised them to post in a single board or it would be viewed as spamming the forum by the moderators.  I also copied Joe Waters and indicated that the final decision would rest with him.  Joe subsequently contacted groovyband.live and gave them permission to post an announcement.  He also concurred with my advice to post in only one board. 

[Pino]

The program is looking very good,
It has my support,
It's not like we have 100's to choose from.
+++

[overover]

The program is looking very good,
It has my support,
It's not like we have 100's to choose from.
+++

... BUT it seems to me that this program does NOT support YAMAHA Styles (SFF1/SFF2)...

Or are I'm wrong at this point?

Best regards,
Chris

[groovyband.live]

... BUT it seems to me that this program does NOT support YAMAHA Styles (SFF1/SFF2)...

Or are I'm wrong at this point?

You are not wrong. Groovyband Live! can use only the supplied preset styles and the customizations you apply to these styles, saved as "user" styles.

There are a few reasons behind this design decision:

1) STABILITY
Yamaha SFF2 styles are nothing more than glorified midi files, without any checksum. If these files are corrupted (it is enough to change randomly, or maliciously, a few bytes), you can easily crash an average program trying to read them. This may happen with Yamaha arrangers, which can be crashed while trying to read "corrupted" user supplied styles. It has been reported more than once also on this forum.
You could program a better reader, that double checks every single byte read before actually using it; but this is hard, error prone, and adds a lot of overhead.

We chose a better way: a completely new file format with several safety measures built-in against accidental or malicious corruption. A "wrong" file is readily, reliably and efficiently recognized, and will never crash our program.

2) FEATURES SET
Our program offers many more features unknown to Yamaha SFF2 styles. We therefore needed a new file format and program architecture to support them. Yamaha SFF2 files cannot be readily on-the-fly converted to fit our paradigm.
We do not store the sequence data in the single style file as Yamaha does. We have a central database that knows everything about the supported preset styles. Our style file simply holds a few user customizations (such as voices, volumes, OTS, effects, ...), not the sequence data (= notes) itself.
With this architecture we can easily apply "clever" and automated actions on the fly: such as swapping/altering/modifying bass lines (or guitar riffs, or drum fill-ins) sourcing from similar assets (by musical genre or other criteria) registered in the database.
We do not yet fully support all these possibilities, but nonetheless our program architecture is open for the future. We are in the 21st century, and we do not want to play with last century IT technology.

3) USER EXPERIENCE
We aim to give our customers a great and cohesive user experience, out of the box. With Groovyband Live! you launch the program and you know you have immediately at your fingertips a solid body of styles, good sounding, perfectly tuned, and consistently supporting ALL the advanced features you expect from our program. No fiddling, no fuss, just switch it on and play.
Of course you can deeply customize every style we provide (and you should do it to really obtain outstanding results), but this is optional, not required. After all most of us, most of the time, just want to sit down and play.

If you allow "no-name" styles to be loaded, you will end up with a lot of frustration: missing voices, wrong volumes, sloppy sequences, missing or wrong effects, ...... you know what we are talking about. This is not what we want for our customers.

[Jørgen]

You are not wrong. Groovyband Live! can use only the supplied preset styles and the customizations you apply to these styles, saved as "user" styles.
...

Hi

I wonder why this program has been promoted in a Yamaha group as it apparently does not support the numerous Yamaha styles available...

Jørgen

[groovyband.live]

Hi

I wonder why this program has been promoted in a Yamaha group as it apparently does not support the numerous Yamaha styles available...

Jørgen

Because it supports the Yamaha arrangers (hardware), creatively used as sound generators driven by midi data generated by a different realtime arranger engine. An owner of such a piece of hardware could decide to use it with a different software than that provided by Yamaha in firmware.

Yamaha's firmware is practically unchanged in 20 years or more. We propose something we think is better and more feature rich. The user now has one more choice.

Choices are always good to have. And we will not wait 20 years, or more, to release version 2.

[Jørgen]

Hi

Many members have spent a lot of time adapting Yamaha styles for their own use.
This work is now wasted; and they have to start over again on this process?

Correct me if I am wrong...

I am NOT saying that the Yamaha format could not be improved; but it IS the standard... for 20+ years...

Jørgen

[gerarde]

It would be nice to see a video to hear and see how this software is better.
Not everybody wants to download a demo.
It might help to have some videos showing the advantages.

Regards,
Gerard

[EileenL]

It Clearly states that this is a Yamaha forum and therefore anything posted here should be entirely compatible with our keyboards and useable from the off. There are a lot of people that don't use computers with there keyboards and would not know what to do with such a programme.
  When all is said and done this is an advertisement and I don't think what this forum is for

[MarkF_48]

I'm not closed minded and I don't mind seeing something introduced that may allow me to create music in other ways than with Yamaha keyboards or others that are frequently spoken about in this forum. I think Roger made the right decision  to allow this post and in gives us some insight on new and different technologies available to us. This thread doesn't take up a whole lot of space and will likely run its course and fade away.

Perhaps some of the feedback the creator of the software hears from here may launch some plugins or conversion programs to allow compatibility with Yamaha styles.

also, when install starts, the program is trying to connect to the internet.

This is not one I trust.

You may have antivirus or malware software that uses a cloud based check of profile definitions if it doesn't recognize something locally, thus the apparent connection to the internet.

[Gunnar Jonny]

......... There are a lot of people that don't use computers with there keyboards and would not know what to do with such a programme.
  When all is said and done this is an advertisement and I don't think what this forum is for

Eileen, In one way I can see your point, but in another way, I don't.
Even if here are many users / members that never will have any interest of this product, I don't think it's any good idea to exclude the part of the users that may see such things as interesting softwaretechnology.
It might be a nice addon to the Yammiearrangers. This software, if I've understood the info correct, is designed to take advantage of the Yamaha keyboard engine and can be controlled by the arranger. As we can see, the developer already replied and supplied new info to enlighten this program.
I don't think we should get glued into the past and close our eyes for any future possabilities. After all, this is just one thread, and we dont have to look into it if we don't find it interesting.
Advertisements? Well, you told me that I did advertise when I did tell about a site that did make HowTo Genos online/offline videos, and if not tell about it here at PSR, what site or forum would it be proper to do so? Yes, I know, it was not totally free of charge, but even Joe W need some income to run this very site.
Is'nt it advertising when we tell there is new styles and packs to buy in the YamahaSoft shop or elswhere as well?
In great danger to be misunderstood, it's just my 0.02$

[Toril S]

This is OK in my opinion. But personally, I am not interested in the program UNLESS it is developed to use with Yamaha styles. But that is me

[Jørgen]

...I am not interested in the program UNLESS it is developed to use with Yamaha styles. But that is me

... and me!

Jørgen

[pieterpan]

I.m not interested in this proggie or vArranger because I don't see the value of it. I'm waiting for a proggie that can make (easily) a style out of a midifile - no offence to the ones already exist.

Regards <> Piet

[mikf]

It's hard to see the point of this software. Some new styles that only play on their software and our Yamaha hardware provided its linked to your computer? Some slick editing facilities that might or might not come along in the future?? Stability - has anyone really experienced instability with Yamaha in house styles?
But as long as they don't become a nuisance see no harm in letting them post in a restricted way. Cant see many Yamaha arranger owners biting on this though.
Mike

[hammer]

If you seriously want an awesome Arranger Software program try Dan's vArranger.  Been using it for 6 years.  It supports, Ketron, Korg, Yamaha, and Roland styles.   

Try www.varranger.com.

Deane

[gerarde]

I too have used vArranger for many years and it works with VST's also.
It has many features, most importantly, being able to use Yamaha and others styles.

Gerard

[hans1966]

Hello friends, just one question, in my case I have a desktop computer, and my S770 keyboard. Do you need any MIDI interface, to manage vArranger from my S770 to the computer and vice versa? I say this because in 32 years of playing with keyboards, I have never used a computer program to create sequences and styles. I have done everything and I still do it from the keyboard. I do not know what a DAW is, I do not know how to handle a CUBASE, or a CAKEWALK, therefore I am a newbie in these subjects, but I am willing to learn, as long as there is someone who can help me,to understand these concepts. I do not know if these programs help to optimize the workflow at the level of MIDI sequences, handling MIDI event controllers, mixing and final mastering for a decent CD-quality musical arrangement. I appreciate the help or information in this regard. Greetings. Hans

[Pino]

I have spent 100s of hours slumped over the keyboard, to edit every style I use in the onboard 'Style Creator', how nice it would be if there was a PC program that could do the same as Style Creator, where we could sit back in comfort and edit on a big screen,

Without that capability I could not justify spending that sort of money.

There's no harm in letting it run and maybe the developer will add more features or to put it another way, maybe they will have to add more features for it to sell,

Pino

[mikf]

So you already have a keyboard which plays accompaniment through a number of styles. Then you attach it to a computer and load this software so it can play accompaniment through a bunch of styles......... 
Mike