setting up style to replicate spinet organ

[ekurburski]

I'm thinking it may be possible to set up a series of styles replicating the auto features of the old Lowery and Story & Clark model 75r.  It had a drum rail with like 10 different rhymes, not sure what but I remember it had rock, swing, waltz, march and 3 or 4 latin.   Thinking that I could set up a style with organ pad, bass pattern, and the basic drum beat.  Save in registrations and I would have 8 different basic styles to work with.  Much like on the organ.  Not sure which drum beats are the basic ones I'm looking for but would think they have to be there somewhere.  Once I have these set up it would be quite easy to play new tunes with left hand chords and melody right hand just like I did on the organ. 

Then again, maybe someone has already done this?

[DerekA]

Once I have these set up it would be quite easy to play new tunes with left hand chords and melody right hand just like I did on the organ. 

Not sure if I'm missing something Earl, because that's exactly what an arranger is for and your arranger has loads of preset styles built in ...

.. but are you saying that you want to create a set of basic, simple styles with a similar sound and feel to your old organs, for old times sake? That's certainly possible. You can probably get a good result quite quickly by taking a preset style, changing the voicing and muting some tracks. In particular replacing the drum voice with an analog machine kit will have a big effect.

[ekurburski]

Yes, you're missing something cause I didn't say it.  The arranger is very powerful BUT it is not automatic.  Seems you have to set up every song and there is so much to choose from.  I could set down at the organ, open up a fake book and start playing.  There was only x number of choices so you'd select the basic drum pattern, and play your own background in left hand and push wood for the bass.  Go to the next song and set tempo and off you go.  background is different because you play it different.  On kb you might take half an hour just to set up the background you want to use.  I I want to have a set of 8 basic patterns set into a registration bank that would let me call up those simple backgrounds quick and fast like I did on the organ.

[travlin-easy]

Earl, I remember those old organs very well. Essentially they were the forerunners of today's arranger keyboard. The bit difference is you only had about 6 to 8 styles to select from, so you were very limited to what style could be used for a specific song, thereby making the selection very easy.

I can sit down at your PSR-3000, select any style and begin playing just about any song I wish - no programming involved. There were times that I would go through a musical exercise using the 3000 by just kicking off with a song, any song, lets say "Lucille", then play that song using dozens of styles on the keyboard. No programming, no registrations, just sit down and begin playing until you decided to play another song using the same format and nearly every style on the keyboard.

By and large, you just need to be creative and not become bogged down on things such as programming registrations - just sit down, play and have fun in the process. All the other stuff will eventually come to you in due time.

Good luck,

Gary

[Toril S]

Hello Earl You could also pick 10 styles that you like, one chacha, one waltz, one foctrot, one bossa, and so on, put them in a folder and use them for all songs. I used my PSR 2100 for many years with only the preset styles. I used maybe 25 styles, the rest I never used. The downside is it starts to get boring. Gary's idea of using different styles to play the songs is actually fun.
I also remember those organs! My aunt had one, and every tome I was there I had to sit down and play. And I dreamed that they one day would make those organs sound like a real orchestra, not just the synthetic drums and organ voices. And now I have such instruments! It was a simpler time then, but it is much more exiting to play the arranger now

[mikf]

Earl
There is certainly a lot of posts on this forum about setting up a bunch of registrations, voices etc for every song, and that combined with some of the videos and demos can give the impression it is the 'way'.  But I agree with Gary, its not necessary. 
You can overuse style and voice changes. Most of the good arranger players I have heard playing real gigs take a very simple approach. Pick a style that is reasonably right, set the tempo, and keep the rest simple. They might start on variation 1 or 2 and change to 3 or 4 later in the song, but that is about all. They don't cycle through a bunch of registrations for every song.
Mike

[rattley]

Gary said.............."There were times that I would go through a musical exercise using the 3000 by just kicking off with a song, any song, lets say "Lucille", then play that song using dozens of styles on the keyboard. No programming, no registrations, just sit down and begin playing until you decided to play another song using the same format and nearly every style on the keyboard.................."

This is the best arranger style advice I have ever been given. It's one of my favorite ways to practice.  It's taught me that there isn't necessarily any right or wrong style for a song. I have ended up with interesting variations and orchestrations I would have never thought would work.  My ancient "gems disks" are early examples of this technique.   -charley

[ekurburski]

Thanks to all for some very good comments.  I think I may have gotten caught up in the possibilities of my kb.  I like Toril remember wishing the organ could be made to sound more like a real group of instruments.   I remember once hearing a group in Ocean City, Md that had a organ player using a Hammond porta b and a Arp Pro Soloist.  I was big into playing Trombone at the time and every time he would call up the trombone sound i would get up & get as close to the band as I could to try and see the trombone player!  I studied arranging at the Navy School of Music and became fairy proficient at it.  I always wanted to be able to replicate tht big band sound on a kb and now I can.  The only problem is I'm a typical American.  I want instace gratification. 

I will try doing some practice sessions as described here, just using several different styles on the same song.