Arranger keyboards and software

[beykock]

Today there is so much very useful third party music software available that is not present in modern high arranger keyboards yet.

Can we expect a lot more built in software in our arrangers in the near future or do consumers have other priorities than new software applications first ?

I wonder how the future high end arranger keyboards will look like.

Babette

[Denn]

Hello Babette, No worries, it is here now. Called a CD player. 

However, by the time you have come to terms with 50% of the kbd that you have, another 3 will have been introduced to the market.
Many people are still buying the S series - S950, S970 and S975 (and the 700 versions). Then the Tyros owners have lots of work to do getting to terms with their kbd. Now Genos has been introduced; but the market is flooded. If you have paid $6000 for a Tyros4 four years ago why would you want to discard that for a $7500 Genos? Generally you play the same music, make the same noise and to be fair, unless you have two kbds side by side, a general audience would not know what kbd you are playing. Buying another kbd is basically buying another toy to play with.
Recently I played one of my CD's that I recorded ten years ago on my PSR S900. Honestly, I did not see much difference between that and my Tyros4 playing. It was just my technique that had improved.
Regards, Den.

[Pino]

I agree with Den 100%

We already have 'high end arranger keyboards' problem is we don't have many high end players or players that have the patience to really use what they already have on their keyboards and spend the time to edit them styles and arrange and play songs

I played a gig recently where I played the first hour and a Pilipino trio played the second hour, I had many people come up to me saying that my drums sounds a 100 times better, just wandered if the second act played a Genos would the audience comment on the difference in the drums the other way, I don't think so,

Yes, Genos has better drums but how much better in a gig situation
I can tell you now, It's all down to the player and how much time you spend on preparation, Editing the styles and really playing the songs.

Barrette, I'm not sure what software you are referring to?
I look at arranger keyboards as playing styles on the left hand and melody on the right
If I was into playing midi I certainly wouldn't be working with an arranger keyboard,

Pino

[DerekA]

Buying another kbd is basically buying another toy to play with.

You know what, this is pretty much on the head. Most people upgrading to Genos are doing it because they can, and it's fun, and it keeps things fresh - so why not. I would too if I could really afford it

But this is a question I've been thinking about recently. I can get lots of new sounds via VSTs, and this helps to scratch the itch, but for some of us you can't beat the feel of real hardware. And I'm sure the time will come when it's just too complicated to get all the software to actually work. Given the target market for arrangers is - to be honest - 'sit and play a song', I think there's a limit to the amount of advanced features that companies will feel that they need to put into them.

[alanclare]

These sentiments could hold true of much of the stuff that we are persuaded to buy. A car is a device to get in, travel from A to B in, and get out of. How many of us could explain the function of every switch and knob on the car that we own now? And yet, that won't stop them bringing out another model that has a few more.

Alan

[mikf]

I dont think this push for more software or technical bells and whistles comes from high end players. Good players usually just want good sound, ease of use, nice feel, rather than lots of technical toys to play with. A different thread here reflects how Korg seem to have been very good at delivering a lot of the functionality that good players want.
IMHO the big push for all these technical accessories and bells and whistles comes from a different kind of user. They are people who enjoy what I think of as creating and manipulating sound rather than playing keyboard. That is their choice of course and there seems to be a growing number, although it's still a minority.  I still think the vast majority of people buying these keyboards just want to learn to play. And the majority of good players also just want to play, for them the keyboard is just a device to allow them to use their musical skills in the most beneficial way. 
Mike

[Tyros5Mad]

One of the things that attract me to new stuff is that existing features keep getting improved. For example Mono went to Stereo then to 4-channel sound, then to 5.1 (5 speakers plus Bass) then to 7.1. Now we have 3D sound.

It's the same with other things we use. Tape went to CD then to DVD then to BLu-Ray etc. How many versions of Windows and Mac-OS have been trotted out.

And so on and on.

Regards,
Richard