Arranger Keyboards Are Mental 😭

[@MatthewJohnHunterMusic]

I used to work at a library that a Yugoslavian seniors group used to attend. They set up in a huge meeting space, and got blind drunk, while a musician went absolutely off on an arranger keyboard for 2 hours straight at an alarmingly loud volume. It was some of the most intense music I’ve ever experienced.

[@pavlebn]

God I was waiting for the balkan comments. Up there, the arrangers are incredibly common among the "blue collar" musicians as he mentioned and you can hear a lot of old popular tracks using just generic backing tracks from casio arrangers. Fun stuff 😅

[@dirtrockground4543]

denny's grand slam level of legend

[@thefrogger6507]

Tbh an arranger is just an accordion on every kind of steroid to a typical yugoslavian, that must have been a wild time

[@PostingCringeOnMain]

ngl, sounds lit

[@Kaosaur]

@@pavlebn Agreed. my entire life experience with arranger keyboards has been at eastern european restaurants that have dance floors...

[@drumandbassonvinyl]

This episode should be called “Guy encounters instrument tool that does all the things that he had to figure out how to do the hard way.” This one was so fun to watch!

[@arnehurnik]

It's great that he's multitalented enough to actually show off all (most) of the things that this device can do on his own and make it easy to watch.

[@drumandbassonvinyl]

@@arnehurnik Those were also my thoughts on this too! If anyone could just sit with something as crazy as an arranger kbd and get in a flow right out the box, it would be this guy!

[@arnehurnik]

@@drumandbassonvinyl And I remember when I got my PSR-S710 (upgrading from my E323) and I was so intimidated with the featureset that I stopped practicing for a few years. Child psychology is truly stupid.

[@GaryMCurran]

Let me give you a little background on Arranger Keyboards. You say they are for the blue collar working man, and yes, in a sense, but that's not where it started. Back in the early 1970s Baldwin came out with something called 'The Funmaker/FunMachine.' It was a three octave, single manual organ which had another octave for trigger chords. It was intended for the home user. Up until that time, if your home had a keyboard instrument in it, it was either a piano or one of the venerable Hammond Organs. You could purchase a 'drum machine' for the Hammond, but you still had to do everything else, but it did put you a step up on most other home players. Baldwin came along and added a bass pattern and strum patterns to the drum patterns, all selected by a single octave to the left side of the keyboard, and you played one finger to select the chord. I don't remember how you did minor chords or seventh chords. Anyway, the concept was to add something new and different to the home player. After that, Yamaha, Wurlitzer, Lowry, and even Hammond all started to produce organs with these 'auto accompaniment' features. They were very basic, nothing like what we have today. No sample synthesis, not even stuff like FM synthesis. All it amounted to was 'Boom chicka boom chicka boom boom.' 🤪😛 Fast forward ten years or so, and by then, both Yamaha and Casio had developed single keyboard 'slab organs.' The IC, or Integrated Circuit, was small enough to allow companies to start to put a lot of features into these keyboards, but the sound synthesis was still poor, but some of the FM synthesis trickling down from the DX-7 started to make it into some of the Yamaha organs, and they started to sound a little better. I want to clarify something else, too. These instruments were all aimed at 'the home hobbyist.' The person who enjoyed music, but was not a professional, or even semi-professional musician. This is the individual who when they get home from work wanted to pull out some sheet music, sit down and play for their enjoyment and relaxation. These weren't designed for a gigging musician In 1993, Korg introduced the original i3 Interactive Keyboard. It blew the competition away and sent a huge wake up call to Yamaha, Roland, and Casio, which by then were really the only other manufacturers of arranger keyboards (although they weren't called that back then). I remember seeing the original i3 and I wasn't able to believe what I was seeing. The sounds were 'realistic', at least compared to the FM synthesis of the other products. No built in speakers, you had to run the outputs to monitors or something to hear. You could actually go in and edit the sounds. The sounds were sampled! This was the beginning of the 'Arranger Keyboard' line and concept. With two sequencers built in, you could load a SMF via 3.5" floppy and set up a play list, or, you could create a backing sequence using the accompaniment section, and then play along, or record over top of it, something that had not been fully explored. In 1993, there was an article published that pushed both the 61 key i3 and 76 key i2 as devices for songwriters, jingle writers, etc. Use the capability of the keyboard and backing tracks to flesh out a song. This is the first time that the word 'Professional' was used with an Arranger keyboard. My first journey into these keyboards was actually selling them, mostly Yamaha and Casio, back in the 80s. The first keyboard I owned for myself was a Korg iX300, 32 notes of polyphony, 14 megs of sample ram, 104 styles. Quite a jump up from the i3 of only four years previously. The sounds had also gotten better, using the AI2 software synthesis engine that was also found in the 'pro-level synths' of the day. The two lines were coming closer. It wasn't until the early 2000s with the introduction of the PA series of keyboards that things really started to converge. The PA1X was a 76 key keyboard (a 61 key version with speakers was the PA80) and technology was used from the professional level series of synths. About this time, the sounds and the styles were good enough for that 'blue-collar' musician to start doing single player gigs or a gig with themselves and maybe a singer/guitar player. I currently own an older PA800, which is about 13 years old or such. I want to buy a PA5X, but don't have the money for it right now. The funny thing is that the price on that keyboard is about the same price as a three generation old Yamaha CVP Clavinova with 88 weighted keys. (I can buy a currently new Yamaha CVP-701 from Guitar Center for $5K) If you want to see what an Arranger Keyboard can do today, I would point you to Alois Muller in Germany and some of his videos. In Europe, these keyboards have found much more positive reception than they do here in North America, and a lot more people play them. Alois speaks German, but if you watch his KZbin channel, you can select the Auto Translate feature to understand what he's saying, mostly. www.youtube.com/@AloisMueller These keyboards started out for the home hobbyist, and over the years have moved closer to professional grade, and are regularly used for small venues and one or two person groups. They were never intended to be 'professional' keyboards, but they could easily do the job, depending on the type of music you're playing. For me, I prefer The Great American Songbook and have no need of synths and the ability to shape my sounds, but if I did, I could with the current crop of keyboards at least to some extent. Finally, the thing about these keyboards is that I can sit down, open a song book, pick a song, pick a style, and play immediately. Do it with great sounds, great styles, and even record to something like Cakewalk and do it easily and still come up with a good product I could share with friends and family.

[@squelchedotter]

This is super interesting, thank you!

[@JulesStoop]

Back in the eighties and nineties in the Netherlands you could find these single man ‘bands’ playing somewhat cheesy but surprisingly skillfully arranged live music on large organ like contraptions in malls and similar places. I suppose these ‘organs’ were the spiritual predecessors to this type of keyboard.

[@dutchdykefinger]

the way true organists can work their feet on the bass pedals is something else though, very tricky

[@surrealchemist]

This reminds me of the kind of equipment my grandfather used to gig with. He was a guitar player and had a guitorgan and then some other midi based guitar. This is back in the 80s and 90s when I was kid he would go and do one man gigs where he had printouts of the program numbers to put in his midi processing machine that did the whole backing band that would follow what he was playing. I don't know what he would be using today if he was creating the same kit from scratch.

[@djcolinturnbull]

I am obsessed with arrangers! Good arrangers are deep and complex.. and only limited to your own understanding of the device and your own level of creativity. They are so useful for idea generation, arranging, and even increasing your knowledge of theory and Chord structures! Also exploring mixing genres! Midi is the key!

[@DihelsonMendonca]

Buy a Yamaha Genos. It's miles better. 🎉🎉❤

[@lorencarlin2087]

Yes! A good arranger can be mind blowing! The Technics line were amazing! Yamaha Tyros is also cool, but way overpriced. Roland has some too.

[@djcolinturnbull]

@@lorencarlin2087yes! Some older instruments like GEM. Also excellent!

[@shakti.rathore]

⁠I agree. Yamaha Genos is far better. Specially with sounds.

[@AR-px9cj]

@@shakti.rathore I tried the Genos 2 and the Korg Pa5x and I opted for the Korg, the styles are more usable for composition, the Genos 2 only has styles literally copied from existing songs...it is true that some sounds sound slightly better on the Genos 2, but nothing insurmountable or that cannot be improved with the synthesis options, plus the Korg is much more complete when it comes to programming your arpeggios, effects... it has a vocoder, a Sampler and is a thousand times better built than the Yamaha Genos2...not to mention speaking that the Genos 2 is out of price, if I had to choose based on its sounds I would not choose the Yamaha, I would go directly to the KETRON EVENT... However, I am still very happy with the Korg... creating new styles is very simple, and you have almost everything and very well done for editing... in the Genos 2 you go crazy when programming!

[@zloboslav_]

You should try the Sofeh Sunrise Music Studio which emulates KORG Pa - it's the most complete software arranger, but nothing compares to the real thing yet. I've tried them all. Beware - it can be buggy and confusing and needs a bit of setup. Here in the Balkans arrangers are a HUGE part of all pop-folk like in Arab countries. Musicians program custom styles and there's a big market for selling / buying styles. Arrangers have been extremely popular here since the 90s - even old models are modded to replace the floppy with a USB drive. I've been dreaming for one, but even used it's too expensive. Here the KORG Pa is most desired.

[@mikolasstrajt3874]

Is there any tutorial in English for it? Software seems to be really powerful but interface is somewhat confusing for people who don't used the real thing.

[@zloboslav_]

@@mikolasstrajt3874 I don't know. On their website there are a bunch of articles and videos, but I've learned on real arrangers from friends in my own language. Sorry I couldn't help much. On the site there are 2 versions - one for computer and another for smartphone - their piano interface is very similar so it may be useful to search about both. The interface will remain confusing though, it's just not very good, but that's the best there is currently.

[@D-One]

With that thing and it's headphone mic combo you can do telemarketing / tech support and also play the stand-by music while the customer waits.

[@Uncl3M3at]

Now that's customer service! Would call Korg everyday like in the old dial-a-song days

[@theGuideMarkII]

A man added a Korg Pa5x to his tech support. This is what happened to his career....

[@TonyLeva]

Yeah and don’t forget tv quizzes

That’s hilarious 😂

[@kirkegodfrey414]

Whats kind of bonkers is ive spent the last few weeks getting my head around a yamaha psr-sx900 to help someone who has one. Like you, had quite a mind melting experience when i realised how absurdly powerful they are.

[@micindir4213]

Yamaha QY 700 is a mixture between sequencer and arranger. It does 'arrange' type things but still you can program your own sequences. I think this is the reason it is still used by square pusher

[@jbognap]

Yamaha is the best company in this musical space - QY, Motif/Montage and of course, their arranger boards.

[@mainsailsound983]

These arrangers have come a long way. I gigged with them for years. The Yamaha Genos is the king of them all, but $$$$

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Such a beast. Great machine, a bit like all the QY series. Although, of a different era.

[@sammadden5540]

Squarepusher is also just one of those people who finds a system that works and sticks with it regarding music tech

[@mikosoft]

@@jbognapI remember when Yamaha was on top of MIDI game with XG, both in keyboards/modules and in computers. I even bought a used SW1000XG card and used it extensively. And I also remember following the Tyros line in the early 2000s when each generation would bring in more realistic sounds, especially winds and guitars. These days it's not such a big deal but back then it was groundbreaking.

[@alphabeets]

It can be used as a DJ device. It can play full MP3s and audio files. And it can play two of them and use the cross fader to fade from one to the other like any DJ mixer.

[@g3cd]

Hey Benn, where can I book you for a wedding? 😂 Also I'm looking forward to the 12 hour Loopop video covering all of its functions.

[@sstrudeau]

I'm looking forward catching Benn's next set at the Holiday Inn by the airport.

[@js3511]

You did a great job of showing the potential of an arranger keyboard. I really don’t recall hearing the guitar input effects in any other video, so you may have provided a demo of a feature that no one else has. You are correct in that many of these keyboards are used by keyboardist that are either solo or in a duet and many times they are covering a large spectrum of musical styles. So the band in a box concept works great for that. The real key and where skill and talent comes in is taking the instrument beyond just a backing accompaniment and working with the sounds and the various parts of the songs. Also having a good understanding of how a real instrument sounds like when you choose that sound for your lead/solo. I started with arrangers back in the mid 90’s and have been amazed at how far they have come. Yes they are not as popular in America as they are in other countries, but there is still a following here.

[@larchmedia]

A friend shared this video with me so I could check out the arranger and what it can do, so I was really surprised when I saw a couple of my animations in the background. That was a very entertaining video and I was definitely surprised by what an arranger can do.

[@Kevhuman]

I have an old Yamaha psr530 the sequencer has "virtual arranger" which is kind of quantised randomisation...from 30+ years ago.

[@jeremymoyse]

Yes I learnt piano from the age of 4. Yes I have worked in the industry. But now I play when I can squeeze it in at home, and love improvising with a backing, casual multi-tracking - I have a Yamaha 'Arranger' Digital Piano (OK with the voice effects and brilliant speakers). Just such a joy to see someone not being a snob, being open minded and appreciating what enjoyment these can give, beyond beginners! Great video ... first of yours I've seen, now subscribed!

[@menhirmike]

9:40 This is the smile of someone that is just having a blast playing an instrument, which is what making music is supposed to be about! Even the cheap ones that still look fresh out of 1995 are just so fun to muck around with.

[@ArtistAElfraed]

This is cool. I’ve never paid attention to arrangers and never really understood the point. I don’t think it’s for me, but I now feel like I “get it”.

[@peanutismint]

I’m so glad you made this video because I’ve similarly been thinking more about arranger workstations recently for the exact reason you showed, that even though I’m neither a professionally gigging musician or a particularly gifted pianist they just look like so much silly fun. Personally I’ve been leaning toward the Roland Fantom series so I’d love to see you do a video on one of those.

[@drdca8263]

Misread as “not a professionally giggling musician”

[@thespots]

I had a rough day and this made me smile constantly. Ben is such a gift. What a fun, weird episode!

[@nickwallette6201]

You know, when I was a teen, I would go to local music shops and absorb all the lovely rackmount synths that I could never, ever afford. And then come home, dial up to the Internet, and download all the demo RA files. I loved 90s ROMplers so hard. Still do. And I kind of missed that classic ROMpler sound, since so many of the plugins on the market are either additive/subtractive synthesis, or super-ultra-uber pristine multi-tens-of-GB sample packs for the most real piano everrrrr, etc. There was a ROMpler-sized hole in my heart. This thing has the vibe of a lot of those old synths, just... grown up a bit, and sounding a little bit cleaner. I am pleased.

[@studiobischof]

Thank you! Great “cheese factor” in this one ❤I enjoyed the shameless playing with sounds and videos on many levels.

[@seanp2k617]

if music isn’t just fun once in a while, what’s the point?

[@ThomasLockney]

The part that really sells it for me is the lens flare when Benn plays his fretless guitar. Well, that and the bored girl in the background when he's playing Autumn Leaves.

[@stevehofer3482]

A tiny company called Sofeh has a virtual arranger keyboard called ORG24 which loads Korg styles and sound sets. It is available for Windows and IOS/padOS plus Android. I think it really hits the sweet spot in the iPad version.

[@tonverfall_studio]

I had a similar reaction after I shoehorned an old Ensoniq MR-61 into my shed-based studio about a month ago. While it's not an arranger, it can send MIDI out on 16 channels simultaneously, and the Idea Pad is a brilliant concept. It has opened up entirely new ways of interacting with the embarrassing number of synths I've accumulated.

[@duzmano8161]

Just loved seeing how much fun and giggles you had with this thing even if it's not what either of us want or need it just looks hilarious fun

[@TomMarvan]

Great video! This video looks like a standard Friday night for me. The Yamaha Genos community is anticipating the new release of its flagship arranger, possibly to be called the Genos 2, possibly out this month, possibly next year. I am a composer and songwriter and guitarist, but by no means a good keyboardist. For me, the Genos provides inspiration for me to write new tunes and melodies, sometimes with the “training wheels” a full accompanying band provides, controlled by simple chords using my left hand (even a single finger). I am not Yugoslavian, but am Slavic (Czech), and will often jam on my Genos - the major competitor to the Korg in the video here - in socks and Birkenstocks. Make no mistake, the samples in these top flight arrangers are often top flight, but so is the price, about $4,500 for new Genos unit. Mine is available for anyone in San Diego with a major social media channel that may want to demo it.

[@zaneeeneal]

Roland FA-08 has been my mainstay for ages now, these things are beasts tbh

[@jakykong]

I was in the market for a good digital piano, and the Roland Fantom 8 came into my attention when I looked into the market. The price point was about what I was looking at for dedicated pianos but of course it has all of the arranger stuff, too, so it was a no-brainer. I've barely dipped my toes into that side of it, but what I did do it's clear how fun it can be.

[@thestatrat4843]

Some people just want to play music without thinking deeply about equipment. It's the opposite of the gear nerd who never practices.

[@caleykelly]

Looking at these devices makes me realize how important process is to me. It also reminds me that my music is timbre centered. I hate the idea of these as instruments. They are great tools for those who need them, but probably not music I'd go out of my way to listen too. That's just me though.

[@ohheyitskevinc]

I bought a used Korg M3 88 in 2009 for $650 and very quickly it became obsolete as Omnisphere and Zebra and NI stuff started being my go-to stuff. Plus it’s like 150lbs. I had the M3 out again last night and the combis and sounds are just excellent, and they load up really quickly. I mean - I have Komplete 14 CE and the string, piano, brass, woodwind etc sounds are comparable on the M3. Not quite Spitfire audio quality, but pretty close. The thing with these arranger/workstation synths is - they’re fun. Like keyboards were when you were little and you had those Casiotone and Yamaha PortaSound keyboards (I still have my Yamaha PSS-480 (with midi out!) and it still gets used in midi for a laugh - I’ve had it controlling Kontakt and Maschine for example). Plus these arrangers/workstations can be a really great standalone synth and controller outside combi/song/sequencer modes. Now back to my M3. Great review!

[@victordaria8135]

I know a few musicians that gig with arrangers. These instruments have come a long way in past decade.

[@michelvondenhoff9673]

If you run a €300-400 keyboard (Korg Yamaha) via outs into mixer and monitors it does sound pretty good. Let alone >€3000 keyboard/arrangers.

[@kerzwhile]

This is probably the best description and demo of an arranger I've ever seen and I've been in pro music retail for almost 30 years now. 😉

[@joonglegamer9898]

I get your feeling. I've been playing with synths since I was a kid in the 80s, and I've always been negative towards organs and arrangers since everyone saw it as a "no-effort" fun-box where you don't need to do anything else than 1-finger play with the chords following along, like a one-man-orchestra where all the music has been pre-made for you, you just direct the changes. But who cares really? I mean - I think an arranger could be for me, yeah - I will admit to that 35 years later in my life. I have the Key 61 + Yamaha Montage (which kinda have an Arranger hidden in it, but...not super easy to use like the Genos), but I can safely say - playing on an Arranger is a heck of a lot more fun, just for the fun of it alone.

[@neol07707]

I've honestly been wondering wtf is up with arrangers as well lmfao. Especially with how the price can be be so widely different from the super cheap to super expensive. This helps explain.

[@peterlof]

Aah thank you youtube algorithm! As someone who learned to play keys on an arranger as a kid (a Roland E70), with absolutely no idea what an actual synthesizer was or could do (until I finally got one): there should be much more info out there for starting keyboard players on the type of instrument you should get. Now that was the 90's of course, so I hope that all changed :P It's fun to see that the essential arranger experience really hasn't changed much, but my god I wouldn't recommend anyone who's in to - making music - getting one. Get a bunch of grooveboxes and synths and hook em up to a hardware or software daw and make your own music \o/ Because no matter how many presets and patterns your arranger has; you're gonna get bored with it. Absolutely LOVE this vid though man, I'm laughing and crying at the same time. It really brings back memories of all the nonsense I've played back in the day :D

[@dougie6897]

Arrangers are so so immediate with instant gratification makes them a perfect choice in education….. Trinity college have exam grades 1 to 8 specifically for arrangers…..I think they’re pretty handy for playing in holiday resorts and bars too .

[@vito_keys]

While arranger keyboards might be uncommon in the West, they are very commonplace in throughout some European countries (Germany, Eastern Europe, and Balkans) and Asia (mainly Southeast). They are usually used to perform folk songs of the respective country.

[@sssyntax]

Good point. I don't know why the west hates them so much.

[@roycemurgatroyd7963]

Just been too a electric organ festival in the UK and korg demonstraters was there with the the keyboards and also music land UK with the new Yamahas and some Genos and even a tyros for second hand

[@Thunderpussy88]

I have a Yamaha DGX670 and it feels amazing. The versatility of styles gave me an instant polish to my playing. Killer keybed.

[@eightbitguru]

I got started as an amateur with an Atari ST, Pro-12, and a Yamaha PSS-480 back in ‘89, and upgraded through various keyboards and synths until I got to an SY-35 and realised that as much as I loved messing about with synths, I needed the ‘amateur’ performance features more than raw synth power. I dabbled with MIDI controller keyboards hooked to various PC-based softsynths, sequencers, etc. but never recaptured the joy of making music with that primitive (by todays standards) PortaSound ‘toy’ I started with. And now, here’s the Arranger Keyboard, which to my eye (and ear) looks and sounds like a PSS-480 on steroids and does EXACTLY what I want! Now all I have to do is figure out how to afford one.

[@brunbabybrun]

One very important aspect (using external MIDI instruments for sound generation) was mentioned here, but as the synthesis engines in arrangers get better and their EQ/FX capabilities improve, that might be actually less important. The most amazing feature is that you are not limited to playing Cowboy Polka with Waldorf XT, but can program your own styles. You can cannibalize Intros & Endings (pressing an Intro/Fill/Ending button twice makes it looping). Fills don't have to be 1 bar long, you can program 8 bar long climaxes and you can prescribe the rules of how Fills resolve into Variations. Speaking of resolutions: you can program your fills into the harmony, because each Variation has 6 chord variations, so e.g. you can make the 4th and 8th bar of dominant 7th + b9 chord variation more "busy" than the regular dominant 7th and use the harmony to drive your arrangement (Fills have two chord variations). And of course you can do it in your favourite DAW and export MIDI files to be used as styles, so you are not limited to the recording/editing capabilities of your arranger. All that would be jjust a template for your song and you can decide in realtime that you would like to extend one section or change some chords, modulate to a different key. You can decide while playing the track. I've been using arrangers (Yamaha QY70, Korg microArranger, Korg Pa3X) with external MIDI instruments for quite some time and this is the fastest way (well, if you don't count the learning curve) to make your song (or their arrangements) complete without locking yourself into what has been recorded so far.

[@whirled_peas]

You've got to make an album with this thing. 22:36 was next level.

[@paulussantosociwidjaja4781]

Yup, Ben. I am a user of both worlds, too: non arrangers and intelligent arrangers keyboards & modules. Thank you for sharing your thought and views on these musician arranger gadgets. Music is FUNtastic! Hoping one of them you will be sharing your thought on the Ketron Event, too.

[@picksalot1]

The ease and speed you can create a complex arrangement is impressive.

[@arindamdas936]

The most insane and enjoyable demo of the Korg 5X I have seen so far. I really hope Korg pays you handsomely for this effort. And yes, the 5X is super fun, insane and no, I can't afford it. So I just keep listening to demos 😊😊

[@tristangieler]

This looks like so much fun! So in theory can you use one of these to import a bunch of stems and B versions of stems and fills and just go nuts remixing your own tracks live? because that would be so so sweet. To be fair I can imagine there being less involved ways of doing that just inside of Ableton, as I do now, but still.

[@kassemir]

The world music thing at the end is honestly kind of wild. It's easy to forget that there's a whole different approach to music than the western one, and so of course it makes sense there'd also be specific new gear made for that market. Pretty wild. Also, if you could somehow load the world music version of sounds on to one of these, undenounced to the performer that'd be the best musical prank of all time :)

[@artysanmobile]

Sounds like a high performance DAW with a minimal audio interface and a super deep control surface just for musicians. Cool, cool.

[@kennethenigmatic1411]

I have a Yamaha MODX since 2020. I had no idea how to buy a synth, let alone a work station like this. I am so lucky, it was a once a decade kind of purchase

[@bluestarorion]

Pan Flute On The Beatch is such a hype jam! I was stuck in a laugh track.

[@bluestarorion]

Oh SHIT, I just died at the FTC musical PSA... That trumpet at the end. 🤣

[@normanisagoodcat]

The unsure chuckle at the beginning giving way to childlike joy during your performance of PAN FLUTE ON THE BEACH was really inspiring to watch. As was hearing "god I hope they have some sort of speed metal"

[@DashGlitch]

I worked in retail for like a decade and before that i never understood the call of arrangers, however they were one of the big sellers! You would never believe how many of these things sell, it's sad because here where I am it's almost impossible to find an actual SYNTH in a retail store, so this is what people think are synths locally XD

[@mb2776]

same stuff here. shops made ten thousands of dollars cause music education was really based upon piano lessons.

[@vitalyeryomenko]

How awesome are the people who understand music and can seemingly play any instrument they get their hands on. Crazy speed metal guitar solo! :)

[@YannisAggelakos]

A flagship arranger is a ready-to-use portable audio studio which is built by combining a sound module, multitimbral programmable polyphonic arpeggiators with chord recognition, a drum machine, a synth section , a sampler, a mixer, a multitrack sequencer, a programmable events generator and an upgradeable Operating System-specifically built for realtime usage and operation. Offcourse you can manually do all that stuff by yourself-and good luck with that.

[@LittleRichard1988]

Yeah but there is no point in buying a flagship arranger unless you need all the stuff like auto accompaniments although last year I very nearly bought a Tyros 5 just to manually sequence everything but because I resigned I couldn't afford it so I'm now totally over flagship arrangers. Honestly with the power of VST isntruments I can't reccomend overpriced keyboards when we have stuff like Kontakt and Halion 7 which are a lot cheaper and powerful to blow any keyboard out of the water.

[@YannisAggelakos]

@@LittleRichard1988 I have tried both and I would buy an top tier arranger like the Yamaha Montage anytime if money was not an issue.

[@mrdali67]

The 2 arranger sections is very much made with beat matching in mind. Some combinations is of cause hillarious, but kinda make DJ minded people interested in this kind of instrument that has normally not catered to their style of musicianships. You can have great fun with fading in and out a Bossa and Dance style version of a song and kinda bridging between a musicians, if you actually can play an instrument, which very many Dj’s sadly can’t. Most just added some skills with samplers as long as many Dj’s changed from analog vinyl decks to full digital pults. For many years even many musicians wringled their nose when you mentioned an arranger as they were seen like toys, which they were back in the early 80’s when they trascended from the Home organs. Today they are powerhouses of technology just as advanced as a Synth Workstation just with the focus on good easy to play super articulation samples that can make even a novice player sound like a Pro, and rhythm arrangements that can be tailored to a specific song you can arrange on the fly live without being locked to a sequensed version of vers, chorus x 3, ending. Where the Synth workstations like the Kronos is specificly targeted for Sound design and Pro functions more tailored for touring musicians as a Swiss knife. Where the Kronos just isn’t very usefull or userfriendly to those that just wants to choose a sound and play.

[@chuckyb_]

The self satisfied smirk when hitting the applause button XD My god that 'Mario Cadence' major in the uvi jam holy D:

[@dkupka2]

This brought back memories in the late '90s of having a Yamaha Portaton PSR-4600 which was simpler but along similar lines. 100 accompaniment sections, 100 instruments. Very, very cheesy sounding. I "graduated" not long after to using a Korg X3R attached to Cakewalk 3.0 for Windows 3.1, using the Yamaha as a MIDI controller. Also thinking of how "simple" this is compared to having multiple different hardware and/or software instruments in a variety of configurations, versus calling up a preset and going with it, with more or less instant feedback. Kind of like just picking up the accordion (which I also play) and playing a tune right off the bat. Oh jeez, just heard "Band in a Box" in the video - I -almost- got that at the E.U. Wurlitzer where I instead got the Korg and Cakewalk. Awesome video. :)

[@joshuabrazile]

21:31 when the string synth came in... ugggGGGGGHHHH DELICIOUS!

[@h2o1969]

Now I want one. It honestly looks like fun and helpful to get down some ideas.

[@chriswyattscott]

I have been using old Casios and home organs for a while, playing the buttons and switches more than the keys, and I could see myself having a lot of fun with this.

[@LittleRichard1988]

I personally prefer 80s Casiotone and Yamaha Porta Sound keyboards like the ones with Digital synthesizer and I have a Casio MT-500 on it's way in the post to me, to me vintage keyboards are a lot more fun because they used analog or FM synthesis and in the late 80s many of them had lofi PCM drums which sound similar to many drum machines fron that time and those types of keyboards are a cheaper and smaller alternative to something like an Oberheim, CS-80 or DX7 not to mention how expensive a TR-707 or a Linn Drum is. Also I can't afford a flagship arranger keyboard or I could have afforded a Tyros 5 had there not been a train strike resulting in me losing my job and if it wasn't for that incident I was actually going to buy a Tyros 5 last year. Back in the 90s I started out with keyboards like the Yamaha PSS-790 and Casio CT-700 which were state of the art at the time even though since 2003 people have been going on at me about how they sound "outdated and lofi", well actually the 80s Casiotones like the MT-500 and MT-520 have more pristine sounding drums because there is a sound chip that's only dedicated to the drum/rhythm section whereas with something like the CT-700 the reason everything sounds more grungy is because they had to squeeze 100 sounds onto a single chip using at least half of that rom to focus on sounds like the pianos, strings and organs whereas some of the other sounds including the drums they had to compress the sounds more although the Yamaha PSS-790's drums were actually realistic especially for a mini keyboard and something that came out in 1990 but the PSS-790 uses Yamaha's AWM tone generator which is why Yamaha always were a bit better than Casio. But also as I don't use auto accompaniments that much there isn't really any sense in me buying an arranger keyboard.

[@heroknaderi]

I enjoyed the video. I always find arrangers fun to play with.

[@MisterRorschach90]

Studio owners and synth users skipped these and went straight to those even more expensive all in one open labs workstations. I feel like if they made a modern version of that thing it would sell out. Powerful midi/synth keyboard with touchscreen computer and virtual software for instruments, along with either virtual outboard stuff, or built in.

[@Sierratana]

The background video at 16:00 is HILARIOUS!

[@valiokeys]

I'm afraid to admit that I've been earning my money playing predominately arrangers in the last 30 years, which kinda explains why I suck balls at additive, subtractive, modular and basically any sort of synthesing, while still being able to virtually flip inside-out any arranger without breaking a sweat, and still I'm not proud of that fact. I guess it's all down to the amount of exposure to a specific type/style of working environment.

[@EarleMonroe]

The backgrounds were fantastic - candles, pumpkins, bored sofa people, birthday donut - nice work!

[@garyhendrie4001]

I am a synth man but recently was given my dads beloved psr sx750 when he passed away. It is a beautiful keyboard and i will never part with it.

[@claudiusraphael9423]

Thought about it: Before you buy one new or go on testing actual stuff find 3 used ones if you lucky to find each of the former reference models with support for microtonal and just stream your discovery-sessions, would be supranoice to be able to follow along casually; then after that go test for real the actual ones.

[@whosavestherescue]

Ive had my ctk-2080 for years and just recently paired it with my loop pedal and i go down rabbit holes some nights arrangers are stupid fun

[@mathieuverrier7980]

Sooo goood!!! This pan flute on the beach!!! Groovy

[@ChunterInfo]

What would Wesley Willis do with this? Jam at 20 min reminds me of ELP

[@MizumiGCMods]

I hope he does more arranger videos this was awesome

[@henrikgustav2294]

The high end electone has VL synthesis, horizontal touch sensitivity keys-besides after touch you can move the keys left/right for more modulations

[@Juliano_DJOL]

Have u ever used a mpc with a synth hooked up to it, works best w 2 people, alot of times we wld just want to use the sounds from the Program mode like this but there's some crazy stuff u can do when u start bringing in more instruments and all! Good video!

[@recycology5468]

Yes yes everything you said is the reason I Picked a Korg i3. I use pedals like an Absolute destruction, attack delay, Moog filter plug in, Texture Lab granular looping etc.etc. I want an Arranger Keyboard totally dedicated to Euro dance and Darbuka. My first synth was a CZ 5000 a year after it was released partnered with a MT65 haha.

[@robertdanielpickard]

"autumn leaves huh?" lol I was transported to waiting for my baked potato side to arrive

[@vadimmartynyuk]

Check out Ketron Event arranger keyboard, that thing has live musicians recorded for each style. So you pretty much play a live band with a keyboard

[@wiegraf9009]

A lot of classic 90s video game soundtracks from the PS1 era were made on arrangers and you definitely get that vibe from them

[@LittleRichard1988]

I think video game composers actually used midi sound modules like the Roland JV-1080 ( I know for a fact Tomb raider's soundtrack was largely done with the Orchestral SRJV expansion board ), the Roland SC-88 and 88 Pro were also very largely used for video games in the late 90s and early 2000s. Other sound modules composers used back in the day were the Emu Proteus modules.

[@wiegraf9009]

@@LittleRichard1988 That's true for some but there are actual videos of Japanese composers working on arrangers. They used them for those cases where they could use the CD audio function of the PS1.

[@juanchis.investigadorsonoro]

The editing is this fantastic hahaha thx for sharing!

[@alphabeets]

These devices are tremendously powerful. The top end units have a FULLY programmable synth. Legato on solo instruments is often better than “pro synths”. The ability to play and control STRUMMED guitar parts.

[@UrbanTarantulas]

Love-hate relationships with arrangers, I totally get it! They're like magic at first, making everyone go, "Whoa, you're a genius!" But let's be real, they can be creativity vampires, sucking the originality out of you and leaving you with presets made by someone else. If you're a pro playing gigs, then sure, arrangers are your BFFs. But if you're in it for the art, maybe steer clear. 😎🎹 And oh boy, getting out of the arranger vortex is like escaping quicksand! They're super user-friendly, but once you're in, good luck adapting to other synths. If you're a newbie, beware: arrangers might just be the Hotel California of music tech. You can check-in, but you can never leave! 🎶

[@bassfugpodcast]

I think this might be my favorite video of yours lol. I'm only 10 minutes in but I hope you mention another awesome Chicago musician WESLEY WILLIS who used an arranger for most of his tracks.

[@TeddyBongo-zf1ih]

So much infectious fun! After a hideous experience coming home from Heathrow with its underground signal failure ride the bus crap, this was the pick-me-up I needed. You are funny and smart. Bravo!

[@TheLazerTank]

I was really hoping you’d do an Omar Souleyman type jam when you mentioned the different temperaments and was not disappointed!

[@brainbox9219]

If I knew how to play piano then I would definitely get one but I don’t, only instrument I spent years playing and trying to master was bass guitar and I ended up selling all my bass gear, bought a polyend tracker and some other hardware like synths and stuff and started learning how to make electronic music, programming drums and learning to sequence a little has been wildly different from the hands on approach I had to music but so far, it’s been great because I can really think and conceptualize songs and don’t feel limitations because I was only good at playing one instrument, now I just focus on being a good song writer, electric bass was a mistake to get into for me, got into it whenever I was teen for the wrong reasons and didn’t really get me anywhere because I wanted to lead, not accompany

[@roycemurgatroyd7963]

I've got an technics kn1000 with a floppy disk drive what still too this day sounds amazing it was made in 1991 has an sequencer and composer build into it

[@LittleRichard1988]

I prefer older keyboards from the 80s and 90s. I have seen quite a few videos of Technics keyboards from the 90s and they are still usable today for both playing in a venue setting such as weddings and they are even still usable for shows. Arranger keyboards from the 90s often had special effects pads which made them ideal for prodiving music for pantomimes. The Technics organs also still sound really good even today, in fact Technics were one of the pioneers in PCM digital sampling for home keyboards.

[@roycemurgatroyd7963]

@@LittleRichard1988 ive had an technics organ and ive got an three wersi organs a prisma and a galaxis and a spectra

[@roycemurgatroyd7963]

@@LittleRichard1988 when technics stopped the kn brand of keyboard even Yamaha was was sad too see them them go pcm from was top

[@computer_toucher]

Love it! So much fun. Much more decent in musical quality (the instrument) than expected. So many cheesy but fun possibilities! Reminds me of 90's Amiga MOD cheesiness, style-wise

[@LilHoss]

I've had my eye on the Yamaha PSR SX 900 for awhile. Probably will be getting it in a couple months

[@overand]

In the early 2000s I worked in a small-ish music shop, and a 70+ year old guy came in to check out and buy a Technics KN-6500 (or 6000? 7000?) - and the stuff he made happen made my 20 year old modular-synth loving self blown away. Parallel universe indeed! I was bummed when Technics stopped making instruments because of their digital pianos (and the glass-jawed but lovely sounding & feeling SX-P50 stage piano), but it must have been HEARTBREAKING for users of their arrangers!

[@nicovandenberg_]

In light of your Behringer battle, I was ready to call out the Zzounds thing. Imagine my disapointment when I had to get off my high horse because of your disclaimer segment. Still murky waters though...but that's a whole different story. Fun vid!

[@ChristianSamsel]

While watching the video I looked it up. It has a localized German / Benelux Version. It's the first time I heard of a localized instrument. Crazy.

[@apoplexiamusic]

Because they use H in their notation system?

[@MakesBadNoise]

the edit is appropriately unhinged for how insane the product is

[@PartsandRestoration]

That little Sweetwater "call"-out during the FTC disclaimer, hahaha😂

[@Keyboardplayer]

Great video, will sent this to friends that still don't get the instrument that I like to play ;-)

[@robfriedrich2822]

Korg uses TC Helicon technology. But since Tyros 4 and PSR S 970 the vocal harmony is good, as known from Digitech and TC Helicon

[@JaCrispy360]

Ronald Jenkees would go crazy with one of these!

[@phd_sound]

The way Ben says “not bad” at 17:19 😂

[@starry_lis]

- Will there be an organist playing the Mendelssohn's march at the wedding? - Of course! The organist:

[@mobeats2443]

Great, thanks! Now I want one of those Korgs!