Pro Keyboard Topics:
» Arranger vs. Workstation
» Using a keyboard workstation live
» What can a Professional Arranger do for me?
» The organ: How it shaped and continues to shape the sound of modern music.
» What to look for in a pro keyboard

Arranger vs. Workstation

Before we compare and contrast the Arranger Keyboard with a Keyboard Workstation, the important thing to remember is that the distinction is NOT that one is professional and the other is not. Today, probably the only major difference between a workstation and an arranger is the type of sounds. Arrangers generally have what is known as "bread and butter sounds" (pianos, organ, brass and so on). Where as in addition to basic "bread and butter sounds" a workstation generally has more synth sounds and also better and more effects, as well as other music creation tools too numerous to mention in this context.

In a one-man band situation, both can work to have a full band effect but an arranger would give a more live feeling to the music by the use of intros, fills and variations with in a style. If you get an arranger that allows you to create your own styles, you can make the styles tailored to the type of music you play, and you're playing technique, and with as much live feeling as you need. On a workstation, you can use midi files or program the song with all the different parts and at the gig, play over the sequence. Depending on how you sequence the midi file, you can get a band-like effect.

With respect to composing original music, both an arranger and a workstation can get you to a final original song. On a workstation, you can use the sequencer and record each track in a linear way. Or you can use the pattern chaining function. On an arranger that has a sequencer (which most top end arrangers are coming with), you can also record in a linear way. You can also use the styles to build the song using fills, variation, intros and endings to give the different parts to the song. Depending on the type of keyboard arranger you have, you can either copy or paste the different parts of the styles in to the sequencer or you can record the styles real-time in to the sequencer. When in the sequencer, you can then edit the song to your liking using the punch in recording mode, copying measures and so on. If you don't want to compose a song from scratch, both arrangers and workstations have tools to help you. A workstation has onboard arpeggios and loops while an arranger has onboard styles.

In terms of live performance, and again, depending on the style in which you perform, the advantage of an arranger is the chord recognition feature for performing on the fly, and the vocal processor.

You really have to sit down and ask your self what do you want to do with a keyboard and what would be the best way to accomplish it. Then you can look at workstations vs. arrangers and after that, you have to look at what type/brand of arranger or workstation would best fit your needs. Your Sweetwater Sales Engineer can certainly help you there (call 800-222-4700). Arrangers work well for solo performers, but both are excellent types of keyboards and any musician would benefit from having both in their set up.

Using a keyboard workstation live:

Though most professional performers think that an Arranger Keyboard is more suitable for live performance, a Keyboard Workstation is geared for stage use as well. For live performances, a workstation can be used in a band setting. If it is just a matter of selecting sounds and playing the keyboard, both a workstation and an arranger can do the job. On a workstation, you can use midi files, either commercially produced or programmed yourself to get the band-like effect. If you are performing original music, this is where the workstation shines for live performance. First of all, you have a greater palette for creating original sounds and effects on the workstation than are available on the arranger. From there, program your songs with all the parts except for the ones you are going to perform live, and then play them along with the sequence. Also, if you are performing cover music and want to produce more authentic covers, the workstation gives you more options (the aforementioned commercial MIDI files) for reproducing the music more accurately. Some workstations also have a vocal harmonizer function to provide backup vocals while you perform, however it is a much more common feature on an arranger.

As we have realized, since either an arranger or a workstation can be used effectively in live performance, it is important that you assess your musical goals and choose accordingly.

What can a Professional Arranger do for me?

There was a time not too long ago, and definitely not in a galaxy far, far, away, when Arranger Keyboards were thought to be little more than home entertainment, much like the chord organs of yesteryear. This is no longer the case. Arrangers have evolved into a necessary tool for the professional performing musician. Arrangers are showing up in the studios where their tracks are directly recorded from the arranger and put on CD for release. (This is happening quite frequently in Latin music.) Of course, that makes sense, since the styles and performances are created and performed by world-class musicians, as in the case of the Korg Pa1X Pro Elite . In fact, a very well known Hollywood sound designer who does feature-film work recently added a Yamaha Tyros 2 to his arsenal of sound producing machines. For composers who have to produce music quickly in a given style that they may not be familiar with, an arranger can be the difference between making the deadline or losing the gig. Here's a scenario I've found myself in: Imagine being asked to produce background music for a film in the style of the early Errol Garner Trio, and you have one day to do it. The time it would take to thoroughly research Garner's style, not to mention acquire the technique to play it on piano (especially if you're a string player like me), would mean that you'd probably have to pass on the gig, or get a pink slip. Either way, future work would get scarce. That's where an arranger can save your bacon. Simply load in the style, enter your chord progression, maybe do a little editing, and there you are, a convincing jazz trio played on great sounding instruments. In fact, quality acoustic instrument sounds is where the arranger shines because the 'instruments' are set up to respond as though they are being played live. In fact, Yamaha's "Mega Voice" technology was created for that very purpose.

Getting back to the advantages of the arranger: let's say the dust has settled, you delivered the goods on that jazz cue and now you have a little time on your hands. You can use the arranger as an educational tool, giving yourself access to the inner workings of a multitude of styles and genres, which will certainly increase your value and longevity as a working musician. In music, especially nowadays, the more versatile you are, the more you work. A good professional arranger can keep you in the game while you play catch up on your own. Actually, in most cases, people who hire composers don't care how you come up with the music, as long as you do.

For a songwriter who doesn't know how to program drums or play guitar, or doesn't want to, the arranger can give you the satisfaction of hearing your songs being played by a band without having to call in a drummer or bass player and etc. In short, you can realize your music fully produced without hiring musicians, rehearsal space and booking lots of studio time.

Finally, for the working solo performer, the arranger can add new dimension to your sound by giving you the advantage of sounding like a full band, all to your audiences delight.

The organ: How it shaped and continues to shape the sound of modern music.

A brief history of the Hammond Organ:

Before we enter into a discussion of the Organ and its influence on modern music, it is interesting to note the most famous organ of all time, the Hammond, (particularly the B3), whose sound is still found in mainstream pop music was invented by a man who self-admittedly had no musical abilities what-so-ever, and was, in fact, quite tone deaf.
It is also of interest to note that while the names B3 and Leslie are almost synonymous, the inventor of the Hammond organ, Laurens Hammond, hated the sound of Leslie speakers and when asked about Leslie Speakers, Hammond's almost irrational response was, "I never intended for my organs to sound that way. "

The sound of the Hammond B3 formed the basis of 60's rock, blues and R&B and while briefly dying out, (or so it appeared) in the 80's, the sound of the organ is back in a big way being used as a featured instrument in bands like the Black Crowes, and Phish and many others. In fact, in my previous incarnation as a pop music sequencer for the number one Karaoke production house in the country, I would not have survived with out the vintage organ expansion card in my JV 5080. Almost every rock/pop tune I sequenced had organ (usually a B3 or some variation) present in the arrangement or featured.

The B3 went out of production in 1975, but that and its 400 plus pounds didn't stop musicians from using it. The sound of the B3 still garners the attention of technical geniuses who find new and more complex ways to emulate its sound, hoping to provide that unmistakable sound that pop music can't seem to live without in a convenient, portable package. Hence the existence of plug-in emulations and modern day organs such as the Korg BX-3, CX-3, Roland's VK-8 and the Clavia Nord Electro 73, (Even Hammond has an organ that models their own B3, the XK-1).

Where did it all start?

Initially, early Hammond Organs, invented in 1934, were promoted as "low-cost pipe organ substitutes" for churches, which is where the electronic organ had its beginnings and still remains today, since a pipe organ can cost in the hundreds of thousands, yet contemporary organs such as the Roland VK-8 or the two-tiered VK-88 are found in churches all over. In the fifties, the organ, which was previously associated with carnivals, ice-skating rinks, funerals and evangelists,

found it's way into the entertainment field. While no single organist was responsible for the instrument's sudden popularity it would be hard to find one who contributed as much as Ethel Smith, who is no relation to Jimmy Smith, the jazz keyboardist who was the first jazz musician to treat the organ as a real instrument and has since made it a staple of jazz.

Invented in 1940 by Don Leslie, the Leslie 122 rotating speaker whose unique blending of sound and acoustical nuance defined the sound of rock organ, jazz organ and pop music. The Leslie rotating speaker sound, a staple of pop music to this day, also finds itself the subject of numerous emulations in synths, soft synths, and in guitar effects processors as well. (Thanks to the musical pioneering of Jimi Hendrix.) The rotating speaker sound is still so popular that Hammond has continued production with models such as the 3300.

Organ evolving into Synthesizer:

Novachord

Solovox

MiniMoog

The fertile mind of Laurens Hammond was not satisfied. He conceived an instrument that would produce all the sounds of an orchestra from notes generated by radio vacuum tubes. The idea was to produce an instrument that could make music resembling that of the famous dance bands of the era. From that concept sprang the Novachord, introduced at the 1939 New York's World's Fair, it was in essence, the world's first synthesizer. Apparently, however, the public preferred to see the band and the instrument never caught on.

Another innovation hit the market in 1940 when Hammond introduced the Solovox, an electronic apparatus invented to augment a piano with accompaniment of orchestral sounds. The Solovox, generating sound with vacuum tubes, had a three-octave keyboard like the piano, but was arranged so that it could be played in six octaves. It has 12 tone selectors that produced a broad range of sound effects instantly popular with piano entertainers and owners. Three models were brought out in the years from 1940-1948, after which it was discontinued.

Interestingly enough, Dr. Robert Moog of Moog Music based his original experiments in synthesizer creation on the Novachord and Hammond's tone-wheel inventions - and the rest, as they say, is history.