Hello,
Although I have owned several Yamaha arranger keyboards ( PSR and TYROS models) I currently find myself with only one arranger keyboard and that is the brand new Ketron Event. I have been following the discussions overhere on the PSR forum as regards the new Ketron and also in relation to the Genos etc.etc.
First though it is high time to dwell on the needs and qualifications of us, the arranger keyboard players, to determine which keyboard and in particular which brand suits someone best. ( Unless of course you can easily afford two or three top arranger keyboards, but even then......)
When asked advice as to the purchase of a new ( top) arranger keyboard I always pose the next four questions:
1. Are you a singer or not ?
2. Are you a gigging artist or not ?
3. Are you interested in reproducing the song as close to the original or not ?
4. Are you a good hand at in depth programming or not ?
The answers to these question , at least my answers would be :
1. If you are not a singer who wants to feel as if he/she has got a real band
backing him/her up, go for Yamaha. It has the best sounds, legions of
styles, etc.etc.
2. If you do not perform outdoors and depending on the singer bit, it does
not make much of a difference, however if you do GIG and do Sing go
for Korg or Ketron
3. If you want to reproduce the song (cover version) as close to the original
as possible go for Yamaha, with its massive amount of Song Styles....
If you truly seek to arrange songs and present them in a different
arrangement from the original, and have time galore, go for Ketron or
Korg.
4. If you have a good hand at programming and time galore go for Ketron or Korg.
Now as to my first and fleeting impressions of the Ketron Event. Response has been erratic so far with some claiming it is great and quite an improvement on the SD9 , others maintaining it is disappointing and even inferior to the SD9.
Let me remind you that when I first bought my Yamaha and more in particular Korg arrangers, I was sorely disappointed most of the time how they sounded Out Of The Box. It was not until the substantial programming and tweaking that I discovered the true potential of my arrangers.
I played the ketron SD9 for nigh on three years ( always at home, never gigging and doing a lot of indepth tweaking of both styles and sounds, ending up with over 300 worthwhile Registrations, many of which were used in my home-made and home recorded songs and videos
( see youtube)https://www.youtube.com/@matseims/videos
After having unboxed my Ketron Event and having played it for two hours my first thought was: this has to go back to the shop !!!! *** !!!
However I also vividly recalled my first experiences with unboxing my Korg/Yammie arrangers in particular those from the days when there was no Songbook and hardly any factory preset registrations.
A week into possession of the Ketron Event I can tell you this much:
The Ketron Event is not for the faint hearted. It comes with virtually no Registrations on board and requires a lot of time, knowhow, dedication and ingenuity to get results. The O.S. is truly complicated in particular if you are not used to Ketron arrangers. My first impression was that the sound and styles were not superior to that of the SD9 but I am beginning to realize that this Is not so Many sounds have been improved , many styles added and of course there is the main new feature of the socalled Real Chords. While still a limited number I have it on good authority that Ketron will extend the number of styles with RealChords even in the course of this year.. One thing stands out : the POTENTIAL of this arranger is truly enormous. The amount of "variables" to influence the overall sound etc. is staggering and as such overwhelming....more of which some either time...
One final observation for the moment which not only relates to this new Ketron but to all top arrangers, but most definitely to this new EVENT arranger. Already I see folks asking for "where they can acquire or purchase new styles for this new arranger......".No disrespect but the machine sports more than 600 styles that can be tweaked/manipulated in ways beyond belief. That is what any new owner of the Event or interest in the Even should try and pursue.Unless of course you are predominantly interested in Song Styles but then you shoud simply stick with Yamaha imho.
