Tango & S90ES

[Guido - Rome, Italy]

I went to check the S90ES in a store (the other competitor in my search, the RD700SX, was not available) and spent almost two hours going trough the voices and performances. It has been great ... however I found myself asking: what if I want just easy stuff, like a tango or a walz, is there any arpeggio I can use? I did not find any and the guy of the store neither. He eventually mentioned that I could program the rithm and the arpeggio, then save it etc. So complicated? This beautiful machine cannot help to play tango? what's your opinion?

[HomeAmateur]

Im not sure about the 'tango', I would have to specifcally look. However there are 1787 preset arps built into the S90ES and some of the sound banks that you can purchase for it include additional arps. ( I just purchased the Axxe Bank and it came with 124 very awesome guitar arps) It would seem that with that many at your fingertips you would be able to find one pretty close to what your looking for. The arps are also 'editable', to some degree. As far as programming your own, I havent even attempted that, Im actually not even sure if it is possible to create your own arp from 'scratch' on the S90ES, ( I dont think it is)

[HomeAmateur]

Ohhhh, and comparatively, the RD700sx has 128 arps and 185 rhythm patterns.

[Dreamer]

Guido, first of all, welcome to the Forum from a fellow roman.

Speaking of your request, if you are planning to play tango's or waltzes maybe you should look to something like the Yamaha Tyros 2, the Roland G-70 or the Korg PA1X-pro: these are full fledged arranger keyboards, that will give you plenty of ballroom rhytms, complete with all the backing instruments (and not just drums, bass and guitar, like the S90ES or the RD700SX).

If a good piano sound is a priority for you, then I suggest that you check the G-70 first, unless you can put up with a 61 notes keyboard (Tyros 2), or an "average" piano (PA1X-pro).

Ciao!

Andrea

[burningbusch]

The RD700SX has quite a few traditonal rhythm patterns and some arps to go along with at least some of them. The S90ES tries to be a little "hipper" (we'll see how HIP these sound in 5-10 years) with its rhythm patterns and arps. The original RD700 was better than the RD700SX in this area. The patterns were typically longer, had an alternate version, plus intros and endings. The RD700SX now just has two to four measure patterns.

 

The down fall of the arranger keyboards, for me at least, is the keyboard action which is unweighted or maybe semi-weighted on most of them. The best feel is the Roland G-70, IMHO. But the G-70 is expensive--about twice as much as the S90ES or the RD700SX, at least in the USA.

 

Rhythm list from the RD700SX:

 

001 R&B Pop 1

002 R&B Pop 2

003 R&B 1

004 R&B 2

005 Shuffle Pop 1

006 Shuffle Pop 2

007 Latin Pop 1

008 Latin Pop 2

009 Jazz Brush 1

010 Jazz Waltz

011 Ballad 1

012 Ballad 2

013 Rock 1

014 Rock 2

015 Back Beat 1

016 Back Beat 2

017 Elec Dance 1

018 Elec Dance 2

019 Pop 1

020 Pop 2

021 Pop 3

022 Pop 4

023 8Beat Pop 1

024 8Beat Pop 2

025 8Beat Pop 3

026 8Bt Fusion 1

027 8Bt Fusion 2

028 Pop Funk 1

029 Pop Funk 2

030 Pop Funk 3

031 Pop Funk 4

032 Pop Funk 5

033 Pop Funk 6

034 Pop Funk 7

035 Pop Funk 8

036 16Beat Pop 1

037 16Beat Pop 2

038 16Beat Pop 3

039 16Bt Fusion 1

040 16Bt Fusion 2

041 16Bt Fusion 3

042 Shuffle Pop 3

043 Shuffle Pop 4

044 Shuffle Pop 5

045 Shuffle Pop 6

046 Shuffle Pop 7

047 West Coast

048 Motown

049 R&B Pop 3

050 R&B Pop 4

051 R&B Pop 5

052 Back Beat 3

053 Back Beat 4

054 Back Beat 5

055 Back Beat 6

056 Back Beat 7

057 Back Beat 8

058 Back Beat 9

059 Back Beat 10

060 R&B 3

061 R&B 4

062 R&B 5

063 R&B 6

064 R&B 7

065 R&B 8

066 R&B 9

067 R&B 10

068 R&B 11

069 R&B 12

070 R&B 13

071 R&B 14

072 R&B 15

073 R&B 16

074 R&B 17

075 R&B 18

076 Funk 1

077 Funk 2

078 Funk 3

079 8Beat Rock 1

080 8Beat Rock 2

081 8Beat Rock 3

082 16Beat Rock 1

083 16Beat Rock 2

084 Ballad 3

085 Piano Ballad

086 Rockaballad

087 Blue Grass

088 Combo 1

089 Combo 2

090 Fast Swing 1

091 Fast Swing 2

092 Swing 1

093 Swing 2

094 Swing 3

095 Jazz Brush 2

096 Free Jazz

097 Jazz 1

098 Jazz 2

099 Jazz 3

100 Jazz 4

101 Jazz 5

102 Jazz 6

103 Jazz 7

104 Jazz 8

105 Jazz 9

106 Jazz 10

107 Blues 1

108 Blues 2

109 Gospel 1

110 Gospel 2

111 Polka 1

112 Polka 2

113 Latin Pop 3

114 Latin Pop 4

115 Latin Pop 5

116 Latin Pop 6

117 Latin Pop 7

118 Latin Pop 8

119 Latin Pop 9

120 Latin Pop 10

121 Latin Pop 11

122 Bossa Nova 1

123 Bossa Nova 2

124 Bossa Nova 3

125 Fast Bossa

126 Pop Bossa

127 Salsa 1

128 Salsa 2

129 Samba 1

130 Samba 2

131 Rhumba

132 Mambo 1

133 Mambo 2

134 Merengue

135 Power Fusion 1

136 Power Fusion 2

137 Rock 3

138 Rock 4

139 Rock 5

140 Rock 6

141 Rock 7

142 Rock 8

143 Rock 9

144 Rock 10

145 Rock 11

146 Rock 12

147 Rock 13

148 Rock 14

149 Rock 15

150 Rock 16

151 Rock 17

152 Rock 18

153 Rock 19

154 Rock 20

155 Progressive

156 Elec Dance 3

157 Elec Dance 4

158 Elec Dance 5

159 Elec Dance 6

160 Elec Dance 7

161 Elec Dance 8

162 Elec Dance 9

163 Elec Dance 10

164 Acid Jazz

165 Techno

166 Hip Hop

167 House

168 Jungle

169 Dance

170 Pop Waltz 1

171 Pop Waltz 2

172 Pop Waltz 3

173 Pop Waltz 4

174 Simple Waltz 1

175 Simple Waltz 2

176 3/4 Brush

177 5/4 Fusion

178 5/4 Swing

179 5/8 Progress

180 6/4 Fusion

181 6/8 Progress

182 6/8 Swing

183 7/4 Fusion

184 7/4 Swing

185 7/8 Progress

 

Busch.

[Guido - Rome, Italy]

I was almost convinced to buy an s90es, after two months looking to manuals and posts in various forums (my second best actually beeing rd700sx).

I can live without a full arranger but I would be cautious in spending almost 1.900 and then having probems in doing little funny things like traditional ballad (tango, bossa nova, waltzer).

I won't buy anything less 76 hammer weighted (or balanced) keys, so the G 70 does not fit (the keys are too light). Actually the closer to my requests are the clavinova cvp series, however ... they are only for home. ... Humm ... what do you think of buying a clavinova for home and then a second hand masterkeyboard + notebook for gig outside with friends?

[Dreamer]

Originally posted by Guido - Rome, Italy:

Humm ... what do you think of buying a clavinova for home and then a second hand masterkeyboard + notebook for gig outside with friends?

It depends on your priorities... if you are planning to gig with your friends, why do you need rhytms like waltz, tango, bossa nova, etc? Don't you have a drummer at hand? On the other hand, I wouldn't dismiss the G-70 too easily: its keyboard is the perfect compromise to play acoustic and electric pianos and -at the same time- organ and synth sounds.

I think that you should define more clearly your real needs, or you will end up spending a lot of money without being satisfied with the results...

[Guido - Rome, Italy]

I am not going to become a professional , mostly I want to get fun (with serious engagement). So here it is what I would like to:

play along with midi files;

play with accompainment of bass, guitar, drums;

learn in such a way that I could use an acoustic piano (I have one);

play gig for fun with friends at home or outside.

Budget 2.000

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Guido - Rome, Italy:

I went to check the S90ES in a store (the other competitor in my search, the RD700SX, was not available) and spent almost two hours going trough the voices and performances. It has been great ... however I found myself asking: what if I want just easy stuff, like a tango or a walz, is there any arpeggio I can use? I did not find any and the guy of the store neither. He eventually mentioned that I could program the rithm and the arpeggio, then save it etc. So complicated? This beautiful machine cannot help to play tango? what's your opinion?

My opinion is that tango music is not "easy." The piano parts are complex and frequently use the extreme ranges of the keyboard, especially the lower octaves. Look up some music by Osvoldo Pugliese, Astor Piazzola, Color Tango, or for more modern varieties, Bajofondo or The Gotan Project before arriving at simplified judgements about this rich musical tradition.

[Guido - Rome, Italy]

Hi Dan,

 

I'm aware that tango is not "easy", that's why a beginner like me needs an arranger feature, to play some sort of simplified easy song just for fun with friends ... you know, during christmas, a birthday, a special evening after eating and drinking with friends, you would like to make some easy going stuff, and if you are not a trained pianist it is hard to play anything without an arranger.

I saw pianists just playing like a full band ... I'm not at this level ... not yet at least.

 

Anyway, besides portability, what do you think I would miss most if I chose a cvp 305 against the S90ES?

 

guido