Whats next synth/workstation

Diametro, maybe I should have targeted my post properly but I wasn't replying to any of your posts. Rather to that general foolish thought that a $10000 instrument will let you make better music than $1000. In the right hands, with a great instrument - quite maybe, but otherwise...

Once again I am not saying this to bring someone down or something... I just emphasized that you need to master your SKILLS and build your music setup AROUND those skills. Most people face a certain fixed workflow and live with it for years, that's not how it should be. The gear must wrap around what you want to do, follow your line so to say. So if you're unhappy - change something in your setup. And you can do it NOW, not when The Manufacturer Of Your Choice wants to market you a new piece of plastic and silicon, because the choice of great instruments is in abundance.

"your music doesn't improve and you keep blaming the stupid manufacturers for not giving you the right environment to work with... "

then they start blaming their parents for not giving them talent. hahaha. i agree to your thinking, art.

Art has made an excellent point!

Agreed. See my post on the Open Labs /Fantom G integration videos...

I agree that someone who is talentless and has no skill will make crappy music no matter what instrument he has.
But for musicians who know what they're doing, a great instrument can make all the difference.

There is a huge difference for me between playing a beaten old upright piano, and a beautiful sounding Steinway grand. Everytime I got to play one of those beauties, I was completely drawn in and inspired to write some stuff I'm very proud of.

Same goes with any other type of instrument. A better sounding instrument DOES usually mean more creativity and better music, when in the hands of a skilled person. It's not the price that matter obviously, but the quality of the instrument.

I love my Fantom G, best instrument I've had so far, it sounds fantastic, is very intuitive and is (almost) an all in one solution for gigs. However, there's still plenty of room for improvement and I'm hoping for a workstation that will completely eliminate my need for other gear, so that I can carry only one keyboard to every type of gig no matter what music I need to play

Art,

Your follow-up points are obvious ... Of course, it's the musician and, yes, sometimes limitations can be helpful ... And I face no insecurity about my musical ability either as a songwriter or performer ... So I didn't take it personally at all ...

But your original comments just come off as if anybody who desires a more-up-to-date workstation doesn't rate as a musician ... (Or, maybe from Roland's "Ivory Tower" perspective, any idea that isn't their own doesn't rate ... ) Or that advances can't still be made in the hardware workstation arena ...

For instance, I have USB 1.0 on my FanX7 ... Does that make anybody a wannabe because they would rather be making music than watching a bar crawl across an LCD ... ??? Or, if discussing the Fan-G, wanting other -- like parameter automation --- that are readily available on computer-based DAWs for the Fantom-Next ... If there is one ... (I'm not entirely convinced there will be ... )

It's either Roland steps up its game, or we're going to find the market suddenly dominated by integrated keyboard controllers/software solutions at a fraction of the typical flagship workstation price and/or probably Yamaha left standing as the sole workstation manufacturer ...

I think you misinterpreted my first post a bit, Diametro.

Anyway, my point is simple. Performing and composing music is a challenge. However, I don't want this to be martial arts - I want it to be Kama Sutra arts. Do you get the difference?

Here are my proposals: ))

Roland V-station. (flagship equivalent to some extent to the Korg Oasys)
Specs:
- multi-touch, FG-sized screen.
- 9 faders, 9 knobs, 9 switches - all SOFT (= programmable)
- 256 notes of polyphony
- ALL SRX waveforms (!!!)
- 4 ARX slots

Roland Di-synth. (a more affordable V-synth)
Specs:
- no screen whatsoever (or something like a 2-line LED display)
- lots and lots of knobs / faders / switches BUT there's a catch: they're all HARD (= one button, one function)
- increased poly, no AP synthesis


Roland V-Rack (successor of Fantom XR)
Specs:
- 2U or 3U space (like the XT )
- XT touch screen (with X-Y pad)
- FG (or better) wave ROM
- 128 notes of poly
- 4 SRX slots, 2 ARX slots

Parsifal: It would be nice to have things like the ones you propose, but these could exist in another universe, another reality. In Roland's reality, there are only half-baked instruments. You take them or leave them, and if you happen to find any flaws, or missing or wished-for features, well, there's something wrong with you, not them!

There is something wrong with YOU definitely if you keep what you think is a "half-baked instrument" for more than a week.

LOL @ Arts reply to cyclops...

took the words right out of my mouth!!!

I wonder why these half-baked things taste so good...

Cyclops does appear to be describing things as they actually are, not as we wish them to be.

V-CeeOh:

I wonder why these half-baked things taste so good...

Japanese are masters in raw and half-baked stuff, you know!

This thread makes me hungry for sushi