Best arranger keyboards with top-end features, ideal for the serious home musician, live performers and entertainers, for composers, and for situations that need quick arranging. These are sort of mid-range arranger-workstations because they also have tools to help you with music creation. However, these are best suited for situations where you want quick access to top-quality ready-made styles. You can skip to the best professional arranger keyboard (for serious playing) on Amazon.
Introduction
Here, though we’re looking at high-end keyboards, these are not exactly true pro-keyboards (not the best arranger workstations), and most of these come with 61 keys. But these are far above the beginner / intermediate level arranger keyboards that we have seen so far, and as you can see the list now has brands such as Korg and Roland, and is not limited to the Casio & Yamaha.
Some of the keyboards mentioned below come with touch-screens, and almost all of them come with powerful onboard speakers. But what make these keyboards fun to play is their vast selection of top-notch sounds and rhythms. These keyboards come with a massive library of sounds and styles (from every genre, including world styles).
Looking for a powerful arranger that you can use as a one-man-band? These are great options if you currently don’t have the budget for the likes of the Tyros. These have excellent sounds and catchy styles. You get a contemporary sound-set and expressive musical styles covering a wide range of genres from pop to rock, plus several authentic ethnic, oriental and Indian tones/styles.
A great advantage of using one of these keyboards is that you can lay down a framework for a song in literally no time.
Best Professional Arranger Keyboards for Serious Playing
Here are the best digital arranger keyboards, for the budget-conscious home musician, live performer and entertainer, and for composers who need quick arranging.
These come with several exciting features, designed to bring a world of music to your fingertips.
Korg PA600 Professional Arranger Keyboard
Korg Pa600 is an excellent professional arranger keyboard. Compact in size, large TFT color TouchView display, lots of sounds and styles, excellent amplification system, and great pricing.
Top notch patches, joystick bender/modulator, great sounds – pianos, e-pianos, organs, horns, synth sounds, and more. You can play with the included accompaniment tracks (in multiple genres) right out of the box.
Korg Pa600 has a Guitar Mode that translates what you’re playing on your keyboard into a very convincing and realistic guitar performance. For example, when you play a chord, the notes “strum” instead of arpeggiate.
Bundle Includes: Keyboard Bench, X-Style Keyboard Stand, Sustain Pedal, Headphones.
Want something better (from Korg), checkout these cool Korg arrangers.
Yamaha PSR-S670 61-key Arranger Workstation Keyboard
The Yamaha PSR-S670 is less powerful (and cheaper), compared to the other arranger keyboards we have seen here. But it packs a lot of powerful features for an entry level arranger workstation. It comes armed with newly enhanced Style performance engine with MegaVoice technology for ultra-realistic instrumental Style backing-especially with guitar sounds. It also features Voice Expansion to load additional Audio Samples, Voices, Drum Kits and Styles to expand your creative possibilities.
The specs are good and it has several nice ethnic sounds and styles. The display is bigger (compared to the earlier model). The downside is that it has less RAM (compared to PSR s775 and s975). However, its a great keyboard for the intermediate player. Read more here…
Yamaha PSR-S775 61-key Arranger Workstation Keyboard
If you have been using the entry level arranger keyboards and have been playing for a few years now, the PSR-S775 can be a good option if you want to upgrade to a top-quality keyboard. Its also a nice-alternative for those who find the PSR s975 priced on the higher side.The PSR-S775 represents a significant leap forward in the evolution of the Arranger Workstation keyboard. The addition of USB audio recording delivers tremendous benefit for all musicians — beginner, hobbyist or pro. 128-note polyphony. Around 850 incredible instrument Voices, including some from the PSR-S975. Realistic built-in accompaniment. Read more.
Roland BK-5 Backing Keyboard
The Roland’s BK-5 arranger/recorder keyboard comes packed with a serious selection of sounds, and world rhythms that you can use to wow the crowd. Onboard stereo speakers, record straight to USB, and more. Suitable for the casual player or one-man-band gigging pros. The sounds are excellent, but tedious to navigate the various functions.
Perfect for use as “one-man band” for music hobbyists and amateurs. Powered by a state-of-the-art Roland sound engine, the BK-5 is packed with over 1,100 great sounds and dozens of drum and percussion kits.
Roland GW8 61-key Interactive Music Workstation Keyboard
For the price, the Roland GW8 looks like a pro-keyboard and comes with intelligent backing-track functionality. Sounds derived from Fantom-X, contemporary sound-set, expressive musical styles across various genres, including ethnic styles, a multi-format USB Memory Player.
Polyphony: 128-voices. MIDI Connectors (IN, OUT), USB
Pitch Bend/Modulation lever, Analog Modify knob and D BEAM controls for instant adjustments of sounds to suit your taste
Style Converter and Playlist Editor software included (lets you create and convert your own MIDI data into GW8 backing styles)
The Roland GW8 seems to be on its way out. You may checkout Roland VR-09 Performance Keyboard instead.
Want something cheaper than these? Take a look at these intermediate-level keyboards; these are good for practicing but don’t really offer top-qualty sounds, features & playability.
Coming back to our list of keyboards, these are the keyboards that we discussed.
- Yamaha PSRS670 Arranger Workstation Keyboard
- Roland BK-5 Backing Keyboard
- Korg Pa500 61-Key Professional Arranger Keyboard
- Yamaha PSRS770 61-Key Keyboard Production Station
Mid-Range Arranger Keyboards: Guide
Whom are these meant for?
If you are a serious home musician, or a beginner to music arranging, composing & production, or a performer and entertainer, looking for a budget arranger keyboard, here is a selection of five quality arranger keyboards (more of arranger workstation keyboards).
To begin with, if you an experienced keyboard player or a very serious student, and want something that will help you learn the ropes of music production, has quality sounds so that it can be used onstage, and is inexpensive, then you should have a look at the yamaha psr-S670. This is a great entry level arranger workstation keyboard. In case, you are a fan of Yamaha and like their collection of authentic acoustic instrument sounds, the next best option is to consider the yamaha psr-s775, which is a good performance keyboard.
But then, there are many serious musicians, who also rate Roland and Keyboard much higher and are looking for their products that come with outstanding sounds and styles, as well as amazing sequencing features.
So if you want a great product for composing at home, or performing on stage, Korg offers good quality 61-key arrangers with superb sound engine to match your performance. If you’re looking for a fully loaded arranger workstation with tons of powerful options, with excellent arranger/synth combinations, and at the same time very easy-to-use, then have a look at the Korg professional arranger keyboards.
Remember, in this price range, you can expect the sounds to be great, and most of the sounds are derived from their respective flagship products.
These keyboards are great for one-man-band situations, these come with sufficient features to wow the audience. These arrangers come with a contemporary sound-set and have some amazingly expressive interactive musical styles. Their intelligent backing-track features include some authentic ethnic styles, which make these keyboards perfect not just for performing onstage, but also for composing in various music genres.
If you’re in the market for a pro arranger workstation keyboard, you may wish to consider these models. Get ready to access the world of music at your fingertips!
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KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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