West Coast Premiere of the Lowrey Aria Pro

 Nick Grbac
My name is Nick Grbac –  and I attended the debut of the Lowrey Aria Pro this week. I Was somewhat initially sceptical because it looked so similar to the Lowrey Marquee. But I am Glad I went along and was pleasantly surprised
And yes, it does visually have some similarities to the Marquee, the exceptions being a 30-note concave, radiating pedal board and a greatly improved bench over the Marquee, but it’s the changes that are inside that make all the difference.
And just in case you were wondering, I have no connection with Lowrey, or any dealer, except that of being one of thier customers and a very Lowrey enthusiast who currently owns a Marquee.

PEDALS/BENCH: These are Not AGO pedals, they are a 30 note full pedal board but they feel very similar to AGO pedals, and not like the “princess pedal boards” other companies have adopted for thier organs.

 

 

 

 

 

The bench is much bigger and has 3 sections for music and is roughly 4 inches deep. The seat itself opens with Hydraulic dampers so the bench top doesn’t slam shut, it also Feels more ergonomic than the Marquee bench.

PRESETS PANEL: This is laid out in a more modern way, giving it classier look. The Presets don’t appear multi-coloured, but are essentially white until illuminated. It also has an Enhanced light control for the panels, different functions-key split, etc. and when illuminated are in different yet subtle colours (not garish in any way).

STYLES: Up to now, there were rhythm styles (waltz, march), signature styles (intros, endings based loosely on songs/composers). Now there is also “Real Styles,” where Lowrey has paid for the rights for some high quality music (Andrew Lloyd Weber, for example) and you get the original arrangements…roughly 30-40 of these.

ORCHESTRATOR: Takes Harmony function to the next step. Assigns specific instruments to each harmony note within a chord. Makes ensembles sound much more realistic.

STYLE FAVORITES: Equivalent of the Quick Pick function, but for styles.

DIMENSION 1 THROUGH 4: Taking 1,2,3,4 instruments and sampling them from 4 different directions. Expansive sound.

VOCAL HARMONY: If you use a mic, you can add all kinds of digital effects: man can sing, duet with a “woman’s voice” that’s digitally created, and vice versa. About 8-10 variations on this.

NEW VOICES: I only noticed 2: “Al Hirt Trumpet” (excellent) and a woman’s voice in a ballad-type scat sounding like Ms. Streisand (I’m just saying….)

SETUP HOLD: Use if you find a voice combination you’d like to temporarily capture and, for instance, check out with another rhythm style.

FAKE-IT: Now assignable to either keyboard

AUDIO GUIDE: The author of the Owner’s Manuals (Paul Schaub) has recorded a basic help guide built into the instrument, similar to a “help” file in a computer program.

“NEW PIPES” CATEGORY STYLE: 11 sampled sets of voices from a well-voiced pipe organ near Chicago. Roughly 60% classical; 40% theatre. INCREDIBLE SOUNDS! They demo’d Widor’s Toccata #5 for classical; an upbeat 40’s song (don’t remember name) for theatre. With true theatre tremulants not a Leslie-like sound. Lowrey has taken the next step here. This may have been the most impressive feature of the Aria Pro.

My dealer was taking orders – but Lowrey won’t be starting to ship them for another 6-8 weeks.

In short, I was very impressed with the Aria. As in earlier models, you have all the goodies from previous models plus some new stuff. By the way, there are actually 2 models: the Aria and the Aria Pro. The internals are identical, the Pro has the large pedal board, the Aria has spinet pedals and bench like the Grand Marquee.

As with the Marquee, there are speakers across the top of the console (just behind the music rack). With the Aria Pro, there is a space with no speaker, just a wood surface, this is specifically designed for a typical piano light. If I remember correctly, Lowrey re-aimed the top speakers from straight up (as on the Marquee) to being slightly canted forward to offer a more “surround-sound” effect.

If your interested in the New Aria or Aria PRO,  I’m sure your local dealer will be able to supply further information, below are some of the key features for Aria PRO

• Over 390 fully orchestratred accompaniment styles
• Over 15,000 built in presets
• NEW Setup Hold
• NEW Auto Fake It!
• NEW Starlight ABCs
• NEW Orchestrator
• NEW 30 note full pedal board
• NEW stunning Bench design
• USB Audio record and playback
• Top new presets
• Mahogany, Oak, White or Black cabinet choices

I hope you have found this interesting.

Cheers,
Nick Grbac