Fran just posted a thread on Vocal Harmonizers and I made a reply saying that I had an external VH and took it back. Anyway I told him I was able to adjust my Tyros' VH and it was adequate and besides I didn't like the idea of lugging around an external unit. So because of Fran's thread it gave me the idea of posting a new song with my new Tyros VH settings.

I recorded this song just a little while ago using an SMF. This is all done live and I recorded it directly into my computer using Sound Forge 7.

Country Roads

I think my Tyros' VH is quite acceptable and as I told Fran my next Board's gotta have a great VH on it. We pay big bucks for our high end Arranger keyboards, and a good, suitable VH, is something we all expect to be included I would think.

Btw, this song is to demonstrate the Tyros' VH (again )and I am just along for the ride. So I want you to pay particular attention to the Harmonies not necessarily me.

PS: It has been quite a while since I last posted a Vocal piece..

Best regards,
Mike

I

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 06-04-2006).]

That seemed to workout good. What were the setting you used on the harmonizer?
Since I bought my Tyros 2, I have had feeling that it did not have as good a VH as my 9000 did. I may just not be used to it at this point. I was thinking the same as you about posting a harmony sample after Frans Thread about harmonizers. You beat me to it
You did this on the T1 ?

Regards,

Dennis

excellent,

Mike ...Great job on one of my favorite songs!!!! Whats settings are you using?...The Voc Harmony on the T2 or for that matter on most Yammaha PSR KB's is VERY usable after you "fine tune" it and know how to sing thru your Mic while using one.....I like the onboard one for the same reasons as you although I had all the rest out board ones which sounded great ... ...Less gear to carry to gigs & hook up also

Mike:

Great job harmony sounds good to me.....pose

Mike: Good job with the (female) harmonies on "Country Roads", especially realizing how harmonies at the other end of the vocal range from ours, is most difficult to pull off. - Scott

Agree with Scottyee's comments, nicely pulled off. Just shows you what can be achieved when you take time to set up the VH correctly

Yes I did it on my Tyros "1" Dennis.

I think a big part of making it work more effectively is to make sure you keep the Low EQ in the Microphone settings 'down' and subsequently to raise the High EQ gain up significantly. I found the Mid-range setting is more near detent i.e. the half way point, but again a little variation may be necessary. I also have my Mic/Line input on the back of my Tyros set to 12 o'clock high. Too much Mic gain can, needless to say, cause distortion. Also be careful not to set the Mic knob on the Tyros' front panel too high either. Usually I find right around 2 o'clock is the sweet spot although it is very sensitive and raising the gain just a little beyond can cause the overload LED to come on. Of course the Tyros2 may not be as sensitive so it's best to experiment to get just the right amount of gain for your needs.

The Master EQ in the Mixing Console plays a part in the scheme of things also as does the Mic DSP with its Block, Part, Category and Type with the corresponding Chorus and Reverb settings. The Master EQ I find again that setting EQ`1 lower and gradually going higher to EQ `5 seems to improve things. One of my User settings is Q - 2.9 FREQ. 2.0 kHz, GAIN EQ1 "2", EQ2 "2", EQ3 "5", EQ4 "7", EQ5 "9".

Now back to the Mic settings. I have the Noise Gate enabled along with the Compressor enabled also. The Threshold, Ratio, and Output settings are to user preference and a little experimenting is needed to find what's best for your voice type.

Also the brand of Microphone that is used plus believe it or not the quality of Mic cable[s] can be a factor too. Also when you sing into the Mic be careful not to get 'too' close to the Mic or you could overdrive the Vocal Harmony board and get distortion. It depends of course on how sensitive your Mic is and on how hot of a signal to the Mic.

I just think that since we're paying big bucks for our high-end Arrangers that a superb VH should be included. And Yamaha in my opinion 'lacks' in this area when compared to the likes of the Korg Pa1X/PRO and Roland with the Discover5 and now the E80. Although I haven't heard a demonstration of the E80 harmonizer but if it is on par with the Discover5 or a notch above then it should be fantastic. Also I'm not sure about Ketron's SD5 Vocalizer. Time will tell on that one also.

I was really surprised that Yamaha didn't improve the VH on the Tyros2. If they're not careful they may lose substantial market share to those Keyboard manufacturers who keep raising the bar as far as putting in superior, ever better Vocal Harmonizers in their Arranger Keyboards. Especially now that the other Manufacturers Voice sample realism is getting close to and may even surpass Yamaha's SAV sound quality.

There's nothing keeping me from jumping ship either if I find some other keyboard Company comes through with what trumps the competition. Although I am rooting for Yamaha because I reckon I have some inherent 'investment' in the Company. Most of my gear has the Yamaha Logo on it. But the way Yamaha turns a blind eye to supporting their products after a relatively short period of time has also got my goat as well. So unless they straighten up and fly right they will lose by business for sure.

And having said that I can yell "BRING ON THE COMPETITION!!" Ketron, Korg, Roland, uhhh.. gem, or whoever! Let the games begin. >> We may have to wait another 3 years though for Yamaha to make another blip on the radar. That's okay though. I've got the patience to wait. But it has to have 76 keys regardless. Oh, and a superb Vocal Harmonizer to boot.

For now, my Tyros' VH is okay and sufficient for my needs. But my next Arranger I won't settle for just good in the VH department. It has to excel beyond what the Tyros now offers...

Best regards,
Mike





[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 06-06-2006).]

I also wanted to thank everybody for having a listen and for your positive input about the song and the Vocal Harmony. The Tyros' VH has the ability, you just have to tweak it and play with it some to get out of it what it's capable of doing. I'm not trying to be negative really, even though it may sound like it from my post above. The only reason I harp on Yamaha is for them {hopefully with Steve Deming egging them on for us} to get the message that if you become lax in one area; you can, if not careful, become lax in other areas and soon find yourself playing catch up to the competition. And I'm sure the competition would just love and relish the opportunity to gain a greater foothold into the Arranger keyboard market and see Yamaha lose ground and for Yamaha to start eating their dust.

I think one of my missions in life is to badger Yammie long enough and hard enough to the point where they either get it through their thick skull and rectify the error of their ways or they get so sick and tired of me badgering them that they decide to bring me into their camp by hiring me so the badgering will finally stop. Which I'm not so sure it would anyway. But it doesn't hurt to find out Yammie. If you hire me and find out I'm not the YES man you wanted then you can simply turn around and fire me. I mean if you only want and seek YES men that is. But remember, if you fire me think of the consequences? You will be back to square one with me badgering you again...

I think I've had too much sweets this evening. I better quit while I'm ahead...

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 06-06-2006).]

Mike

I thought the harmonies you did here are quite acceptable and convincing. Good job. I will have to try mine out some more.

Terry

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jam on,
Terry
http://www.artisans-world.com/