Ok, here's the REVIEW:
Now that I'm back in Finland and a full day has passed since my first encounter with the Tyros2, I feel like I'm in a reasonable state of mind to produce a short report. As Scott and Kenneth know after our Skype conference from last night, right after the show it was pretty much "whooah it's just so f*cking good man!". I feel I owe you people a little more than that.. so let's start my journey from Fenchurch Street railway station in downtown London.
I got on a train to Westcliff-on-sea, which is about 20-30 miles east of London. A small idyllic very English looking coastal town in Essex. Weren't there any Tyros2's in downtown London? Whatever the case, this is where the sales department from Yamaha UK directed me.
Westcliff-on-sea. Typicial little English town with Fish'n'Chip shops:
The dealer was called MusicLand, and apparently they have several stores around southern England. I soon found the shop and walked in, and there in front of me was the Tyros2 in flesh and blood.. or polymers I guess. We all know what it looks like now, but let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint. But how does it feel like?
My contact over there at Music Land (he's registered here on Tyros2.net as cobwebs2222, and I've already forgotten his name, sorry m8) soon greeted me, and after having made the mandatory cracks about Finland and reindeers and what not, he proceeded to give me a little demo. He played through a series of styles, showed how the Super Articulation effects are triggered in several different ways (key velocity, modulation wheel, SA pedal) but I didn't really learn anything new. I was just dying to get my own hands on the damn thing, and he was sitting there insisting on demoing it for me!
Well finally he stepped aside, and I took the seat. They weren't using Tyros2's own speaker set, but instead had it hooked to a small PA setup which worked well. There I was sitting in front of the thing we've all been dreaming about for so long. For a brief moment it seemed like I had just taken control of a space shuttle or something, as I had no idea what to do with the keyboard. Silence. I lifted my hand and quietly pressed down one single note.. you know, to make sure it works. A brass sound greeted me and broke the silence in the store. Geez come on, whaddya waiting for - I thought to myself. It's not like you never played a Yamaha arranger before man, get a fcukin' grip! My mind was a blank, but then I remembered Martin Harris playing the ClassicBigBand demo from one of the bootlegged videos.. "use the force, Wolf" he said, so I chose the style, applied one touch settings, and away I went. I hammered the keys and got those "shakes" from the Super Articulation BigBandTrumpet just like Martin. What an amazing sound, and an even more amazing feeling. Next, I tried some of the guitar sounds. The fret noises appeared out of nowhere pretty randomly in suitable places, I didn't have to worry about that. Hitting the pedal produced a knock on the guitar body itself. I let my fingers free and it felt like the Tyros2 was leading them. The keyboard feel was just so good, it actually made me play better than I really do. It felt more responsive somehow.. it's hard to describe. It's like I had become part of the instrument. Nothing like this ever happened with my old PSR-3000.
I'm not sure how much time passed, I just kept playing and playing. There was no end to it. Whenever I punched in a new style, there were dozens of songs lined up in my head to match that style. Who needs the Music Finder Well, speaking of which, I did try it a couple of times. And it was good news for Scott Yee and the rest of us, it no longer jumps to the first record if you leave the music finder and come back. Relating to the Music Finder, there's also a feature now called "repertoire", which means that after choosing any style, you can press a single button and it pulls up all the songs from the Music Finder that match that style. No more guessing what to play with any particular style.
Unfortunately the guys at MusicLand didn't have a hard drive installed, so I couldn't take a look at the HD recorder settings. I was told it was 4-track, but then later in the evening, 2-track. Go figure. Also they didn't have a microphone attached either, so I couldn't sing and test the allegedly improved Vocal Harmony. Again, later on I was told the vocal harmony has hardly changed at all. I'm guessing there's a few more presets to choose from, but the technology has remained the same. However this is pure speculation on my behalf.
I had played for some hours, then felt like having a pint so I left the store for a while to find a good pub. After an extra smooth pint of John Smith's, I returned to the store - again discovering the Tyros2 without a player (I guess these saturday launches in small Essex countryside towns never get too busy ) so I resumed playing. And I'm sorry, I probably should have taken the time to look inside the various menus.. settings, voice creators, sampling, etc. etc. but not once did I even enter the "Functions" menu. I'm sorry friends. I didn't even realize it but the Tyros2 just made me play it (or is it her now) until it was time to close the shop and get ready to leave for the launch show. Well, I felt like having some fish & chips (since I was in England) and so had a huge battered cod & chips & vinegar & salt and another pint.
When I got back, the store was closed and "cobwebs2222 the musicland-guy " was waiting for me by his car. He was nice enough to give me a lift to the launch venue, even though I forgot to bring him reindeer meat. On the backseat of his car was non other than Tyros2 herself. The drive to Crays Hill took somewhat half an hour, during which we talked mostly about the Tyros2. He confirmed that the hard drive can be any standard 2.5" drive, so it's not an expensive proprietary accessory. We also talked about Michel Voncken, Martin Harris and other cool stuff.
When we got to the venue, we met up with another bunch of MusicLand guys, as they were building the setup for the night's show. One of them (apparently cobweb's boss) said they already had enough Tyroses there, and we brought the one on the backseat for nothing. For a while they pondered what to do with it, at which point I helped them to solve the problem by offering to buy the "extra" Tyros2 off their hands This was the first of my several direct purchase offers for these demo units, which were all rejected. I just would have wanted to walk away with a Tyros2 from there.. but it seemed like it wouldn't happen without first committing some horrible crimes.
What are we gonna do with this extra Tyros2??:
Well, people started showing up, maybe a couple of hundred, mostly pensioners. I thought I had come to some retirement home meeting. MusicLand guys said this was expected and completely normal in the UK at least. That's weird. I was left thinking why do gramps and grannies play arrangers. What do young people play?
The hall had a very good looking main stage with Yamaha backdrops etc. and the "main Tyros2" connected to four Yamaha MSR100 speakers, and three other "hands-on Tyroses" which would be available for everyone to play around with after the presentation. Richard Bower was the man on stage, and it was time to begin.
First, Richard played several Super Articulation instruments solo, talked about the technology behind it, cracked some jokes.. he was very enjoyable to watch. Enough with the talking. He proceeded to take us through a medley of songs, which all sounded fantastic, with only one-touch settings and no sequencing or special registrations. The way he spontaneously utilized some Super Articulation effects left the audience in awe, unable to believe their ears (or hearing-aids ) Everything sounded good. If there was a bad sound in the Tyros2, at least I hadn't heard it all day. At the end of his bit, Richard played a special organ medley, demoing new styles such as the OrganBossa and several unbelievable organ voices. I was personally interested in the Tyros2's Hammond section, because I plan on playing this keyboard in a band also.
After the "formal" presentation was over, the crowd was unleashed to try the Tyros2's themselves. I grabbed another Guinness at the bar and mingled with the crowd, talking to several of the very nice MusicLand guys, as well as interviewing Richard Bower for a while. He gave me a Tyros2 demo CD, which contained basically the same stuff as the "Radio Show" tracks some of us have heard. I asked if he knew about any plans of a Tyros2 "module" or some kind of rack synth with this amazing Super Articulation technology, and he said that anything like that isn't planned, and "will never happen". I didn't know if it was a good thing or not. I mean strange that a corporation wouldn't share its technology across departments.
Richard Bower explaining some Tyros2 details:
Another thing I was curious about was the "Text Viewer" feature. I asked Richard about it, and he said it would supposedly accept .TXT files, which might contain lyrics and/or chords, and they would be displayed on the Tyros2 screen. Even he had never really tried it, so I got my 1 Gig jump drive and loaded a text file on it (created with Notepad) and Richard then loaded it into the Tyros2. Sure enough, the text file contents appeared very clearly and nicely on the screen, and you could change the pages with the "TAB" buttons on the top of the screen, or assign a foot switch for that. I found this an extremely welcome feature.. this means I can go out gigging without the music stand & clumsy fake books & folders & papers blocking the view to the audience. Instead, just read the lyrics and chords from the Tyros2 screen!
Again, Richard didn't sing or demo the vocal harmony at all, and when I asked him about it, he said it's basically unchanged. Also, there were no hard drives in any of the hands-on Tyroses either so again I couldn't test the recording functions. Richard however said it is 2-track, and no editing is possible afterwards, for instance if you want to reduce the volume of your vocals. That kind of sucks, I really would have hoped for at least a 4-tracker.
Finally Richard had to pack up and leave, as he had another Tyros2 demo at midnight somewhere else. We shook hands, and I thanked him for his superb performance. He then agreed to take a picture of me, so you could all see I've actually touched the Tyros2 and all this isn't just fiction! So here, the Tyros2 (that Richard played) & TheWolf & half-a-pint of John Smith's (photo by Richard Bower):
Well friends, that just about concludes this report from my Tyros2-journey to the UK. To finish the perfect night, an extremely nice retired couple gave me a lift back to London, and even invited me to their home to have a few whiskeys and play with their Tyros1. A huge thanks to Ken & Margaret Mohammed, I really enjoyed giving my own little performance at your home! Thanks also goes out to MusicLand for having me over, especially "cobwebs2222-the-musicland-dude" whatever your name is.. I'm sorry I didn't call you back today as my phone's battery completely died on me. Those of you who want a Tyros2 in November at a good price, call MusicLand at +441702334488 and tell 'em Wolf from Finland gave you the number, they'll cut you a good deal on a Tyros2!
Ok fruit cakes, talk to you later on Skype maybe. Just add "hkahkola". And one last thing: GET THIS KEYBOARD! I know I will. Cheers!
thewolf
[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 10-02-2005).]
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