Tapas, I can feel your passion in your post, You have brought me ten steps closer to owning a Tyros II.

Thank you, John C.

While I respect Tapas' opinions and observations about the Tyros 2, and especially appreciate the fact that he made it clear that this was just his opinion, I would stop short of recommending this, or any other arranger keyboard, to a friend based upon MY assessment of the quality of the styles, voices, ergonomics, looks, etc. Aside from being purely subjective, it does not take into account the NEEDS of the other person, which may be completlely different from one's own needs. For instance, there are a whole world of musicians out there who DON'T WANT to merely plug in a few chords and come out with a "finished CD". While I actually AGREE with most of Tapas's observations concerning the Tyros 2 (not the OASYS comparison), some of the qualities that he admires are the very ones that have made me relegate mine to a sound module, a glorified host for a few (sax, guitar) SA voices. This is not a knock of the Tyros 2 which I think could be a wonderful fit for some, but rather a caution to prospective buyers to go through the same rigorous (comparison) process that Tapas did rather than being caught up in the hype (as I was). After an initially shaky start, I have come to like my PA1x Pro with nearly the same passion as Tapas does with his Tyros2 and can truly say that I haven't touched my Tyros 2 more than a half dozen times since I got the Korg. In fact, on those rare times when I do swing around to play the tyros, I feel as though I DID just push a button on the CD player and that I'm not a part of the musical process that is happening. I also become very aware of the limitation of the 61 keys. There are unquestionably some features on the Tyros2 that I wish were on the Korg; I could say the same about my old G1000 (still an excellent board, in my opinion). There are so many components that go into making a keyboard appealing to one person and not another that I think you'd be hard put to make a unconditional recommendation to "buy this board". This may be the perfect keyboard for you but don't make a $3000 mistake (as I did) based on anything other than your own first-hand evaluation and your own personal needs. All of the above is just my opinion.

Peace,

chas

I personally, value everyone's opinions as well as their personal assessments of the keyboards they review. In most instances, the reviews are very subjective, provide lots of insight to the board's overall performance, and many of the particulars that you will not find in the manufacturers hype. I wouold hope to see much more of this in the future, thus providing forum members with lots of solid, first-hand information that will allow them to assess those individual findings, then apply those assessments and reviews to their particular demands or preferences, then make up their own minds.

All keyboards have their positive and negative aspects, and most have been pointed out by a host of forum members. Keep those posts coming sports fans--I love reading them!

Cheers,

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Upgrading from a PSR3000 to the Tyros2 I have to agree completely with Tapas' comments. I don't know if it is the instrumentation of the styles, but balances of all the voicing/mix is perfectly blended. The subtlety of each instrument is just right. Whatever Yamaha did to the Tyros1 styles that they tweaked for the Tyros2, somebody spent some real time and effort to make them sound so good. It's not just the SA voices either. I've played many Tyros1 premium pro styles I've had and many of them just seem to shine. When I finally got this keyboard I didn't see why it cost twice as much as the PSR3000 I loved. But after playing it for a month and downloaded some of the premium (and non-premium!!) styles using the IDC connection I am so glad to own it. I have never played anything that has made ME sound so good. Just another subjective opinion..........................-charley

Not to rain on da parade but...

You/we may want to rethink posting copyrighted
magazine articles that are not public on a publications web site. They tend to want to save that sort of stuff for their _paid_ subscribers.

.02

I am glad his comments about his tyros2 were all positive because i for one can clearly see he is not just saying that.He is passionate about his tyros2 and i needed to hear from other members what i myself had already suspected...that the tyros2 absolutely rocks! There is no nothing wrong with 100% positive posts if u absolutely love your keyboard

To answer DNJ's original question of how the sound modules work in relation to the Tyros2, I thought of making two demos showcasing the two different approaches.


Case-1: Using Sound Modules


Here is an example of taking a Standard MIDI File and rendering each track with programs and combinations from different sound modules. Since each track can be linked to a different sound module, one is free to tweak each voice with its own set of multieffects. The resulting Sonar project file plays back all the sound modules live.

Take A Chance On Me.mp3

In this approach you have unlimited freedom to select your own palette of voices, set the relative volume/pan/effect settings and mute certain tracks so that you can play live along with the other backing tracks. You can save different versions of your Sonar Project and even burn the WAV files to a CD and take them with you for your backing arrangements.


Case-2: Using Tyros2


Here is a simpler approach of picking a song from the Music Finder Database of the Tyros2, letting it auto select the right Style and Tempo, and engaging OTS to setup the panel voices.

Taking 'Love Story' as an example from the Music Finder, I am playing along with the selected Style = Epic Ballad, just inputting the lead part with my right hand and triggering the chord changes with my left hand.

Love Story.mp3

All it takes is one pass - no post editing, no quantization - all done in less than 4 minutes! You get instant gratification and a pretty decent result leveraging on the professionally arranged Intros, Fills, Breaks and Endings.

Herein lies the hidden power of an Arranger.

Armed with that famous 1200 Best Songs Fake Book from Hal Leonard, and a Tyros2, one can have endless hours of fun. Just select one of your favorite songs from the Music Finder Database, lookup the lead part and chord changes from the Fake Book and begin playing.

Since I am thoroughly familiar with both approaches, I can say without hesitation, the Arranger approach is a lot more efficient and a heck a lot more entertaining. Professional musicians who are not aware of the power and flexibility of modern arrangers are missing out.


Here are some high resolution photos of my studio.


Tapas



[This message has been edited by Tapas (edited 02-11-2006).]