Goodmorning to all. I have been reading the keyboard forum for a few days now and am encouraged to find others who have so much background knowledge of arranger keyboards. I just purchased a new PSR 2000 which arrived last night. This is mt first arranger keyboard. Just so you know what you're dealing with here, I have played piano since I was 6 years old. I am not a big techno type person. I play the clavinova yamaha cv-107 in a contemporary Christian band every weekend at church and at other functions. I bought the PSR 2000 so I could make arrangements at home in order to fill out some thin areas in our performances and to get into song writing and recording. I know the clavinova has all the arranger features, but to be honest, it is not as user friendly as the PSR. And, I believe the PSR is compatible with the CV-107 and whatever I arrange at home, will transfer to the other keyboard. So, for you experts out there, is there a clavinova site that is as dynamic and informative as this site? Next question, not related, How do I get the effect of a cymbal roll that crescendos from soft to loud then fades away on the PSR. It is on the demo. Is that another sample they used or can I do that on the keyboard. Thank you in advance from a struggling beginner

B2

B2,

Welcome. This is an awesome Forum to be a part of. You'll learn so much here with all these great people. I am also an experienced player, but new to the arranger world. I am also a new PSR2000 owner (two days). Maybe we could share stories and experiences on our new 'baby'. All I can say is I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. Please keep in touch.

Angelo

To get a lot of the effects you get on the demo, you will surely need an external sequencer.
One suggestion is to play the midi part of the demo on an external sequencer such as Cakewalk, and then look at the midi events to see what they did.
With Cakewalk you can paste in a fast succession of cymbal hits, you can put two cymbals on left and right channels, you can adjust the balance and volume with a stroke of the mouse.
I suspect myself that when Yamaha and other big keyboard makers create their styles and their demos that they plug midi drums, midi guitars, midi horns, midi flutes, and other midi instruments into the keyboard and go from there.

Larry

Angelo,
we're practically next door neighbors....Thanks for responding so quickly. I must admit I am overwhelmed by the keyboard right now...but am becoming more comfortable as the hours pass. My biggest desire is to be able to create songs and fills on this instrument and have it sound good/natural and not sound like the music is coming from a $100 music box...you can have all these great sounds, but if you can't mix and edit them, and effectively use the accompanyments, so that they sound GOOD....i'd be better off just playing the piano....I have learned so far, that I get farther by following NIKE's advice JUST DO iT. The manual helps more after I've floundered and come to a dead end. I find it tough to begin there. Any techniques you have will be greatly appreciated. Good Luck!

Brian

Brian,

Baby steps...that's how I'm attacking it...baby steps...

Beakybird,
As a beginner, this is what I am ignorant about, I am familiar with cakewalk, and I guess what you're saying is, for the keyboards to be real effective, they are not "stand alone" solutions. Do I in fact need a computer sequencing tool such as cakewalk? My next question is this, How do you manage your song creation process? Example, can you take me from the start of your process to finish. Looking for techniques and recommendations. What do you record first, then how do you store , mix, edit and record your music. You don't need to get into intense details, just an overview with some recommended reading or web sites that will educate me more. I am quickly becoming a sponge in my free time. Thanks for your response. I look forward to your comments

Brian

Brian, welcome to our family! You'll like it here.
One way to get the cymbal roll would be to play it on the keyboard and record it into one of the Multipad locations. You will have to experiment--find the right cymabal sounds, and practice the technique, but it certainly can be done.
DonM

Don,
I just checked out the website. What a great career and wonderful service you and your partner provide. Good Stuff!!!! Thanks for the suggestion. When I get home, I'll try it out. Brian

I do recommend Cakewalk. Hopefully, someone will create Cakewalk instrument definitions for the PSR 2000 soon. If no one else does it, I will.

You don't have to spend a real lot of money, but I recommend Pro Audio 9 at least if you're going to record audio. Buy it, read the manual in your spare time.

What I do for songwriting is I find a style that comes closest to the song idea I have. I record the chord progression and style onto Cakewalk. Then I edit. Do I want the drum roll from another style or another midi file? I copy and paste it into the measure. Is there a special break or build up that I couldn't express through the prefab Yamaha style, then I play it or paint it with my mouse in the appropriate measures. Do I have a better bass idea? I punch it in where I want it. Do I want the song to slow down towards the end? I go to the tempo view in Cakewalk, and with the stroke of my mouse, the song slows down.
I use Cakewalk to select other instruments because with a big computer screen, you can see a lot more of what's available inside the PSR 2000. You can select other channels on your computer screen to insert extra parts.
You need to decide how far you want to go to get what you want. Maybe your song fits perfectly with a style. But if one style fits better for the verse, and another fits better for the chorus, then it's great to use Cakewalk. You can record the verse on one file. REcord the chorus on another file and paste them into the same file and do some editing to make it all smoothe.
REmember when you transpose with Cakewalk, don't transpose your drums! It will sound horrible!

Good luck,

Larry

Larry, thanks for the reply...

Anyone else have a view? I'll be up front with all of you....I feel dumb as a rock here....what does instrument definitions mean...if I buy cakewalk....will it work with the 2000 or not? how is XG works?...and lastly, with the editing functions on the keyboard, does one really need a pC editor??? Based on beaky bird's comments, PC sequencing and editing is easier and should I add better???

I'll take any and all thoughts...just trying to sort out the "what do I really need?" questions....

Thanks for the kind comments!
There are much lower-priced alternatives to Cakewalk--such as Powertracks Pro, about $29.00. I haven't found much it won't do, and it is quite user-friendly. You can check it out at: www.pgmusic.com
DonM

Yamaha also sells XG works 3 at around 80 dollars or so. It does not do audio but has a fairly decent sequencer in it. It's appeal for me though is that it also allows xg editing, which allows you to add insertion effects, patch ( voice ) changes and synth edits ( aka patch or sounds ) that are more detailed than what you can do on the board itself, panning and effects on individual drum sounds, etc. I use it in conjunction with N track studio, which is a multitrack audio recording program that also has a sequencer and goes about 50 or 60 bucks. I'm glad noe that I did not sell my XG software with the board, because I mistakenly believed that the board had all of the synth edit capability of XG editing.

AJ

Thanks Don...I'm going to check it out right now. I didn't mean to clog up this forum with editing/sequencing questions. I noticed the other forum on this web page.

AJ, Thanks for the tips...I shopped around today and noticed a 199 buck software package and then some mid level 50-80 dollar stuff. Thanks for pointing out the lack of audio with XG...Cheers B2