I like the Intros & Endings on the Yamaha Tyros. Intro #1 provides a one measure intro and Ending #1 provides a one measure ending. This allows me to end the song the way I want to (I hit ending #1 on the last measure of my ending). On some other keyboards, the endings add 4 to 8 measures of ending that are very busy and often adds a whole chord progression. Many times I do not think the ending sounds like it belongs to the rest of the song.

I am considering the Korg PAX but many styles have long and busy intros and endings.

What kind of intros & endings do most arranger forum members prefer?

Jim

Can't you create your own styles (with intros endings,variations etc).
I thought most high end arrangers let you do that. But then again...It's been a long time since I played an arranger keybord.

-ED-

Good points Jim. It is one of the great selling points of the Yamaha boards, IMO. I use them all (not at the same time, of course) depending upon the style, song and my mood at the time. Some of the 2 -4 bar endings are very tasty...and by depressing the END button twice will give a sensible retard to most styles.

The Fill & Hit is a nice option if you want to your own custom ending.

I also like being able to use part of an intro as a fill between verses or at the bridge.

I got spoiled with the PSR 9000 which had dedicated buttons for each of the intros and endings. I believe the 2000, 2100 and Tyros all require selecting the desired intro/ending from the main menu if you want to deviate from the default....unless you have saved what you want into the User Style Memory. But, I can live with that, no problem.
Eddie

Hi Jim. Merry Christmas from California (the San Francisco Bay Area) ! Great topic! I rarely (if ever) use auto accompaniment intros, unless it contains an absolute essential intro tied to a specific well known cover tune, and even in these cases, I still prefer to play the intro live myself. I typically play 4 - 8 bar intro solos (played over auto accomp variation 1) over stock (I-VI-II-V) or more interesting chord substitution progression 'turnarounds' which lead into first chord of the song.


During the song intro is when the listener forms their initial impression (and subsequent judgement) of you as an artist/performer. For this reason, I almost always avoid utilizing canned intros, and if I do use them, my #1 rule is to make sure I'm playing the keyboard LIVE thru the intro as well.

On the other hand, I almost ALWAYS do utilize the Tyros auto accompaniment endings, but as with Intros, always make sure I'm playing the keyboard live thru the ending, either playing an instrumental solo or counter melody to what is being played in the auto accomp ending. I typically opt for 'Ending II' (2 bar ending ) or for a quick 1 bar song wrap, use 'Ending I'. I rarely ever use 'Ending III'.

A couple of other things I do for the intro is to start the song with the 'ACMP button' turned off which effectively means playing the keyboard with only 'drumkit auto accompaniment', and then turning on the 'ACMP button' adding the other rhythm section parts (bass, etc) at the next section of the song. Using the fade in/out feature is another effective alternative to intros & endings.

Great tip !



Though the 2000 & 2100 require you to select the desired ending from the LCD screen Main Menu , the Tyros allows you to select any intro/ending button variations 'on the fly' from dedicated physical buttons (3 intro & 3 ending). I find this feature a tremondous 'on the fly' Tyros performance ADVANTAGE which I really miss on the PSR2000.

I'd love to hear what others here do during the begining & ending portion of your songs. I trust none of you are just simply pressing the intro/ending buttons and 'chewing gum' to pass the time. - Scott

Sorry Scott to blow your bubble, but yes sometimes I do.

That's what an arranger is made for.
Some of the intros and endings in the Ballad category are beautiful,and thats all I do sometimes.
Sometimes I'll use intro/ending one, sometimes two and some times three and sometimes I'll play it myself.

Again thats the fun having an arranger KB.

Anyway Merry christmas to you too.

Eric

I hardly ever use intros--in fact, can't think of any I use. I do use intro 1 for a additional "break" very often.
Upon starting a song, I automatically open the intro-ending screen and select intro one, and usually ending one before starting the song.
There are certain songs when I use the other endings on certain styles, but I always play on top of them.
The lack of dedicated buttons for all intros and endings is the single worst feature on the 2K-21K. Even at that, it's better than the Korg PA80s intros/endings.
At at least the buttons are where you can reach them with the left hand, unlike Solton X1.
DonM

Jim,
On the Ketrons (X1 & SD1) it is similar to the Tyros, but on the SD1 is an extra 'to end' button that brings an immediate very short ending.

My impression on the Tyros was the intro's and endings did not 'fit' with the style variations..... e.g. very complex/long intro, followed by a 'poor' average style variation. It looks like Peter Baartmans put more work in intro/endings than in the styles.

About the PA1XPro intro's :
#1 lets you change chords while playing.
#2 has its own chord-changes so you'd better not change them manually.
I agree many of them just are too long.

Roel

I play my own intros ~ 70% of the time, the exceptions being for those songs where I know the canned intro is appropriate for the song... and which I'll always play along with, because it will sound better plus I don't want to be a "DJ" for even 4 measures.

For endings, I usually use the "To End" function, which provides a one measure ending/finish after my own ending. To be honest, I don't know if other KBs other than the SD1 have this item (it's not present on the XD9) but it's a great feature, at least for me when playing live.

Glenn

For me, this solely depends on both the song, style, and more important, the audience. However, I must admit that I enjoy many of the full intros, and some really fit certain songs. With some other songs, I might just open with a fill or even a break.

Cheers,

Gary

From the responses it seems that the keyboard should provide a choice (with dedicated buttons) of short one measure intro and endings and longer and more involved ones. Depending on the song, the player can choose the type he wants.
Sounds like Yamaha and Ketron are set up like this. I hope the KORG PAXPro gives the player this flexibility.
Jim