Scott

I think one day we WILL see Arrangers on TV. And I feel the Tyros is an Arranger that 'deserves' that type of spotlight and recognition. The sounds on the Tyros are quite simply amazing and that fine line or barrier if you will, between Synth Workstation and Arranger Workstation is diminishing and becoming more and more transparent and eventually will be gone IMO. The Tyros CAN be played without Style accompaniment much to people's chagrin and because the sounds are there it is able to compete with the best Synth Workstations for quality sound output IMO. And the Tyros is one of the best 'looking' Keyboards (Arranger or otherwise) that it would be a natural in front of the camera. But I think [one] of the things that holds the Tyros 'down' from being promoted on TV is once again the smaller Key size. 1/2" shorter over 5 octaves to a comparable Korg PA80 is a distance that IMO has to be reckoned with. Putting a Professional keyboardist in front of the Camera and especially if it is a Live broadcast, with a Tyros or other Yamaha Portatone Keyboard could possibly cause the Professional Keyboardist to think twice about his repertoire especially if it includes a complicated Classical or other sophisticated piece. Who wants to shell out clams when the President of the United States or some other dignitary may be in the audience? (I know, I know; I'm thinking BIG here) But clams can happen especially on a Keyboard that has smaller Keys even when an expert player is at the helm. The reason you see a Motif6 on TV is more than likely the music being heard is some type of Hip Hop, Funky Jazz, or Ambience/Synth Music and the Station playing it is catering to the 'younger' generation. You know; GenX, etc. And the person playing the Motif6 is probably in his teens or early twenties also. Either that or Yamaha sponsors the Group where the Motif6 was spotted on TV. Also the Key action on the Motifs are very good so half the battle is already won (the other half of the battle is having larger Keys). Btw, I really like the Key action on my Tyros too. It is way better than the PSR 2000/2100 and after comparing it with my Motif ES7 I feel the Tyros held its own against it.

So the conclusion to this would be:

"Larger size Keys on Yamaha's Arrangers would go a long way to promote and enhance their probability of gaining notoriety and National recognition not only from Professional Keyboardists but in obtaining National exposure to other Media; like TV, Concerts, etc. I think it is a Win Win situation if Yamaha implements the larger Keys on ALL of their Keyboard products. The only problem is convincing them of that reality.

Best regards,
Mike