At the invitation of Yamaha, I went to Eindhoven raised to the dealer to attend the presentation Tyros 4. The room in the basement of the Van der Valk hotel there (bombproof?) Was a nice group of people from the music business gathered, and also the famous Yamaha demonstrators were present just to see how "Mister Tyros" Martin Harris that demonstration job would be done.
From the welcoming speech, I realized that Harris never before in the Netherlands had demonstrated a Yamaha keyboard, so I fell with my nose in the butter, I assumed. Finally, this was the man responsible for (among others) the 4 Tyrosmodellen so far have come true, so if anyone knows anything of that device, he must be.
Without going too much into detail, told Harris that the look of the Tyros 4, while not earth-shattering was new, apart from the blue buttons (according to Harris because of a fairly large number of men (7%) that red / green color blindness is suffering and thereby difference between on / off the old models could not see), but the major innovation under the hood sits. That's of course an open door, otherwise you make no new models.
A fast processor (with a Yamaha stamp on it, so fans: what exactly is unclear) for faster operation should provide (eg menus, switching sounds etc) but also to prevent glitches and missing notes occur when switching variations, fills, etc. Something that (according to Harris) in the Tyros 3 sometimes happens with complex styles. I need him at his word, but perhaps Tyros 3-owners there say something about it.
What speed is also beneficial to use only Flash memory. This means that the Tyros 4, unlike previous models, no longer using the 'normal' (DIMM) RAM, which is not first of all must be loaded, but all the data you put you put just immediately be searchable since then. A bit like a USB stick to store data, so to speak.
Furthermore, Harris said some things we already knew, such as a dual memory (512 MB, not Mb as shown on the beamer was :-)) and a 250 GB hard drive (HDD with a USB interface, but built of course ). 6 MB internal memory, well, read the spec sheets and you know what we are talking about.
But then how does that sound? Well to be honest, I was quite disappointed that a Yamaha in my ears not so best amplification system was put down for the Tyros. It was (I think) no Stagepas but whatever it was, I found the sound disappointed. He could not help the Tyros, I got him later on his own just listened to speakers, and that's a different story.
As so often with demonstrations of such instruments, Harris began the new Grand Piano. This comes from the CLP series, has many more samples per key (velocities) and evaporator / note off samples received. And sounds fantastic. Can there be anything else of it. Velicity the curve has changed, so playing this Grand particularly easier in the sense of playing soft passages and the "deposit" of dynamic variations.
Anyway, it gradually passed quite a few 'tones' are reviewed. Everything is 'cleaned up' or completely re-sampled, while the "Real" tones the most striking and beautiful. That's because Yamaha ambient sampling "discovered, meaning they no longer (as they apparently did before) an instrument sampling with a microphone as well as in the instrument, but they a short distance the sound wrote was so the reflections of the room (the "ambience") is meegesampled. And a lot of snap sounds very much on, I must admit
There are such new drum kits in the instrument, and verdulleme if it is not true: for the first time I heard drums in a style of Yamaha. "In your face, banging, bright, and no longer present (as I sometimes wrote) as the drummer in an adjoining room was ticking. A rock-style is just a rock style, and with that I would be on a sound stage.
Harris also striking that concisely why the Yamaha sound could not tempt me before: the 'polished', flatter, less dynamic, even the term "CD-production" came along. (I almost fell off my chair :-)) And there is now (partly) changed. Good thing! That makes the Tyros just versatile, I think.
From the demos it was already clear, but Harris also made quite an emphasis on: the 'Vocals' in the new Tyros. A (to my taste) most of the second part of the demonstration was about the doo-whaps, probably because there Harris from a developer's vision is very excited about. The underlying technology is also clever, with a randomizer which doowhap different variations and alternate scat-what a realistic vocal accompaniment and / or right result. Some voices have a regular series of sounds that follow one another (so you each count a different sound gets "Doo-whap-schi-wap ', and if you set a certain time interrupts (because the measure is not perfect with those sounds example), the sequence is reset so the next size up nicely again at the beginning of the series is. Can you still follow?
Only ... After three examples I knew it
Interesting were the stories about the sampling of the choirs. A male was sampled in Münster, basses, tenors, all apart, and they're all on their own place on the keyboard again. With a movie during the sampling sessions was made Harris showed what a maddening and time consuming it is. And all ambient sampling ", ie the reflections of the cathedral there. Harris then hit a chord on the Tyros 4, with the result of all this work, and fl * md ... exactly the same.
In Münster, the women were sampled, Harris said. Only ... who were not as good. So the whole circus went to Estonia, where a boys choir was recorded. Anyway, these things are fun to know.
Harris also told where the insane (and very useful!) Gospel choir was recorded. You'd think one month long search through churches in the United States here at the base would be, but surprise surprise ... the gospel choir in the Tyros 4 is contained in Rotterdam. What exactly is the chorus, did not indicate otherwise. But they are good!
The Vocal Harmonizer from the Tyros 3 is, as Harris put it, "thrown in the trash. There is a completely new module for the Tyros VH 4 developed, which now also is useful for women's voices. Also was demonstrated, but only with the movie that we all have seen before. Harris can not sing himself, so he was limited to demonstrating the synth-vocoder. Funny as a gimmick, but more than one time in one night you should not use that thing, I think.
Good to know that all the 'tones' in the Tyros 4 just more playable, not just in styles. That was often a point of criticism, as I have read and heard all good.
Obviously, Harris also about other things had only the vocals, he is more than three hours have been speaking, and in addition there was great guitars (one sampled Telecaster of 60,000 pasteurianus's, so that the guitar will not lie) typical sixties organs ("Light My Fire" by The Doors can now be put permanently in the repertoire), beautiful 'tuned percussion (vibraphone with engines, redesigned glockenspiel, xylophone ditto ...). The organ section is even an organ Wersi Helios included "Oh well why not?" Said Harris.
With the threat as an ongoing advertising Yamaha sound anything: I think the Tyros 4 is much more than 'just' a bit polished Tyros 3. Using the ambient sampling and a very marked improvement in the possibilities for him as a real 'live' sounding beast has the Yamaha Tyros versatility in my eyes. Excellent for on stage, but just as great for the clean mastering in a studio environment.
Absolutely nothing to whine then? Well, not following what Harris had seen and heard. But to be honest: even in that more than three hours, he's not all show. I would take a few days to play around to see if the drum mixer makes it nice, or allocating instruments, editing it, recording, MIDI facilities etc etc I love it.
Too bad, I think the screen is still no touch screen, and that I am still a bit "wobbly" across. But that is something that in practice, mainly to prove, and I have just enough hands-on experience to do something meaningful to say.
Also important: The first four Tyros serve from October 15 in the shops, and not as previously reported Oct. 1. That's because Yamaha European 'launch' in stores in all countries simultaneously will take place to trade "fairer" to proceed (and to prevent that for example, German customers drive to the Netherlands because he is already on sale).
Harris and Martin himself? Nice man. Accessible, was not red when I brought it up Roland and functions of the E-80 compared with the Tyros 4 :-), took time for a chat and a pretty decent moppie play. His presentation was slightly less smoothly than we are accustomed Voncken example, many little "more about that later on" (as he then forgot), but all in all a very entertaining afternoon in the Eindhoven area. Only those seats ...
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PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!
K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)
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