A few weeks ago, I decided to rewrite the bulk of my custom drum styles to include the "one touch" sounds that I really use the most, instead of the ones that came with the styles from the factory. Whew .... quite the chore. I'll share my madness:

1) I am a Rhodes "go to" guy. 90% of my night is EP driven. I just love the sound, and it blends well with my voice.
2) I still enjoy the simple acoustic trio sound of piano, bass and drums so I set up my "start up" patch to be a brighter than classical, jazzy acoustic piano sound in full KB mode. Many nights before I play any drums or bass, I will warm up a room with gentle acoustic noodling and maybe do a ballad before I start the drummer.

So ... I have the piano set to the "My Setting" (default) patch that fires up first. If I make any changes during a performance, I can always get back to that starting point by hitting this button, so in essence, there are really 5 STS settings for me available. I chose:

1)piano
2)rhodes
3)organ w/leslie (not too percussive)
4)sax section
5)brass section

These 5 STS settings will not affect the split point, arranger mode or any other style element, other than my RIGHT HAND sound. I can slip in and out of a tune, play a solo or different feel for a different section and always get back to home base, whether it's piano or Rhodes. I like it, I like it a lot.

Then, for more variety, there's always the 3 right hand tones available, so more sonic fluff is always there at my fingertips. Unless a song is "sound specific" ... I start with a generic trio of piano (Rhodes on top), bass and drums. It's a great time saver for me to have all these "bread and butter" sounds ready for instant recall. Time well spent.

Dave, you're using PA900 right?

Funny & interesting how different we all play and setup our arranger KB's for performance...what one does the other doesn't even come close to using ha !! that's what makes playing an arranger so much fun, so many choices.......nobody is right or wrong....bottom line is to produce great music.

Yes, Don ... it's the PA900. That "My Setting" was a cool new feature they added. Gives you a "go home" from anywhere. It's like a get out of jail free card!

I have two registration sets, (each one has 8 sounds) with sounds from the same category, but varying in important ways.

The first set is: Live!Grand Piano, SA ConcertGuitar, SA2 BreathySax, Live!Strings/Strings layer, SA2 Harmonica, SA2 JazzTrumpet, SA Telecaster, SA WhiterBars.

Second set is for more aggressive/danceable tunes, and consists of: Live!Grand Piano, SA JazzClean Guitar, SA Rock Sax, Live!Strings/Strings/SympHorns layer, SA2 Blues Harmonica, Live!Pop Brass, SA Guitar Hero, SA Prog Rock Organ.

Any special/unique sounds are programmed in the style's OTS.

Volume pedal active on RH sounds only. Sustain on RH and LH.

I also have the above registrations programmed without Volume pedal active.

All setups are stored on-board in User Bank, on the Tyros4's HD, on two Flash-drives, and on my PC.

It took a while to get everything balanced the way I like it, but, now, once it's done, I can focus totally on playing and recording.

Ian

Good plan!

Same goes for your setup Dave...it's really neat to be able to customize these instruments to suit our particular needs, no matter what they may be.

Makes playing a gig flow right along.

We've come a long way from only a few sounds to choose from, limited styles, and minuscule user storage.

Ian

Ian, of course you know you could put all 16 voices in a single registration bank, because you have the option of right 1 and right 2, and if I recall, right 3 with the Tyros series, so that would allow 24 custom voices in single bank.

Gary

Gary,
That would mean having an extra button push to decide what upper voice was needed, right? Ian's way keeps him in EZ mode or dance mode with one push per selection. At least, that's the way I understood it. I love the options with several RH sounds. Most of my extras are strings and pads, unless it's a combo sound, like a horn section.

Of course, you are correct, Gary.

I do have other sounds along with Right 1 for several of the registrations...for instance, I have a Live! Strings patch under the Piano in reg #1 that is set to a slightly lower volume so I can add it as a layer.

Also, my SA Concert Guitar in reg #2 has a Dark Fat Saw synth sound available to layer with it.

I will probably keep adding other sounds to R2 and R3 on the other registrations, and after I've lived with them for awhile, and tried them on tunes, I will store them permanently.

Thanks for the tip AND the reminder.

Ian

You are correct too, Dave...I tend to devote the reg buttons to specific R1 sounds, and then use R2 and R3 for sounds to layer with R1.

For example, my reg#6 has R1: SA2 Jazz Trumpet, R2: SA Soft Horns, R3: Oberheim Strings.

I can add one or both in most cases...volumes are set for maximum blending, as are effects and panning.

It's getting the fine details right that take so much time, but once done, and stored...away we go!

Ian

I tried several ways of handling registrations, OTS and user voices a number of years ago and simplified it as follows:

I use one set of registration memory (preset) buttons.

1 piano 1 octave lower, piano, string.
2 Jazz guitar, vibes, another guitar
3 George Shearing block chords
4 Glenn Miller reed Section w harmony
5 Sax Section w harmony
6 Saxes octave unison
7 Trombone section w harmony
8 Brass section w harmony

I have about 30-40 of my favorite solo voices saved under User Voices. By pressing the harmony I have the desired harmony or effect for each instrument ready also.

At this time I have the instruments grouped according to type such as keyboard instruments, guitars, harmonica, reeds, brass, misc. I use a number and/or letter before the actual voice name to force them into the order I want to easily find each instrument quickly on the fly.

This allows me to easily find any instrument I want to use in a flash. Although I tend to use the same sounds for each genre most of the time, this set up allows me to pick anything that pops into my head that seems right for the moment.

Here is a link that shows how I originally used the User Voices about 12 years ago.

http://www.psrtutorial.com/sty/OF/Vpsr2k.html

Another nice feature on the Tyros 4 is if you push on the style button you are using it has a button where it will show you the factory OTS setting for all four buttons. No more guessing or memorizing needed. I use this once in awhile just for variety. The have some great sounds all set to go that really fit each style.

I have changed only a few OTS settings as the above method is so simple to get around and a lot less work.

Scott

Yup - I'm glad to be reminded that the manufacturers give us all these "suggestions" to inspire us to create, but the actual CREATION is up to us, the player. We should all take advantage of the editing capabilities on these instruments if you feel that something is lacking. Chances are ... "It's IN there!" (hiding ... waiting for YOU to unlock the potential!)

As the BK-9 gives you a separate bank of eight 'Favorite Tones' for UPR1 UPR2 LWR and MBASS. On the whole, I don't need to mess with the OTS just to have my favorites ready to go. I can use them for more specific things, for instance changing from Split to Full, or LH bass, etc..

Seems a PITA to have to duplicate all that work for every style you use, just to get easy access to your eight favorite sounds...

Well, to be fair - the program patches are so easy to call up, and they won't change a drum style unless you tell it to, so in effect, the list is much larger than just the 5 on the front panel. With the touchscreen open to the program page, you have a full load of tones in an instant, plus the dedicated buttons on the face of the unit. I'd be hard pressed to need more than 5 sounds in any ONE song, but if the need arises, it's really not hard to execute.

Now that I think of it - Korg even lets you tell the program bank to load the first sound instantly, if you choose, so really - you have every sound bank available as a "Favorite" patch too. That's about 20 favs at your fingertips.

That's the way I do it Dave. I have a favorite sound in each of the Programs that automatically comes up when I touch the Program Bank. So touch Piano, favorite Piano comes up, Touch Guitar, etc. I put any downloaded sounds or samples in Banks I don't use much, such as Lead Synth or Ethnic.
You can choose which sound of the Bank will come up when you select bank, and you have the option to instantly load last sound used, or just open the Bank and let you choose a sound. I also have it set to close automatically after selection.
It's a tossup whether this or the BK9 method is easier to call up, but the fact that the sounds can contain custom editing and effects tilts the scale toward the Korg in this regard. I haven't found a way to make the Favorites on the BK9 call up custom effects or edits. (But the BK9 factory defaults are quite good in most cases, whereas the Korg factory sounds seem to call for more help).

Yep, that's the downside to the Roland Favorites... ROM sounds and effects only. But you are right... on the whole, they are pretty much OK.

You MIGHT try a message to Richard and his Session Manager software on the R-A.com site. For the G70, it allowed you to copy OTS's into styles, I think in a batch format. A lot faster than doing it by hand, anyway...

Maybe he needs some encouragement to finish the BK version?

Part of the reason I play my arranger a lot, is not just to get the music down right...it's to learn the intricacies, the layout, and the shortcomings (and their subsequent workarounds) of the instrument so well, that playing it becomes second nature, and it is no longer any kind of an obstacle between me and the music I want to express.

Some tunes require a sort of planned choreography between buttons, sliders, keys, wheels and pedals.

It's like planning dance steps in a routine and going over and over them.

The more you rehearse, the less chance there is of a stumble when you actually perform.

Ian