12 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2008

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p The operating system of Tyros/Tyros2, PSR1/2/3000, S700/900 series keyboards andCVP200/300/400 series Clavinova digital pianos have a great deal in common - so we hope thisworkshop will be of benefit to owners of each of these instruments.

(part 13)

I recently heard a CD of Nat King Cole’s daughter, Natalie,singing a selection of her father’s music. One of thetracks, “L-O-V-E” appealed to me and I started to tinkeraround with it on the keyboard. You’ll know the one...

“L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see...” etc.

Having worked out the melody and chords I set aboutcreating a registration that would suit the song. Asyou’ll find, if you follow this workshop, this took meinto some interesting areas of the Clavinova. Ofcourse, it can all be done on the other keyboards andClavinovas listed at he top of this page too.

Choosing a style

This is trial and error, pure and simple. I guessed fromthe style of the song that I’d find something in the[Swing & Jazz] category, and sure enough I sooncame across ‘Classic Big Band’ - a style that suited thesong very well except that, at its default tempo of 120bbm (beats per minute) it was a little slow. Natalie Colesings this at just under 160 bpm so I increased thetempo accordingly.

Having played through the opening bars of the song afew times I decided that, even in the ‘Main A’ variation,there was too much going on in the accompaniment -so I pressed the [Channel On/Off] button to get avisual display of the style parts.

The rhythm was just right and, because it was playedmainly on brushes, it had a light, bouncy feel.

The bass, played on acoustic bass, gave a nice andeasy ‘two to the bar’ feel too.

Meanwhile, a Jazz Guitar in the Chord 1 sectionstrummed, four beats to the bar. Excellent.

Then it started to go wrong...

Whilst there is nothing programmed for the Phraseparts of this style the long sustained Sax Section chordsin the Pad part tended to draw my ear towards thissound - swamping the melody in the process. And Idecided I could certainly live without the Piano hits in theChord 2 section - at least for the first part of the song.

I switched these parts off again... and had a think.

Adapting the style

After playing the tune through a couple more times Idecided that the drums, bass and strummed jazzguitar would suffice for the first time through - but thatat bar 17 (“Love is all that I can give to you...”) I’d liketo add some strings and bring the Chord 2 sectionPiano back in to give the piece a bit of a lift.

First I tried switching the Sax voice in the Pad part tostrings. If you haven’t done this before...

1 Press the top part of the button under the screen adjacent to the ‘Pad’ style part. This shows you which voice is currently assigned to the part.

Nothing is programmed for the ‘Phrase’ parts in the Main A accompanimentpattern - even though icons are displayed The display shows that Live! Sax Section is the voice used in the Pad part

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

13FEBRUARY / MARCH 2008

2 It’s then easy to change the voice by selecting another (e.g. Strings) from the ‘Voice’ panel/display in the usualway. Once you’ve made your selection press the [Exit] button once to return to the previous display. The new sound will play in place of the old.

Although good in theory my plan didn’t work in this casebecause the original Sax voice had some built-inexpression changes that, when carried into a String voice,sounded... well, just wrong.

Time for ‘Plan B’.

Styles - Mix ‘n’ Match

I looked through lots of styles until I found one with asustained string part in the ‘Pad’ section. Ballads arealways a good source of string lines - and, sure enough, Ifound just what I was looking for in the ‘Easy Ballad’ style -‘Main Variation B’.

Making a note of this I headed for the ‘Style Assembly’function. If you’ve been with me since I first began writingfor Yamaha Club Magazine you’ll have been here before. Ifnot, follow me...

1 First I made sure the style I’d been working on (e.g. ‘Classic Big Band’) was still selected. That ensured thatthis style, and no other, was drawn into the Style Creator.

2 Then I selected, in turn, [Function] - [Digital Record Menu] - [Style Creator].

3 The Style Creator opened to reveal the ‘Basic’ page where my first job was to select ‘Tempo’ from the list displayed and increase the speed to 160 bpm.

4 Heading back to the Section/Pattern option I entered ‘Main A’ in the ‘Section’ column to tell the keyboard which part of the style I wanted to work on. Then I checked it by pressing the [Start] button on the ‘Style Control’ panel and listening to the style.

5 Then, I tabbed to the ‘Assembly’ page.

6 I first selected ‘Pad’ from the screen [button G]. Then, in the ‘Copy From’ area I selected ‘Main B’ in the ‘Section’ column - and ‘Pad’ in the ‘Channel’ column. This directs the keyboard to copy the correct parts of the ‘Easy Ballad’ style where I’d found my string part.

7 Next I pressed [button G] again (adjacent to ‘Pad’) andwas transported to a screen showing all the style folders - where I selected the one titled ‘Ballad’.

1: Press the [Function] button

2: Select Digital Recording

3: Then... selectStyle Creator

1: Select‘PAD’

[Button G]

2: Select ‘Main B’ and ‘Pad’ in the ‘Copy From’ column. 3: Make sure the part is switched ‘On’ in the ‘Play Type’ column.

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

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CCooff ffeeee TTiimmee QQuuiizz - No. 3 by Beverley Coombes

Girls’ names...

1. Neil Diamond was sweet on her... 2. She's amazing!3. You might like to come waltzing with her...4. Nat King Cole's girl went rambling...

5. The Everly Brothers' little girl wouldn't wake up...

6. The Beatles went down the lane with her...7. How do you solve a problem like this one?8. John Denver wrote a song for her... 9. Little Richard's girl was long and tall...10. Barry Manilow sent her away... 1) Caroline

2) Grace 3) Matilda 4) Rose 5) Susie 6) Penny 7) Maria8) Annie 9) Sally

10) Mandy

Answers

6 Once inside the Ballad folder I selected the ‘Easy Ballad’ style from the display.

7 Pressing the [Exit] button took me back to the ‘Style Assembly’ page - where I checked that ‘EasyBallad’ was selected as the source for the Pad part.

8 I checked again by pressing the [Start] button on the ‘Style Control’ panel to listen to the changes I’dmade. Now the ‘Pad’ part had a string sound in place of the original ‘Sax Section’ voice.

9 Before leaving ‘Style Creator’ I pressed button [J] tosave the altered style to my Clavinova’s User page.The style is saved here as a completely new style - so it’s wise to give it a new name too.

10 I pressed [Save] and, using the text characters provided, gave the style a new name - entering ‘Love’ (the name of the Natalie Cole song) - before selecting [OK] to confirm my action..

11 Pressing [Direct Access] followed by [Exit] took meback to the Main screen again.

Putting it together

Having created what was effectively a new style,purpose-made for the song ‘L-O-V-E’, it was time to linkit to some sounds and complete the project.

Registration 1:

I pressed one of the accompaniment style buttons(any style button) and tabbed to the ‘User’ page wheremy new ‘Love’ style was displayed - and selected it.

Next, after checking that the [Main Variation A] buttonwas selected on the ‘Style Control’ panel, I pressedthe [Channel On/Off] button and switched off all butthe Rhythm, Bass and Chord 1 (guitar) parts.

Then, choosing ‘Vibraphone’ as my melody voice, Isaved the setting in Registration Memory button 1.

Registration 2:

With the first registration setting safely locked in, Ipressed the [Channel On/Off] button once more - andswitched the Chord 2 (piano) and Pad (strings) partsback on - before storing this as my second registrationin Registration Memory button 2.

I’m going to stop here because we’ve covered thethings I wanted to show you. I carried on and mademore registrations, finishing the piece on MainVariation D with the whole band playing - but I’m sureyou’ll be able to do this yourself.

With any luck you’ll have managed to follow methrough this workshop. Don’t forget the Yamaha Clubnow has DVDs covering the basic ‘Files & Folders’ stuffso there’s no reason why you should be stuck on this.

Fig. 8

1: Save [Button J]

2: Name the style

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Add the Chord 2 (piano) and Pad (string) parts for Registration 2

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p The operating system of Tyros/Tyros2, PSR1/2/3000, S700/900 series keyboards andCVP200/300/400 series Clavinova digital pianos have a great deal in common - so we hope thisworkshop will be of benefit to owners of each of these instruments.

(part 14)

Do you ever get one of those pieces of music wherethe left-hhand chords change too quickly for you tokeep up? I certainly do and I know from the YamahaClub postbag that it’s not an uncommon problem.

As we also get many requests for features onsequencing I thought I might kill two birds with onestone and show you how to solve the problem ofrapidly changing chords by creating a chordsequence.

I’m back at the PSR-SS900 for this workshop - but if youtry it on your CVP Clavinova, PSR3000 or Tyros you’llfind that the procedure is just the same.

Preparation

I looked for an up-tempo piece of music with a simplebut effective sequence of left-hand chords thateveryone will know, even if they can’t play it - andcame up with Scott Joplin’s famous piano rag, ‘TheEntertainer’. You’ll know the one. It goes like this...

Next I checked the keyboard for a suitable sound andstyle (registration) setup. Naturally - you know me! - Itried the Music Finder list first, only to discover that thisfamous tune isn’t listed in the PSR-S900’s database.What an omission! Resorting to ‘Plan B’ I looked forthe names of other, similar pieces of music and, afteronly a couple of failed attempts, found ‘Maple LeafRag’ - also composed by Scott Joplin (fig.2).

The Music Finder setup suited ‘The Entertainer’perfectly - even the tempo is right.

Note: At this point I edited the Music Finder record tocreate a new entry for ‘The Entertainer’. As this hasnothing to do with the current exercise I’m not goinginto how this is achieved, but if you look back throughsome of my previous workshops you’ll find instructionsshould you wish to do the same. It’s also covered onthe Yamaha Club’s tutorial DVD ‘Getting Started -Exploring Music Finder’.

Before I begin recording I take a pencil and jot down an‘event list’ - showing the chord sequence and any Intros,Endings and Fill-ins I’ll need - so that when I actuallypress the buttons I’ll be fairly sure of where I’m going.

Here’s my event list for ‘The Entertainer’. Sorry it’s notthe full thing - but Glyn won’t want my workshop tocompletely fill his magazine...

[Intro 2] 4 full bar measures

Chords all half-bar measures:

[C] - [C7] - [F] - [C/E] - [C] - [G7] - [C] - [C] -

[C] - [C7] - [F] - [C/E] - [D7] - [D7] - [Fill A] - [G] - [G7] -

[C] - [C7] - [F] - [C/E] - [C] - [G7] - [C] - [C] -

[C] - [C/Bb] - [F/A] - [Fm/Ab] - [C] - [G7] - [C]

[Ending 2]

Note: Because the majority of the chords in myarrangement of ‘The Entertainer’ are of half-barduration I decided to enter them all as half-barmeasures - splitting the few full-bar measures into twohalves. I’ve marked my event list in red where thesame chord is played twice in succession and should,therefore, have been entered as a single full-bar chord.The only reason for halving them is to cut out the needto keep changing the value of the chord’s durationwhen I come to enter them into the program.

Creating the chord sequence

After making a final check of the style, tempo, etc., toensure the keyboard is set the way I want it, I pressthe [Function] button (fig.3).

C C7 F C/E

Fig.1

Fig.2

9APRIL / MAY 2008

Next, I select [Digital Rec Menu] from the display (fig.3) -followed by [Song Creator] (fig.4).

I ‘Tab’ to the [Chord] page (fig.5). The display shows that‘Ragtime’, the currently selected style, is already entered inthe display together with the style’s tempo.

So I select [Step Rec] from the display (fig.5).

I check that Intro 2 is entered in the display (fig.6) and, if not,enter it by pressing the [Intro 2] button on the panel.

At the bottom of the screen the Bar/Beat counter shows thatI am ready to record Bar 1.

Because my copy of ‘The Entertainer’ is written in the key ofC major I set the Intro to play in this key by pressing the fullbar symbol (a semibreve) and playing a C chord in the lower(accompaniment) part of the keyboard four times - once foreach bar of the Intro pattern (fig.7).

I can see that the Bar/Beat counter has moved forward witheach bar entered and is now showing me that I’m ready torecord Bar 5.

Next, I select the half-bar value from the bottom of thedisplay - and then I’m ready to enter the main body ofchords.

I work my way through the sequence of chords in myhandwritten event list, playing each chord once for each timeit is entered into the program (fig.8). At this stage I ignore theFill-in. I’ll come back to that later.

Note: I’ve included some ‘on-bass’ chords in myarrangement. If you know how to play these (using Ai or On-Bass fingering) they will add a level of sophistication to thesound of your performance - but don’t worry if you can’t dothis yet. Just play the basic chord. It’ll sound fine.

Fig.3

Fig.4

Fig.5

Fig.6

Intro 2 is entered in the display. The figure ‘4’ (circled) tells me that theIntro pattern is four bars long.

The bar/beat counter is positioned at Bar 1

Fig.7

Full bar (semibreve)Half bar (minim)Quarter bar (crotchet)Eighth bar (quaver)

Fig.8

Use the arrow button to return to the start of the sequence

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pOnce all the chords have been entered I press thearrowed button to return to the start of the piece (fig.8).

Then I press the [Start] button in the keyboard’s‘Song’ section (fig.9) to listen to the chord sequencefrom the beginning - and I play the melody along withthe sequence to check there are no errors.

If I detect a mistake I can use the arrow buttons in thedisplay to locate the problem (fig.10) and... (a) delete it, or(b) play the correct chord over the top to change it. Easy!

Once I’m satisfied that the chords have been enteredcorrectly I return to the start of the piece and use thearrow buttons to step through the sequence, chord bychord until I reach the point where I’d entered a Fill-inin my handwritten event list.

I press the [Auto Fill In] button on the panel and thenpress Main Variation [A] to insert the fill-in pattern inthe sequence (fig.11).

Next I return to the arrow buttons to scroll to the end ofthe sequence and position the cursor line on the lastchord in the piece (fig.12).

Now I press the [Ending 2] button to insert an Endingpattern as the last chord is played (fig.13). The displayinforms me that the ending pattern is of 4 barsduration but I don’t need to add the extra bars into thesequence as, once started, the ending runs to itsnatural finish anyway.

Fig.9

Fig.10

Fig.11

Fig.12

Fig.13

A professional touch...

When your sequence is complete the left-hand chords willbe played back automatically by the sequencer.

This provides a more advanced player with the opportunityto use his left hand to play a counter-melody over thechord sequence.

This can produce some very satisfying results andprovides as good a reason as I can think of why anaccomplished player might also benefit greatly from a pre-recorded chord sequence

11APRIL / MAY 2008

Completing the chord sequence

My sequence is now complete, but I must save it in thecorrect way or I won’t be able to use it in a performance.

Pressing the [Exit] button once takes me out of the StepRecord display and back to the Chord input page (fig.14).

I now select the [Expand] button from the side of the display. Aprompt asks: “Do you want to expand (convert) the data?” Ipress [Yes] and wait as the keyboard executes the task (fig.15)

Note: During Step Recording the program stores the data ina different format from that in which it stores and plays Songdata. When you ‘Expand’ the chord data is converted intothe standard MIDI data used by the keyboard’s Song Player.If you don’t convert the data you won’t be able to hear thechord sequence once you have exited the programmer.

Finally, I save the completed ‘Song’ by pressing [Save].

I am transported to the Song USER page where all my othersongs are kept. As you can see I only have one other songin my PSR-S900 - called ‘Telstar’ (fig.16).

I press [Save] and give my new song a name (after firstdeleting the default title ‘NewSong’ from the text box).

I confirm the name I have chosen by pressing [OK] and,after a few moments during which the keyboard executes thetask, I am returned to the sequencer’s ‘Chord’ display.

I press [Direct Access] followed by [Exit] to leave thesequence program and return to the Main display.

Now I’m ready to play along with the chord sequence I’vecreated...

Fig.14

Fig.15

Press [Expand] to convert the data - then press [Save].

Fig.16

Fig.17

How to call up the song for playback

2: Tab to the USER page - and select the Song file, ‘The Entertainer’.

3: Press the [Start] button in the [Song] section of the panel.

1: Press the [Select] button in the [Song] sectionof the panel (or select Song from the MAIN display page).

Models with Internet Direct Connection (IDC) already include a folderlabelled ‘My Downloads’ on this page where song files downloadedfrom Yamaha’s website are automatically stored.

9JUNE / JULY 2008

The operating system of Tyros/Tyros2, PSR1/2/3000, PSR-S700/900 series keyboards all have a greatdeal in common - so we hope this workshop will be of benefit to owners of each of these

instruments. Clavinova digital pianos, however, do not support Multipads.

(part 15)

Recording Multipads

A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ve Ma_

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Fans of classical music will instantly recognise the first couple of bars of Charles Gounod’s famous ‘Ave Maria’. We hear itevery Christmas - usually sung to the accompaniment of Bach’s first prelude (which is the piano part featured under the vocalline). It’s also a great favourite at weddings - which is how I came to find myself playing it at our local church one Saturdayafternoon in May.

The tune was obviously still in my mind as I sat down to begin my bi-mmonthly tutorial for Yamaha Club Magazine because Ibegan to tinker (as one does) with the various styles and found myself halfway through the piece before I realised. Now it’s noteasy to play both the ‘Ave Maria’ melody and the Bach piano part so I found myself looking for ways to achieve a similar effectand, before long, I turned to the PSR-SS900’s Multipads for the solution.

I don’t think people make enough of the multipads at the best of times (I’m sure I’ve said that before...) but I hardly ever hearof any Yamaha Club members programming their own custom-mmade pads for a specific tune. Anyway, based on the successmany of you seem to have enjoyed with my chord sequencing workshop, here’s another...

I began, as always, by searching thePSR-S900’s Music Finder list for ‘AveMaria’. I found it too... but don’t try touse it because it’s the wrong one.There are many Ave Marias and thestyle called up by the S900 is probablyintended for the equally famous pieceby the composer Schubert. Back tothe drawing board then.

1: Fortunately it didn’t take me long tofind a suitable setting because, right atthe start of the ‘A’s in the Music Finderlist, I found the title ‘A Comme Amore’which gave me the delightful ClassicPiano Ballad style... perfect (almost).

The Main Variation B was just aboutright for the accompaniment, but OTS3called up the ideal melody setting witha mix of oboe and strings. So that wasthe sound sorted out - and I stored itstraight away, for safe keeping, inRegistration Memory button [1].

Next I turned my attention to recordinga new Multipad set. I wanted to createa similar effect to the rippling pianopart in the Bach prelude.

If you want to try it for yourself this iswhat you do...

The Music Finder list is always the first place I look whenstarting a new arrangement. It can save countless hoursof auditioning sounds and styles and almost alwaysprovides a good initial registration setting.

1

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p2: Press the [Function] button andselect [Digital Rec Menu] followedby [Multipad Creator] from thedisplay. This calls up the MultipadCreator screen.

3: The currently selected multipadset is automatically drawn into thecreator but, as we want to start abrand new set, press the [NewBank] button for a clean page.

4: Select multipad [1] as this isthe pad we’ll record first. Then,using the [Tab] buttons, call up theEdit page.

We’ll be step-recording the notesinto the program - in much thesame way as we step-recorded thechords in my last workshop - sopress the [Step Rec] button.

5: Now it’s time to look at themusic. Unfortunately my copy isn’tmuch use because, in order forthe keyboard to work out chordchanges properly, any notationentered into either the ‘style’ or‘multipad’ creator programs mustbe based on a chord of C major.This means that, before we can goany further, we’ve got to transposethe music score into the key of C.

You’ll notice that I only transposedone bar of the music. The pattern ofthis basic ‘riff’ continues throughoutthe piece - and that makes it idealfor use as a multipad part. We’llrecord the one bar and and thenset it to repeat continuously. Duringour final performance the notes willadjust to match the chords we playin the accompaniment section ofthe keyboard.

6: The note values throughout thebar are semiquavers - anotherreason this pattern is ideal forsequencing - so we must selectthe [Semiquaver] note value in thedisplay.

7: We must also choose thesound we want the multipad to usefor the recording. I’ve heard ‘AveMaria’ accompanied by a harp,and the effect was lovely, so Iselect the Harp voice. PSR-S900users will find it on page three ofthe [String] voice category. Make

sure you press the [Harp] button.You can try the sound on thekeyboard if you like. The noteswon’t be entered into the multipadprogram until you return to theprevious display.

8: Press [Exit] to return to theMultipad Creator Step-Recorddisplay. You’ll see that a ‘ProgramChange’ has been entered in thetop line - confirming that the voicehas been set.

9: Now it’s time to enter thenotes. Play each note in turn onthe keyboard. Each time a key ispressed a new note is entered inthe display. When all the noteshave been entered the screenlooks like this...

10: Press [Exit] to exit the Step-Record display.

At this point you must check thatthe last entry in the sequence,marked ‘End’, is set at the start ofbar 2. This will ensure that, whenthe pattern repeats, there is nogap between the end of the bar

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and the start of the repeat.

If the ‘End’ mark is not at 002:1:000change it using the [Data Entry]buttons. Use buttons [D] and [E] tohighlight the part of the entry you wantto change.

11: Then use the [Tab] buttons toreturn to the [Record] page.

Switch on the ‘Repeat’ and ‘ChordMatch’ options for Pad 1. Setting themultipad to Repeat will ensure acontinuous flowing pattern whilstChord Match aligns the multipad to thechords you play with your left hand.

Then, press [Save].

12: The Multipad User page isdisplayed. This is where any multipadsets you create are stored - and this iswhere you will call them up from whenyou want to use them in yourperformance.

13: Press [Save] again in the newdisplay and give your new multipadset a name. Actually, because wehaven’t enough space her to describemore, we’ve only recorded onemultipad in our ‘set’ but you’d use thesame procedure if you’d recorded allfour pads. I called my new set... waitfor it... ‘Ave Maria’.

14: Press [OK] to confirm the nameand the set is saved to the User page.

Finally, press [Direct Access] followedby [Exit] to return to the Main displayscreen.

Using the Multipad setting inperformance.

Press the Registration Memory buttonthat contains the setting for Ave Maria.You will remember that we saved thisat the start of the workshop.

15: From the Main display screenselect ‘Multipad’.

Then tab to the User page and selectthe ‘Ave Maria’ multipad set.

Play the first chord from Ave Maria in theaccompaniment section of the keyboard.The style should start. If not, press the[Start/Stop] button to start it manually.

16: Press the [Channel On/Off] button.

Switch off the Piano (Chord 2) part soit no longer sounds in the style.

Press the Multipad [1] button on thepanel to hear the multipad pattern youcreated.

17: Press the [Balance] button.

And set the volume of the Multipad toblend with the volume of the style.

Save the completed registration overthe top of the registration you firstcreated by pressing [Memory]followed by Registration Memorybutton [1].

And...play.

Good luck

I’m sorry that some of the illustrationsare a little small this time but, evenwith the recently added pages, we’requite restricted by the space available.

I hope you’ll be able to follow theworkshop successfully - and I’veincluded a MIDI file recording of myfinished version of Ave Maria on thewebsite so you can compare results.

Use these buttons to highlight the part you want to change

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9AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2008

The operating system of Tyros/Tyros2, PSR1/2/3000, S700/900 series keyboards and CVP200/300/400series Clavinova digital pianos have a great deal in common - so we hope this workshop will be of benefitto owners of each of these instruments.

(part 16)

I’ve had a couple of letters in my post-bbag recently fromYamaha Club Magazine readers asking what I would havethought were fairly basic questions about playing MIDI filesin their keyboards.

I always enjoy reading your letters, not least because theyremind me that, as a long-ttime player of Yamaha keyboards,I often take for granted things that are still brand new (andoften are as yet undiscovered) to newcomers.

About Songs...

I should point out to begin with that, in ‘Yamaspeak’, theword Song is used to describe a piece of music. This can bequite confusing because most folk tend to think of a ‘song’as something that is sung - rather than a ‘tune’ that isplayed.

Yamaha, however, uses the word Song for any piece ofmusic - whether played live, recorded (in the sequencer), orimported (as a ‘Song’ file).

If you hear a Yamaha keyboard player talk about sequencing- he’s talking about recording a piece of music, or ‘song’, inthe keyboard’s SONG RECORDER. The recorded song isthen stored in the instrument’s memory as a Song file.

Pre-recorded Song files are also commercially available and,outside the Yamaha world these are commonly referred to asMIDI files - so if you hear someone talking about buying orplaying MIDI files - in Yamaspeak what they’re actuallyreferring to are Song files.

As I read this back I’m not sure if this explanation will help ornot - but I hope it will help you understand the terminology.

Playing Songs...

In a genuinely helpful move, Yamaha has locked someexcellent Song Files into your keyboard to demonstrate theSONG feature - and it’s one of these that I’m going to use formy illustration. I’m basing my workshop around the PSR-S900 again because it’s a mid-range product and peoplecomplain if I use Tyros2 all the time. You’ll find the operationis much the same on Tyros though - or on whichever otherkeyboard or CVP Clavinova you have.

There are two ways of calling up a Song file. If yourkeyboard / Clavinova has a [SELECT] button (fig.1) in the

SONG section of the panel this will provide the moststraightforward route to the Song display...

If, however, your instrument doesn’t have a Song [SELECT]button, there’s a universal route to the correct display fromthe MAIN display (which is the screen that appears whenyou first switch on). Regardless of the model, keyboard orClavinova, look for the word [SONG] in the Main display -and press the adjacent button (fig.2).

Whichever method you choose you should end up in theSong display (fig.3.).

Fig.1: The SONG [SELECT] button of the PSR-S900

Fig.2: Look for ‘SONG’ in the Main display screen and press the adjacent button.

You know you’rein the MAINdisplay becausethe page title isshown at the topof the screen.

Fig.3: Locate the PRESET page in the SONG display

Check that you’reon the PRESETpage. There willalso be a USERpage and, possiblyother pages too.Use the [TAB]buttons to locatethe right one.

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pThe PRESET page is the home of your keyboard’sdemonstration songs. Some models will haveconsiderably more of these - but every instrument willhave a few. You may find this sample song selectionenclosed in a folder - as in the S900 illustrated wherethe song files are contained in a folder helpfullylabelled ‘Sample Songs’.

Open the folder by pressing the adjacent button toreveal the individual song files (fig.4).

Select whichever song you want to hear (by pressingthe adjacent button) and press the [START] button onthe SONG panel (fig.5).

Sing along to the ‘karaoke keyboard’

Some song files have lyrics and these can bedisplayed on the screen by pressing the [LYRICS]button (fig.6) - great for those who want to sing along.From what I hear, ‘karaoke keyboard’ is quite popularamongst Club members and many of the largerkeyboards and Clav’s have a microphone input and allmanor of vocal effects that can be added for a brilliantkaraoke performance. Your keyboard may also have avideo output so the lyrics can be displayed on a bigTV screen or computer monitor. Naturally, you’ll needto provide your own microphone but there are plentyof inexpensive ‘fun’ models around.

In addition to the lyric display many recently producedYamaha Song files also have chord symbolsembedded in the file (fig.7) so you can sing and play abasic accompaniment along with the backing track.

Play along with ‘Score’

For the majority of keyboard/Clavinova players though,the main attraction of a Song file is that you can playalong - and for this purpose a Score facility is providedto display the music on screen.

When the [SCORE] button is pressed (fig.8) thedisplay shows the musical notation, chord symbols,note names and lyrics in a variety of formats tailored tomeet the individual requirements of the player.

Fig.9 illustrates a basic ‘easy-play’ setting where theright-hand part (lead line) is displayed together withnote names above the lyric line. The chord symbolsare shown above the stave and the notation is colourcoded to make it easier for novice players to identifythe notes.

Fig.4: Open the Sample Songs folder to reveal the song files.

Fig.5: Press [Play] to listen to the song you selected.

Fig.6: Press the [LYRICS] button to display ‘karaoke’ lyrics on the screen

Fig.7: Some Yamaha files display lyrics and chord symbols

Fig.8: Press [SCORE] to display music notation

Chord symbols, lyrics, note names, and colour are all selected.

Fig.9: An ‘easy-play’ format

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During the performance the ‘bouncing red ball’ (shownabove the first note in fig.9) indicates which note(s) arecurrently being played - but, as this can move very quickly attimes making it difficult to keep up, Yamaha introduced theGuide facility.

When [GUIDE] is selected (fig.10) the music plays until thebouncing ball reaches the first note - then waits... When (andonly when) you play the correct note the music continuesuntil the ball reaches the next note where it waits again. Inthis way you can learn the notes at you own speed. Youknow you’ve cracked it when the song sounds just the samewhether or not the Guide function is active.

If you master Amazing Grace, try doing the same thing withBeauty and the Beast. This is much more difficult becausethis song is arranged on two staves - for right and left hands!Now the guide function will require you to play both partsbefore it will allow the music to continue. (Fig.11)

Score - In depth

There are a few, slightly more ‘techie’ aspects of the scorefacility.

Song files can be purchased and/or downloaded from theInternet - and then imported into the Song Player. The mostreliable are probably those purchased direct from Yamahavia their IDC (Internet Direct Connection) because the fileswill be configured to suit the instrument. I mentioned earlierthat ‘Song’ files are often referred to as MIDI files - because,as the experienced users will know, Song files are created inMIDI format and, as such, they work in exactly the same way.

However, whilst programmers in the MIDI format observemany universal conventions, it’s fair to say that there is alsoquite a wide degree of variation between one producer andanother. The upshot of this is that you may find some filesdon’t display, or play, in the way you expect them to.

A common ‘problem’ associated with non-Yamaha files isthat, when the Score feature is used, the display shows notthe melody - but what appear to be a random series ofnotes. This happens because the Score feature is set todisplay notes on MIDI channel 1 on the upper stave andnotes on MIDI channel 2 on the lower stave. Softwaremanufacturers frequently use other channels for the melodyline - which means that, in order to display it, you must firstlocate the correct channel.

Look for [SET-UP] in the bottom of the Score window (fig.12)and press the adjacent button to reveal the score set-updisplay (fig.13).

Here you can choose which MIDI channels are displayed asthe left and right-hand parts and, if you experiment withthese, you’ll soon discover which channel displays themelody correctly. (I may be able to save you some time hereas, in my experience, this often turns out to be channel 4.)

Next time...

I’ve run out of space for this edition but in the next I’ll showyou how to import MIDI files and how to tidy up thoseragged ends when the notes displayed appear to run intothe following bar. I’ll also explain how to revoice a MIDI file tomake the best use of your keyboard’s great sounds and howto use the Song Setting window to customise song fileplayback.

See you then...

Fig.10: Press [SCORE] to display music notation

Fig.11: Two-part score of Beauty and the Beast

Fig.12: Select [SET-UP]

Fig.13: Choose which MIDI channels are displayed as the left and right-hand parts