Settings for STYLE Tempos

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Settings for STYLE Tempos

Postby Hugh-AR » 14 Sep 2021 00:09

When you choose a STYLE it has a 'default' TEMPO that Yamaha think is ideal for that particular Style. The TEMPO shows on the screen in bpm (beats per minute). Or does it? If yours isn't showing this by default then the settings for it need changing, as it's important for you to know what the default TEMPO for each Style is.

In MENU press the FUNCTION button.

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In the next screen choose UTILITY.

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Tab across to the CONFIG2 screen, and move down to "2".

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DISPLAY STYLE TEMPO should be ON.


Keeping the STYLE TEMPO the same when changing from one Style to another

The next thing to consider is what happens to a STYLE when you are actually playing a song 'live'. If you change the STYLE you are using 'on the fly' and choose another one, you wouldn't want the TEMPO to change. With Yamaha keyboards you have two options as to what the TEMPO of the STYLE will do: HOLD or RESET.

To get at the setup page, same steps to start with ...

In MENU press the FUNCTION button.

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But this time choose STYLE SETTING.

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This is the screen you get .. and there you have it. In STYLE SETTING, STYLE CHANGE BEHAVIOUR set the TEMPO to HOLD.

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Now it will HOLD the TEMPO when you change the STYLE 'on the fly' .. but only when the keyboard is 'playing'. If you STOP the Style playing and then choose another STYLE it will revert back to the 'default' TEMPO.

This is what I do every time I play a song. You can set one STYLE up that you think would be suitable for the song .. with the TEMPO you want to play it at .. but then why not try out some of the other STYLES to see if another one would sound better? Maybe even find a different STYLE for eg. the Chorus of the song, rather than just sticking to VARIATION A, B, C and D of one Style.

Listen to the STYLES in the DEMO below, all at the same TEMPO, and you'll see (perhaps I should say 'hear') what I mean.

Set your keyboard up so it is playing a STYLE (you have to have the ACMP ON) and set the TEMPO to what you want. Don't have a LEFT HAND VOICE, don't have the OTS LINK on, and don't play a melody. Just play some chords and listen to what the drummer, the bass player and the backing PARTS are doing. While you are playing some chords, switch the MAIN VARIATION from A, to B, to C, to D and make a mental note of what these are doing.

Don't stop the STYLE from playing.

Next, press a CATEGORY button in the STYLE section, and press the button next to a STYLE you want to try. The STYLE will start playing, not at the 'default' TEMPO showing by the Style Name, but at the TEMPO you have the keyboard set at. At this point you can try out the A, B, C and D VARIATIONS to see what they sound like. Then choose another STYLE in that category and see what that sounds like. Check the A, B, C and D VARIATIONS. Maybe then try a completely different CATEGORY and try a STYLE from that.

Note that I am not 'saving' anything to a Registration Memory at the moment. I am just listening to what these various STYLES sound like, and if any of them would suit the song I am going to play. I know this is the age of technology, but a piece of paper and a pencil wouldn't go amiss to jot down any STYLES that catch your eye (or maybe I should say, catch your ear as listening is the important bit).

I will repeat here, the essence of all this is to keep the keyboard playing while you are changing STYLES and listening. If you stop the style playing then any new styles you choose will revert back to their 'default' TEMPO.

You may think that by pressing the FREEZE button you would 'freeze' the TEMPO for any subsequent choices of Style. No. it doesn't. The FREEZE is over in the REGISTRATION MEMORY section and we're not using that.

Below is a DEMO of doing this. I have set up the keyboard with Danzon from the Category LATIN, at a TEMPO of 128. Then switched to Bossa Nova in the same Category. Next, Country Blues from COUNTRY, followed by Pickin' Swing from the same Category. Then 60's Guitar Pop from POP & ROCK, followed by Bubblegum Pop from the same Category. Then Swingfox from BALLROOM .. and finally Jive from the same Category. Note that by not 'stopping' the STYLE from playing, all these are at the TEMPO of 128 that I chose at the start. For this DEMO I have kept the MAIN VARIATION on C for all of them.

Click the below to listen.



There are some people who say that we all sound the same when we play these keyboards. Well, if you switch from one STYLE to another whilst playing a song there is no way that anyone else is going to choose the same Styles as you whilst playing! So your version of the song is bound to sound different to anybody else's!

I said at the start that I choose a TEMPO for the song I want to play ie. I 'adjust' the 'default' TEMPO of the Style to what I want. There is a + to increase the tempo; and a - to decrease the tempo, one step at a time.

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One thing worth bearing in mind, which you may not know, is that if you want to hear what Yamaha have set their 'default' tempo to, press the PLUS and MINUS buttons together. It does actually say RESET underneath!

If you wanted the keyboard to revert back to the 'default' TEMPO every time you chose a different STYLE 'on the fly' then you would have to have that setting on RESET. This might be useful if you wanted to check out a whole load of STYLES to see what they sounded like at their 'default' TEMPO. Rather than load each one in individually, you can get the keyboard playing a chord .. and then just move from one STYLE to the next .. and the Tempo will change as you are doing it.

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It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Settings for STYLE Tempos

Postby Hugh-AR » 14 Sep 2021 19:44

This is all about being a bit adventurous when choosing Style backings for your songs. There are times when you would just stick to the same STYLE right through from beginning to end, and maybe not even use a different STYLE VARIATION. Like this one .. Never Ending Story from 1984.

When the advert appears, click the X in the top right corner of the rectangle to remove it.

I have played this on my Tyros 4 using the Style TechnoParty together with MULTI PAD TranceSep2.

Do a right-click to open this up in a New Tab.
https://app.box.com/s/td5ny2kunyf3pjix8x0ps7a8rbzmtqg7

Now, how about this one? Chiquitita by Abba.



When the advert appears, click the X in the top right corner of the rectangle to remove it.

There is no way you could just have one STYLE to play this. Starts off with a basic 'intro' STYLE, then moves on to the main STYLE at 1:03; then listen to the change of beat at 1:45; back to the main Style at 2:42; and back to the heavier beat at 3:33. Although the backing changes, the TEMPO is the same. The challenge here is to find similar sounding STYLES for playing this song.
It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Settings for STYLE Tempos

Postby Hugh-AR » 14 Sep 2021 22:58

Following on from my previous post, here is Chiquitita played on a Tyros 5. José has definitely found two different STYLES for this song. They are different STYLES but at the same TEMPO. He starts with an introductory Style which he has stored in REGISTRATION MEMORY 1; and then switches to the basic Style 'with a beat' at 0:18 (he presses REGISTRATION MEMORY 2); and then changes to the Style with the heavier 'beat' when he presses REGISTRATION MEMORY 3 at 1:54 (view at full screen to see all this more clearly).

Another interesting thing to see in this video is that he plays the song in C (it was written in A), and all the chords he plays are one finger chords. Major chords by playing the single root note; and Minor chords by playing the root with a black note below it (Em in this case)

Chiquitita (ABBA) - Tyros 5 - José Joaquín



This is the essence of what I was saying earlier. Have the keyboard STYLES on HOLD while you're hunting for something different to have in your song.

On the other hand, you could buy a 'bespoke' STYLE for a song ('Named STYLES') where all the changes of beat you need are in VARIATIONS A, B, C and D already, so you don't have to skip from one Style to another.

Chiquitita - ABBA



When the advert appears, click the X in the top right corner of the rectangle to remove it.

Buying this for the Tyros 4 from http://www.styles-24.de would set me back £6.75 .. so I prefer to put together my own REGISTRATIONS for songs.
It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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