Tyros 2

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Yamaha Tyros2

Yamaha Tyros2 is a digital arranger workstation keyboard produced by Yamaha Corporation in 2005. It was produced and designed by Kazuhisa Ueki and Soichiro Tanaka, respectively. Currently the flagship digital arranger workstation of Yamaha since 2005, it is loaded with new features such as MegaVoice, primarily used in MIDI recording, which use velocity switching to add realism to your songs, Super Articulation, that includes additional sound effects on voices, to add much realism to your performance, Live!, Sweet! and Cool! voices, that are painstakingly sampled using stereo and multilayered samples to fully capture the natural presence, expression and vibrato of the real instruments, and Internet Direct Connection, for users to fully optimize the features of Tyros2 through downloading your favorite music for playback on Tyros2.

[edit] History

Kazuhisa Ueki and Soichiro Tanaka wanted to come up with an entirely new model of keyboards for Yamaha after the success of the PSR-9000 digital workstation series. They gave the new model the name Tyros, which was the first of its kind in the market, that had features not found on the PSR. One common thing that the two makers did was that both Tyros and Tyros2 had no installed speakers, for their reason was mobility; they added a music rest and optional speakers that can be connected to the holes found on the back of the said keyboards. Ueki and Tanaka always describes Tyros2 and Tyros2 as "not a synthesizer, nor a keyboard; it is both."

To aid in accessibility of the Tyros and Tyros2, the buttons were lit up with an internal LED bulb and arranged in such a way it is easy to memorize, especially on studios and live performances. The LCD screen was also modified for easy reading and operation as possible.

Tyros2 had a "very polyhedral" design according to Tanaka, which was part of a plan of "chipping off" or "scrapping off" unnecessary parts of the body, but it was done which careful planning, for the internal parts and the periperals must be fitted in the limited space. Both makers said that the "chipping off" plan was inspired by "crystallization", which was commonly used to refer to everyone involved in the development of the Tyros2. To adopt Tyros2 as a "crystal", Ueki and Tanaka used the properties of a crystal; being light, lusterous, shiny and solid. For this to be integrated to the Tyros2, they used plastic as its body, for reduction of weight, silver as its color, to detailiate the "shine" of Tyros2, and the lighted buttons, for the "luster". Ueki and Tanaka said on an interview that they even used black as the color of Tyros2, after they remembered the color of granite.

But much of the revolution of the "crystallization" of Tyros to Tyros2 was on the preloaded voices, styles and songs. Inspired by the installed voices on Tyros, Ueki remarked that "keeping the Voices of Tyros, and balancing it with the higher quality voices for the instrument, was nerve-wracking."

[edit] Main Features

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MegaVoice: Used primarily in MIDI recording, the MegaVoices provide enhanced realism and expression on song recording. They make special use of velocity switching, with completely different sounds in the various velocity ranges. For example, a guitar MegaVoice has mutes, slides and finger noise assigned to different velocity ranges, making the voice difficult to "play" in real time, but very useful when creating realistic MIDI tracks. Special MEGAEnhancer software Tyros2 automatically converts conventional song data for MegaVoice use.

New and improved Voices: The Tyros2 has over 500 dynamic, realistic Voices, covering virtually every instrument category in the real world, as well as other-world-like sounds! The Organ Flutes section has a wealth of organ sounds from Theatre to Jazz and Classical to Rock, while the special Live!, Cool! and Sweet! categories give you a huge palette of acoustic and electronic instrument Voices, using stereo and multilayered samples to fully capture the natural presence, expression and vibrato of the real instruments.

More effects: Tyros2 has a comprehensive set of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) tools, effects that enhances the sound with the recreated ambience of a concert hall or the warmth of chorusing, or even a rich rotary speaker effect. Versatile EQ processing gives fine control over the overall tone and timbre. A number of special effects can be used, such as Distortion, Auto Wah and Pitch Change, to completely transform the sound of each Voice.

Super Articulation: Introducing a completely new level of sonic realism and musical expressiveness. The remarkably authentic Voices feature the unique performance characteristics of each instrument, the expressive finger-slides and taps on the guitar, or the breathy, legato phrasing of a saxophone.

Styles and Multipads powered by Megavoices: Yamaha Tyros2 has 400 built-in accompaniment Styles, each with 15 different sections, and the versatile real-time controls. Multi Pads can be used during each performance to trigger a wide selection of one-shot phrases and special loops.

Music Finder: Due to its wide array of Styles, Voices and Songs, Music Finder has over 1,800 preset records, each with its own specially selected Style and Voice settings and choice of four registrations.

One Touch Setting (OTS): This versatile performance feature provides four specially programmed settings for each Style. Just select the Style, then press one of the One Touch Setting buttons, and Tyros2 is instantly reconfigured, with the proper Voices and effects, for playing in that style of music.

Registration Memory: For instant, total recall of panel settings, Tyros2 has eight Registration Memory presets, including which song and Style are selected, and which Voices are assigned to the keyboard.

Vocal Harmony: With a microphone connected, Tyros2 automatically adds backup singers that instantly follow the chords played. Also, different harmony styles can be selected to match the music.

New FSX Keyboard: Tyros2 features Yamaha's FSX keyboard, their top-of-the-line synthesizer keyboard. Physically, the keys are of high-precision manufacture and offer greater durability than conventional models. Most importantly, however, the keyboard has enhanced touch response.

Song Creation: Thanks to the built-in 16-track MIDI sequencer, the Tyros2 is truly a songwriter's delight. Record keyboard performances in real time or use the Step Record feature to enter each note individually. An Easy Record function lets you instantly record fully arranged songs, including accompaniment styles. Tyros2 has a quantize function that automatically cleans up the timing of each performance, and the Punch In/Out recording function replaces specific song sections.

Style Creation:With the versatile Style Creator feature, changing the content of existing styles or creating new, original styles from scratch is easy. The feature can also combine various parts from different styles and come up with unusual "hybrid" accompaniments.

Voice Creation:Voice Creator and Voice Set are two powerful features that crafts unique Custom Voices for the user. Voice Creator allows import of audio samples and waveforms, and assign them to the keys as desired. Voice Set gives you tools for editing a Voice, changing its filter, envelope and vibrato settings, as well as making modulation assignments and adjusting the EQ and effects.

Hard Disk Recorder: Directly record the sound of the Tyros2 to an optional installed hard disk drive as digital audio data, for pristine, absolutely noise-free audio quality. Human voice, guitar or other acoustic and electric instruments as well can be recorded, and can be mixed with Tyros2 sounds. Overdub additional parts as desired to the stereo track, too. With a computer and audio editing software, the user can edit the sound file as needed, and then re-import it to the Tyros2.

Computer connectivity: Tyros2 is extremely computer friendly. The built-in USB connections let free exchange and saving of important data, and let a computer to take full control over the Tyros2 features. A single USB connection lets access both MIDI ports, for up to 32 channels of MIDI recording. Two separate USB TO DEVICE terminals are included, one on the front panel, for convenient connection of storage devices such as USB memory sticks.

Extensive software: Connect to a computer and extend the musical potential of the Tyros2. Included with the instrument is the Tyros2 Voice Editor, which provides comprehensive, easy-to-use control over the voice and effect parameters. Data is transferred between the computer and Tyros2 in real time. Another versatile tool is the MEGAEnhancer for Tyros2, which converts conventional MIDI song data for use with the amazing MegaVoices.

Compatibility to all Yamaha keyboard formats: Naturally, the Tyros2 is backwards compatible with the original Tyros and can play all of existing music software, reading and playing SFF (style), SMF (song) as well as DOC (song) files. Tyros2 also supports the sound standards GM, GM2 and XG. A convenient File Converter application for your PC is also included which allows registration data from the PSR-9000 and 9000Pro models to be converted and played back on the Tyros2.

Internet Direct Connection: Tyros2 is Internet-ready with the Internet Direct Connection (IDC) feature. IDC lets the Tyros2 connect directly to the Internet, without a computer, and let the user download MIDI Songs, Voices, Styles and updates directly to Tyros2.

Large LCD Display: Tyros2 boasts a beautiful extra-large, full-color, high-resolution display. The adjustable display tilts up for ease in viewing, and shows all important settings and parameters at a glance. The display signal can also be sent to an external monitor, perfect for sing-along events and houses of worship.

Large LCD Display Score and Lyrics Display: The Tyros2 LCD display is without of use without bundled features. These include display of the song notation (score) and lyrics (for songs that have score and lyric data). A special Text display function allows viewing of text files created on a computer, making it possible to display lyrics for songs that don't have lyric data, or for creating onscreen chord charts and song memos.

User-friendly features: The Tyros2 also has a wealth of features that enhance your music studies, making it both fun and easy to learn new songs. There are keyboard guide functions that pause song playback and waits for the user to play the correct notes. There's even a bouncing ball in the display that shows you in real time what melody notes to play. Tyros2 has convenient performance and learning features for singers as well, adding to your playing enjoyment.

Extreme expandibility: Installing a hard disk drive inside the instrument will make the Tyros2 gain massive storage capability for Custom Voices, Styles, Registrations and song data, as well as storage for audio created with the Hard Disk Recorder function. An optional TRS-MS02 speakers with subwoofer can be connected for a fully self-contained keyboard system. The MFC10 MIDI foot controller can also be connected for maximum expressiveness, especially on Super Articulation and MegaVoice voices.