Registrations are probably the single most powerful feature in a modern keyboard and the Yamaha system (pretty much the same since the days of the PSR1000) is the easiest of the lot to handle. But it takes a little thought and it's usually the first thing I teach people when they ask for a one to one home visit to help them with their Tyros, Genos or high end PSR keyboard.
The owner's handbook can have you confused in no time, it would seem so I've put clear, step by step instructions in sheets that are available on the Downloads page of my website. Scroll down to Instructional Information Materials for Yamaha keyboards. Follow them exactly and they are bullet-proof. They work! Registration Sequences, 'Blank Banks' and copy data files to and from USB stick are also covered on separate sheets, with more to come when the site is updated shortly.
www.andrew-gilbert.com/downloadsBut here's the instructions for registrations to get you started.
Yamaha Keyboards – Basic Instructions for using Registration Memories and Banks. Works from PSR1000 through to PSR-S950 and on all Tyros and CVP Clavinova models.
Manually set your required sounds and style, tempo etc, and save into Registration Memory button 1. To do this, simply press Memory and then button 1.
Do the same for as many settings as you need for the song, typically one for 1st verse, one for 1st chorus, one for 2nd verse, one for final chorus. Each goes into a separate memory button. Remember that each button can store a change of sound, change of style variation (with a fill-in if you turn on Auto Fill-in and press the variation button so it's flashing when you store the setting) or even a different style, so indulge yourself! Most of my students use four or more settings for a song, many use the whole eight (or more, but that's more complex!)
When you've got enough buttons worth, you need to SAVE them as a REGISTRATION BANK. Here’s how you do it.
FOR BRAND NEW REGISTRATION BANKS.
A - Press button J
B - Press the button under the screen for SAVE. (Tyros 5 users will have to press Menu 1 first)
C - Press and hold the DELETE button under the screen for a few seconds to erase the current bank name - the start up default is 'New Bank'.
D - Use the buttons under the screen to give the registration bank a new, sensible name - usually the name of the song. Don't bother using more than 10 upper case characters for this as any more won't show up on screen! So "Shadow of your Smile" could be just "Shadow" or "Shadosmile", or something like that.
E - Press OK
That's it!
Do the same things for a few more songs. Each bank you save will be added to the list in the Registration Bank window (button J will get you there again!) in alphabetical order.
FOR EXISTING REGISTRATION BANKS (THAT YOU HAVE JUST EDITED OR ALTERED).
A -Press button J
B -Press the button under the screen for SAVE – the bank name will be the one you want this time. No need to rename it unless you want to make a copy of the bank. (If so follow the instructions for new banks.)
C -Press OK
When prompted about overwriting, answer ‘Yes’.
TO RECALL A BANK READY TO PLAY THE SONG.
Press button J, press the button next to the name of the song you want and then press button 1 in the Registration Memory buttons. Done!
Practise doing this, just the same as you would practise playing a song. It doesn't take very long to get the hang of it. Honest!
Hope this helps. Start by pressing button J and see what's already loaded into your T5. If it's a used model from a dealer, most dealers will either 'clear the decks' (my preferred solution) and reset the keyboard, or they will try to 'help' by loading in registrations that they think will be useful. Done with the very best of intentions, of course but can backfire! If you bought privately, then all bets are off and there could be anything loaded in. Top F# reset will clear the registration memories, ready for you to start making your own.
PS for 970/975 owners. Yes, the next update will include you as well, but follow the instructions for the T5 and you'll be OK. Genos owners - I'll get around to it in due course, just holding off unless Yamaha produce a firmware update that changes things!
