Topic: New idea for existing and future arranger keyboards.

[Keyboard Master]

Hi everyone. I just thought of a cool feature Yamaha could add to existing psr SX and genos via firmware update as well as all future models. It is to allow each style channel to layer another voice. This can make styles sound bigger and better in a way. For example phrase 2 using Mega voice Pop Horns 1 a tab underneath the channel would be visible tap it and be able to choose any voice for example Megavoice Brass: then both of them are layered together. In town thoughts how cool would this be to have on any arranger. To my own knowledge I feel it would be premium. What do you all think about it. I was curious 😁🤩

[mikf]

Layering is just two different voices simultaneously playing the same notes. I imagine you can effectively achieve this now - if anyone really wants to - by copying the style track, pasting it into an empty channel, then changing the voice in the new channel. Or of course you can choose one of the pre-set layered voices for the existing track.
Mike

[Keyboard Master]

Layering is just two different voices simultaneously playing the same notes. I imagine you can effectively achieve this now - if anyone really wants to - by copying the style track, pasting it into an empty channel, then changing the voice in the new channel. Or of course you can choose one of the pre-set layered voices for the existing track.
Mike

I do see what you mean. But like said the idea is to achieve this while playing styles where there whold be a layered channel where you can tap it on or off. I do know that I can even record a demo intro/ending as a midi file then copy the tracks then revoice the copied track. But the idea like said is being able to turn on a feature that would be called style voice layering. When activated the player can just tap a layer on and off of each of the 8 instrument channels. That’s the goal I prefer to achieve.

[Robert van Weersch]

A problem with this is the maximum polyphony. Styles are created in such manner that when it is playing on max level (e.g. C or D), there's enough polyphony left to accommodate for pressing 3 notes with maximum layered voices, without loosing notes. Especially Mega Voices are already multiple layered voices, so adding these to a style will effect the remaining polyphony for the "right hand voices" significantly. I've regularly reached the limits of polyphony when using a complex style, using a Left voice and using Right 1/2/3, active Pads and playing 3 or 4 finger chords. Then you'll hear notes dropping off, mostly in the style.

[EileenL]

Use of Multi Pads will thicken up a style and it is quite easy to make your own.

[DerekA]

I think that doubling up a style part would be too "heavy". As it is, I already like to thin out the styles by switching parts off.

However, I wonder if there's a way to make something like this happen. If you connect MIDI out to MIDI in, you can effectively use the Song parts to play along with any MIDI data being transmitted (this is how the V Console product works). So, if you did this, then set a Song part to receive the same MIDI channel as one of the style parts is sending, you could achieve this result by assigning whatever 'layer' voice you wanted to the song part.

This should work on any PSR, Tyros or Genos. Give it a shot and see!

[mikf]

I think that doubling up a style part would be too "heavy". As it is, I already like to thin out the styles by switching parts off.

Derek,
Certainly for the kind of music I (and I think many of us) play on these instruments, I agree.  Probably 80% of the music I play on the CVP is two handed piano lead, standards, and I imagine you do similar on the DGX. I typically use very light styles, often just drums and base, maybe a pad and/ or chord instrument like guitar added.
Very ‘extravagant’  styles, and fancy intros and endings, and big sounds and voices are a novelty when you first get arrangers, but I think we often grow out of them and get more selective.
But everyone has different taste.
Mike

[Del B]

I agree with Derek & Mikf about muting channels and phrases in the styles, depending on what song you are playing the saying “less is more” is very apt when playing acoustic versions of songs for me they would be a ballad songs and they work well with just drum bass and maybe an acoustic guitar with a piano lead

[mikf]

The bottom line is here that it would be a neat but very 'niche' function, not very necessary, with other ways to do the same or similar thing, and little used by most people. And it can make polyphony problems, which then have to be solved. Why would Yamaha bother with all that, since it's probably not going to sell a single extra keyboard, and there is much higher priority stuff to be done. I think it's a non-starter.
Mike

[BogdanH]

...
Very ‘extravagant’  styles, and fancy intros and endings, and big sounds and voices are a novelty when you first get arrangers, but I think we often grow out of them...

-exactly my thoughts.
Unless someone has Hans Zimmer ambitions, I think having eight tracks in a style is more than enough for playing normal entertaining music (a reminder: an average real band consists of only 3-4 musicians). What I mean is, for style to sound good, it's not about how many tracks in style we populate -it's about what we have inside each track. That's also what differentiates between good and not so good real life band: how good each musician (=track) in a band (=style) is.

But as already said:

...everyone has different taste.

Just sharing my thoughts,
Bogdan

[Keyboard Master]

Thanks for the replies. As for Polyphony I do agree that it can be reached or exceeded. But even if Yamaha did add this feature they can do it only for future models with higher polyphony. I prefer a minimal of 256 note polyphony.