Registration Voice Sound Volume change

[Lee Batchelor]

You're 100% right Andy. My piano teacher once told me, "Remember, rests are notes too. You just can't hear them."

I was trying to (or should have been) more specific. Pressing buttons while trying to play a lead up phrase on the right hand is not possible. You know as well as I do that solos are often preceded by introductory phrases. That was my point - and not the one on my head 🤣.

[BogdanH]

...changing registrations at the end of a phrase - during the short 'lift' makes perfect sense.
...

-absolutely.

SSS can become an issue when we can't afford to lift the key at phrase (variation) change -which can happen quite often. For example, if aloha guitar (long sustain) is used in Main A and saxophone in Main B.. when we switch to Main B, we still wish to hear guitar decaying in background (while we already hit first saxophone note). In this case we keep last guitar key pressed (until tone naturally decays) and at the same time start playing saxophone.
I think overlapping voices is needed quite often when we move from one voice to another and it can give more realistic (live playing) impression.

Bogdan

[Lee Batchelor]

100% correct, Bogdan. Chopping off notes is done at times but most of the time one instrument decays as the new instrument moves to the front of the score. Yamaha DOES NOT make this easy. They force us to be computer geeks instead of real musicians, and they could have prevented the former but simply chose not to .

[ton37]

I'd disagree to a certain extent. Almost ALL music should 'breathe', regardless of the instrument that's playing the melody, not just brass and woodwinds. Phrasing is so often overlooked, and that's perhaps not surprising given the amount of printed music that's devoid of phrase marks - like almost all keyboard books! I teach people how to phrase, looking at the 'shape' of the music, looking at the lyrics etc. It goes hand in hand with that other often missed out essential - dynamics! It doesn't take long to start doing it and it becomes second nature after a while.

And then, changing registrations at the end of a phrase - during the short 'lift' makes perfect sense. And that trick of putting sounds into different parts, R1, R2 etc, is also something that I get all my students to do.

Yes, there will be times when you have a big registration change involving three right hand sounds and that's where you must lift. It's not just Yamaha, I have the last of the big Roland Ateliers and that can glitch with a big change. There are work arounds for it when it happens.

Good point @andyg. Phrasing is often forgotten in the melody. One of the most striking examples of the frequent misuse of playing the Saxophone or the Flute by keyboard musicians (even among very experienced keyboarders!). Just pay attention to it. Sometimes it is played for minutes without any note stopping. The digital saxophonist must almost have the lungs of a whale or can be carried out of the room after playing his solo.

[DerekA]

-absolutely.

SSS can become an issue when we can't afford to lift the key at phrase (variation) change -which can happen quite often. For example, if aloha guitar (long sustain) is used in Main A and saxophone in Main B.. when we switch to Main B, we still wish to hear guitar decaying in background (while we already hit first saxophone note). In this case we keep last guitar key pressed (until tone naturally decays) and at the same time start playing saxophone.
I think overlapping voices is needed quite often when we move from one voice to another and it can give more realistic (live playing) impression.

Bogdan

If you must do this, the simplest solution is to put one voice on R1, and the other on R2. Then use the registration to switch between R1 active and R2 active. There is no glitch.

[BogdanH]

...the simplest solution is to put one voice on R1, and the other on R2. Then use the registration to switch between R1 active and R2 active....

You probably didn't read the whole thread... because that's exactly what I explained before.

Bogdan

[DerekA]

You probably didn't read the whole thread... because that's exactly what I explained before.

Yes, you're right. Sorry.

[Lee Batchelor]

Yes, you're right. Sorry.

Thanks guys. It's a brilliant idea. I never thought of that and will definitely try it.