Multitrack recording/building a song on SX600 - newbie question before purchase

[foxjunkie]

Hello there

First time posting.

My main use of keyboards has been little over the years as I am not really a keyboard player.
Most of my song creation is done in a DAW and also composing tracks using band in a box.
My first keyboard was back in the mid 90s and was a PSS-51, which had an amazing track recorder that I could record bar by bar and input chords so easily. It was like a tape recorder in the way it operated! A great and simple implementation of punch-in style recording! I expect there were full size key models with the same functionality but this was the only one I knew of and I liked mini keys.

It allowed me to work out the chords for a few bars and then fast forward to the end of my recording using the buttons and continue adding new sections to the song with the auto chord accompaniment afterwards, or even record earlier in the song if I wanted to.
I didn't have a computer back in the day but it was just so nice to be able to create and compose songs on this machine.

Here is the keyboard I owned, around the 48 minute mark he shows the track recorder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI74yN3zsEo

My main question is about how the SX600 records a song - can this be done in stages? For example, I record the intro and verse - stop recording - work out the next part of the arrangement and chords and then additionally continue to record the next section.
Ideally I want to record the auto accompaniment in sections as I am not proficient enough of a player.
I have lots of experience recording songs over the years in a DAW, I just can't play the keyboard very well.
I don't really want to step edit, I just want to record the chord auto accompaniment one section at a time.

- I have searched online (YouTube) various forums, mainly this one, as I have been eying up the SX600 for a good many months now.
- I realize the SX900 has more recording functions but all I want to do is record a song in stages, using auto accompaniment before continuing to flesh them out with band in a box / DAW audio tracks.
- I do want midi-only-versions of my songs for archive purposes as they are handy for various reasons. I would edit the midi song in Cakewalk as it seems that it would work well with midi file arrangement.

The only video I can find that relates to building a song in the way I am wanting is for the SX700 - so I am asking if this can be done also on the SX600:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bsoy4iO598

I have seen that the iPhone app Yamaha Chord Tracker can send chords to the SX600 via a USB cable, but that would be an extra step, worse case scenario. Maybe this is the way to go?
And providing the chord tracker imported chords are allowed to be saved as a song to USB from the SX600 this would also be useful.

My preference though, is to be able to work on songs away from the computer in comfort, and be inspired working out and recording chord progressions one section at a time on the keyboard.

Thank you for reading.

[DerekA]

You can do this using the "Punch In/Out" feature. You choose which measure the recording starts / ends. Take a look at the SX600 reference manual, page 60.

[foxjunkie]

Oh yes! Thank you, forgot to mention the manual punch in part. Hopefully then this will be exactly what I need.
Thanks again x