Back to square one ... with my "new" Tyros 5

[Perugio]

So, it's time for me to say hello to everyone. Who am I then :

• My name is Steen and I live in Denmark. My body is 63 - but I feel 33 in my mind
• Originally an IT dude. I "almost" have a Masters in Computer Science (way too easy to get a high paying IT job in the late 79's, so I got seduced by US companies like Control Data, Sperry and the danish Regnecentralen, so never finished my studies). Worked for many years in a variety of IT jobs, including 17 years in my own small consultancy business, where I primarily developed and sold my own IT systems in areas like Product Management, Service Management, Human Resources, etc
• The last 10 years I have been a teacher - Information Technology, Math and Social Studies. I teach at a business school - my students are typically around 17-20 (some pretty troubled kids with "issues"), but some a lot older, so pre-university level
• Musical background : Got my first "keyboard" in the mid-70's, a Hammond Organ and started Organ/Piano lessons. I very quickly found out, that I wasn't the "can read notes very well" guy but rather the "great at playing by ear" dude - and frankly the lessons bored me. Changed the Hammond to Roland D50, Alesis drum machine and a 4 track recorder and started to make "productions" in my basement (I remember Billy Jean was one of my overdubbing productions). I also ran some Cubase back then, both on my Atari and later on my PC.
  After some years doing this I had the urge to play with other people and I ended up in a very large (12 people) band playing mainly African Pop music and eventually some salsa. I developed an interest in the african music scene after listening to Paul Simons Graceland album. I got totally hooked on all the different styles of african music, like Mbaqanga, Soukous, High-Life, Mambo, etc. I was the keyboard player and second percussionist in the band, but my main role quickly got to be "the arranger" - the guy that found our repertiore and arranged for the band. That took a ton of time but I enjoyed it a lot. We ended up getting gigs in the Copenhagen underground scene as well as alternative/world scenes at well known festivals (Roskilde, Ringe, Copehagen carnival, etc). Lots of fun for some 3-4 years
  THEN ... I had twins!!!! 2 beautiful girls. I kept it going for maybe a year, but then had to "hang up the keyboard-cases" and leave the band. That was mid-late 90's - and I haven't really played since then.
  Now I want to rekindle this long lost love - and an arranger keyboard seems spot-on for what I like to do

I have been lurking on the boards for a couple of weeks seeking info on arranger keyboards and what to buy. My final 3 options were PSR-S975, a second hand Tyros 5 or a Genos - pretty quickly landed on Yamaha, in part because I found this great community. Haven't seen anything like this for Korg, Roland, etc.

Eventually landed on the second hand Tyros 5 and a small Altos PA - and I am certainly having tons of fun with that. A few things is clear to me after having my new toy for some 5 days :

• I suck!!! I seriously suck. I remember myself as being a decent keyboard player - one of the guys who could spring a nice solo on gigs. I am a bit amazed how litle "my fingers" seems to remember and how not-agile they are. Hence the title of the post "back to square one". I absolutely have confidence that my re-learning process will be steady, but it's up hill ... more than I expected
• Wow - keyboard technology have improved since my D50 and Korg M1. Sounds, Styles, possibilities, etc. Tyros 5 is an awesome toy. I actually expected good old nerdy me to be able to dive right in and "know everything" almost right away. Wow was that naive - I have tons of stuff to learn - many buttons I have zero clue what does - and probably some questions I have to ask in the forum eventually. Tyros 5 (and likely any other modern arranger keyboard) is a highly complex machine, but I love learning new stuff so it doesn't discourage me a bit. I'll get there but it will take some time - so almost "back to square one" on this front too
• PSRtutorial seems to be the epicenter of knowledge about yamaha arrangers. Very happy to be here and I have already found a lot of good info I needed. Eventually I hope to contribute where I can - but there are many many very experienced and active members here, so i might be quiet for a while, but I read a lot - and who knows some day I might know something useful I can share

[Joe W]

Hi Perugio,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for becoming a member.  I'm sure you'll learn a great deal about your keyboard here on the forum and will experience many pleasurable hours playing it.

You'll want to be sure to visit the Home page and check out some of the tutorials you will find links to there.  This link will take you to the Home page of the website:

http://psrtutorial.com/

The "Lessons" there are aimed at owners of PSR and PSR-S arranger keyboards, the higher-end Tyros models and even the CVP pianos. All of these models operate in basically the same way. Note that while the lessons do not cover the Genos or PSR-E models, you will find boards here that do cover these instruments.  The "Songs" section give you many examples of music produced by these keyboards while the "Styles" section has thousands of styles you can download and play on your own keyboard. The "Music" section has useful information for any aspiring musician whatever instrument you may have and the "Utilities" section highlights computer programs you may find useful in working with your keyboard.

I recently sent you our latest Lessons collection, so you have already become a supporting member of the PSR Tutorial, which includes lifetime membership, and other forum boards are now available to you. 

We're so glad you've decided to become a member and very happy you've decided to become a part of this great forum family.  If you have any questions, then please just ask.  Many of our members are always very willing to help you.

[Dick Rector]

Welcome Steen, I am from Holland but live on Bali. Been a member for years and learned a lot from this friendly forum.

Regards
Dick

[Ed B]

Welcome Steen
Congratulations on buying the T5 as you note it is a very powerful device for arranging and composing music. Don't hesitate to ask questions it can be a time saver.
Regards
Ed B

[Roger Brenizer]

Hi Perugio,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for becoming a member.  I'm sure you'll learn a great deal about your new Tyros 5 keyboard here on the forum and will experience many pleasurable hours playing it.

You'll want to be sure to visit the Home page and check out some of the tutorials you will find links to there.  This link will take you to the Home page of the website: http://psrtutorial.com/

Should you later decide to become a supporting member, which will include lifetime membership, other forum boards will become available to you, as well as a wealth of additional musical knowledge; however, there is absolutely no obligation to do so.  You may also use the following link to discover the full benefit of becoming a Supporting Member of the PSR Tutorial.

http://www.psrtutorial.com/forum/index.php/topic,15536.0.html

You'll also gain access to an Excel Song Index database, made available to supporting members by our good friend Peter (XeeniX), which presently contains almost 73,000 song titles in over 2,000 indexed books.  This index is updated often.

In lieu of making a donation only, you may also order any of the websites resources, which can be found at the following link:

http://psrtutorial.com/cdrom/productsum.html

Joe Waters updated "Supporting the PSR Tutorial", on August 27, 2017, which can be found here:

https://psrtutorial.com/cdrom/index.html

We're so glad you've decided to become a member and very happy you've decided to become a part of this great forum family.  If you have any questions, then please just ask.  Many of our members are always very willing to help you.

[Toril S]

Hello Perugio😀 Welcome to the forum! I bought a used T5 five days ago!

[MINKYCATS]

Hi Steen and welcome to the Forum.

Congratulations on getting a Tyros 5. Your keyboard skills will soon return and with a bit of practice you will soon be playing like a pro again.

Enjoy the Forum. Loads of help and advice available from the guys and gals here.

Trevor (MINKYCATS)

[Del]

Hi Steen and welcome to the Forum, and congrats on getting your T5 I am sure you will have hours of pleasure playing your wonderful instrument
and at the same time getting back to your standard of playing that you used to be.