Yamaha Tyros4 Arranger Workstation Offers Exceptionally Expressive, Realistic Sounds

BUENA PARK, Calif. – If you can dream it, Yamaha's Tyros4 Arranger Workstation keyboard can perform it with such incredible realism that the music seems to breathe. Representing the pinnacle of technological innovation in a musical instrument, the Tyros4, shipping in October, 2010, offers more elite, professional-level features than any Arranger Workstation keyboard that has come before.

The new Vocal Harmony 2 engine and exclusive built-in vocal Style and Voice content, created with advanced sampling techniques, introduce unmatched control over gospel, pop and classical choirs – even doo-wop vocals. Singing or simply playing along with the Tyros4's customized back-up vocals is now easier and more fun. Additionally, the critically acclaimed Super Articulation 2 Voice library has been upgraded to bring a new level of realism to non-keyboard instruments like strings, guitars, brass and woodwinds.

All of the included Voice libraries, including Super Articulation 2 and Mega Voice-powered accompaniment Styles (interactive patterns that cover an immensely wide range of musical genres), deliver the sounds of top studio musicians to create a personal backing band that delivers uncanny realism.

"Tyros4 does for vocal performance what previous Tyros models did for acoustic guitar realism via Mega Voices," said Dane Madsen, Digital Piano marketing manager, Yamaha Keyboard Division. "Classical and gospel choirs are all inside the workstation just waiting for the player to tell them what to sing next. Yamaha even captured the recordings of these ensembles in their typical acoustic environments, so you get stunning reverbs and an authentic sense of spaciousness that are natural to cathedrals and churches."

Even though the underlying technology is ultra-sophisticated, the result makes the Tyros4 sound more authentic than past incarnations. The expanded Super Articulation 2 Voices bring non-keyboard instruments to life with humanistic techniques and automatically switch to various attacks (note-on), main-bodies (sustain), and note releases (decay), based on how the player hits the keys. Playing a Saxophone Voice with smooth legato technique makes the passage sound like it is being delivered all in one breath by a horn player, for example, but playing staccato notes creates a sound where the notes seem like they are blown individually. Placing notes together – or spaced far apart – automatically determines how a note might bend up or down to arrive at the next note in a passage. This work is all done seamlessly inside the instrument and comes very naturally to any keyboardist, regardless of playing ability.

And with Tyros4, there's more room than ever to explore your creative expression: the new Flash Expansion Board stores custom sample data (instrument recordings) either purchased online or sampled by the end user, which stays in the keyboard even after the power is turned off. Previously, custom samples had to be re-loaded every time players powered-up. It also includes hard-disk recording that captures anything played or sung through a new XLR balanced microphone combo-jack. MP3 audio files can be stored as part of the registration set up for instant recall and playback.

This next-generation Tyros can reproduce instruments and arrangements from over 500 different styles of music from around the world with the press of a button – 50 more than Tyros 3. Studio-style DSP effects like reverb, chorus and EQ add an extra element of pro-level sound quality to the 2,153 dynamic instrument Voices, 30 organ flutes and 44 drum sets. Multi-pads allow for special phrases, and even trigger selected samples in sync with a particular style in real time.

The Music Finder feature lets players dial up song title-sorted setups to get them playing quicker and easier. They can even create custom set lists that take them from one setup to the next at the touch of a button. Custom Registrations benefit players who like everything set a particular way, but One Touch Settings, another great feature that gets keyboardists up and playing faster, automatically suggest appropriate Voices for the chosen performance Style.

"Tyros4 is the freshest and most content-rich Arranger Workstation on the market," said Madsen. "Its advanced Yamaha voicing technology, including Ambient Sampling and Wave Cycling, achieves incredibly realistic sounds that are easily playable. These technologies, along with Yamaha's proven Super Articulation 2 Voices for non-keyboard sounds, enable keyboardists to experience a new dimension of realism without having to change the way they play."

For more information about Yamaha Corporation of America, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; call (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/press.