1. I decided if the Tenori-on was for me…

Might seem obvious …but I thought long and hard about what I actually wanted to achieve. A Tenori was just one of several options I considered and explored.

I play guitar and sing and I wanted some backing that I could control for live performance. My background is largely playing covers but I like to put a fresh spin on them if I can and not be over-literal. Options I considered to create the backing included:

Midi sequences – a huge number of songs are available for free and I can adjust the key and edit the number of verses/choruses ..but I risk sounding like everyone else.

Over many years of performing live I’ve played along to a lot sequencers … which are great ..but I’m ready for a change.

Karaoke style backing tracks… but the songs I like are not always available in a key I can cope with. Also, once they start, you are stuck with it to the end of the song. I’d also sound too much like everyone else.

A Looper – I bought one …but it turns out that my timing is rubbish and I struggled to get reliable results. Shame .. they are great. Another problem was that they don’t help me create many of the genres of music I like.

Kaoss pad or similar device – but they are not suitable for the kind of music I like… though I think they are really cool tech.

iPad or similar tablet with a suitable app such as Reactable. Brilliant app.. but too unpredictable for me, and not useful for creating the music I like.

Of course .. I could get a band together. That would be great … but my work limits opportunities for rehearsals. I’d end up letting folks down at short notice. For now it’s not possible.

So I settled on the Tenori-on

• it can act as a sequencer …but flexibly ..by breaking tunes into ‘blocks’ I can skip blocks if I fancy … or replay some if I want to extend a song. I can create the blocks myself.
• it has some useful built-in sounds… and some that make me scratch my head and ask ‘why?’ …but it means I can compose anywhere. No need to link up to external sound modules.
• it allows me to do stuff like adjust the volume of each layer ‘on the fly’

One tricky part has been to control my Tenori with my feet while I play guitar and sing… I cover that in the midi section of this site.

So what I have written below is about creating Blocks, that I can easily switch between, to make the backing for my voice and guitar.

I don’t use my Tenori as a solo instrument. There are plenty of folks out there doing great stuff with that… but that’s not my goal.

So first I suggest you decide what you want from your device. Maybe it’s not the best one for you. On the plus side …if you buy one and decide it’s not for you I am sure there are plenty of folks looking on eBay to buy it from you.

2. …made sure it was up-to-date….

As soon as I got it I formatted an SD card in the Tenori, then downloaded and installed the latest firmware from Yamaha via the SD card and my computer. I made sure the time and date settings were correct, so songs I saved on it would have appropriate time codes added.

3. …placed it into Advance User mode …

Putting the Tenori into Advanced mode gave me additional options about how to allocate layers to different modes.. such as allocating them all to Score if I wanted to.

To put the Tenori into Advanced mode switch off, hold down switches L1 and L5 and switch on …and wait for it to fully reboot.

This setting is retained at power off so you only need do it once.

4. …loaded in some drums…

 This takes time but for me it was well worth it!

 The built-in drum sounds are not much use for the genres of music that appeal to me so .. I used the sample management software that comes with the Tenori to load in a standard set of drum sounds into User 1 and User 2.

 I took time over this because I wanted the songs I created to have a sense of commonality …although the drum sounds that are loaded in can always be enhanced with careful use of the built-in drum sounds. (Used with discretion the built-in drum sounds can work well.)

 I used Audacity (fantastic free software) to sample and edit the sound files… and to try to balance the levels of the samples. It has many excellent features especially the ‘fadeout’ feature. I used this to prevent my samples ending with a ‘click’ and to shorten them gently where I needed to.

 I sourced some samples from an old Yamaha drum machine and some I created myself, but there are plenty of websites with samples you can access for a modest fee or for free.

 I set up User 1 so that bass drums were at the bottom with drums with higher notes progressively loaded in … including congas and bongos…until at the top are a couple of snares and open/closed high-hat and at the top …cymbals.

 On User 2 I had some alternative toms and some ‘special’ sounds like tambourine and hand claps.

 I kept User 3 for voice samples. I’m cautious about using voice samples in backing tracks …but I feel they make a big difference if used with caution.

 Note: Don’t forget to keep the sound samples less than 0.97 seconds each in length. If they are longer than this the Tenori software will throw an error and you won’t be able to create the file for the Tenori.

5. …created a default set of Blocks…

 There are a large number of settings in the Tenori, and some are lost on power-down. For these.. setting them each time I use the Tenori is a pain… so once I had settings the way I wanted them I felt it was a good idea to save them using File – Save – All Blocks.

 There are no notes stored in this file ..effectively it acts like a reset to user preferences.

 I called it something I would remember… ‘CLEAR’.

 It took a while to create this file, but overall it has saved me hours. Before I compose anything I always load this file of blocks in so that:

 Layers 1 to 4 are assigned to User 1 or User 2 (my drums)

Layers 5 , 6  and 7 to a bass of my choice

Layers 8,9 and 10 to piano of my choice

 The file also:

• takes off as much of the animation as possible
• sets the reverb to the type and level I want
• sets the scale to chromatic so I can access every note in a scale
• sets all layers to ‘score’
• sets a default ‘panning’ for each layer.

The reason for having several layers assigned to the same instrument is so that I can cover the note range I want (e.g. by dropping or raising the octave of one) …and also perhaps have one with short notes and have another with long notes, which makes a massive difference to the feel of tracks I create.

Having several layers assigned to drums gives me options to use more drum voice sets where needed ..and gives me the option of having some drums at different volumes in the final mix.

Each layer can be panned L and R and it makes a big difference to the ‘space’ created. I typically start off with bass L10, drums R10, piano may be L20, strings R20 … and so on. This gives the instruments aural space.

I set the animation of every layer to the minimum… because I find it a distraction.

So the ‘CLEAR’ file gives me a common starting point, but it’s not a straightjacket. It may well evolve over time as I use my Tenori more… I might even create a different one for each genre of music I create. (e.g. CLEAR_FUNK)

6. …built the Blocks for the songs….

The Tenori gives 16 blocks from which I can build a song so when I am seeking to create a song I try to work out what the main elements are I want to include.

I choose between two very different approaches.. creating pads and creating song sections. I generally adopt one approach or the other for a song though I sometimes mix them too.

Approach 1 – Creating pads:

I typically create pads by setting layers to Push, or Bounce mode. Sometimes I might use Score mode and give a long duration to the notes. For example:

Of course, I can revisit the pads as often as I like giving me great flexibility. The layout is only a rough guide, as every song is different.  I usually put them in the order I am going to use them … and don’t worry what the name of the chord is that is stored there.

I just know which one to select next… ‘cos it’s the next one along.

Approach 2 – Creating song sections

I create sections primarily using layers in Score mode.

Each block counts as several bars (perhaps 2 or 4)  in traditional musical notation.

Of course, I can revisit the verse blocks or chorus blocks as often as I like … and again this is only a rough guide. Every song is different. It can be fun to switch between blocks for only a short period and then switch back to introduce some variation.

To keep track of the song I fill in a sheet to remind myself of the order of the blocks. You can download a blank copy from the ‘Examples’ page of this site.

** A key benefit of Tenori blocks is that I can switch to different blocks at any time  (hold R5 and select the block I want) ..and the new block ‘picks up’ the beat from where the old block was.

This allows me to switch to new blocks very flexibly without worrying about disrupting the beat. Toshio Iwa could have decided to reset to the start of each block when it switches. Thank goodness he didn’t. This feature is at the core of my approach. **

7. …saved them…

When “All Blocks” are saved, along with all the note information, panning, volumes and effects settings goes information about:

• the Block that was selected at the point of saving
• the layer that is being viewed  at the point of saving
• whether it is running or halted at the point of saving.

Before saving I select the layer that is panning most slowly, and Block 1 .. and then save.

It’s not important to me if it’s running or not as I usually have the first block as a rhythm block that I can fade into using a volume pedal.

This has the added advantage of allowing me to be flexible about the volume of the whole song.

Obvious really ..but I like to give my files a memorable name. Allowing the Tenori to name my file for me leads to a lot of frustration trying to locate files again later.

8.…and played them.

If I’m using my hands to move between blocks I can hold R5 and select the Block I want to play, triggering them when I want.

I avoid hitting the lowest switch on each line in case I end up copying blocks by accident.

9. Other things that worked for me

Always use chromatic scales

Several times I have tried using other scales and become frustrated and had to switch the type of scale and re-programme it. The chromatic scale gives you the chance of having any note you like and allows you to introduce ‘passing notes’ or even the occasional wrong note to give it a ‘live’ feel.

The price I pay is that I need more layers for each instrument …so arguably I waste layers. For me it’s a price worth paying.

Tweak the Speed and Swing rate

Minor adjustments to swing rates and speed make huge differences to the ‘feel’ of a tune. As ever, experimentation is the key to finding a combination that works for me.

Check the panning

Once I have created my backing track I check the panning of each layer. I may have added in an extra bass layer for example … in which case I need to pan it the same as the other bass layers… otherwise the instruments jump about as they play.

This is controlled in via the Layer menu / Panpot

Join a Tenori forum

There are some incredibly helpful folks out there who are eager to help via forums. There are plenty of tips that are shared.

I picked up the Advanced mode setting and the way to create pads from the forum attached to this site:  tenori-onusa.com

Many thanks to them!

Plug it into some decent gear

The Tenori speakers are handy …but they produce a very thin sound. Headphones are miles better. For performance I put mine through a stereo graphic to boost the lower and higher frequencies ..and to drop the middle.

Then into a decent stereo amp driving some full-range speakers. The addition of a sub-woofer was one of my best ever decisions. Those bass sounds REALLY come out. Suddenly it’s not all about ‘blips’.

Add dynamics such as increasing the volume across a block

If you want the volume of the bass (for example) to rise as a block is scanned, copy the bass layer to another layer ..and maybe even to a third. Remove some of the notes from the early part of the block… but have all three layers playing simultaneous notes by the end of it. The effect is that the volume progressively increases adding dynamics to your music.

10. Some problems I hit

Note stealing

Note ‘stealing’ happens when too many sounds are being played simultaneously for the device to cope with. If you are at the limit of the number of sounds (16?), triggering a new sound causes a sound that was previously triggered to be halted. It can lead to surprising effects.

This can happen if I have lengthened a sound too … so I may not be triggering too many sounds at one particular moment ..but another sound is ‘hanging on’ …and get’s cut off suddenly when (say) a drum sound is triggered.

Limited storage

As mentioned above, it has limitations on the number of blocks, but I use that as a creative spur to make choices.

If I am frustrated, things I might do to get around it include:

1. Vary the volumes

Have some layers initially set to zero volume …and raise the volume part way through the song. This can give a ‘lift’ to a verse and make it different the third time compared to the first or second times (for example).

2. Focus on the live elements of your performance

Play and sing live over it. People watching will probably be more interested in you and your performance than the backing you are using.

3. Use the pitch change

Not something I’ve actually tried mid-song, but it is possible to notch the pitch up by (say) two semitones part way through to introduce a change.

Connections 

The midi and signal-out connections to the Tenori-on are not very robust.

Things I do include:

1. Be gentle.
2. Use some tape if you have to to avoid them being pulled out accidentally.
3.  Just keep the wires away from my feet (or vice versa)

Limited parts to each block

Most sequencers and programmable drum machines offer at least 32 positions to place notes in a single loop.  The Tenori-on’s 16 seems a limitation.

Options to get around it include:

1. Have some fast layers

Have some layers scanning across at the fastest pace with the main ones scanning at a slower pace. By careful positioning on the fastest scanning layer you can position some notes so they come in at the ‘off’ beat of the slower layer. It will repeat faster but there’s fun to be had fiddling with it.

2. Use the SWING RATE function.

This is in the Play menu. For me a +2 or -2 setting make a big difference to the feel of a song. Too much and it sounds too wild for my taste.

3. Enjoy the simplicity

Not being able to get it ‘quite like the song’ forces you to think differently. I enjoy experimenting with taking the song in new directions. Again .. it’s a spur to creativity.