I love my Tenori-on. I love the range of features, its size and its portability. It\u2019s a brilliantly refreshing device that enables me to create music I enjoy …and it also drives me crazy.<\/p>\r\n
Below I share some things that have been important for me as I have sought to master it in case they are useful to you. I’ll shortly include some sound files on the Examples page so you can judge whether my efforts have been effective or not.<\/p>\r\n
1. I decided if the Tenori-on was for me…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n 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:<\/p>\r\n Midi sequences<\/strong> – 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.<\/p>\r\n Over many years of performing live I\u2019ve played along to a lot sequencers … which are great ..but I\u2019m ready for a change.<\/p>\r\n Karaoke style backing tracks<\/strong>… 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\u2019d also sound too much like everyone else.<\/p>\r\n A Looper<\/strong> – 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\u2019t help me create many of the genres of music I like.<\/p>\r\n Kaoss<\/strong> pad or similar device – but they are not suitable for the kind of music I like… though I think they are really cool tech.<\/p>\r\n iPad<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\r\n Of course .. I could get a band together<\/strong>. That would be great … but my work limits opportunities for rehearsals. I\u2019d end up letting folks down at short notice. For now it\u2019s not possible.<\/p>\r\n So I settled on the Tenori-on<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n I don\u2019t use my Tenori as a solo instrument. There are plenty of folks out there doing great stuff with that… but that\u2019s not my goal.<\/p>\r\n So first I suggest you decide what you want from your device. Maybe it\u2019s not the best one for you. On the plus side …if you buy one and decide it\u2019s not for you I am sure there are plenty of folks looking on eBay to buy it from you.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 2. …made sure it was up-to-date….<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 3. …placed it into Advance User mode …<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n This setting is retained at power off so you only need do it once.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 4. …loaded in some drums…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/strong>This takes time but for me it was well worth it!<\/p>\r\n \u00a0The 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.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0I 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.)<\/p>\r\n \u00a0I 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 \u2018fadeout\u2019 feature. I used this to prevent my samples ending with a \u2018click\u2019 and to shorten them gently where I needed to.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0I 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.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0I set up User 1<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0On User 2 <\/strong>I had some alternative toms and some \u2018special\u2019 sounds like tambourine and hand claps.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0I kept User 3<\/strong> for voice samples. I\u2019m cautious about using voice samples in backing tracks …but I feel they make a big difference if used with caution.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0Note: Don\u2019t 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\u2019t be able to create the file for the Tenori.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 5. …created a default set of Blocks…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \u00a0There 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.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0There are no notes stored in this file ..effectively it acts like a reset to user preferences.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0I called it something I would remember… \u2018CLEAR\u2019.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0It 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:<\/p>\r\n \u00a0Layers 1 to 4 are assigned to User 1 or User 2 (my drums)<\/p>\r\n Layers 5 , 6\u00a0 and 7 to a bass of my choice<\/p>\r\n Layers 8,9 and 10 to piano of my choice<\/p>\r\n \u00a0The file also:<\/p>\r\n 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 <\/em>of tracks I create.<\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n Each layer can be panned L and R and it makes a big difference to the \u2018space\u2019 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.<\/p>\r\n I set the animation of every layer to the minimum… because I find it a distraction.<\/p>\r\n So the \u2018CLEAR\u2019 file gives me a common starting point, but it\u2019s 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)<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 6. …built the Blocks for the songs….<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n Approach 1 – Creating pads:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n I typically create pads by setting layers to Push<\/strong>, or Bounce<\/strong> mode. Sometimes I might use Score<\/strong> mode and give a long duration to the notes. For example:<\/p>\r\n Block<\/p><\/td>\r\n Chord pad<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n 1<\/p><\/td>\r\n Em<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 2<\/p><\/td>\r\n Em7<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 3<\/p><\/td>\r\n F<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 4<\/p><\/td>\r\n G<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 5<\/p><\/td>\r\n Am<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 6<\/p><\/td>\r\n Bm<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 7<\/p><\/td>\r\n C<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 8<\/p><\/td>\r\n D<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n 9 etc.<\/p><\/td>\r\n Em with extra bass<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody><\/table>\r\n 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.\u00a0 I usually put them in the order I am going to use them … and don\u2019t worry what the name of the chord is that is stored there.<\/p>\r\n I just know which one to select next… \u2018cos it\u2019s the next one along.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Approach 2 – Creating song sections<\/strong><\/p>\r\n I create sections primarily using layers in Score<\/strong> mode.<\/p>\r\n Each block counts as several bars (perhaps 2 or 4)\u00a0 in traditional musical notation.<\/p>\r\n section<\/p><\/td>\r\n blocks<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n Pulse, or intro rhythm, that can be faded into. Once faded in I can listen to it, or watch the lights, and pick the point at which to go to the next block.. to really start the song.<\/p><\/td>\r\n 1<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n Intro<\/p><\/td>\r\n 2, 3<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n verse<\/p><\/td>\r\n 4 , 5, 6<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n transition 1<\/p><\/td>\r\n 7, 8<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n chorus<\/p><\/td>\r\n 9, 10<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n transition 2<\/p><\/td>\r\n 11<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n middle<\/p><\/td>\r\n 12, 13<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n drum break<\/p><\/td>\r\n 14<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n Outro<\/p><\/td>\r\n 15, 16<\/p><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody><\/table>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n 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 \u2018Examples\u2019 page of this site.<\/p>\r\n ** A key benefit of Tenori blocks is that I can switch to different blocks at any time\u00a0 (hold R5 and select the block I want) ..and the new block \u2018picks up\u2019 the beat from where the old block was.<\/p>\r\n 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\u2019t. This feature is at the core of my approach. **<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 7. …saved them…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n When \u201cAll Blocks\u201d are saved, along with all the note information, panning, volumes and effects settings goes information about:<\/p>\r\n Before saving I select the layer that is panning most slowly, and Block 1 .. and then save.<\/p>\r\n It\u2019s not important to me if it\u2019s running or not as I usually have the first block as a rhythm block that I can fade into using a volume pedal.<\/p>\r\n This has the added advantage of allowing me to be flexible about the volume of the whole song.<\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 8.<\/strong>…and played them.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n If I\u2019m using my hands to move between blocks I can hold R5 and select the Block I want to play, triggering them when I want.<\/p>\r\n I avoid hitting the lowest switch on each line in case I end up copying blocks by accident.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n 9. Other things that worked for me<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Always use chromatic scales<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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 \u2018passing notes\u2019 or even the occasional wrong note to give it a \u2018live\u2019 feel.<\/p>\r\n The price I pay is that I need more layers for each instrument …so arguably I waste layers. For me it\u2019s a price worth paying.<\/p>\r\n Tweak the Speed and Swing rate<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Minor adjustments to swing rates and speed make huge differences to the \u2018feel\u2019 of a tune. As ever, experimentation is the key to finding a combination that works for me.<\/p>\r\n Check the panning<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n This is controlled in via the Layer menu \/ Panpot<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t
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