TENORI STORIES

In Keyboard, a “roundup” usually compares a bunch of products that do the same thing. Sometimes, though, a single instrument is so buzzworthy that the only way to do it justice is to “round up” different views about what makes it cool and how to use it. If there ever was such an instrument, it’s the Yamaha Tenori-On.
    Electronic music guru Craig Anderton dishes the vital info in “Hands On” (above) and “Need to Know” (below), and uses the Tenori as a MIDI controller (also below). Scroll down further, and Dream Theater keys wiz Jordan Rudess chronicles his Tenori odyssey and teaches us its myriad modes. Finally, chart-topping remixer Francis Preve integrates his Tenori-On into his DJ/club set. Enjoy! 

by Craig Anderton 

What is it? A unique, visually arresting musical instrument with internal sounds, seven tracks (“layers”) of step sequencing, and nine more layers that create sequences in unusual ways such as drawing patterns or randomly playing notes in a pattern

How do you play it? On its matrix of silvery-white LED buttons — a cross between the Japanese game Go and a Lite-Brite. In step (Score) mode, pressing an LED enters a note at that step. Other modes support “drawing” and other finger motions that create sounds.

Is it easy to learn? It’s very easy to learn, but difficult to master. Kind of like Go. . . .

How do you overdub parts? Function buttons select different layers, and different sounds from the internal tone generator.

Are the internal sounds any good? Yes, but you can also load your own samples — see “Load Your Own Samples” in Jordan Rudess' story further down this page.

What computer connectors are on it? It has neither USB or FireWire; all interfacing happens via MIDI.

Why did you say it’s “visually arresting?” LEDs on the back duplicate what you’re doing on the front. Hold the Tenori-On vertically in front of you, and it’s a treat for the audience.

It seems expensive. What’s Yamaha thinking? If they could sell it for $199.95, they would. But the tooling must have cost a lot, and it doesn’t look easy to assemble. The price needs to be considered more in the context of a work of art.

So is it a real musical instrument, or a toy? It’s a real musical instrument that’s as much fun as a toy.

TENORI-ON AS MIDI CONTROLLER

The Tenori-On comes with a breakout cable that fans out into MIDI in and out connectors. The Tenori-On can transmit MIDI clock or receive it in slave mode. It can also output MIDI data for recording, but I couldn’t find any way to play its internal sounds exclusively via MIDI notes — i.e. when its internal sequencer isn’t running.

Each of the 16 layers outputs on the MIDI channel with the corresponding number. So, you can use the various layer modes (Score, Random, Draw, etc.) as different types of controllers. For example, if you create some cool pattern in Bounce mode, any sequencer recording the Tenori’s output records the Bounce pattern. You could then drive a soft synth (or hardware synth) with the resulting MIDI track — the screenshot above shows what I recorded into Cakewalk Sonar from the Tenori’s Random mode.

There are three main ways I take advantage of this in the studio:

1. Create a composition on the Tenori-On and play it back through virtual or hardware instruments. Since there’s a “local on/off” toggle, you can turn off the internal sounds yet still send MIDI data to the output, turning the Tenori into a cool step sequencer.
2. Use Tenori-On to generate MIDI patterns that would be difficult or impossible to come up with on a standard keyboard. Try Bounce or Random mode once, and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
3. If I come up with anything particularly fun doing either of these two things, I stop, edit the MIDI sequence into a loop, and add it to my collection of useful clips on my hard drive. --Craig Anderton

 IN SEARCH OF PROG

You want progressive? Learn the Tenori’s performance modes from the reigning king of prog keyboards

 by Jordan Rudess

“Oh, no, he’s a prog rock keyboardist, not the kind of artist we need playing the Tenori-On.” That was the Yamaha Japan mothership’s initial reaction when they first learned I wanted to get involved. I’d devised a cunning plan to get one during the U.K. leg of Dream Theater’s Chaos in Motion tour, back when Tenori-Ons were available there but not yet in the U.S. The closest I got was a funky basement store that woudn’t sell the last unit they had, (though they’d have been happy to sell me some vintage vinyl).

    Thanks to Yamaha U.S. marketing director Athan Billias, I got my Tenori, and Yamaha got my message: “Prog” may conjure images of a guy in a wizard’s cape playing a million notes a minute over odd meters, but to be truly progressive is to embrace new ways of making music — methods that call forth ideas you might not have thought of otherwise. Point being, after years of playing black ’n’ whites, the Tenori-On makes me exercise a totally different area of my musical mind. In this article, I’ll share what I’ve learned.

    Six modes are involved in creating your music: Score, Random, Push, Bounce, Draw, and Solo. Each mode gives you different audio and visual feedback, and each is a whole new world to wrap your head around.

SCORE MODE

The first seven of 16 layers are preset to use Score mode, which is where I go first to get a groove cooking. Once you start a sequence, time moves from left to right on the display; pitch from bottom to top. You’ll need to set a tempo and choose the scale. You can also program the start and end point (Loop Point) of each layer individually, or change the master setting for all the layers and Blocks. Since the matrix is 16 x 16, you can have up to 16 steps in your sequence. The audio examples I created go from step 1 to step 14. That lets me do the odd-meter prog guy thing, even while playing in the world of electronica! [Audio Example 1.]
    Fast tempos are cool, not necessarily because the end result will be fast music, but because you can do quick glitch and stutter effects. Loop Speed is programmable per layer and as a master setting. I love tweaking it per layer, because each layer can be set to quarter-, eighth-, sixteenth-, or 32nd-notes per step. So in my sequence, layers are wrapping around at different times, creating interesting counterpoint. At a tempo of, say, 180 bpm, quarter-note layers in Score mode hold the groove down nicely while layers based on shorter note lengths (in other modes) serve up glitchy, esoteric touches. [Audio Example 2.]

RANDOM MODE

Random mode, found on layers 8–11, is just plain cool! The vertical axis determines pitch, but timing between notes will depend on the distance between lit-up buttons. To start a pattern, press any LED and the Tenori-On starts repeating that note. Press another LED, and it’s added to the pattern, which now cycles between the two notes. Further presses add more notes, which sound first in the order pressed, then in reverse. What I love here is that since there are 256 points that all can trigger a note, I can create a pattern whose length is completely independent of the start and end loop points I’d set in Score mode. Depending on the order in which you press buttons and the distance between lit-up notes, this makes for some seriously long, interesting musical activity, even using just one Random layer. [Audio Example 3.]
    The coolest feature of Random mode is rotation. Hold down the L4 button, then circle your finger around the LED area you want affected, at the speed and direction you want. Now, the visual shape of lit-up buttons will rotate, which changes the notes that shape plays — it’s like you’ve got a bunch of extra fingers constantly editing the pattern in real time! [Audio Example 4.]

BOUNCE MODE

Bounce mode, found on layer 14, yields some wild results. Here, pitch is on the horizontal axis, time on the vertical. Hit an LED at a given height, and it’ll “fall” down the column. The note doesn’t sound until it “bounces” at the bottom. Then, it goes back up to your entry point and the cycle repeats. Since the start point of each note doesn’t quantize to the grid, fascinating rhythmic things happen as you get more notes bouncing. The bottom button in each column erases the note.

DRAW MODE

Found on layers 12 and 13, Draw mode does what its name suggests — make pretty shapes with your finger, and they’ll loop at your selected speed for that layer. Keep drawing, and you’ll have a multi-layered mesh of Tenori heaven in no time. If you show the Tenori-On to any creative kids you know, I guarantee Draw mode will bring a smile to their faces! Draw mode is all in real time, so the notes aren’t quantized to the rhythmic grid. One thing you could do is set the loop speed to the slowest rate so that you can jam for awhile before the loop restarts. [Audio Example 5.]

PUSH MODE
Push mode is another world unto itself, and only layer 15 does it. While the rest of your sequence is pulsing along, this is where you build sustaining tones, and a special group of factory sounds is designed for it, with lots of time-based tonal changes. You can build up some great chords here.
    Here’s a trick that’s not in the manual: In Push mode, you can record different notes, with different sounds, on the same layer. This is because you hear notes when you press them, but they don’t get recorded unless you hold the LED button down for a certain time (you can set this in the Preference menu). So, pick a sound and hold an LED until it “takes.” Then, you can switch sounds and tap LEDs to audition them without fear of screwing up your sequence. When you find another sound you like, hold the button long enough to commit. Ever use any other sequencer that lets you audition sounds while recording? I haven’t. [Audio Example 6.]

SOLO MODE

Taking a solo is a little different than what you and I are used to from the keyboard world — for starters, the Tenori-On has no pitchbend. Here’s the way things work in Solo mode on layer 16: Hold an LED button, and the note repeats until you let go. Pitch is on the horizontal axis, and the repeat speed is slowest at the bottom of any column and fastest at the top. Changing the Loop Speed on a Solo layer affects repeat speed as well. This is a live mode only; nothing gets recorded. It makes me wish my fingers were half as thick so I could have an easier time flying on the thing! I like to crank Loop Speed up really fast and jam on the very top row. [Audio Example 7.]

A VISUAL AND AUDIO FEAST

The Tenori-On is an important step in instrument design because of the wonderful way it merges the audio and the visual, and I really can’t emphasize that enough. It’s a world of patterns and moving shapes that’ll make your head spin with joy, and I tend to let the visual aspect lead the way and see where it takes me musically. Once you start driving the Tenori-On, creating even basic music seems fresh and new once more. Not that creating music gets old on a keyboard or other traditional instrument, but this bad boy puts you in a different headspace altogether. Now that’s progressive!

LOAD YOUR OWN SAMPLES IN THE TENORI-ON

Though I think the factory sounds are happening, the first thing I did was to load some of my own glitchy percussive samples. The RAM area for samples is pretty small — the user gets three presets out of 256, a preset can have 16 samples, and each sample can be just under a second long at 16-bits/48kHz — but this is suitable for some quick sonic goodness. [Audio Example 8.] In the Voice Manager software (shown above), you just drag audio files to a slot, then click “Make User Voice” to turn save your group of 16 as a Tenori-On preset on an SD card. --Jordan Rudess

Any DJ or tech/electro performer will take one look at the Tenori-On and say, “I simply must have one for my next club set!” How realistic is this? I’ve done it with great results, but incorporating it into a night of floor-stomping requires preparation and forethought. Here’s how to avoid some snafus, and keep your music as crowd-pleasing as all those blinking lights.

SYNC

It may seem obvious, but to use the Tenori-On alongside a program like NI Traktor or Ableton Live, you need to sync them, and that means setting up MIDI clock. While you can certainly have the Tenori-On be the master clock, in a DJ/electronica set it makes more sense for your favorite software to dictate the tempo. Scroll the Tenori’s thumb dial to the Preference menu, hit OK, scroll to “Syncrhonize,” hit OK, select “Slave,” and hit OK again. Since the Tenori-On comes with a MIDI in/out cable but has no USB, your laptop will need a MIDI interface (a cheap 1 x 1 type is fine) to talk to the Tenori.
    Once you’ve set your software to send MIDI clock, check the whole setup for drift over time. Remember that MIDI is an ancient protocol that hasn’t really been revised for the bandwidth-intensive 21st century, so your enemies are long MIDI cables and having too much controller information on the same channel — always a possibility if you tweak several knobs and sliders at once. When you want to play the Tenori in your set, focus mainly on it, leaving any fancy footwork on other devices for different parts of your show. Finally, since MIDI clock is a trifle loose compared to software-based tempo sync (e.g., between plug-ins and host in a computer), you’ll get the best results from tempos under 130 bpm — faster tempos will highlight any timing inconsistency that’s there. The Tenori-On isn’t especially prone to MIDI timing problems; I’d give the same advice for using a hardware groove box or step sequencer.

Integrating with existing music.

Using the Tenori-On in a DJ set can be a real showstopper, so rather than just playing it throughout the set, choose certain sections of your show and give it the spotlight it deserves. This means spending a bit of time finding tracks that give the Tenori room to breathe. A complex trance extravaganza is not the place to highlight Yamaha’s tech jewel. Instead, sift through your “crate” for minimal tracks that tend to stay in one place. One important limitation of the Tenori-On is that there’s no shuffle or swing parameter — everything that comes out of it is straight notes, with nary a hint of wiggle. There’s no workaround, so you’ll need to double-check that any grooves you’re thinking about buying — either on a sample CD or from a site like Beatport.com — don’t swing and create a muddy rhythm.

Patches and modes.

There are 253 presets in the Tenori-On, three of which can be used to store your own sounds (see “Load Your Own Samples” above). Hold down the L1 button (top one on the left edge), and the LEDs become program change buttons, so it’s important to memorize the “X-Y co-ordinates” of your favorite sounds. Just as important is an understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various track types, which the Tenori calls modes.
    In my opinion, it’s best to start with Score tracks to create your main groove components in advance, then put subtle variations of these on different “Blocks” — that’s Tenori-speak for a 16-layer musical cake; the closest thing on a keyboard would be a 16-track sequence. By switching Blocks (hold down button R5) you can go from minimal grooves to busier ones and back, leaving your fingers free to play “live” elements.
    For doing this, I like Random and Push modes. Random mode is fantastic for adding melodic riffs that vary subtly over the course of a track, and Push is perfect for pads and ambient swells when used with a factory sound such “Orbit” or “Zone.” I find Bounce mode to be a matter of personal taste in the context of a DJ set, as it can be a bit unpredictable (see Jordan Rudess’ description above). Your mileage may vary.

Rehearse, plan, and pre-produce.

Unless you’ve got months of Tenori-On experience, you should take the time to plan your Tenori excursions. Obviously, it’s a great way to start or close a set, but it’s also cool to surprise an audience that’s expecting just a DJ performance. Again, pre-loading adjacent Blocks with variations on your basic groove is far better than risking an on-the-fly train wreck. You can always edit and revise Blocks as you play, so pre-producing a few related Blocks with similar (but not identical) “bottom layers” will make you look and sound a lot slicker. As your skills improve, you’ll start taking more chances.