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Keyboards often feature a built-in sequencer
(also called "onboard recorder").
This is a device which records and plays back
MIDI information. You can record your performance and play it back at the
touch of a button. You can correct mistakes, play
it back at a different tempo, or
just play it back and jam along with yourself.
Using a sequencer is a breeze
A keyboard's sequencer has similar controls to an old-fashioned
tape recorder: Start/Stop, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind
and Record. But that's where the similarity ends. A
sequencer has creative control advantages over a tape
recorder:
- increasing or decreasing the playback speed of
a tape recording changes both the tempo and the
pitch. A sequencer, however, can play back a song
over a wide range of tempos without changing the
key. This makes it easier to record the stuff you're
not particularly great at. You can play a difficult
song or part of a song as slowly as you want,
regardless of your planned final tempo.
- a sequencer can also play back a song in any
key without changing the tempo. If, for instance, a
soloist at a wedding sings "Their is Love"
in a different key, no problem! Simply select the
desired transposition and press START.
- editing is a breeze. You can remove any dud notes you
played or rerecord any sloppy passages until you get
your performance just right. Do you have a weak
fourth finger? You can edit each note that finger
played and increase the volume of those notes
selectively. High-end sequencers
offer a wider range of editing capabilities such as
the ability to cut, copy, and paste passages. They
will even correct timing inaccuracies using a neat
feature called quantizing.
If you like to compose music ...
You can use the sequencer to create a complete
song one instrumental part or "track" at a time. For
example, you begin by recording a flute melody
on one track, then a piano chord accompaniment
on a second track. You can choose to play back
the previously recorded flute
melody as the piano part is
recorded, so that both parts can be heard
together. You continue adding violin, a
percussion rhythm part or anything else until
your ensemble is complete.
 When
buying a keyboard with a built-in sequencer, look for
the number of tracks and
the number of songs that can be stored. The sequencers
included on some keyboards let you record a couple of
tracks and store just a single song. Other sequencers
can hold as many as 5 songs, and higher-end sequencers up
to 16 tracks.
If you store the songs in your portable keyboard
for instant recall, you can take the keyboard with you
wherever you need to play your stuff. Or, you can save
your recordings to a floppy disk (if your keyboard has a
built-in floppy disk drive) and pop them into your
keyboard as needed. You can even share the disks with
other musicians, choir or school. Songs are stored in an
industry-standard format for saving sequence data called
a Standard MIDI File (SMF). This ensures that other MIDI
devices can read and understand your recordings.
If you like to perform music ...
Once you have your own pre-recorded song, you can play a
countermelody or duet part along with the recorded part.
Teachers can make "music-minus-me" recordings,
which means that the melody part is not included. The
student plays along with the remaining parts, supplying
the missing portion of the music -- a superb way to
learn piano skills. And don't forget that you can do this
in any key and at any tempo.
 You don't have to play along with your own
recordings. You can use the keyboard sequencer like a CD
player and play back commercially produced recordings
(Standard MIDI files or SMF) on floppy disk which you buy from music
stores. You can also take advantage of the huge selection
of SMFs available for download off the internet at yamahamusicsoft.com. Once
loaded into your keyboard, you can play along, sing
along karaoke-style, or just listen.
Which is best: a built-in keyboard sequencer or a
computer program?
There is no such thing as the "best" type
of sequencer. Each has its advantages.
Built-in keyboard
sequencer
Portability! Everything you need to record, play back, and
play along with your music is in one piece. Plug in the
keyboard and you're ready to rock. Fewer components are
easier to setup and tear down for performing musicians
and those just eager to get started quickly. At most,
the only add-on you would need is headphones.
Computer program
If portability is not an issue,
if your keyboard has MIDI, and if you
already own a computer, go for it! Sequencer computer
programs offer the greatest variety of features. Plus,
computers have more memory, a large monitor is easier to
view than a small keyboard screen, and using a mouse lets you
navigate easier throughout your sequence. If your
computer is a laptop, portability is no problem.
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