iPhone App Directory

More details on the TNR-i


Thanks for everyone who commented on my post this morning on the TNR-i. Here are the details from Yamaha's site:

Variety of Musical Expressions
TNR-i can produce 16 types of sounds at the same time (16 layers), and it can memorize up to 16 song patterns produced using those sounds (16 blocks). By switching between song patterns in real time, you can produce a rich variety of musical expressions.
6 Performance Modes

There are six different types of performance modes that you can select for each layer. You can make elaborate music by combining different modes. In score mode, the most fundamental of the modes, you can arrange sounds horizontally (temporally) and vertically (by pitch). In the exciting random mode, the sounds that you arrange are not just played in order—the melody and rhythm constantly change as twists are added. In draw mode, you can perform music by tracing your finger across the buttons as if drawing a picture. In bounce mode, the glowing lights are like bouncing balls that produce sound when they fall. In push mode, you can continuously change the sound as you perform. In solo mode, which is fun for solo performances, you can easily adjust the speed of repetition and the pitch.

First, please try the demo. You can experience the joy of performance just by switching layers.
  • Loading the Demo: From the menu (touch the display), touch All Blocks, iD-Xtra_uncTK, and then Load.
  • Switching layers: Press R5 and the area that the 16 × 16 buttons are in at the same time. (You can double-tap R5 to hold it and make it easier to switch layers.)
  • TNR-i Sessions with Distant Friends
The appeal of TNR-i isn't just limited to its faithful duplication of the TENORI-ON concept, design and interface, which were developed under the supervision of Toshio Iwai.

If you are connected to a network, you can participate in TNR-i sessions with distant friends and others. Up to four people can connect to each other over a network and enjoy performing together simultaneously. First, tap Clear and the display at the same time to activate the Game Center feature. Then, invite your friends, or use the auto-match feature to automatically select a partner, and start your session. For more details, see page 23 of the internal manual.
Manual: From the menu (touch the display), touch System Menu and then Manual.

If you update the TENORI-ON (TNR-w or TNR-o) to version 2.1 and use it with TNR-i, you can participate in sessions using the TENORI-ON (TNR-w or TNR-o).
Preset Sounds

The preset sounds of TNR-i are the same as those of the TENORI-ON, and the performance files are also compatible. You can use iTunes to transfer performance files saved on your TENORI-ON SD card to TNR-i. Of course, the reverse is also possible.

Please enjoy the world of TENORI-ON.
Note
  • The Game Center feature is a network feature provided by Apple. It is mainly used for multi-player gaming.
  • You must have an Internet connection to participate in a network session. You also have to sign in to the Game Center.
  • User Voice is not available.
  • To run TNR-i smoothly, we recommend that you use an iPhone 4 or later or an iPod touch, 4th generation or later.
The 'user voice is not available' comment is a bit worrying especially at this price!

The app is currently in the UK store but reports say that it isn't in the US store as yet for some reason. In the UK it is priced at £11.99.

TNR-i - Yamaha Corporation

iPads at the Apple Store

Clip to Evernote

12 comments:

Formal said...

So aurora studio is still the best bang for the buck? Even though there is a sample size limit that's better than no user samples.

Tom TM said...

But is Aurora Studio just designed to look like a Tenori-On rather than actually behave like one?

I'd like to know. :)

Anonymous said...

The TNR-i app does all the different layer modes like Random, Bounce, Push, Score, Solo - whereas I'm not sure any other app offers all of these at the moment (I don't have Beatwave or Aurora). I suspect the other apps got ahead of the game on looks and then have moved forwards with incorporating other useful features, like the ability to load your own sounds, tweak parameters, apply more detailed mixing etc.

Still no proper download link for the v2.1 firmware update if you're a TNR-O / TNR-W owner though.

stefan said...

i would love to hear from somebody who owns a Tenori-on, if that person would even be caught dead with a silly emulation. I am interested in this, I bought into the Aurora because a friend of mine got a Tenori-on and I was jealous of him. Aurora is fun but it is exactly what it appears to be in my humble opinion, a strange hybrid app based on a few different grid based sequencers. Any thoughts? I feel like Aurora is cool but it is kind of like work to get any good sounds out of it. It just has a sound to me. I like the sound though.

Matt Hooper said...

YES, it does support midi out and Midi In ext sync.
it supports both network midi (wifi) and also CCK.
it sends out on all 16 midi channels too.
how cool is this thing!!!!

kidBaltan said...

" yamaha does not warrant the software is without errors
or that defects in the software will be corrected"

so no support?

Anonymous said...

I own a Tenori-On (original version) and have also purchased this app. I figure it's a cheaper way of getting 2 tenori's synched alongside each other than buying another one! Also, I could use the hardware TNR-W with user samples and the iOS app version to output MIDI - if I really wanted to.

The hardware version is still much nicer though, I guess it's the difference between a flat plate of glass and 256 tiny flashing buttons. Still worth it if you don't own a tenori and have always wanted on though.

I managed to load a bunch of .TNR files (song files) via app sharing into the iOS version, all of which work perfectly.

kidBaltan said...

So what would you recommend to other TO- owners,
does it add enough to buy it

or is it more interesting and useful if you dont own the original one?

Icepulse said...

So what does "No user voices" mean? I assume there are built-in voices, and hope that they are tweakable... or is this just a controller?

Synthetic Bits said...

User voices are custom samples. They were not super useful in the original hardware because they were pretty limited, but they were definitely good for replacing the kinda-weak stock drum sounds.

Leaving them out of the iPad version is a bit of a bummer because it seems like one of the things they could have actually made better than the original. Getting rid of the hiccup when switching blocks is another shortcoming that I hope they improved.

But no user voices isn't that big a deal. Being limited by the stock sounds actually ends up being one of the endearing things about the hardware, it forces you to adapt to its personality. And if you aren't in the mood for that, just use MIDI out to trigger sounds from something else.

Synthetic Bits said...

To answer your question more directly: there are 253 built in sounds (16 x 16 minus those 3 user voices), but they aren't tweakable other than pitch and length.

And some of them are pretty useless.

It's a love it or hate it thing, depending on the person and what sort of mood they're in.

Limitations are both a big part of the appeal and the biggest shortcoming of the Tenori-On.

Anonymous said...

I used to own the silver tenori-on,
It was nice but very flawed.
It used to slow down alot.
It couldnt really handle many patterns being played at once.
You have to question the worth of a £1000 musical instrument that couldnt keep time.
A nice idea.
But a useless toy nevertheless.
Shame really.