Yamaha Master Keyboard Artist - Gale Revilla

Top of the Line -The Yamaha "Tyros2"

The Music Industry Calls her a "Musical Genius" and a "Master Keyboardist." But, it wasn't always that way.

Almost 25 years ago Gale decided to start on the path of music. She went and searched for a Keyboard that she could create melodies and let her hone her craft. She was able to find a smaller/cheaper model of the Yamaha Brand of Keyboards. The other brands were just way out of reach for Gale shoe-string budget.

She made several albums in cassette format (CD's were not invented yet). The first Yamaha Model was the - Yamaha PSR250. This is where all her rough drafts were composed on and put away only to be listened to for ideas later in years.

Gale didn't take any formal music classes nor can she read music sheets.. But she did study on her own to learn the characteristics of as many instruments as she could. She would spend hours in Orchestra Rehearsal halls and watching as well as listening to the Orchestra members play their instruments. She needed to know how long a flutist holds a note, how high does the trumpet climb in octaves. She learned from Violins to Violas to Clarinets. This took time and allot of studying.

Once she understood the general dynamics of woodwinds, reeds, brass, strings and so on. She was ready to start composing. She would blend several instruments together, e.g. Classical Flute, small strings and a Sitar to bring a new sound. This is one of many, many examples she used in creating unique sounds from already established instruments. The Yamaha was capable of playing up to 3 instruments in the lead melody at any one time, not including the Special Effects (DSP) that could be added to those three instruments. She could sound like she was playing outdoors in a canyon to a basement of a home to Carnegie Hall.

One of the things that really turned her on to the Yamaha Keyboards was that she could pre-program up to 17 tracks (each with their own instrument) in the accompaniment of her lead melodies. While Major New Age Artist were on stage with multiple Keyboards to perform one song, Gale was able to get all 17 tracks to perform for her at the same time which dropped the Multiple Keyboards on stage to just one. (Many Artists today use the Computer to create their music), Performing 17 tracks at once not including the vocals was going to take allot of concentration on stage or in the recording studio. None of her 26 CD Albums are done on Computer as so many of her colleagues use. Not one Album is composed on any PC Period! She has used the PC to Normalize her music and that is about it.. Today she doesn't touch the computer with her music! All of her compositions are done at the Keyboard and then recorded on a DAT or other Digital Recording Device (not a PC).

That meant creating songs (good ones) that could be performed live and not having to play two or more Keyboards. The Yamaha PSR9000 and the Tyros2 both allowed up to 128 notes (polyphony) played at once before the sound was truncated. While many other genre songs never come close to 128 notes at the same time, Gale's music required her to push the Keyboard to the limit and run at 126 notes at one time. She paid close attention to this at all times with all of her Albums. This of course doesn't include the vocals if she decided to add them also. The, "WindCharmer" CD Album has vocals and some songs are very close to maximum output on notes at one time.

Many people after a show had asked her if she is performing live or a Pre-Recorded song. All her songs are performed live and are Pre-Programmed and not pre-recorded. Pre-Program is where she holds the Band Members in memory to play only when she pushes the button for that band member to be called up. Instead of having human names to each member, they are numbers. Violin=1, Guitar=2 and so on. When she needs a guitar in the middle of the song, she calls up band member #2 and the guitar waits for her to push down the keys to sound like a guitar. This is how all of her music is performed live and recorded. Any and all layers are done live (up to 17 tracks).. If she performs on stage, her accuracy in performing exactly like it is on the CD album is over 98 percent. It changes to a lower or higher percentage if she shortens or extends the song due to time constraints.

When her first Professional Album came out, "Mystic Lands, Antartica, Angels in the Forest, (in that order) Gale had stepped up models of the Yamaha Brand. She had used the -Yamaha-PSR650 and the Yamaha PSR-720 and the PSR2000. Later as she fine tuned and got better and better with her Album content and more complex in styles, She again graduated higher up in the models of Yamaha Brands. She had stuck with Yamaha because they had models that one could graduate up to.

By the time she was composing her "Pharaohs" Series Collection Albums, she was using the top of the professional keyboards like the, Yamaha PSR9000v1.2. The next few Albums were done with the Yamaha PSR9000v1.2. Again, Awards and Nominations came in for several of the Albums which included her Native American CD's, "Liquid Visions' and "Day of the Wolf".. The Yamaha PSR9000 model had been used by Composing Music Legends like Paul Williams. Alicia Keys uses the Yamaha Brand of Keyboard. The whose, who list have used the Yamaha Brand. The Yamaha PSR9000 was the top of the line Keyboard and for the serious Pro.

In late 2005, Gale wanted the Newest Keyboard from Yamaha. It was the Yamaha Tyros2 (the newest top of the line Keyboards). She wanted to compose her Latest CD Album, "WindCharmer" on the New Tyros. She had heard that it had a more powerful arranger than the PSR9000. It turns out to be very true. And the music is fantastic due to the Tyros2.

Will she ever switch Keyboard Brands? Not at this stage of her career. At one time she looked into the Roland Keyboard models. They just didn't quite do what Yamaha claimed theirs could do.

So, does Yamaha support or recognize Gale for using their Keyboards? No! She had tried to contact them and even submitted a CD for them to listen to. Her music and voice go un-heard. That happens a lot when one is a Independent Artist with a Independent Record Label. But, that doesn't change her view of the Yamaha Keyboards and their models that they have available. Maybe one day the Yamaha people will wake up and take notice.

"I am flattered that the music industry calls me a musical genius, but I have never seen myself that way and it is hard for me to grasp. They also call me a, "Master Keyboardist" and that label or title is an honor and I take that to heart. It doesn't matter what keyboard you use, as long as you enjoy playing music. If you're going to create music, then do what ever you can to get the top of the line model keyboard. Then learn it like the back of your hand. Know everything about it! study, study and study some more. Stay focused and don't get distracted.

  Let me say this to all of you who are aspiring new keyboardist out there. Set your goals and focus. Stay away from the negative people who will slow you down, whether it be friends or family members. Believe in yourself, because I remember way back when I as told to keep my day job. I wasn't very good at the time. Like all artists, you have to spend countless hours honing, fine tuning and learning your craft. If you wish to compose your own material, then you can add more countless hours to those other countless hours. Most of all, Hang in there and keep the faith and learn. I wish each and every one of you great success." - Gale

If you wish to write me: gale@galerevilla.com I will not answer tech questions, sorry!

Foreground - (Silver Keyboard) - Yamaha Tyros2, background Keyboard - (Dark Keyboard) - Yamaha PSR9000v1.2

Her CD Albums that were composed entirely on the Yamaha "Tyros2."

The Yamaha PSR9000v1.2 composed the "Pharaohs" Collection Series. There are 2 Awards and 2 Award Nominations with the PSR9000v1.2.

Pharaohs Collection Series - 2 Awards & 2 Award Nominations

Here is a song sample from Gale using the Tyros2 Keyboard:

Song is in Windows Media and in MP3 Format

Song: "Estonia" - Album - WindCharmer / "Night Mirages" - Album - Pharaohs 3