Lo-Fi hip hop techniques on a Yamaha QY70 (tutorial)

[@TronDawg]

getting some PlayStation / Final Fantasy 7 style vibes from this QY70 jam. Love it ✨

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much!

[@Flat8G]

The UI from hell, you have been blessed with patience beyond that of most musicians. Great end result too!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks you very much! Haha, yeah I can see why you say that. Yamaha had this very "I am a programmer and I like my music object-oriented" approach back then. Recording a sequence is easy enough, though, it's just that you need an external midi controller to really unlock the good stuff.

[@valley_robot]

It’s actually really easy I got used to mine in about an hour , the main problem is the none backlit screen and it eats batteries like crazy , I may try and get a myvolts usb for mine

[@Flat8G]

@The Fat Actors Podcast Kids learn stuff like that really quick though, would your parents have picked it up faster? 🙂

[@larrydanna]

Thank you for teaching me more about one of my favorite instruments. I'm inspired to try it for myself. The song you created sounds polished and complete. Outstanding!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for your kind words!

[@MaksimLin]

What an awesome track and fantastic tutorial for us new QY owners! Thanks for going into many of the more advanced features like the automation for the rain track 👍 You can't make too many QY videos! more please, more please!! 🙂

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you! I'll do more.

[@MaksimLin]

@@mr_floydst 🎉🎹

[@unclemick-synths]

That's such a powerful little box! 👍

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! Yes, it is. But it's necessary to invest some work to get a really good sound out of it.

[@Corkoth55]

One of my favorite bands as a kid (and today), Freezepop were known to use this for their synthpop music. I had no idea how powerful this device was. You have a lot of knowledge and patience navigating the UI on that tiny screen.

[@mr_floydst]

Interesting - got to check them out.

[@Corkoth55]

@@mr_floydst very respectful of you. Thanks. Have a good day!

[@Gezira]

That was not an easy task and you did it gracefully, bravo!

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much!

[@YoshiLightStar]

Pretty Cool video! This is a great tutorial for Yamaha's XG based synths, those are very fun to mess with!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! :-)

[@lmc333]

Thank you for this video !!! Awesome ! even though i have absolutely no idea what you are doing or what you are saying... This is totally extra terresterial and foreign for me... nothing make sense here for me... But the end result is exactly what i love about music growing up... this music reminds me of all the New Age sounds from Mars Lasar, Tangerine Dreams and all these artists from the late 70s 80s and early 90s.... I feel nowadays people are defining LoFi what it already was back then.... finally the world has caught up to the forerunners from decades ago.... this sort of music is still fresh and and timeless: beautiful !

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you! I was born just a bit too late to get into those vibes, but I caught up later in my life ;-) I guess you'd enjoy those Lo-Fi channels as well, for example kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2aYooF7gLZ_fZI As far as I understood (my actual scientific knowledge of music is limited), the main difference between the "Berlin School" type of music and Lo Fi hip hop is that the harmonies in Lo Fi are derived from Jazz (a lot of 7th and 9th chords) while the beats are, well, hip hop, jazzy and swingy, plus Vinyl noises and 80s production techniques (compressors mainly) So in a way, I successfully failed at my own goal here because the QY70 can't do vinyl crackles and sound warping, but I think the harmonies and the overall sound hit the mark somewhat. Both styles of music are relaxing and unobtrusive and the resulting sound is indeed quite similar. Sorry for the long wall of text. :-)

[@vytautasleistrumas8040]

Thank you, Floyd! Very helpful!!!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@juliogargano8968]

Thank you !. Amazing sounds !

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@LdotSdot210]

gotta throw bitcrusher/downsampler and some saturation on to up the lo fi aspect some.

[@mr_floydst]

thanks for your feedback! yes, that's a good idea. should have done that on the final track.

[@BKQuestico]

Klasse. Genau mein Ding.

[@mr_floydst]

Danke! :-)

[@georgefenning4844]

Thank you . I have QY100 and I struggle with it . This is very helpful.

[@mr_floydst]

Glad it helped!

[@georgefenning4844]

@@mr_floydst yes thanks. What are the main differences between 70 and 100 models?

[@mr_floydst]

@@georgefenning4844 The 70 is older and smaller and has no audio input. It has groove templates, though (a quick way to quantize and emphasize your music). The 100 has an audio input, 25 more sounds and better D/A converters, so it sounds a bit more "powerful". It's devoid of the groove templates and it's bulkier. It also eats up batteries more quickly.

[@georgefenning4844]

@@mr_floydst thank you for coming back to me so promptly, I really appreciate your help and time . I found the original unit in its box and also discovered I have a Yamaha UX 16 usb midi interface and to my surprise a Roland mobile studio sound canvas …. Sitting right next to ….a korg i40m … I loved that unit for live playing and forgot I had it and the ec5 control pedal. I’m going to try and explore a host of 90s sounds next week played through Sony 1990s hifi system. Thanks for the information and inspiration . Ps I hope my Roland u20 is still working. A sleek and deep but mystifying machine . The rubber pads tend to wear and accumulate dust . Hoping to use it as a master keyboard.

[@techtinkerin]

A friend had one of these, definitely a great sounding unit I still want to buy!! 👍😎❤️

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! It does sound great, please be aware though my demo track used external effects on the piano and pad track (as mentioned in the video). Still, you can get superb sounds out of this.

[@XavierRadix]

Beautiful moody sound! Absolutely love it.

[@mr_floydst]

Many thanks! :-)

[@alecsbuga]

Beautiful track! I remember having an Yamaha Ds/XG driver. So if you installed that on your Windows machine, all your MIDI sounded like this. So I was making music in Cakewalk / Sonar only with MIDI and at the end I was resampling the whole song into one track :)) I remember I wasn't even touching the mouse. Every CPU cycle counted, or else I had a glitched recording. I keep seeing the QY70 for a while on YT, Insta... I might be tempted. Seems like a really powerful box. Sounds are dated, but with a bit of love you can get nice stuff.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for sharing! There's a VST plugin named "Yamaha S-YXG50" which basically is the QY70s sound engine as a plugin. You can find it as abandonware on some pages.

[@MikiStrange]

An excellent video and yes, I did learn something new, which is always good.

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you!

[@arcanics1971]

Awesomeness epitomised!

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you kindly, sir! :-) Btw I didn't forget about the duck video ;-) It's just taking more time than expected.

[@AV-fh7rp]

Hey man thank you!! This is Awesome!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! :-)

[@organismgel1043]

The Dr. Grande of noisemakers

[@mr_floydst]

Oh, haha, never heard of him before. Well, uhm, thanks? I guess? ;-)

[@JohnBassarcticsoundstudios]

Great job

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks!

[@mikemeengs5720]

Excellent job!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! :)

[@davidkaplan5450]

Floyd, thank you, you are killing with the QY70 tutorials! What's your recording process? Are you using a DAW or just overdubbing on a recorder?

[@mr_floydst]

In this case, I recorded to a ZOOM R20 (a multitrack recorder which is quite like a DAW). You can use EQs on every track, which is a good thing to clean up the audio, which was absolutely necessary on the "bass + subbass" combo. I also used delay & reverb pedals (Strymon Volante/Nightsky) on the piano sound. Sometimes I use Reaper, too, or the MPC One. Really depends on the situation.

[@forgottencameras]

Your videos along with the also EXCELLENT video from Yukes have really sold me on the QY70 as a tool to start learning how to get the notes in my head onto a tangible format. Enough so that I now have one on order. I can't wait to get some work breakroom jam sessions going. The one thing I am having trouble with is finding the box you use to convert the USB controller to MIDI; which one do you use? All of the ones I see are just the cables with the converter on the end and some pretty expensive ones that look like they'd do the job but I'm not 100% sure.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! You made a good choice there - this is a great musical tool which helps in writing songs in the "classic" structure (intro, verse, chorus, brigde, ... ending) The MIDI box is this one, I made a video answering this question specifically ;-) kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4eXgIaIfJt-n9E

[@forgottencameras]

@@mr_floydst Cool I'll check it out! That's precisely what I was hoping to find a device to do. I tried learning piano a couple of years ago and couldn't get into it. This looks like way more fun. Future Me: I found a replacement for the USB/MIDI thingy on Amazon; I'm hoping it works as well. It comes in USB-powered and 5v options; I chose the 5v because it should have a lower noise floor.

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

Hi Floyd! Great video again! I guess I just don’t understand the desire for lofi, I saw this gadget on KZbin that simulates scratching and I thought well, that’s interesting, then I saw the price! $250! I commented, $250! Are you high? I was trying to be funny so he said I was rude and if I didn’t like the price to build my own, lol. Normally I don’t let things like that bother me, I wasn’t trying to be rude! $8 on Amazon for a piezo pickup and an old record would do the exact same thing! So I went back and deleted my post. But while I was there I read the other comments,I’ve got mine ordered, this is awesome, what? So I don’t get it! Why do people want their work to sound like crap? I don’t consider the QY series lofi at all! It’s a wonderful collection of sounds and an extremely useful sequencer, as you know I have 2 and I’m going to get the 700 when I run across one! So because it IS so popular I got the Caitlin Somersault, it’s Okay? And it’s all anyone needs to sound like old recorded crap! I don’t listen to hip hop so I guess that’s why I don’t get it! Ricky Tinz is really into that, and it always confuses me. I spend a lot of time and money to get the clearest most professional sound I can get! I was going to go back and comment I apologize but I couldn’t seem to say it without sounding rude! lol, I have no respect for DJing and that’s who these people are, I guess. A turntable is not an instrument! lol. After watching this I still don’t get it. The QY in my opinion is an awesome instrument, not a gimmick I guess is what I’m trying to say. Also anybody getting into music, no matter what style, hip hop, jazz, or cinematic listen to this guy! Floyd knows what he is talking about! The QY and maybe a pocket operator is all you need to get started! For hip hop style I recommend the Sub. The fact that you researched lofi is awesome Floyd! I know about as much as you do about it but what I do know is the instruments aren’t important, it’s all about focusing on the vocals and this little bit you came up with is going to be really useful to a lot of people! Really Really nice work! And I apologize this note just keeps growing! lol I was lucky enough to find an unopened 100 on Reverb for $200 and I love it! I hope you don’t think that’s rude, or am I just being thin skinned? Do you know the scratch thing I’m talking about? And what do you think? Love your work brother!

[@mr_floydst]

Hi! Correct me if I'm wrong, but "Lo-Fi", while it started out as some kind of trend in the early 2000s (originally in Japan) nowadays refers to a genre of music that sounds very Hi-Fi indeed, but always is kind of jazzy, relaxing and melancholy. See Lo-Fi Girl channel etc. The use of scratchy vinyl sounds, tape warble etc has become so stylized that it sounds nothing like an actual scratched LP or old tape. $250 is way too much for a QY70. $150 is acceptable.

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

@@mr_floydst that’s the way I understood it. I think they’re high! Literally. I do appreciate the research you did for this video! I did not think I was being rude, I just deleted the whole thing, I don’t need to apologize to a group of people that think scratching makes them musicians! Lol I agree, the one I got was still sealed in the original box for $200. Well worth $200! The irony was I had to change the boards battery to make it work! I tried to find out what they cost in their day but couldn’t find it. I still think it was the best $200 I ever spent! Actually it was this device that mimics scratching for $250 each. I couldn’t even tell you the name of it, but a little more money you could have a spdx mk2. I also would like to compliment that beautiful track of music you made, I could actually hear lyrics in my head! Now after recording it, be sure to screw it up good with wobbly Chorus pedal! Lol

[@EstudioT.A]

Hola, ¿podrías decirme como hacer una simple progresión de dos o 4 acordes y que suenen en loop hasta volver a dar al stop? por cierto, muy bueno tu video, muchas gracias 🙂

[@mr_floydst]

For that, work in pattern mode. Set the length of the pattern to 4 bars for example, then use the step editor to enter the chords. Here's a tutorial on this I made previously: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZuTm6CaoLNlmpY

[@EstudioT.A]

@@mr_floydst thanks a lot, I will try right now. In the QY22 you have the option RPT (repetition), but here in QY70/QY100 is very different. I will tell you later, thanks a lot 🙂🙏🏻

[@EstudioT.A]

@@mr_floydst The point is how to introduce the chords, for example DMaj7, Bm7, Em9, A7(13), and to play in loop...I cannot find how. In the song mode I introduce the chords in Step Mode and everything is ok except than when I give the bars that I would like to have and after click the play (Shift+ play) waiting for the loop of the bars, but it does not work...and in the pattern mode I only need to introduce the chords (with his own keyboard), not to record something by myself. Just put chords, choose a style and play in a loop.

[@Hauteclaire16]

While it doesn't sound like Lo-Fi music at all, it is still a good track you made

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching. Well yes, as I said in the beginning of the video, I really have no clue and all I did was some reading and listening to random tracks.

[@EscapeTheCloudsOfficial]

It's funny so many are complaining about the screen and UI, when so many devices today (OP-Z, SeqTrak, Novation Circuit, etc.) have no screen at all for feedback.

[@mr_floydst]

That's a good point!

[@untukdummy8695]

how did you connect the nanokey to qy70? nanokey only has usb connection

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, I'm using a USB MIDI host by a company called hobbytronics. But sadly, that's discontinued. You can use a Raspberry PI instead, for example kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGXchperhNaFaa8

[@EgoShredder]

There are Dore MIDI USB Host boxes available too, to convert USB MIDI to 5-pin DIN MIDI. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3q7oYqKadB0iLs

[@ambiguationdotnet]

Floyd, I'm starting to think you need shares in eBay, & Reverb the amount of stuff I'm buying thanks to your videos! 🙂 One question - you said you recorded each part separately into the Zoom - how did you line up the tracks once they were there? Thanks!

[@mr_floydst]

I did the classic "manual sync". Precount and press play. The lack of MIDI control on the R devices is really puzzling.

[@in.nomine.matris]

Hello!! So, I just purchased a qy70, and after few experimentations, the memory is now full. I wanted to know how can I find the data filer program compatible with my mac 10.13? or how do you export your songs data please?

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! Here are some links that might help www.jaybmusic.net/tools.html macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=5233.0

[@MajesticZMR]

did Björk use a QY70 or was it a other model?

[@mr_floydst]

That was a QY20 equipboard.com/pros/bjork