NAMM 2020: Yamaha YC61

[@johnadams5489]

The YC61 is quite an interesting KB. Great for the organist that wants to have the authentic sound without have to lug around the heavy equipment of yesteryear. Take a good look at the quality hardware that is on that keyboard. No bargain basement switches, quality draw bars that are color coded. If I were in the market for a Clone Wheel, I'd buy the Yamaha. Why? It sounds great, has all the features that we need, and is versatile. The other deciding factor is Yamaha build quality. THAT is a quality piece of equipment. I have been using Yamaha equipment since the 1970's and everything I ever bought from Yamaha still works. I was a road warrior played in rock bands and hauled my equipment around in an unheated trailer. My Yamaha equipment always worked, cold or hot temperature, set it up, turn it on and play. I also played the Hotel lounge circuit 5 or 6 nights a week, on the road for months at a time. I never had an equipment failure with my Yamaha equipment in all those years, ever. Buy it once and stop looking.

[@InXLsisDeo]

The only thing they need to invent is the adjustable keybed, so that it can simulate weighted keys at will.

[@fortheloveofnoise]

This is actually cooler than I was expecting.

[@Wagoo]

Okay we've got a big boy version of Reface CP and YC. Bring on DX and CS, Yamaha!

[@cloudrun654]

Yes! +1

[@huukihuuki]

Big boy CS should be like a modern VA CS80. That would be glorious.

[@Wagoo]

@@huukihuuki yeah I think it'd suit Yamaha's current tech best if they made an evolution of the CS-80 with their circuit modelling VA stuff, but then used analogue filters at the end.. and retained a 61 key poly aftertouch keybed and ribbon for expressivity

[@sebastianungerer9566]

There are also DX and mono/poly Synth sounds and lots of more sounds next to the YC and CP sounds on it. Ok you won’t have a FM-Snyth and 2 OSC Synth on it, but it’s a stage keyboard...

[@matszh]

Yeah, they’ve done the ”FM+AWM2” with the SY77/99/Montage/MODX, but it would be great to combine the AN+FM too, with decent polyphony and easy-to-use controls+some great FX, maybe poly AT too?

[@snurkergerm6168]

Thank you Sonic State. Marvellous coverage of NAMM, better than being there

[@SteveBlancoMusicianWarrior]

The Yamaha Electro 6. Actually glad there's some competition, and I am intrigued.

[@andreacosta74]

Yamaha has NO MELLOTRON sounds. Nord wins again.

[@jamflow77]

Thank thank thank THANK YOU..For finally showing us the FAZER EP sounds...Im SOLD! It will replace me Roland VR9..WOW! cant believe ive been convinced.. Wish you would have displayed a couple of drawbar sounds.. but I've seen them on the other vids.. so thanks again

[@jemgel1162]

Blake is a good presenter, he's got a welcoming vibe yet covers the features as well....pro!

[@fortheloveofnoise]

See you at Goodwill in 30 years! (I hope....LOL)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for the presentation, very enjoyable and interesting!

[@fernandocue3797]

Skateboard feel on synths, great for performance expression and tricks.

[@adamandlorraine]

This guy Blake's been working himself to death on these YC61 presentations!

[@Roboprogs]

Want to hear more of the FM part of it. I’m interested in the idea of an FM keyboard with nice keys and a less cryptic interface. I like the sounds on the MODX, but it feels wrong, and the panel is irritating. I have been layering my Reface DX with my Juno DS, but the keys on the Juno are shallow.

[@jamflow77]

Can you adjust volumes when you are playing layers

[@the25thhr41]

not sure ill get rid of my nord electro for this but it sounds phenomenal and great feature set if i was looking for something would have this on my list

[@pauloyoshizaki2103]

YAMAHA : YC 61 : NEW MODEL ; Arpeggios : Effectos : Timbres : Tons : Ritmos : Gráficos Digitais ; YC 61 : Yamaha .

[@cardoman3986]

Finally! Took long enough for someone to challenge Nord's market space.

[@keonphillips348]

Brother this doesn't challenge nord trust me , it doesn't

[@adriaanroeleveld5823]

Seems like Yamaha woke up after 6 generations of Nord Electro. Big plus: the physical drawbar / LED combination. Also nice: organ model seems really good. Big minusses: no possibility to load other samples so you are stuck with the Yamaha sounds (and no Steinway/Bosendorfer/Fazioli); high price (in Europe a NE6D61 is priced €400 lower). If Yamaha fixes this, they have a winner. Alternatively: if Nord uses this combination of physical drawbars and LEDs ....

[@vanessajazp6341]

I believe they’ve already advertised its ability to load sounds from YamahaSynth.

[@adriaanroeleveld5823]

@@vanessajazp6341 That would be great, but I cannot find it there yet.

[@vanessajazp6341]

@@adriaanroeleveld5823 Hmmm. I’m sure on one of the demos I’ve watched they referenced future upgrades and sample libraries. May not be available right now since the keyboard hasn’t even been released. You looked in Yamaha MusicSoft?

[@66guidos]

@@vanessajazp6341 yeah, they already added new downloadable sounds to their new CP boards. Will do the same with this for sure. Have to compete with Nord!

[@vanessajazp6341]

@@66guidos I found the blurb at YamahaSynth.com on the YC61 page. You gotta scroll down a bit, but they do mention future upgrades like the CP-series.

[@zlippery1]

expandable memory as CP88?

[@kaufmann6988]

Will there be OS updates with new pianos ect., like for for CP88/73 ?

[@synthplayer1563]

Sounds very nice, but it's just a really good presenter. I wonder how Yamaha's technology is so advanced, but also so general, that you literally always have the same thing in a different box and pay for the same thing several times over. The same goes for Roland and Korg.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

2:11 Serpentza Evil Uncle Theme

[@abohsukampret]

It's only a matter of time until Yamaha release YC-73... and when they do it'll give the Nord Stage 3 Compact a run for its money.

[@adamandlorraine]

Let's have a YC73 then we have a deal.

[@vinylselektaz6475]

Hey Yamaha, I'm waiting on that new RS7000.

[@vileguile4]

I got the "old" RS7000 upstairs ... it took me about 18 years from when i first saw it until i got one! A new one ... yes please!

[@vinylselektaz6475]

@@vileguile4 wow what you think about it

[@vileguile4]

@@vinylselektaz6475 You have to stop in order to record, the filters may be a bit untaimed in that resonance can be dangerous but other than that it's absolutely fantastic. The sequencer is great fun. The groove fx makes up for the need to stop the sequencer as you can change pitch, note length, velocity etc there. It's the best 303 sequencer! The reason? My xoxbox triggers accents on 101+ velocity. If you in the groove fx add different velocity values like for instance 79, 85, 99, 105, 120 you can then use the velocity knob to increase them all making the knob decide when these notes will go above 100 and trigger the accents. This effectively gives the 303 an additional knob. Imagine a build up and then once you reach a certain amount of energy some additional accents kick in! It's crazy! Similarly there's a knob for overall note length. This will affect when slide is triggered - ie when notes overlap. All in all these two knobs along with the groove fx gives the 303 a whole new expression. There's some things that could be simplified and improved so a mkII would be awesome. Maybe i should make a video going through all the good features because i never found one doing that.

[@tanxedap6364]

How much ?

[@annother3350]

Da boys done good here

[@rcom9880]

Great product but add user samples and access to a yamaha online sample library and for it's price point it's a total NORD killer.

[@vanessajazp6341]

I actually never liked the leakage or rotary noise sounds. I prefer the pure tonewheels, un-muddied by any other artifacts.

[@pcuimac]

Nice, but why only 61 and not 73 keys? It costs 2000€ and has only 61? smh

[@chaosme1ster]

Simple: organ = 5 octaves. Perfect form factor. You can connect your favourite piano-action 88 key controller, use that to play the piano sound and at the same time use the YC61keyboard to play organ. Or use a 2nd 61-key kb to get a 2-manual drawbar organ. Brilliant design. And probably with typical Yamaha build quality. I have a big-ass Yamaha organ that's 45 years old, which still works like a charm.

[@chaosme1ster]

Oh, and waterfall keyboard! Yay.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

just a matter of time is my guess, blake seemed kinda tight lipped about it :)

[@annother3350]

I don't think they would put 61 in the name if they hadn't planned other sizes

[@uhoh007]

Why has Yamaha abandoned aftertouch? The 1999 JV1010 I just bought takes poly AT, this has none at all. Otherwise it looks great.

[@vanessajazp6341]

This is aimed at organ players. Organs don’t have aftertouch.

[@jppagetoo]

I can see this being used by solo performers doing corporate parties and wedding gigs. A nice giggable keyboard. Yamaha does well in that market. Why have they abandoned the synth market? They were an early innovator but seem to have lost interest in doing new synthesis products.

[@stevebennett2447]

i think the synth market right now for a company like yamaha seems quite a. crowded b. um..let's say "unthankful" 😛 especially as apart from cs-80 they don't really have the kind of legacy stuff people would want recreations of right now, as the dx-line has already been used. let's just wait until the "dust settles". this seems like an amazing 2nd/top keyboard for anybody working live gigs, most importantly a clavia replacement.

[@maccagrabme]

@@stevebennett2447 Out of all the synths I've used, the Yamaha synths have the best digital synth sound I've ever heard. In particular the SY99, SY85, CS6, An1X and EX5, they are monsters with thick lush sounds, way better than Roland and Korg.

[@ollielife1]

solo performers and legendary funk/jazz artists

[@stevebennett2447]

@@maccagrabme as that might be true they still represent a different era. Korg jut released an arp 2600, wavestate and another ms-20. Roland again just got a new jupiter out and previously se-02 and system 500. These are all vintage classic brands being reused and yamaha doesn't really have those the put out as an1x and ex5 being modern style synths aren't in that ballpark. Except cs-80, which would be too expensive to recreate and a digital version wouldn't really make sense as analog hasn't been their game for a while.

[@lilakmonoke982]

uhmn, an organ type live keyboard with one 5 octaves for 2k $$? as always yamaha is close but no cigar ... except for the dx7, that one is 3 cigars!

[@annother3350]

It sounds epic though

[@noelcosgrave113]

I hate to break it to you, but Hammond console organs also have five octave keyboards, as do their pipe organ forebears. Spinet variants have even fewer keys (usually 44).

[@lilakmonoke982]

I just bought a 1969 Hammond P100 and that has even one octave less. But it's a real tonewheel Hammond and everything pales compared to that. I expect more in a digital fake for compensation :-)

[@RayyMusik]

The organ doesn’t sound bad - just not like a Hammond. I’ll stick to my HX3 organ.

[@annother3350]

It sounds luscious

[@timstrel1]

Just seems like Nord has been there and done that and Yamaha is kinda tardy to the party.

[@Kougeru]

$1,999.99 for the YAMAHA vs $2,599.00 for the Nord Electro 6

[@metalplatedfacejob]

@@Kougeru and real FM, better sounding organs in my opinion....really nice effects. It's very compelling against the Electro 6....the Nord is very good too but this has a slight edge.

[@adriaanroeleveld5823]

@@Kougeru In Europe the other way around

[@annother3350]

It's just over £2,000 in the uk

[@metalplatedfacejob]

@@annother3350 can get it at sweetwater for $1899.00. which means with a little bargin skills you could walk with it for about $1650.00. With in the year ,$1500.00 on average ,maybe less

[@fjfrancois]

😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴😴 no new true analog synths?

[@MeAlexSenna]

Yawning

[@vanessajazp6341]

Not enough to keep from trolling, eh?

[@annother3350]

This is made for those hotel lounge / restaurant players. It's not for everyone

[@vanessajazp6341]

@@annother3350 Well that’s one person’s opinion. Maybe go try one out when they’re available. You might be pleasantly surprised.

[@annother3350]

@@vanessajazp6341 The keyboard sounds great to me -- I hate the phrase but it sounds epic. It wont please the experimental or EDM crowd though

[@vanessajazp6341]

@@annother3350 True that. But it’s not aimed at that crowd. The Montage is more for them. The YC61 is all about that classic Hammond sound for live performers, with some other bells and whistles thrown in. Nothing more.