Yamaha MP-1 - The Keyboard with a Music Printer

[@chriswareham]

I remember reading an academic study of Japanese corporate culture in the period from the 1950s to 1980s. There was a lot of investment in what western companies would probably call "blue sky thinking", where research and development teams were encouraged to come up with new ideas that may not of had an immediately obvious market potential. I suspect that this keyboard, with it's unusual printer feature, was a result of this culture. The nearest thing I can think of in the west is Rank Xerox's PARC, where concepts like the graphical interface for computers and many others were first tested.

[@sakadabara]

As an ENT Doctor I am really pleased to see that the marker pens were for Interacoustics/Kemplex tympanometers and also for Rhinomanomenters as well !

[@koenheltzel]

It was a pleasure to be of help! Wonderful video. That error of combined 3/4 and 4/4.. who finds stuff like that! That's one of the many reasons to tune in to your channel. The included sticker was a cheeky Photoshop by myself, probably it never existed in English.

[@shayes.x]

Thanks for helping make this video possible, I enjoyed watching it! Do you happen to know the name of the jazz tune at 22:13?

[@koenheltzel]

@@shayes.x yes, it's After You've Gone

[@KeenOnKeys]

Thanks again for your help!

[@5argetech56]

Absolutely astonishing . Yamaha was always my keyboard of choice. Especially the PSS-480. It was my first MIDI keyboard. It was an amazing little unit with full 16 channel midi control and playback. 12 note poly too. Many of my first musical compositions were made using the little keys. (1989)

[@aphracadabra]

Thanx for this lovely review of my first keyboard... still in my studio (using it with lot of pedals on my records) cheers! :)

[@Natthander]

One of the few channels that I stop everything to watch a new video as soon as possible. I told my girlfriend excitedly and she misunderstood the name as "Kink on Keys" and I'm still laughing. By your influence I got my beloved MT-68 in January and now the PSS-A50 on Black Friday.

[@pssr-boy501]

I'm surprised you were able to get it. It is a very rare item. It's wonderful.

[@funkiEst]

I'm selling one ;)

[@dl8cy]

Was für ein schönes Weihnachtsgeschenk - ein neues Video von *Keen On Keys* - Schöne Feiertage und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr

[@mikolasstrajt3874]

This looks cool. I see potential for DIY project here - take cheap MIDI controller, Raspberry Pi, cheap thermal printer, throw in some Python code to glue it together and tada - MP-2 is here.

[@inthefade]

I just want to play a live show and have a printer printing out all the notes I'm playing. It'd just be weird.

[@kaitlyn__L]

That joke about finally having something to use the guitar pick for got a hearty laugh from me :)

[@MoraFermi]

You're right, it would look so different today. Not only it would only take DRMd paper (with rfid tags) but it would error out if it detected an attempt to transcribe a popular song.

[@firstnamelastname1512]

Was looking for demos of this earlier this week, with no useful results. Then i see this in my subs today! Awesome to see the printer in action. Thanks a bunch!

[@adamyohan]

An interesting relic of the 80s. Great video.

[@greatheightsu]

Whoa, once you got that printer fixed and loaded with the new pens, I was very impressed how well the notes turned out. Looks dark and good!

[@beetleworx]

Pure Faszination ... Offensichtlich von KeenOnKeys beim Restaurieren, Reparieren und Filmen ...-... und bei uns - beim Zuseher. Fesselnd... und die Hintergrundmusik - Toll gemacht !!! Wer ist da nicht begeistert, wenn der Drucker wieder Noten ausspuckt - fantastisch !!!

[@musiclabmn]

Leave it to Mr. Keys to find a keyboard i've never heard about in my life, and I'm a collector of these (sort of). Your videos are always inspiring and I can't wait for the next one!

[@LoremTheOtter]

Fun fact: I love your video's and you are the reason I got a Yamaha PSS-480.

[@KeenOnKeys]

Hope you are happy with it.

[@LoremTheOtter]

@@KeenOnKeys I use it more than my MicroKorg! So definitely happy with it.

[@pocketlintartist]

I did exactly the same! ha ha. It's fab.

[@PosyMusic]

What a lovely novelty, and great demonstration! Very satisfying mini plotter...

[@RetroPlus]

What an interesting device, I'm glad you went through the effort to get it working

[@sublibrarian]

I can't believe they invented this... and in 1982!!! A huge thank you for the video.

[@kgbstudio]

The song playing in Looking inside section is godly!

[@izzzzzz6]

Amazing work as usual.

[@kensuke1]

It's interesting to see it in motion. Thank you. I like this sound. I still have the Porta Sound MK-100.

[@lithin4630]

man, iam addicted to your videos..its like lullabys, just because of your review i have bought yamaha pssA50. please do videos more often

[@Lhenndyn]

A nice video again ! Thanks ! Most of the chips on the front panel board are logic chips, flip flops for exemple. They are used to « read » the buttons and switches.

[@shakti.rathore]

Wow. I always end up exploring something i had no idea existed in the first place😂😂😂

[@bersil76]

excelent job made on this video, Congrats for your details and efficiency, this level of effectiveness is hard to achieve

[@pianokeyjoe]

I have this keyboard. And extra paper and printer pens. Thankyou, now I know what is going on with my unit and can rest easy to repair the printer issues though.. honestly I do not need the printer.

[@midinotes]

I look forward to the day you show us your entire portable keyboard collection! 🎉😊

[@KeenOnKeys]

Maybe that will happen one day, but right now I don't have enough space to set them all up.

[@ecrylian]

Oooh I was looking forward to this one! Amazing work as always!

[@godzil42]

I didn't know people made brass gear for these plotters! Will have to look at that as I have some broken one 🙂

[@PolaroidsofthePyramids]

Great video - definitely worth the effort to get it working right. Thanks for sharing the experience!

[@himasa]

thank you for the hardwork! this is beautiful archive of retro keys, i wont skip the ads.. happy holiday! :)

[@Alinktome]

It was so awesome to my eyes when I saw a pic of that keyboard when I was a child. (my grand ma bought me the ps300)

[@christill]

I love Yamaha and their willingness to do these kinds of things. Sometimes it doesn’t work so well, like this. And sometimes it does, like the silent guitars. I want to get one of those so I can learn guitar without annoying anyone, but I feel like a refresh is needed and it could be imminent. Maybe learn keyboard first.

[@vbarsoteli]

you are doing ART sir! keep going!

[@GTChris]

Can't wait for your next video

[@CasioChaosTheory]

Great video, and fascinating little keyboard! I can't help but wish that Yamaha made a cross between the MP-1 and the PC-100, where you could print your own PC100 "Play Cards" to load back in your own songs at a later date. I know that the PC-100 used magnetic tape on the Play Cards, but still, being able to print your own Play Cards would be awesome, along with printing out the actual music too!

[@safetinspector2]

As you said at the end, I play piano but do not know how to read or write music and I wanted something like this exactly for the reason you said: I wanted to share my music ideas with others. Now its a trivial matter for most devices to perform this task for me.

[@hfiguiere]

This printer reminds me of the plotter for the Sharp PC-1500 (a pocket computer), of the same area (ca 1982). The pens were expensive too. Edit: seeing the mention of "tandy tech", the Sharp PC-1500 was also sold as Tandy TRS-80 Pocket Computer (re-badged) in North America...

[@axs203]

What a really cool keyboard

[@motoklx]

I love old Technics stereo equipment especially the highly sought after turn tables, I did not know they made keyboards if you could review a Technics keyboard it would be greatly appreciated. Love the channel and always great to see a new video from you

[@KeenOnKeys]

Thank you! A Technics keyboard is on the schedule for next year.

[@inthefade]

I use a Technics electric piano with weighted keys in my living room. It's sounds aren't great so it's hooked up to an old computer with a better piano VST, but the action feels good enough for a synthesizer player like me, and it looks nice in room.

[@soepil]

Highly interesting. Never heard of these before. Thank you.

[@mrdali67]

Like you pointed out the printer functions was way to limited to be any usefull, and the cost was just not worth it for the limited score functions, but as a curiosity of that early programming in an 8bit cheap cpu that is able to record music and print out a somewhat usable score it is actually quite an achievement. Even a decade later with Atari programs like Cubase Score the functions of analyzing a midi file and show it in score view was still not much better in giving a usable score for printout, You had to edit the score manual in the program to get an easy to read score layout. The normal Portatone models was actually not that bad for what they cost, even they still sounded a bit cheapish. The actual quality of their build was quite good compared to today. And the automatic was on par with the also analog Electone Organs. It was first with the introduction of the more advanced digital PSR models that the automatic got more sofisticated. I remember winning a Portatone in the very early 80's in one of Yamaha's local Electone Festival competitions, and I actually used it on top of my C-55N Electone just for fun. My guess is that Yamaha just dropped the idea of more models of this kind because they didn't sell. Like said it was just much faster and cheaper to buy some blank notation paper and write your things down with a pencil.

[@ytJnC]

Informative and entertaining as always. Would it be possible to review a Yamaha MK100 if one enters your orbit someday?

[@KeenOnKeys]

It already entered my orbit and I will do a review next year.

[@sonic2000gr]

Consider that many people use calculators, but only specific jobs actually require a printing calculator. I've had plenty of calculators myself (mostly scientific and programmable) but never had a printing calculator. This keyboard is the music equivalent of the printing calculator :D It probably tries to fill a niche, or it's there for the wow factor. My 12 year old self would definitely be amazed had I seen one of these in 1982. But then again I didn't start playing until 1989.

[@OsbornIOW]

Proper restoration 😁

[@greanhare5270]

I'd have left the gold sticker. I know it's not the product's original appearance, but it shows the product's history.

[@KeenOnKeys]

Yes, but it was much too big and ugly.

[@discodave6153]

Another great and interesting film 👌🏻

[@pi6706]

My Sony photo printer uses an ALPS printing mechanism which are the same as the ones used in Kodak and Canon photo printers. The entrance of the print ribbon on each brand of printer is keyed so you can only use the corresponding brands replacement ribbon which are not cheap.

[@love80music]

Great!

[@timconstable7348]

@techmoan would be proud of you!

[@lundsweden]

The Epoch making "synth", lol. The first AND last keyboard with an inbuilt printer!

[@halvardlund4782]

This thing is sooo beautiful...

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh wow, the printout is actually really good! I recognised it as a plotter right away, but was still a little dubious about the stepper resolution. But I shouldn’t have been - ALPS stuff is pretty much all quality. It does take a while but it looks really nice! I like how it does one bar at a time. And you could of course cut the strip up to paste onto a page, telegram style, if you wanted to keep it in a folder or book. Like you said, not so useful with MIDI transcription, but a neat concept nonetheless.

[@baztudyo]

Amazing idea

[@M1k1haus]

Great vid.

[@keyhoarder]

WOW, for the 535 quid i would definitely go for great sounding PS-55. Funny that Casiotone MT 65 were half of the price of PC100, but now it's much more expensive and wanted. Voices aged much better than on Yamaha pc 100.

[@jmd1743]

Looks like a great education tool if improved upon.

[@mattimaranda9638]

9:55 "now I can see what a guitar pick is good for" That hurt.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

😳 Can a video be TOO satisfying??

[@jackpennoyer1669]

I would be honored to buy that keen on keys printout if you'd ever consider selling it!

[@Mizai]

you can do retrobright to remove yellowing from plastics

[@ihatemax206]

Ive got one of these! Ill need to try fixing the printer part of it.

[@ilovemoms5385]

You should review the Otamatone!

[@Mizai]

cool keyboard

[@Mikegeb4545]

The idea was nice. But they should have used rolls with a staff line printed in them. That would have cut the plotting time significantly

[@TiberianFiend]

Retr0bright can remove yellowing from ABS plastic. It's a home formula developed by the vintage computing community.

[@KeenOnKeys]

I heard about that, but does it work with painted plastic?

[@TiberianFiend]

@@KeenOnKeys Don't know. You should ask at the Vintage Computer Forums (now the Vintage Computer Federation Forums). I believe they're the ones who developed the retr0bright process, and at the very least, they have a lot of experience with it.

[@TiberianFiend]

Maybe you could try using some type of stylus on the thermal paper so you don't need to worry about ink.

[@KeenOnKeys]

That doesn't work. Not enough pressure.

[@mastercylinder1939]

I prefer your demos of old gear, the new stuff leaves me cold.

[@dianehunt]

I receive this when we bought a Yamaha piano. It all works but I don’t have pens. Do you have any recommendation for purchasing them? Thanks!

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

I'm shocked that it's got a little pen inside it. I'd have designed it to have a receipt printer inside that uses thermal paper. Maybe that technology was still under some sort of patent, or hadn't come out at the time.

[@DoctorNemmo]

I wouldn't personally remove the stickers. There's a bit of history in them.

[@solomonjenkins9505]

super cool, but very limited

[@jamiethomas2381]

I have this keyboard, and lost the plug in adapter . which do you recommend buying to replace it? thanks

[@ORANGE32755]

SPETTACOLO!!!!!!... :)

[@ValTek_Armory]

I figured this used a thermal printer like a receipt machine. Surprising that it uses a plotter with a pen instead of

[@amonster8mymother]

Can I get a receipt?

[@jamesbennettmusic]

The coating inside might be conductive, for shielding!

[@boggisthecat]

Could you use thermal paper, and replace the pen with a suitable plastic peg?

[@KeenOnKeys]

This doesn't work. The pressure isn't high enough.

[@eksplorchannel4171]

Saya pernah pake thn 1992

[@user-nachalnik1968]

Ну чего только япошки не придумают! Класс!

[@abrahamsg8318]

Why Should Be Named Like That One of Kawai Series: MP ...???

[@solomonjenkins9505]

music makes it

[@dr.fabriciogerardoacevespl5390]

the intro...cars by Gary Newman?.

[@thompi8]

kanske va en sån där jag skulle ha haft då jag va liten har aldrig lärt mig noter 😞 bra video

[@MorrisChannel4]

I'm wondering if this is the same FM soundchip that was in the Sega master system

[@KeenOnKeys]

The MP-1 does not have an FM tone generator. The first FM Model was the PS-6100 in 1984

[@MorrisChannel4]

@@KeenOnKeys wow dang, kinda sounds like it is one! it would seem like one that FM can replicate just from these sounds alone. Thanks for the insight

[@pi6706]

*****THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING WITH YAMAHA*****

[@missaelbautista7005]

Insta-like

[@user-lw8dr6xx8i]

If this could be attached and data printed to a modern printer...

[@AnDrew-oh5uq]

this thing is crazy lol

[@demonicsweaters]

WTF, this is insane

[@JamesDory]

A printer?

[@hadireg]

👍🏼👍🏼♥

[@lyneicehaynes4922]

I got a new piano from best choices products with headphones and microphone.

[@Gluttonite]

Almost bought one of these but the printer mechanism no longer functioned.

[@sha-384thegreatest]

imagine someone hacking the printer and actually using it as a printer

[@BeatemupMaster]

Looks like the Prize was 1 Deutschmark and 40 Pfennig! XD

[@inthefade]

Why would anyone prefer gears in plastic rather than brass for more money?!

[@BeatemupMaster]

A Keyboard that are writing Notes while you Play!? 😲 What for Rare and unknown Keyboard Exist. What more to know... It Exist, my Broder has a Keyboard, that have a Diskette on the Keyboard In-Build! Maybe also, that are Writing Notes, but on a Diskette? Don't know...🤔