Yamaha YC. How to Update Firmware + New Sounds!

#yamaha #synth
n this video we learn how to update the Firmware of the new Yamaha YC88, YC73, YC61 series of keyboards AND audition the 4 brand new sample sets that are included in the update.
1. The Nashville C3 grand is warm and full of character. It has a 'played in' feel to it like a great club piano.
2. The CF3 Live is a bright and rich sounding grand that's taken from the top of the line CP300 series, great for Pop and Gospel.
3. The 73Rd Studio is a warm and smooth 1973 Rhodes with fat, rich tone for days. Incredibly expressive.
4. The 74 Rd Stage is a 1974 Rhodes with attitude!. Funky, Crunchy, and super fun to play.
Yamaha Music Page:
usa.yamaha.com/index.html
YC Series Firmware Download Page:
usa.yamaha.com/products/conte...
If you're looking for a keyboard that is similar to the familiar Nord series of stage keyboards, the YC Series should really be on your short list to consider. It has a massive onboard sample library already installed into memory that negates the need to 'sample swap'. The effects possibilities and IOS integration are unlike any keyboard out there at the moment.
#yamahasynths #synthesizer #featherlightstudio #producer #production #homerecording #mixing #cubase #keyboard #recording #steinberg #cubasepro
Visit me on Patreon: / featherlightstudio
If you feel like buying me a cup of coffee:
www.paypal.com/paypalme/feath...
----------------------------------------------------
THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED VIDEO
All gear is purchased with our own money and all opinions are our own.
Gear used in my video reviews:
-------------------------------------------------------
Yamaha YC-88
amzn.to/3w5UiCj
Yamaha YC-73
amzn.to/3GMDEfP
Yamaha YC-61
amzn.to/3CVCeP8
Soundcraft Notepad 8FX Mixer
amzn.to/3H6gaCL
Black Lion Audio Seventeen Compressor
amzn.to/3RL0LeB
Coda Music MB-Stealth mic preamp
amzn.to/3rlX9FO
amzn.to/32S7O1k
Nikon z6ii Body
amzn.to/3knAW8R
Nikon Z6ii w/24-70 f4
amzn.to/3QMwNYl
Samyang AF 14mm f2.8 lens
amzn.to/3HcQQfz
DJI Pocket 2 Creator Combo
amzn.to/3H9NA4i
Freewell Glow Mist Filter Set
amzn.to/3JIvw0C
Neewer Pro 660 50w RGB LED Light
amzn.to/3Wfgt3l
amzn.to/3pXMOip
Neewer 2 pack stainless steel light stands
amzn.to/3t8rGrw
GVM 2 pack RGB LED lighting kit w stands
amzn.to/3CVaQk2
Neewer LED Bi-Color 18in 70w Flapjack Light
amzn.to/3sWM5jv
FEELWORLD T7 7 inch 4K Camera Monitor
amzn.to/3XeUBGF
NICEYRIG NATO Handle with rail
amzn.to/34qUWQf
SMALLRIG Z Series Camera Cage
amzn.to/3mVw61a
Fotga Swing Away Matte Box
amzn.to/3sXHhKv
SupFoto V Mount Battery Power Plate
amzn.to/32KrwMA
REYTRIC 154 Wh V Mount Battery
amzn.to/3QJQuQw
Rode Wireless Go
amzn.to/3w9iYK8
amzn.to/3G0ITHh
Shure SM7b Microphone
amzn.to/3ITfpiJ
Mackie ProFXv3 10 Channel Mixer
amzn.to/3ZJpCo3
amzn.to/3XyEOCy
DJI Ronin-SC - Camera Stabilizer
amzn.to/3GLHzth
IK Multimedia Z-Tone DI Box
amzn.to/3XeEEAz
( Affiliate Links )
Gear purchased through these links provides the channel
a very small percentage at no cost to you and helps us
continue to make these videos.
--------------------------------------------------------
As a thank you...here is a -10% off coupon to Waves Plugins!!
www.waves.com/r/xswcng
---------------------------------------------------------
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.featherlightstudio.com/
Facebook: / featherlight-recording...
Twitter: / stevenmhartwell
Instagram: / featherlightstudio
#Yamaha #YC61 #YC73 #YC88
c.2015-2022
All materials and video are the sole property/copyright of Featherlight Studio and cannot be resold or distributed without the express permission/license of Featherlight Studio.

[@raincells]

These are the best videos I’ve seen on the Yamaha keys. Best explanation on back up, etc. outstanding and thank you for making these videos.

[@scooter9240]

Just received my YC61 today and your video (which I'd watched several weeks ago) helped me to update my firmware perfectly today as I rewatched this video. Thank you! Now I've got to learn where to save downloaded sounds for the YC without overwriting the sounds or live set pages I want to keep.

[@kevykev388]

Thank you!!! Ran into another video before yours and it directed me to dump the entire folder onto my thumb drive. Kept getting "file not found" from the YC. Thanks for the key mention of transferring the PGM file in particular lol 👌🏾👌🏾

[@suzanneb8616]

My firmware update today on my YC61 was EFFORTLESS, all because of this excellent video. I am so excited about the new sounds that I can now access! Thank you SO MUCH 👍.

[@sinatrabone]

Thank you SO MUCH! You really helped me understand some of the key points of the process. I've been really enjoying my new YC88, and I'm beyond excited to play around with the new sounds. I've subscribed and can't wait to see what else you have on your channel.

[@Featherlightstudio]

Thanks Daniel, You're very welcome!

[@ChrisLee-ur1pk]

Hi Great helpful video, but I cant seem to find an Upgrade for Windows 10.Is there one yet,perhaps?

[@Featherlightstudio]

@@ChrisLee-ur1pk Hi Chris, the Firmware update process is not specific to an operating system. You simply download the .zip file directly from Yamaha to your computer and decompress it ( Win 10 should do this automatically if you double click on it ) The Update instructions are included in this .zip file. The short of it is 1. Get a new USB thumb drive. 2. Insert into your YC and format. 3. Power down and plug it into your computer. 4. Drag and drop the .PGM file onto your USB drive. NO other files can be on the drive 5. Take it back to your YC and power on the keyboard WHILE HOLDING DOWN 'MENU' + 'STORE' buttons until you see the Update process window appear. follow the prompts.

[@danielcolfer4671]

Those new piano samples sound great.

[@bobrobinsonmusic4180]

I so appreciate your videos! I just bought the Yamaha YC61 and your videos have helped me so much! Thank you for continuing to educate and inform!

[@Featherlightstudio]

Thanks Bob, I appreciate that!

[@bobrobinsonmusic4180]

@@Featherlightstudio I don’t know if you can help on this...but I’d like to use my yc61 to sometimes play the B3 sounds from my Nord stage3 in dual mode on Nord....got it to work, however, I want to be able to use the physical draw bars from the YC61 to control the drawbar setting and sounds fr9m the Nord on panel b It works, EXCEPT I HAVE to use the Nords drawbars....can 8 send cc info from theYC61 to get the Nord to respond this way? Thanks in advance..... Bob

[@Featherlightstudio]

@@bobrobinsonmusic4180 Hmm good question, the YC series does transmit separate CC MIDI data for each of the drawbars so in theory, it would just be up to the receiving keyboard to determine what to do with that incoming data. The YC drawbars are already MIDI mapped to most Vsti organs like IK Multimedia's B-3X and controls its on-screen drawbars. I don't have a Stage 3 here to test how it would respond to each MIDI CC # or if it could control just a panel B voice on the stage. Perhaps someone else with a Nord can chime in here? Keep us posted on what you find out!

[@bobrobinsonmusic4180]

@@Featherlightstudio thanks....I’m still trying to figure it out, I very much appreciate your efforts!

[@antonyedwardcooney]

thank you very much for this watched and updated my yc88 subscribed to to your channel keep up the good work and thank you

[@Featherlightstudio]

Thanks for the sub!

[@TheKeyboardChronicles]

Thanks for the great tutorial!

[@rolandburt2856]

Great playing

[@neilholtby1825]

Appreciated this one in particular. Finally got a around to doing the firmware upgrade (YC73). Went flawlessly. A bit time consuming adding back previously saved Live Sets bits, but worth it. Love the new Nashville C3 piano especially! Still digging the organ components.

[@Featherlightstudio]

Thanks Niel, yeah the Nashville is super fun to play!

[@heinrichkoop9189]

Thanks a lot! Best "How-to-"manual ever. I just subscribed to your channel. I am secretly hoping that Yamaha upgrades the Leslie a little bit, and then we are REALLY talking :-)

[@Featherlightstudio]

Thanks, this really is one of the most fun keyboards I have ever owned!

[@Jon-hb6gx]

I now see that the video I saw elsewhere missed out some key information! Well done and thanks a lot, my friend.

[@Jon-hb6gx]

Exactly the same process for my CP73, by the way.

[@Featherlightstudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@danieltecla]

Great job. Thank you

[@danielcolfer4671]

That Nashville piano sounds great.

[@Featherlightstudio]

Really fun to play!

[@michaeldavis5106]

the CF3 live sample sounds very mutch like the piano sound that I had in my yamaha DGX 630. I played on that keyboard for years.

[@ethereal-11.11]

Hello and thank you so much for this very informative video! I was really struggling with the update until I noticed my mistake, I was dragging the entire update download onto the USB drive folder instead of just the one PGM file. Up to that point I was convinced that my problem was the actual USB drive because there is so much Internet talk about how important that is and how one needs to refer to the list supplied by Yamaha. Even then there was a lot of back-and-forth about certain ones don’t work even if they are recommended by Yamaha. To make a long story short, all I had to use was something I found buried in my drawer, a PNY 8GB drive and after erasing it on my Mac and formatting it on the Yamaha and following your directions I was able to transfer all the information and update the YC-61. Again thank you so much for your very clear and insightful videos!! Peace and Namaste. ✌️🙏

[@Featherlightstudio]

Glad you got it sorted out and thanks for posting the helpful info for others to follow as well.

[@ethereal-11.11]

@@Featherlightstudio And I forgot to also thank you for taking the time to respond to our questions and/ or comments. I’m sure everyone else here realizes that many many people post on KZbin but never take the time to respond to the questions we may have.

[@ethereal-11.11]

OK I got the update loaded into the YC 61. I see the new sounds but it seems that the ability to store or copy to A and B is no longer there. I can only see a patch number, no A or B when I hit store or copy. Certainly this can’t be part of the update? To actually lose a function? Is it possible I did not receive the complete download? Any help is appreciated as I am somewhat of a newbie being an old analog dude. 😂

[@Featherlightstudio]

@@ethereal-11.11 Hmm, working over here. Menu/Job/Section Manager/Copy....choose the section or FX to be copied and press Enter Wheel. Navigate to new patch Menu/Job/Section Manager/Paste...choose where to paste the copied part to.

[@ethereal-11.11]

@@Featherlightstudio Thanks again, you guys are the very very best! I was trying to use Store and then could not see any place to further define where it would be stored to as far as A and B went. I did not even know anything about section manager with cutting and pasting. Very simple and straight forward and thanks again for showing it to me and possibly other people reading this!

[@RobyFagio]

grazie

[@ralsom]

Great video! Thanks.Is it possible to use the different sounds on different midi channels ? I can't do that on my Nord electro 6D.

[@Featherlightstudio]

The YC has several Master Control Keyboard features like 4 different zones all with independent MIDI control however, it is not 'Multitimbral' like a dedicated workstation or sound module would be. While you can control both upper and lower Organ modules separately via MIDI, the 2 other sample engines share the same MIDI receive channel.

[@Sawtooth311]

Great video on a great keyboard! Is there a way to have the YC not recognize volume changes made by an external midi keyboard? I'm using a Prophet X with the YC61 and can't seem to find a way to avoid volume changes on the Prophet from changing the YC volume.

[@Featherlightstudio]

In checking the Prophet X online manual, it looks like under the 'Global' controls, you can turn the 'MIDI Control' on or off. When this is on, the Prophet X responds to Pitch Wheel, Mod Wheel, Pedal, and Volume, and when off, it won't. But I don't have a Prophet to check that and see if it still responds to MIDI note on/off after that is set to off. Let me know!

[@robertmichalscheck3072]

That last patch you played sounded great,is that part of the firmware update?

[@Featherlightstudio]

Thanks, this was actually just the CFX mixed with an analog pad/FM voice from the synth bank. I will dig it back up and post it to Sound Mondo.

[@patrickjcleary]

This is great - thank you! What tone are you using at the beginning of the video?

[@patrickjcleary]

And the tone is...? :)

[@Featherlightstudio]

This was a Clav sound I put together using Calvi S and Clavi B and then assigning the Pedal Wah effect to Clavi S. The sound get thin with the Way effect so Clavi B is used to beef it up.

[@patrickjcleary]

Thank you! Clav S and Clav B? It's Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"!@@Featherlightstudio

[@peterbrostrom1169]

I have the problem that it says "USB Decive read/write error" when I start my YC73. Also when i combine store and menu. I have changed USB flash drive, formatted both usb flash drive.. Does anyone know what to do?

[@88Musk]

I followed the instructions but don't see the new sounds?

[@neilholtby1825]

Can you imagine if there was a way to modify some of the "Other Sounds", such as the core brass instruments or reed instruments! I play trombone as well and the midi-type trombone is so thin. Yes, there are various types of trombones, etc. But Yamaha makes a really good T-bone and it would be cool if the voice sounded more like it. Perhaps those files are proprietary or just licensed therefore can't be modified. I'm just dreaming I guess. I haven't gotten around to using the midi interface yet, as I actually write scores for an instrumental 8 piece band. A topic for another day...

[@Featherlightstudio]

Great idea, one of the things I hope to see in a future firmware is the addition of a dedicated EQ for each voice section ( separate from the Master EQ ) for exactly that reason.

[@itsmaistro]

I did everything right and my firmware update will not work at all I've done everything and just got this keyboard

[@marieandallanslade6673]

Just got my new YC but it won’t see my flash drive. Followed all your great instructions. It is a usb3 sandisk 16gb. Any thoughts. It works perfectly fine otherwise. Thanks

[@Featherlightstudio]

The manual says that "while it supports most USB flash drives, not all drives or manufactures will work" It also states that only drive formatted on the keyboard itself will be recognized by the system. That being said, you may want to check the compatibility list on Yamaha: usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/3/1330343/DE_en_YC61_73_88.pdf

[@mh22xv]

Hey! I´m on the fence for a YC 73. Do you know if the black key velocity problem is an issue on the YC 73? The CP 73 had the problem.

[@Featherlightstudio]

I don't have the YC73 here to test that, maybe somebody could chime in here and answer that!

[@jamesmullauer2987]

My concern is what happens to the live sets I wrote. Will the new lives sets over ride the live sets I wrote? If so, do I have to load my live sets every time I play a gig?

[@Featherlightstudio]

Here is a step by step teaching you how to keep your custom live sets: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6ekc3uMlrWqeLs

[@jsbjsb5933]

If this keyboard had a good baroque pipe organ it would be literally perfect

[@Featherlightstudio]

Yeah, I would like to see some additional vintage sounds in the next firmware update, here's hoping!

[@neilholtby1825]

Any idea how to get a "honky tonk" piano sound out of the YC-73? Need it for an upcoming gig. Or something close...

[@Featherlightstudio]

Go up to any of the banks that are just 'Initialized' default sound. They will all have just the CFX piano by itself. Press the red rocker switch UP to choose UI piano instead. Press the Effect 1 switch to ON and the Effect should be the G Chorus. Thats a pretty convincing start. Save the patch.

[@neilholtby1825]

@@Featherlightstudio Thanks for the reply. I use the Upright sounds quite a bit. They're great! Not quite what I was looking for, but they delays are suburb. very noticeable. I think the honky tonk has a little more of a "metallic" sound to it, but maybe that's just me. Cheers!

[@marktaylorp]

Select piano you want then push up on the silver pitch lever till you get desired honky think sound you want

[@neilholtby1825]

@@marktaylorp Thanks. I'll give that a try.

[@ICEworksNZ]

Great vid. Except I can't see Nashville C3 anywhere in my sounds list .... HELP

[@Featherlightstudio]

It should be right between the Live CF3 and C7 however, the sound selector dial has to be in the 'Piano' position to see the grand pianos.

[@ICEworksNZ]

@@Featherlightstudio Thanks. Must have done something wrong during the upgrade. When the selector is in piano piano position only the live set sounds show in the display e.g C7 is located at 5-2. Cannot see Nashville C3 in any of the live set 80 locations. How can I see a master sound list before I start over with the upgrade? It's new out of the box so the manual of course doesn't show Nashville C3. TY

[@Featherlightstudio]

@@ICEworksNZ Ohhhhh, sounds like your referring to the actual 'Live Set Patches' and I was referring to the 'Voices' inside each patch that are on the Keys A and Keys B engines. If you choose a Live Sound that has a piano in it, then hit the Red Rocker Switch, you can browse up or down through the new pianos as long as the Dial is in the 'Piano' position. The Update should have overwritten all your onboard sounds with new factory stuff but sounds like that got missed maybe?

[@fresnobill3076]

I’ve followed the steps and though it appears the download has completed I’m getting an error message “Check sum error !” - and the keyboard is not working - any help on this would be very appreciated! Thanks

[@Featherlightstudio]

Checksum error is a corrupt file warning. Always best to start with a new, blank USB drive and drag the .pgm file from your computer directly to it after unzipping from Yamaha website.

[@fresnobill3076]

@@Featherlightstudio thank you - I purchased a new 3.1 drive - reloaded the file and now it works like a champ - thanks again

[@Abrown2048]

Where is the second update? Its been over a year

[@emilamante]

There’s a 2nd and 3rd update now

[@ricseehu]

I tried the update with 3 different usb sticks, aaaand not working. I get this message: "Not supported usb device". A brand new sandisk usb stick doesn't even detect, while with a win10 pc works fine.

[@Featherlightstudio]

In the update readme file it says the USB thumb drive used for updating the firmware must be formatted on the keyboard first and not from the computer so, that may be worth a shot.

[@ricseehu]

@@Featherlightstudio If i format on the keyboard, then win10 say "device not detected, pls format". And if you purchase an USB stick, that formatted already (nowadays ntfs). So....

[@Featherlightstudio]

@@ricseehu I believe the Yamaha format scheme is FAT32 and Win 10 should be able to read that in compatibility mode. Im not at the studio right now but maybe someone else could chime in and check?

[@ricseehu]

​@@Featherlightstudio It worked! Windows 10, right click on USB drive, format FAT32 and uncheck the "quick format" checkbox. Firmware update completed. :)

[@Cesarsound1]

It's a shame Yamaha to release this keyboard with large internal memory and not release any more OS Firmware updates with new sounds.

[@pianistjustforfun]

... and fixes some bugs.

[@88Musk]

I still can't figure out how to get the new sounds?? I updated it OK I think,

[@Featherlightstudio]

If the update completed successfully, the new sounds should over write all the existing keyboard’s contents/sounds and the new keyboard samples will be available when you step through the samples on either Keys A or B.

[@88Musk]

@@Featherlightstudio Thanks some things aren't intuitive on here so it looks like you have to step through keys A or B then.

[@onkeyz]

I got a check sum error now nothing works

[@Featherlightstudio]

A checksum error is an indication of something wrong/corrupt with the downloaded file. Start with a new/blank USB key and re-download the update from the Yamaha site. Uncompress the contents of the file and transfer only the .pgm file to the blank USB key. Restart the update process and don’t interrupt the power or process.

[@andreacosta74]

MELLOTRON SOUNDS FOR YC PLEASE!

[@Featherlightstudio]

Hoping to see some expanded library sounds in the next firmware update for sure!

[@jeromecoppack6147]

An upgrading of thé Leslie effect would be great ..because its very poor.! I qo through a Néo ventilator and it sounds much better! Needs Key click aswell . Its incomparable to a B3 with a 147 ou 122 Leslie cabinet. Even My Hammond M102 with my 122 sounds much better especially thé scanner vibrato!

[@Featherlightstudio]

You HAVE to check out the new firmware that JUST came out and upgrades the Leslie effect. Its SO much better and was the reason I sold my Neo Ventilator! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXO2f5tmech8d6M

[@VexylObby]

The update really requires a USB stick, huh? Yikes. Why wouldn't the USB cable connection work alone?!

[@Featherlightstudio]

Probably because the USB stick is (1) device with (1) Device ID and data path verses the many different device ID's and data paths that can exist in a computer's USB data path.