rogs

Another vote for Sony MDR-7560 'phones here ... I've used them for years, and have always found them superb. Some folk occasionally describe them as a bit 'brignt' ... more of a problem if you have very young ears, I would imagine? 🙂 Excellent wide range response, with really good 'detail'. The only weakness is the earpads. They tend to degrade over time. I've replaced mine with these sheepskin ones: https://www.brainwavzaudio.com/products/sony-mdr-sheepskin-earpads Not cheap, but they make a big difference comfort wise ..... seem to last really well too.....

The new 5th Generation Rode NT1 has to be worth a look...... USB or XLR outputs, and with intergral 32 bit floating point recording giving an essentially 'unclippable ' input with an incredible dynamic range. See here: https://rode.com/en/microphones/studio-condenser/nt1-5th-generation Price doesn't look too bad either, for a mic of this quality...

I find that the natural inclination to position 2 speakers as if they were being used for a hi fi system in the lounge --ie. spaced out facing slightly away from each other can give a you a 'hole in the middle' of your sound stage. Better, in my experience, to place the speakers facing slghtly towards each other...... So that the sound sources effectively 'cross' each other. As we're not talkng stereo here, I find that orientation gives a more even sound 'spread'....

I asked Chat GPT what a '2-5-1' phrase was in music..... It came back with this: " In music theory and jazz harmony, the "2-5-1" progression is a common chord progression that is often used as a basis for improvisation and as a cadential progression in many genres, particularly jazz. It is also known as a "ii-V-I" progression. The numbers in "2-5-1" represent the scale degrees of the chords involved in the progression. Here's a breakdown of what each number represents: The "1" represents the tonic or the key center of the progression. It is typically a major chord and serves as the resolution point. The "2" represents the supertonic, which is the chord built on the second scale degree of the key. It is usually a minor seventh chord. The "5" represents the dominant, which is the chord built on the fifth scale degree. It is typically a dominant seventh chord. The final "1" represents the tonic again, but this time as a resolution point after the dominant chord. In the key of C major, for example, a typical "2-5-1" progression would be Dm7-G7-Cmaj7. The Dm7 is the ii (supertonic) chord, the G7 is the V (dominant) chord, and the Cmaj7 is the I (tonic) chord. The "2-5-1" progression is popular because it creates tension and resolution, providing a satisfying and predictable harmonic motion. Musicians often use it as a foundation for improvisation and as a way to navigate chord changes in a jazz standard or other compositions". Which I thought wasn't bad? But whether you can actually trust anything it says is a differnet matter.... I asked it to perform a simple technical calculation. It explained the formula it was going to use - correctly - and then did the calculation wrong.... 3 times, with 3 different results - all wrong! Kept apologising for errors when prompted, then advised 'here is the corrected calculation' - and got it wrong - again! Impressive in some respects...... very 'iffy' in others!

Yes - the YC61 drawbars use CC codes # 102 thru 119...... Just allocate those codes to the relevant B3X drawbars in the B3x MIDI Controller settings.

Been to Andertons, not Bonners though. That Absolute Music video doesn't show all their keyboard rooms. They have a similar number of keys on display as Andertons -- maybe 50 or 60 different models, I would guess?......

I only need to drive about 3 miles up the road to visit this store, here in the UK...... And - as already mentioned - there are other retail stores much like this, dotted around the country. I have to say I am very surprised to read just how different the situation seems to now be in the USA?.... I would have thought similar business models would apply on both sides of the pond? It is very useful to be able to try out from a selection of keyboards, on display side by side. ... Actually being able to run your fingers over the keybeds allows quite lot to of them be dismissed from consideration within a few seconds!

I'm on the south coast of the UK - as I mentioned in our earlier exchange of posts in this thread in December. I know you had yours done in the Nottiingham area.... That's quite a long way for me! ... I'm quite happy to do the re-greasing myself (I was a Hammond organ 'tech' back in the day ). It would be nice to know the best way to get at the keybed --- there are a lot of screws holding the YC61 together, and if only few need to actually be removed, it would be good to know which ones they are?. As I mentioned in my post above, the new stock YC61s seem to feel quite a lot smoother.....

Our local store has the YC61 back in stock after a gap of several months -- so it's new stock. I tried out the one they have on display, and have to report that the keybed felt very different to mine - which is now some 3 years old. Much smoother and quieter .... I feel sure Yamaha are now applying much more grease during assembly. Mine has felt the same all the way through.... Not overtly noisy, but I don't think it has ever had much grease!.... Looks as if Yamaha may now have addressed this problem. I'm still wondering whether to have mine re-greased. I don't trust our local Yamaha agent, and am very tempted to look at it myself. The actual Molykote G10 grease used seems quite expensive from Yamaha -- maybe cheaper elsewhere? And I'd love to see the service manual to know which screws to remove -- and which to leave untouched! I have seen a picture of a YC73 with the top cover removed -- although I can't remember where now, which is annoying! Could be a simple and effective procedure -- or an absolute nightmare....Hmmm ... maybe I'll just leave it !

Reminds me of the story from the 1970s about extra 'producer consoles' installed in some of the major studios. Allowed a band's producer to make subtle 'tweaks' to a mix, without needing to involve the main session engineer. Wasn't actually connected to anything of course.... Probably an urban myth, but seeing as this thread includes descriptions of useless 'audio' devices.....

IK multimedia 'B3x' Hammond B3 software ....... Run in standalone mode, and played using the MIDI outs from my old Yamaha HC2. So, with only 44 note manuals, not exactly a full range B3 -- more like the 'baby B' - the M.100 ( the model of 'Whiter Shade of Pale' fame )..... Using a cheap 9 slider MIDI controller (one of these: https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/SubZero-MiniControl-MIDI-Controller/P6D ) for effective drawbar and preset control... Sounds great! --- closest I've ever had my own tonewheel Hammond! 🙂 ( Yamaha spinet organs with MIDI from around 1990 can often be found on Ebay for £100 or less -- and many are easy to dis-assemble and fit onto to back of most standard cars..... )

I was pleased that Tom came up with 'Heavy Weather' as the 1st of his 'desert island' album choices (about 70 minute in). Whenever I say that for my 1st 'desert island' choice too, most folk 'what? - who?' And if I do get the chance to play them a track or two they then say 'why?' So maybe it's just Tom and me then? .. 🙂 Mind you, with Chris Fischer and Scott Ambush from Spyro Gyra both on this excellent Weather Report cover track' I think there maybe more connections between the 2 bands than I had originally thought?...

Yamaha themselves say that plugging the XLR outputs from a CP73 into an input with phantom power on will cause 'noise static and distortion'. Suggests it should survive I would guess? ... not to be recommended though, by the sound of it! 🙂 https://faq.yamaha.com/usa/s/article/U0008690

I have both a Kenton and a DORMIDI. Both work as expected. The DOREMIDI is better made IMHO, and cheaper!

I have a friend who gigs as a solo singer /guitarist and now uses a TC Electronics Ditto+ pedal for the backing tracks and loops he uses on stage. He can create up 99 pre-recorded loops and/or backing tracks, and store them on the pedal to add to his live playing. I use my Yamaha MOX and YC61 to help create the tracks, which are then transferred to the pedal memory after editing in the DAW on the computer. Modern pedals like this use 24bit ADCs so the quality is pretty good. The one thing he didn't like was the requirement to press the pedal twice in quick succession to stop the track, so I made a simple interface unit that let him use an external footswitch. Press once to start -- and then once to stop..... Much simpler on stage. You can get a similar type of looper pedal for around £40 online ( see HERE ). That unit has 40 minutes of memory, but it only has 9 locations, so is better for longer backing tracks rather than loops.... ( Units like the TC Ditto+ with 99 locations are quite lot more money )

No, I haven't taken it any further so far. My keys are very similar to your video -- the black keys have lateral movement, and are much noisier than the white ones (except for one black key, which is quieter??) but they haven't got any worse since I bought my YC61 two and a half years ago. I don't trust the local repair guy, so it would mean a 300 mile round trip to get it looked at, so I can live with it as it is for the present! I used to be a keyboard tech back in the day, so I may take a look myself one day.... It does look as if there are lots of screws to undo to get inside though...

I have the YC61, but would have preferred a 73 or 76 note keybed.. It was disappointing that Yamaha decided to give both the YC73 and the YC88 weighted keys...... The latter I can understand, but the 73 could have had the same waterfall as the YC61 ....The YC boards after all very much 'organ centric' ? We have a large music store nearby, so I have the increasingly rare luxury of being able to actually try out many of the keyboards that many folk have to buy unseen.... I found the weighted keyboard of the YC73 almost unplayable, from an organ point of view. So not for me. The other thing that often gets missed is that the YC61 waterfall keyboard has Yamaha 'synth width' keys -- i.e. 159mm octaves. The YC73 and 88 have full 164mm 'standard' octaves. Not a big deal for most folk, but definitely different ..... Not to everyone's taste. On my last visit I tried out various Nords on display. I simply just didn't like the 'feel' of any of them. Simply too stiff and/or 'springy' for my taste. The new Yamaha MODX was disappointing too.... Now the Montage keybeds, well that's a different story -- but so's the price! I also liked the Roland R2000 keybed..... We all have different tastes....

I'm a little surprised to see that - so far anyway! - Joe Pass hasn't had a mention.... I was lucky enough to see him perform live - with Oscar Peterson - here in the UK, back in the '70s. If only could even think like that- yet alone be able to play it!....

Many thanks for that information....

Who did you take it to? -- As I mentioned earlier, I know who is involved with Yamaha servicing on my area, so I would need to go elsewhere. Sounds like this guy is OK....

+1 on keeping us posted if you do decide to open your YC61 .... I've only had a provisional look, but it seems like there are lots of star/torx screws - of various sizes - to be removed. Hopefully I'm wrong and just 'can't see the wood for the trees' as it were... Maybe it's fairly simple to gain access - if you know which screws to remove?

I'm afraid I can't really help there -- I've never had to use any of them before! I'm not sure whether YC61 comes under synthesizer or digital piano? It was the latter category that brought up a name from the past, here in the south, who I had had dealings with many years ago....

I'm having trouble convincing myself that the YC61 keys are hinged to a common plastic former?--- I've made a very short video clip: https://tinyurl.com/YC61-key-noise where I am deliberately moving a couple of the black keys laterally - and trying to move them 'off centre' vertically. They all seem quite independent, and make 'metallic' noises as you hit the side stops. Not such movement (or sound) is possible with my MOX keys... As I say, the keys on my YC61 do not seem to be deteriorating in any way, but they are noisier than those on my MOX. I'm probably going to wait until the warranty expires, and then take a look for myself. I'm a bit reluctant to have Yamaha dive into the board unnecessarily -- I know who they use for repairs in my part of the UK ! (But that's another story:) )

That's really got me scratching my head? ... The keys in my MOX6 feel very different from the YC61. Each YC61 key has independent movement both laterally and - especially in the case of the black keys - from the vertical. (Each key can be moved slightly around the vertical axis.) My MOX6 keys have no movement around the vertical axis at all. The YC73 and YC88 are weighted keybeds, which will have the traditional 164mm octave length. The YC61 has Yamaha's 'synth size' keys, which have an octave length of 159mm. So a little more difference between the YC61 and YC73 keybeds than just the lip missing I'm thinking? In the case of MOX and MOXF series, the MOX6 and MOXF6 have different width keys from the MOX8 and MOXF8 models. Are the photos in the first post from keys actually removed from a YC61, or simply what someone has said are YC61 keys?

I'm surprised to see that the keys on the YC61 are not all independent? Unlike my MOX6 keybed, where the keys have no lateral movement at all, each key on my YC61 black and white can be moved laterally, and independently. They certainly feel like separate keys. Having said that, they are quite noisy - especially certain black keys. But they don't seem to have deteriorated in any way functionally over the past 2 + years I've had my YC61. I had been led to believe that the 'waterfall' keybed for the YC61 was a new specially developed item ?..... It certainly feels more substantial than my MOX keybed. Not sure that would survive aggressive 'palm smears' for very long?..... The YC61 feels like it might! But I do agree it's quite noisy....