pjd

One of my favorite films. I watch it to see (hear) Bernie, Jerry, Chris and Tina. Byrne -- not so much given the band history. -- pj

Cute. 😃 I remember reading some stuff on the Japanese Hammond Suzuki site, but never thought to pass the info along. The Hammond Suzuki site separates slab organs into three categories: drawbar, stage and combo. The M-solo is the "drawbar" keyboard. In one sentence, "A compact collection of functions that make it easy to use a second keyboard along with an electronic piano." Period. I don't think this is going to grow into "stage" or "combo" territory functionally. The allusion to the old M series is intentional. Quoting, "The "M" in M-solo comes from the small B-3 "M series" with 44 keys and two stages manufactured in the 1950s and 1960s. The name was chosen because of the fact that it is held in place, and because it is intended to be played with one hand." [Google translate] Hope this clarifies -- pj

Good to hear. 😃 I still get crazy work dreams. I'm on a strange campus, I have to teach a class in 10 minutes, no PPT deck and I don't know where the classroom is...

Gonna replace my Reface YC with this. I've squeezed a lot of value out of the Reface, but its three octave keyboard and crap rotary fast setting have got to go. I use the Reface YC mainly for quick in, quick out rehearsals. Watching that price and availability date carefully -- pj

I'm taking all of this with a big grain of salt. Some of the numbers don't add up for me, among other observations. We'll know all the facts soon enough. The first thing I look at is the list of waveforms to see what is actually new on the AWM2 side. Silly me -- pj

Nope, I don't think you're wrong. It is weird. That means the -145 will work with the new FC35 portable three pedal unit and the -143 will not. Yamaha? Logic? 🤪

Thanks for posting those pictures comparing actions. I was just about to chase after that info! I missed one significant upgrade last night. Yamaha redesigned the speaker box and are now using a digital FIR crossover filter. I've been playing through a Stagepas 100BTR with an FIR filter -- good sound. (I need to review that little thing...) I updated my initial blog post (link above) after reading through the manual. BTW, I'm seriously shopping for a home DP and P-525 is on my short list. $2,000 street for slab, stand, bench and pedal unit is decent value. My interest is not academic. 😃 All the best -- pj Music technology blog: sandsoftwaresound.net

Yamaha announced a successor to the P-515 -- the new P-525: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/p_series/p-525/index.html USA MAP is $1,600 and it is popping up on retailer sites for pre-order. A few initial thoughts, including the 515 vs. 525 differences that I could spot (before going to bed 😀): http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-p-525-digital-piano-announced/ The biggie is GrandTouch-S (wood) action instead of NWX. -- pj

I agree. My main point, however, is that the CK -- and even the Stage CP/YC "extra" voices -- are on-par with middling arranger series voices at best. I don't know how or even why Yamaha chooses to put less-than-premium voices on relatively expensive 'boards. With CK, at least, you get what you pay for it. This is one reason why I can't bring myself to buy a CLP-series Clavinova for home. The secondary ("extra") voices are crap and the CLP instruments are waaaay more expensive than the Stage YC/CP in comparison. [Edit: That's why the P-515 is a genuine bargain, IMHO. 😉] Sorry, the quality gap between the featured voices and secondary voices in Yamaha keyboards is one of my hot-button issues. The hardware platforms are ALL capable of better. -- pj

After reading through the CK voice list and having played CK, I think they are recycling voices from the arranger series keyboards. Having Genos at hand (and played a mid-range S950 early on), I don't think these are the better (or best) voices in the arranger line. If someone is considering a CK61 in particular, you might want to try or compare with an SX700. The PSR-SX700 has the so-called "Organ Flutes" drawbar organ -- which is probably the same tech ripped off for the Reface YC and CK. Just sayin'. I like the CK at its price point, but there are alternatives. All the best to ya -- pj

I've been meaning to deep dive the Stage YC for a while, but there always seems to be something higher priority... 😀 The Stage YC has two Yamaha processors: SWX09 and SWP70. The SWP70 has the waveform memory: 2Gbyte total ONFI-compatible NAND flash. I suspect that the SWX09 is doing the heavy lifting vis a vis drawbars and/or rotary speaker -- just guess work. Yamaha doesn't tell me anything. Given the CK price points, I expect to see only an SWX09 with waveform memory. If anyone cracks open their CK, please take pictures such that the IC markings are readable -- none of that fuzzy, jerky video crap on Youtube. 🙃 Yamaha have swung conservative WRT policy on service manuals and I don't feel like dancing with them right now. 😒 As to CP88 internals, your guess is as good as mine. The Clavinova CLPs have only an SWX09. CP88 doesn't do FM, so no need for SWP70. That (and other reasons) is why I think Stage CP is due for Mark 2 based on a new platform. As to CK updates. Maybe to fix a critical bug? Vendors have no profit motive to update $1,000 keyboards. Good will, yes; money, no. All the best! My 88 shopping goes on and on -- pj

Yamaha have issued the following statement regarding their participation at Synthfest UK 2023 this weekend: "Yamaha are looking forward to joining SynthFest UK this weekend to display a wide range of hands-on products along with Yamaha specialist staff to support any enquiries. We will be exhibiting our recent releases including the CK Stage Keyboard Series and Finger Drum Pads, in addition to our more established MODX+, CP, YC and Reface ranges. There has been much speculation regarding the launch of our successor to the flagship Montage synth which has been announced as an October release. To manage any expectations ahead of the show, we would like to clarify that unfortunately the timing of this new release means that it will not be featured at the show. We look forward to seeing you all there."

At 8 pounds, if it’s better than a Reface YC, I’m very intrigued. (Hey, where’s Poppy?) I’ll give it a serious listen on Monday. (Tomorrow is gig, God and football. ) Someone at Hammond needs to hire an English language tech writer, stat! The manual reads like the output of Google translate. It’s bad, Hammond, it’s very bad. Get on the stick, please! — pj

My mom had him on the TV every day when I was a little tike. "He's Polish you know." 🤩 That's how we got the "pie - anna" in the house.

"Motorized faders" -- Just felt like saying that. I think Jerryk is generally right on with his remark. Hardly anybody in marketing/engineering sits around like Dr. Evil plotting to take your money away. 🙂 Jeez, most of these damned meetings are boring as hell. 😬 Glad to be retired. 😌 Not musical instruments, but we had periodic meetings to discuss "what is and what isn't", the features to be included and excluded in a given release . Nobody has the staff to do everything. Yeah, Yamaha is relatively large, but they are still finite. The trick is scheduling feature release against available staff (both development and QA). With hardware, you get a raft of additional problems which software development teams don't face (e.g., tooling, scheduling product mix, etc., etc.) It's no wonder that progress is incremental -- nobody has the resources to have a revolution every few years. The only place where a customer might get shortchanged is feature tiering -- how to differentiate product tiers in a family. Montage (gen 1) vs. MODX (gen 1) no doubt had this kind of internal discussion. MODX was a damned good value. Just random thoughts while I caffeinate -- pj

A good chance. Some vendor jumped the gun and spilled the new features in Cubase 13. MIDI 2.0 is included. -- pj

Yeah, some times I don't trust/believe my own B.S. 😀 Good thoughts about the future. Yamaha needs to differentiate Montage M, MODX+, Stage CP and Stage YC. It'll be interesting to see how they do it. Some of that Clavinova stuff (VRM, Grand Expression and so forth) could trickle into the Stage CP, but I think it'll take a gen 2 hardware platform. VRM needs heavy-weight DSP and I doubt if the CP88 designers foresaw that in 2017/2018. All the best -- pj NAMM 2024 January 25 to 28!

Since I don't own a CP88, nor have I programmed one, I don't fully understand the Voice Select Switch number. Might as well throw Tables M, N and O into my confusion, too. However -- great leap, here -- it seems like the Voice Select Switch values MAX'ed out at 127 after the v1.5 update. Does this imply that the CP88 is built out (complete)? The CP88 is getting old enough to warrant a refresh or revision (Gen 2). Yamaha would want to apply their experience with Stage YC to CP Gen 2. This is all guesswork and roughly zero real evidence. 🙂 I would definitely be interested in a CP Gen 2 for the home studio -- pj

De nada. BTW, I couldn't find anything like a 3-band EQ. There are things called "Wall EQ" (Ref manual, page 32) and "Sound Boost" (Ref manual, page 29) which effect equalization. Might want to look up those particular three-finger button/key combinations before trying the 225. As to CFX samples, I would bet they are recycled from some other product. I wouldn't expect champagne quality at a beer-budget price. 😀 If you can stretch to a P-515, you'll be better off. Or maybe wait for the P-525 which is right around the corner. P-515 has the full VRM vs. the 225's VRM Lite, and the NWX action generally draws good marks from players. Hope this helps -- pj Music tech blog: sandsoftwaresound.net

Thanks for the report. At first, I though it was just me. I had a pretty strong reaction, too. I don't like trashing my hands. I agree that "spring-y" is not the best word choice. Maybe, "sponge-y"? I could not play with any fluidity or grace. Makes me wonder, do real people test these Yamaha products? Yamaha is such a bloomin' secretive company that I could just image them keeping the GHC in a lab and then, "Voila!", public release. Surely, they know they are in the ergonomics business?! Thanks, again -- pj

You're welcome and thanks for the tip. I hope to try the CP88 and the new Montage M8X before making a decision. Right now, the P-515 is the front-runner and it looks like a P-525 will be announced sometime this Fall (maybe, I hope). The word "smooth" got me thinking. I couldn't play the GHC with much fluidity and everything felt/sounded choppy. OK for Little Richard, but we ain't doin' Little Richard at the church. 😀 Have a good holiday weekend -- pj

P-225 Owner's Manual, page 20 The P-225 uses the keys to set parameters, e.g., Hold down PIANO and hit C6. The manuals have a bunch of charts: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/p_series/p-225/downloads.html#product-tabs Might want to give the Smart Pianist app a try, too. Yamaha advertise Smart Pianist support for the P-225 and you may be able to access more parameters through the app. Hope this helps -- pj

Just played the P-225 for about an hour or so. I played through this week's music for the church gig. Bottom-line, not for me. The GHC action has a springy resistance that tired my hands in a very short time. Even the GC manager (a keyboard player) was surprised at the springy-ness. More at: http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-p-225-review-its-not-for-me/

Seek and ye shall find... Import from Japan to India: K00025268 FINGER DRUM PAD FGDP-30 //Y PROTO $402 - CHINA - 1PCS K00025264 FINGER DRUM PAD FGDP-50 //Y PROTO #402 - CHINA - 1PCS

The interlocking rectangle design matches a registered Yamaha trademark: https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/trademarks/018843051 Four letters are associated with the mark: "FGDP". The trademark is registered in the EU and is number 018843051. Yamaha just spent a bunch of effort scrubbing certain names from its web sites: GENOS2, Montage M6, Montage M7, Montage M8X, P-525 and -- wait for it -- FGDP-30 and FGDP-50. Maybe this is a Europe-only release? I can't find an equivalent USA trademark... Once again, Yamaha only wants us to get excited when its controlling management commands us to be excited. 🤐 -- pj