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Yamaha YC61 Announced


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I pair the YC88 & the MODX61 for gigs, great sounding rig!! But if I could take just one utility board that would be better. :)

I think I could pretty much do anything with the Kurzweil PC4-7. If I wanted a better Leslie effect, it's got assignable outs to facilitate a Vent (and without forcing you to play everything in mono). If I want a better EP/clav selection, there's the moderately priced Purgatory Creek set. If I need something else, there's so much cool stuff on iPhone/iPad these days, and the Kurz is quite adept at letting you integrate it. The Roland Fantom 7 is another really strong choice, but weighs too much for me. But I think our ability to do so much with a single board is stronger than ever these days!

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Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I'm pretty confident that we'll be seeing an update sometime between "soon" and "NAMM." Also, pretty recently, the ideascale page for the YC was updated, with a lot of suggestions marked in such a way as to indicate they're not being considered, while others marked that they are... I don't think they'd have bothered if they weren't actively pursuing putting out an update.

 

Maybe if we all join hands, close our eyes, and say "better fast Leslie" three times...

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A "big" deal is the alternate cc numbers for midi control. Most of the other manufacturers use the same cc:s for drawbar control, I wish Yamaha would do the 'same' cc:s. For instance, drawbars are usually CC:s 12-20 for upper manual, Yamaha start on 102. The switches for c/v and perc don"t even send midi cc:s⦠That makes it a pain to reconfigure stuff for use with software organs including VB3 and HX3. Otherwise, using a HX3 module through the audio ins or a Leslie/Vent opens up a lot of possibilities.
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Roland hasn"t used CC"s for their drawbars on VR models as well, unfortunately. I"m not sure about the most recent 730, but I suspect it has not changed. They send a sysex message. There is a hardware midi message converter that can translate to CC.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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  • 5 months later...

Anyone with a YC 61 able to tell me if this works:

 

With my MODX I was surprised to discover a MIDI thru like function on it. When my Macbook is connected via USB into the MODX, the weighted controller plugged into the MIDI IN of the MODX controls the Macbook. I was surprised, as the options on the MODX for MIDI seem to be USB OR MIDI DIN, not both. I might have been wrong. Anyways, no matter how I toggled the settings this worked, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Anyone able to tell me if the YC does the same? If I had Mainstage plugged into the YC via USB, would I be able to control it using a weighted DP plugged into the YC's MIDI IN?

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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I never tried it on my YC61 when I had it, but I can confirm what you describe did work on my MODX61 when I had it, and I would make use of it.

 

One of the recent MIDI Implementation or Reference manuals discusses this briefly for the MODX, and BadMister has a very nice write up about it on the Yamaha Synth forum

David

Gig Rig:Depends on the day :thu:

 

 

 

 

 

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The MODX (and some other Yamaha) MIDI Implementation is unusual. Yes, you have to choose 5-pin or USB as your active port for sending MIDI out as you play, you can't send out both simultaneously, nor can both ports directly receive simultaneously. But the "unused" port isn't dead... even if a port can't independently address the outside world, the two ports still have functionality. Check the first 7 or so posts at https://www.yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/modx-midi-transmission - and don't ask me to explain it, because I still don't fully get it, and as far as I can tell, nothing there explains why what you're doing works. ;-) And maybe more to the point, sorry, I don't know whether the YC would do the same thing, either.

 

ETA: another useful thread at https://www.yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/modx-midi-usb-and-midi-5-pin-simultaneously

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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The last few weeks I've been wondering how to have Nord Stage 2 button drawbars controlled by YC88's "real" drawbars. (both kbs have fixed cc on drawbars). Have been thinking KeyStage and iPad pro could be the answer, but don't want to have to use a hub with iPad Pro. After reading about MODX MIDI possibilities, YC88 to iPad, along with midi din out to Nord Stage 2 might do the trick? Doubtful but maybe. 

 

Other possibilities: 1. Buy a Macbook Air & usb both keyboards to it. Would be nice to have Garritan and Modern U portable and am curious to try MainStage, Keyscape, Omnisphere etc. 2. Sell Nord Stage 2 and try to find a NS3 & stick to using just hardware. 3. Live with NS2's button drawbars or a hub. Buying a hub for iPad might be wisest choice fiscally speaking. 

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Some other possibilities that I think would work, Octa...

 

...a MIDI Solutions Event Processor (inserted between the MIDI Out of the Yamaha and MIDI In of the Nord) could convert the YC88 drawbar CCs to the ones the Nord needs to see (works with no iPad or Macbook in the setup_

 

... you could connect one of the keyboards to the iPad using a CME bluetooth device, which should give you a way to connect a second board that won't require a hub

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Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I am looking at the YC61 as a lighter alternative to the NE5HP: i am bringing my keyboard on my shoulder to gigs and rehersals, and i am not getting any younger, so the matter will be important sooner than i would like :).

 

I wonder about a gig bag: the official Yamaha gig bag, other than being expensive, is apparently 3Kg, that for a 7Kg keyboard seems  a lot. On paper the Nord 61 softbag have exactly the good size, weight a kg less, and is a lot cheaper; consider that i would you the bag to bring the keyboard around on my back, not on a car or a van or plane with a lot of other stuff.

 

What the lucky YC61 owners use ?

 

Maurizio

 

PS; than there is the subject of moving from a weighted keyboard to a light one; tried the MODX61, and i hated it; the YC61 seems more usable ... but i am afraid to loose my (already scarse) piano chops ...

Nord Wave 2, Nord Electro 6D 61,, Rameau upright,  Hammond Pro44H Melodica.

Too many Arturia, NI and AAS plugins

http://www.barbogio.org/

 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...
On 5/18/2023 at 12:48 PM, ImproKeys said:

Sorry if I missed this;
Is it possible to control Hammond B3-X with the YC's Drawbars?
Not that is of greatest importance to me, but would add another pro on my list.

Thanks!

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.

Yamaha - YC61 - P105 - MOX6 - HC2 -- Neo Vent 2
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