Jul 23

INTRODUCTION

How do you fancy having a professional Yamaha Motif in a very lightweight and affordable package? Well Yamaha have just released two new synths – the MOX 6 (61 semi-weighted keys) and the MOX 8 (88 note graded hammer action keyboard). The new MOX has 1217 voices as well as 6720 Arpeggiator patterns taken from the Yamaha Motif XS range. The MOX 6 weighs an incredible 7.0 kg (15.4 lbs.), whilst the MOX 8 only 14.8 kg (32.6 lbs.) despite its full size keyboard. The prices are such that there is nothing on the market that provides this much by way of price, portability and professional sounds. This sounds like an idea home studio keyboard workstation synth which has a sequencer but its weight obviously lends itself to the live situation as does some of the new layout and controls. Well it all sounds good but I need to put this through its paces and determine whether this light weight keyboard can stand the rigours of the road. Perhaps only time will tell, but it certainly appears to provide the ideal carrying weight for someone who needs 88 hammer-action keys.

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Jan 4

Christmas in January

It is getting very close to that time of year when over 1500 exhibitors are frantically preparing to announce and show off their hot new music/audio products at the Anaheim Convention Centre in Anaheim, California. To me this show is very much like Christmas, some years I am overwhelmed by the amount of goodies and other years I am disappointed either because I am expecting too much or that I was really hoping that a new product that was going to be just right for me was going to be announced and it has not.

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Nov 11

Yamaha DTX 900 and DTX 950 Electronic Drum Kits

As a drummer (and currently an electronic drummer) I am always interested in what is out there trying to compete with the Roland TD20 kit. Yamaha seem to be getting closer and closer to this with their latest releases  – the DTX900 and DTX 950 kits

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Nov 2

The Yamaha Tenori-On Review

INTRODUCTION
The Yamaha Tenori-On, it has a strange name and is something I wanted to find out about for a while now. When you are being sent a musical instrument which has 256 orange LED’s and is made by Yamaha, you know straight away that it is going to be something very special, unique and visually stunning. As I turned it on and started to play it, I realised that is exactly what it is. It certainly passed my user-friendly test because I was composing a very syncopated melody with dynamics and interest in seconds and it felt a bit like painting with sound. Yamaha are renowned for packing many features into their products, so I need to look a little into what they are. I suppose the quick start guide is a good place to start.

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Aug 20

The staggering news that the Intel Corporation announced an important advance in the quest to use light beams to replace the use of electrons to carry data in and around computers, makes me wonder what changes will this make in the world of music. Apparently this experimental chip can move data at 50 billion bits per second (50Gbps). With this amount of power how will the DAW change? Will we be able to have unlimited VST’s in our Cubase, Sonar, ProTools, Reason, Ableton and Logic Projects and no dropouts or freezes?  Just imagine the hardware Synth possibilities. What will the three giants Roland, Yamaha and Korg come up with next to replace the Fantom G, Motif XF and the Korg M3?

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