Winter NAMM 2019: Yamaha Sonogenic - Sand, software and sound

Drop what you’re doing right now and take a look at the Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-500.

“Sonogenic SHS-500 is a new type of instrument from Yamaha that is perfect for music lovers who want to participate in making music, but maybe haven’t learned how. This Keytar (“Key”board + Gui”tar”) gives you the freedom to dance, jump and move around while you play!” [Click images to enlarge.]

“Jam Mode – Play with your favorite music on the spot. Thanks to Jam Mode you can instantly enjoy playing along with your favorite songs. Simply connect the instrument with the free app Chord Tracker, and play along with songs stored on your smart device. No matter which keys you press, the notes automatically match the song, so you don’t have to worry about hitting the wrong notes, fingering technique or even knowing the proper scales and chords.”

The tutorial video is interesting because it implies (shows?) Chord Tracker sending scale information back to SHS-500 as the happy teen whacks away at the keyboard as if it’s a Guitar Hero controller. At least the player is human and not the dog in the overview video! Poor Yamaha is going to take a thwacking for that video…

Here are some brief specifications including USA pricing:

37 keys
Pitch bend, modulation, control knobs
USB audio interface: 44.1kHz, 16-bit, stereo
AWM2 tone generation, 48 note polyphony
30 voices
9 DSP effects plus 4 Master EQ presets
5-pin MIDI OUT in addition to USB-B
Wireless Bluetooth (including MIDI)
Battery power (six AA cells) or adpater (PA-130)
3.3 pounds (1.5kg)
MSRP: $499, Street: $299.99

Oh, yes, it bears repeating: 5-pin DIN MIDI OUT.

If you lusted for the Vocaloid VKB-100 keytar simply because, the Sonogenic SHS-500 is (maybe) your axe. Yamaha alluded to an electronic instrument in a new category. This is it.

The VKB-100 included 13 non-vocal instrument sounds as I describe in my overview article on the VKB-100. Sound quality is like an entry-level Yamaha PSR arranger. In fact, I’m sure that a few of the voices (if not all) were taken from the PSR-E4xx series. The SHS-500 is like the VKB-100, except Yamaha threw away Vocaloid and added more musical instruments. I guess Yamaha have given up on selling non-Japanese Vocaloid products.

Yamaha basically creating a fun keytar for the non-Japanese speaking world. For that, they are smart cookies!

In case you aren’t fast enough to read the video frames as they flash by, here are the SHS-500 voices and drum kits:

    001 SawLead1    011 E.Guitar    021 AirChoir
    002 SawLead2    012 J.Guitar    022 Strings
    003 QuackLd     013 A.Guitar    023 Brass
    004 BriteDcy    014 E.Bass      024 Trumpet
    005 SquareLd    015 SlapBass    025 Flute
    006 UnderHeim   016 SynBass     026 AltoSax
    007 Analogon    017 DXBass      027 TenorSax
    008 SynBrass    018 Piano       028 Harmnica
    009 E. Piano    019 Pno&Strs    029 HouseKit
    010 DX Piano    020 Pno&Pad     030 PowerKit

So far, this is very similar to the non-vocal instruments in the VKB-100.

Other announcements

Elsewhere in Yamaha key-related news, Yamaha announced the Pianica, PSR-E360, a slew of YDP digital pianos for the home, and the N1X AvantGrand for mucho dollaro (MSRP: $10,999). The Pianica is a breath-blown reed instrument so you can get your Jon Batiste on. The PSR-E360 is an entry-level arranger keyboard with faux wood grain. And naturally, the previously announced Yamaha CP73/CP88 stage pianos are featured at NAMM.