Korg NTS-1: First look

Posted on January 27, 2020 by pj

Just received the Korg NTS-1 Digital Synthesizer kit. Here’s the first pictures including a close-up look at the main logic board.

The kit arrives in a plain grey box with simple line graphics.

Inside the box, you’ll find the circuit boards to be broken apart and assembled, the ribbon strip, the corner brackets (spacers) and a short USB cable. There’s a short manual, a link to assembly instructions and the download code for the Korg software bundle. Sorry, you’ll have to buy your own kit to get a bundle code. 🙂

The NTS-1 hardware and Korg software bundle are well-worth the purchase price ($100 USD).

We’ve all seen snaps of the front panel. This is a close-up. BTW, click on images in order to get full-res.

Yep, that’s an ST Micro STM32F030 (R8 LQFP-64, 64KB flash memory) on the back side of the front panel board. It’s an Arm® Cortex®-M0 core with a 12-bit ADC and other integrated peripheral interfaces. No doubt, it handles pot and button scanning, including the kit’s little ribbon control strip. The STM32F030 is part of ST’s “Value Line” and costs about $1.00 USD in quantity.

Ah, the money shot that we’ve all been waiting for. The main VLSI components are:

ST Micro STM32F446ZET6: Arm® Cortex®-M4 32-bit RISC featuring a single precision floating point unit (FPU), DSP instructions and a memory protection unit (about $5.00 in quantity) . The IC is a “system on a chip” with integrated flash memory and SRAM. Three low resolution ADCs and two low resolution DACs are included.
Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. (ISSI) IS42S16400J-6TL: 4Mx16 bit word 166MHz SDRAM (about $1.10 in quantity).

That’s a 24MHz crystal by the ARM processor. I haven’t done the maths, as yet, to compute the operational clock speed. Should be near the top-end for the chip, tho’.

There are two Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) components:

AK 5358BET: 96kHz 24-bit stereo ADC (about $0.52 in quantity)
AK 4384ET: 106dB 192kHz 24-bit 2-channel DAC (about $0.63 in quantity)

Nice to see decent quality converters. Not high-end, but decent. Overall, it’s rarily about the component cost anymore — software and hardware development costs dominate.

The Texas Instruments TPA6138 is a pop-free stereo headphone amplifier.

As David sang, “If you want it, boys, get it here, thing.” Technology uncut.

Sonogenic UI MIDI flow

Posted on January 23, 2020 by pj

My Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic user interface (UI) is coming along quite well and is nearly complete. Before presenting the UI itself, I want to explain the overall concept of operation from the MIDI perspective.

The diagram below shows the flow of MIDI messages between the Sonogenic and the apps running on the iPad. The iPad and Sonogenic exchange MIDI messages over Bluetooth MIDI (BLE MIDI).

The two iPad apps are MIDI Designer and midimittr. Although MIDI Designer is Bluetooth MIDI capable, it is not able to echo incoming MIDI note on, note off and modulation messages back to the Sonogenic. For that, we need the (free) midimittr app. midimittr is launched first and makes the connection to the Sonogenic. In Bluetooth terms, midimittr is the “Central” and the Sonogenic is the “Peripheral.” MIDI Designer is launched after midimittr and virtual MIDI connections in and out are made to midimittr. THRU is turned on.

Thus, midimittr acts as a bi-directional pipe for incoming and outgoing MIDI messages (i.e., incoming and outgoing with respect to MIDI Designer.) MIDI Designer along with midimittr forms a MIDI loop-back.

Back in the Sonogenic, keyboard and modulation control messages are sent to the MIDI OUT link and, under the control of the LOCAL ON/OFF switch, are sent to the Tone Generator. If LOCAL is ON, keyboard messages are sent to the Tone Generator. If LOCAL is OFF, keyboard messages only go out on MIDI and no sound is initiated.

In this design, the Sonogenic transmits outgoing MIDI messages on channel 1. MIDI Designer also sends its messages on channel 1. The net effect of the loop-back is to merge messages sent by the Sonogenic with messages sent by MIDI Designer.

The incoming MIDI message stream always goes to the Tone Generator. Along this path, the Tone Generator implements a General MIDI Level 1, 16-channel synthesizer. All channel 1 messages are recognized and interpreted by the Tone Generator whether they originated within the Sonogenic or MIDI Designer.

The incoming MIDI messages and the keyboard messages (when LOCAL is ON) are received by the Tone Generator via two separate and independent ports.

The keyboard port is not one of the 16 MIDI channels. Panel voice selection and DSP effect control are available through this port. No General MIDI control is possible through this port.
The General MIDI message port handles all 16 channels including channel 1 which carries the merged messages from the Sonogenic loop-back and MIDI Designer. General MIDI messages cannot change the panel voice or DSP effect.

Now you can see why MIDI Designer loops Sonogenic MIDI messages back to the tone generator. And, you can see why there are certain limitations.

However, we do gain one advantage by having two such independent tone generator ports. If LOCAL is turned ON, you can layer a panel voice (selected on the Sonogenic) with a GM voice (selected in MIDI Designer). Want a phat stacked synth? You got it. Want to layer EPiano over strings? You got it.

The MIDI Designer UI lets you select and edit General MIDI voices. You can also select among all of the available chorus and reverb types. Thanks to MIDI Designer’s preset capability, you can save and recall the edited voices. The Sonogenic does not have patch editing or patch storage.

I hope this explanation is helpful. Soon, I will dive into the MIDI Designer interface.

SHS-500 Sonogenic MIDI

Posted on January 21, 2020 by pj

The Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic has hidden (undocumented) MIDI abilities! This post covers “What mother didn’t tell you.” I’m working on a MIDI Designer-based user interface for the SHS-500 and spent time exploring its MIDI implementation. Here’s the results.

For those who are “tl:dr”, The MIDI implementation is similar to (based on?) the Yamaha PSR-E463/-EW410. If you continue reading, you’ll learn a few new things about the E-series models, too.

General MIDI tone generation

The big news, of course, is the built-in General MIDI Level 1 tone generator. You can use the SHS-500 as a full 16-channel, multi-timbral General MIDI (GM) sound source (GM System On/Reset):

    F0 7E 7F 09 01 F7

You can also enable and select the panel voices by putting the Sonogenic into its ultra-light XG mode (XG System On):

    F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7

I won’t reproduce the GM voice table here nor the list of SHS-500 panel voices. Consult the SHS-500 Reference Manual for the bank select and program change values needed for panel voice selection.

Chorus and reverb effects

Like the E463/EW410, the Sonogenic implements a smattering of basic chorus and reverb effect types. Reverb type is selected by a MIDI message of the form:

    F0 43 10 4C 02 01 00 MSB LSB F7

The reverb types are:

                MSB  LSB  SysEx                        
                ---  ---  ----------------------------- 
    No effect     0    0 
    Hall 1        1    0  F0 43 10 4C 02 01 00 01 00 F7 
    Hall 4 *      1    1                       0  01 
    Hall 2        1   16                       01 10 
    Hall 3        1   17                       01 11    
    Cathedral *   1   23                       01 17 
    Room          2    0                       02 00 
    Room 3 *      2    7                       02 07 
    Room 1        2   17                       02 11 
    Room 2        2   19                       02 13    
    Stage         3    0                       03 00    
    Stage 1       3   16                       03 10    
    Stage 2       3   17                       03 11    
    Plate         4    0                       04 00    
    Plate 1       4   16                       04 10   
    Plate 2       4   17                       04 11

Please note the three reverbs added in the E463 (Hall 4, Cathedral, Room 3).

Chorus type is selected using a MIDI message of the form:

    F0 43 10 4C 02 01 20 MSB LSB F7

The chorus effect types are:

             MSB  LSB  SysEx 
             ---  ---  -----------------------------    
 No Effect     0    0    
 Chorus 3     65    0  F0 43 10 4C 02 01 20 41 00 F7    
 Chorus 2     65    2                       41 02       
 Celeste      66    0                       42 00       
 Chorus 1     66   17                       42 11       
 Flanger      67    0                       43 00       
 Flanger 1    67    8                       43 08       
 Flanger 2    67   17                       43 11

Unfortunately, Yamaha have not given us a way to select the DSP effect type. The Sonogenic does not implement CC#94 which is needed to control variation send when the variation effect is configured in system mode. I performed many experiments trying to enable the DSP effect as an insertion effect, failing all attempts. Yamaha’s MIDI set-up (for SMFs) on the E463 does not contain DSP configuration. So, I think we’re hosed when it comes to DSP effects via MIDI.

I couldn’t find a way to change the Master EQ through MIDI.

MIDI Continuous Controllers

The SHS-500 Sonogenic implements the following MIDI Continuous Controller (CC) messages:

 CC#  Function / purpose
 ---  ----------------------------------------------- 
  0  Bank Select (MSB) 
  1  Modulation 
  5  Portamento Time 
  6  Data Entry (MSB) 
  7  Main volume (channel volume) 
 10  Pan  11  Expression  32  Bank Select (LSB) 
 38  Data Entry (LSB) 
 64  Sustain (Off: 0 to 63, On: 64 to 127) 
 65  Portamento On/Off (Off: 0 to 63, On: 64 to 127) 
 71  Resonance 
 72  Release Time 
 73  Attack Time 
 74  Cutoff Frequency 
 84  Portamento Control (amount of portamento) 
 91  Reverb depth (Effect 1 Depth) 
 93  Chorus depth (Effect 3 Depth) 
 96  RPN/NRPN data increment 
 97  RPN/NRPN data decrement
100  Registered Parameter Number (RPN) LSB 
101  Registered Parameter Number (RPN) MSB 
120  All Sound Off 
121  Reset All Controllers 
122  Local On/Off switch (Off: 0 to 63, On: 64 to 127) 
123  All Notes Off 
124  Omni Off 
125  Omni On 
126  Mono (0 to 16) 
127  Poly

These CC channel messages are pretty standard. Without deep diving, note that CC#91 and CC#93 set the reverb depth and chorus depth, respectively. It’s still possible to have a lot of fun with CC#71, CC#72, CC#73, and CC#74 for voice editing. However, you’ll have to find a way to save your edits since the Sonogenic doesn’t have any user patch memory. I’m hoping to edit and save patches through my MIDI Designer user interface.

Sadly, there isn’t a way to control vibrato. It would be nice to control vibrato rate and depth, but what you hear is what you get. The best one can do is to control vibrato depth via CC#1 modulation.

Registered Parameter Numbers

The Sonogenic implements the General MIDI Registered Parameter Numbers (RPNs):

RPN MSB  RPN LSB  Function / purpose 
-------  -------  ------------------------------------- 
   0        0     Pitch Bend Range 
   0        1     Fine Tuning 
   0        2     Coarse Tuning 
   0        5     Modulation Sensitivity

I tested only coarse tuning as a means to achieve transpose.

No Non-Registered Parameter Numbers (NRPN) are supported.

Utility messages

The PSR-E463 MIDI Reference lists a few “utility” messages:

MIDI Master Volume
MIDI Master Tuning
Local ON/OFF

I tested Local ON/OFF and the Sonogenic responds to it. (The SHS-500 MIDI implementation chart shows this message as recognized).

None of the General MIDI Level 2 messages are implemented, e.g., Master Coarse Tuning. Thus, options for transpose (note shift) are limited.

XG extensions

I spent a fair bit of time searching for Yamaha XG extensions. Almost all XG extensions are ignored except velocity sense control:

Velocity Sense Depth (Part: 1, Default: 64)
    F0 43 10 4C 08 00 0C vv F7 
Velocity Sense Offset (Part: 1, Default: 64) 
    F0 43 10 4C 08 00 0C vv F7

I’m glad velocity sens control is supported. Organ voices, in particular, do not respond to key touch. If you want to turn off touch response in a MIDI channel, try:

    Velocity Sense Depth: 0 
    Velocity Sense Offset: 115 to 127

Both parameters default to 64 (Hex 0x40).

Based upon my analysis of E463 song set-up messages, the Sonogenic is likely to support XG Scale Tune messages.

Display chord name

You’ve probably seen demonstrations of Chord Tracker driving the SHS-500. Chord Tracker communicates chord names to the Sonogenic over MIDI. It uses the same SysEx chord name message as the Genos/PSR series keyboards. For example, the following two messages send “Dm7” and “G7” to the Sonogenic.

F0 43 7E 02 32 0A 32 0A F7     Dm7
F0 43 7E 02 35 13 35 13 F7     G7

Chord names are displayed when the Sonogenic is in Jam Mode.

Here is Yamaha’s definition of the chord name messages as taken from the Genos Data List PDF:

F0 43 7E tt d1 d2 d3 d4 F7     Type1 (tt=02) 
    11110000 F0 = Exclusive status 
    01000011 43 = YAMAHA ID 
    01111110 7E = Style 
    00000010 02 = type 1 
    0ddddddd d1 = chord root (cr) 
    0ddddddd d2 = chord type (ct) 
    0ddddddd d3 = bass note (bn) 
    0ddddddd d4 = bass type (bt) 
    11110111 F7 = End of Exclusive 

    cr : Chord Root 0fffnnnn 
        fff: b or #, nnnn: note(root) 
        0000nnnn 0n bbb           0fff0000 x0 reserved 
        0001nnnn 1n bb            0fff0001 x1 C 
        0010nnnn 2n b             0fff0010 x2 D 
        0011nnnn 3n natural       0fff0011 x3 E 
        0100nnnn 4n #             0fff0100 x4 F 
        0101nnnn 5n ##            0fff0101 x5 G 
        0110nnnn 6n ###           0fff0110 x6 A 
                                  0fff0111 x7 B 

    ct : Chord Type 0 to 34, 127 
        00000000 00 0 Maj         00010010 12 18 dim7 
        00000001 01 1 Maj6        00010011 13 19 7th 
        00000010 02 2 Maj7        00010100 14 20 7sus4 
        00000011 03 3 Maj7(#11)   00010101 15 21 7b5 
        00000100 04 4 Maj(9)      00010110 16 22 7(9) 
        00000101 05 5 Maj7(9)     00010111 17 23 7(#11) 
        00000110 06 6 Maj6(9)     00011000 18 24 7(13) 
        00000111 07 7 aug         00011001 19 25 7(b9) 
        00001000 08 8 min         00011010 1A 26 7(b13) 
        00001001 09 9 min6        00011011 1B 27 7(#9) 
        00001010 0A 10 min7       00011100 1C 28 Maj7aug 
        00001011 0B 11 min7b5     00011101 1D 29 7aug 
        00001100 0C 12 min(9)     00011110 1E 30 1+8 
        00001101 0D 13 min7(9)    00011111 1F 31 1+5 
        00001110 0E 14 min7(11)   00100000 20 32 sus4  
        00001111 0F 15 minMaj7    00100001 21 33 1+2+5 
        00010000 10 16 minMaj7(9) 00100010 22 34 cc 
        00010001 11 17 dim 

    bn: On Bass Note Same as Chord root; 127:N o bass chord 
    bt: Bass Chord Same as Chord type; 127: No bass chord

MIDI Realtime messages

The SHS-500 Sonogenic sends the following MIDI Realtime Messages:

Start (0xFA): Jam mode only, when play/pause is pushed while stopped
Stop (0xFC): Jam mode only, when play/pause is pushed while playing
Active Sense (0xFE)
MIDI Timing Clock (0xF8)

Miscellaneous messages

The Sonogenic sends the following message when tuning is changed via the function menu:

    F0 43 10 27 30 00 00 08 00 00 F7

The Sonogenic responds to the MIDI Identity Request message:

    F0 7E dd 06 01 F7

It returns an Identity Reply message:

    F0 7E dd 06 02 vv ff ff mm mm ss ss ss ss F7
        vv    Manufacturer (vendor)
        ff    Family
        mm    Model
        ss    Version

    F0 7E 7F 06 02 43 00 44 23 1F 00 00 00 6F F7 
                   vv ff ff mm mm ss ss ss ss

Summary

Overll, there are enough messages to be dangerous! I already have a prototype patch editor constructed in MIDI Designer. In addition to MIDI Designer, I’m running the free midimittr iPad app in order to send the Sonogenic’s note on, note off and modulation messages back to itself. midimittr merges the Sonogenic’s messages with the editing and control messages from MIDI Designer. No wires — it’s all transmitted over Bluetooth MIDI. Patches are stored and recalled using MIDI Designer presets.

So, I say, dive right in! The SHS-500 offers more than what’s document in the manuals.

YC61 Developer’s Comments

Posted on January 16, 2020 by pj

I just finished watching the “Yamaha Stage Keyboard YC61 Development Story” on Youtube. It’s a twelve minute video of three developers behind the new YC61 organ:

Takashi Mori – Sound Synthesis Algorithm
Toshifumi Kunimoto – Sound Synthesis Algorithm
Akinobu Shibuya – Software Engineering

Dr. K, of course, is well-known for his work in physical modeling and Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM). Both types of modeling are essential to the YC61 sound.

The developers knew that physical modeling and VCM would be important during development. They began by studing real-world instruments to find the best way to deploy these techqniues. They eventually arrived at an implementation which unifies physical modeling and VCM — the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Quoting sensei Dr. K, “Real instruments feature a lot of undulation” not just pure sine waves. “While collecting a range of different pitch waveforms, combining them, and including some non-linear additions, we also had to deal with phase interference between them. It turns out that this interference is not constant, and while balanced over the entire pitch of the instrument, the pitches do shift in subtle and inconsistent ways. … [T]his disordered yet harmonious behavior” is essential and necessary.

“Real sounds are affected [by] a lot of instability in circuits and component devices, and sampling alone — which is the equivalent of taking a static photo in the audio sense — could not be used to replicate these instabilities.”

Rock players, in particular, know that good overdrive is essential to the Hammond sound. “When the expression pedal, for example, is pressed down hard, the distortion component can become an exquisite noise.” Virtual Circuit Modeling has a role here.

Rotating speaker emulation is also a suitable role for VCM. However, VCM alone is not enough. Physical modeling is needed to capture the properties of rotating speakers including the acoustics and physics of sound reflection. “The noise component of an organ’s sound is really effective when combined with the rotary speaker.”

Existing Yamaha instruments use a separate AWM2 tone generator and an effects section. The YC61 takes a unified approach and combines tone generation with effects to produce an accurate, overall sound.

The character of real world instruments changes from day to day with temperature and other factors. The developers needed to study materials and the effect of those materials on the behavior of electrical circuits. They measured actual organ circuits and tried to understand how materials and other factors affected their sound.

The organ sound in seventies British prog rock was a key influence. They wanted to achieve an overall musical sound. The developers wanted to create an instrument which organists could play naturally and intuitively. The instrument itself should reveal its “amazing sounds” when it is simply played “without any upfront explanation.”

Well, most of us must wait until June 2020 to play and to decide for ourselves. The YC61 is expected to be in stores by then, costing $2,499 (MSRP) and $1,999 on the street (MAP).

The YC61 is slightly smaller than the MODX6 and just a touch heavier (15.6 pounds). Given the range of non-organ sounds, I’ll be giving the YC61 a serious try when it’s available. Maybe it’s time to trade in the old NE2?

Winter NAMM 2020 prequel

Posted on January 15, 2020 by pj

Feels like Winter NAMM 2020 came and went already. Here’s a short round-up of products that don’t or won’t get big press.

BeatBox by rhythmo is a do-it-yourself cardboard MIDI controller drum kit. The BeatBox is just $159USD. For that tidy sum, you get a BeatBox with a 4×4 grid of pad-like (arcade) buttons, 4 filter knobs, 8 function (arcade) buttons, an internal amplifier, two 15W speakers and 3000 mAh rechargeable battery pack. Everything is housed in an 8″x9″ cardboard chasis. The Beatbox is MIDI mappable and will work with most DAWs. The Beatbox has an USB-B device to host port and can be used as a MIDI controller.

BeatBox is an Indiegogo project. I presume that Beatbox is programmable at the code level although the funding page doesn’t mention what’s inside. Rhythmo Lab is pitching Beatbox at both CES and Winter NAMM 2020.

The Viscount Legend ’70s digital piano is a modular approach to retro piano design. The Legend ’70s is a platform that accepts modules, allowing a player to customize the instrument to their needs. Viscounts have revived the idea of the old Yamaha PLG boards, but the Viscount modules include front panel controls, too.

Viscount’s on-line information is a little bit hard to decypher, i.e., what do I get for my money. Anyway, the platform comes in three versions: Compact (73 keys), Artist (88 keys) and Artist-W (88 wooden keys). Hammer action all around. All three come with two modules:

E.Piano: 5 Rhodes, 2 Wurly, E.Grand
Sound Collection: Pad, Strings, Choir, Brass, Keyboard, Organ, Bass, Guitar, Bells, Marimba

Sound generaation is physical modeling. The platforms have a good range of effects: Tremolo, chorus, etc., too.

You can add any of three modules to a platform:

Acoustic Piano Module: 8 sampled pianos, 128 note polyphony
Clavi Module: 2 physically modeled Clavinets
External Module: Send MIDI control messages to external gear

The modules have all of the appropriate knobs and buttons as well as the tone generation (and/or control) electronics.

Italy’s Lab4Music have two interesting products: the Sipario MIDI router and the Enjoy MIDI CV controller. The Sipario has 2 MIDI IN DIN connectors, 2 MIDI OUT DIN connectors, and 1 USB port (HOST/DEVICE). It’s programmable and can handle all of the usual chores (e.g., send program change) in addition to routing. It has a touch screen (!) and is built to a robust road-ready standard (metal chassis).

The Lab4Music Enjoy controller bridges MIDI (digital) with control voltage (analog). The digital side is an USB class compliant MIDI device. The analog side can generate CV, gate, pitch, trigger and LFO signals. The Enjoy has a joystick on top as well as expression pedal jacks. The enjoy handles conversion between MIDI messages and analog signals. Ten memory slots are available to hold specific control and conversion configurations.

The Blipblox folks will be releasing an adult version of the Blipblox toy synthesizer: Blipblox After Dark. (As if all synthesizers aren’t toys? 🙂 ) It will have the same signal flow as the original adding a multimode resonant filter, a stereo delay, new oscillator modulation schemes and new kick/snare samples. I can’t say that I like the physical aesthetics, prefering the colors and white chassis of the “kid’s” version.

Back in the do-it-yourself domain, check out the midistomp six button foot controller. It has five latching footswitches and one momentary footswitch. It’s USB over MIDI — no MIDI DINs. The midistomp is based on the Arduino Teensy which means user code! Hurray! An assembled midistomp is $99USD. Or choose a DIY kit of parts for $85USD.

Sonogenic: General MIDI

Posted on January 13, 2020 by pj

After jamming with the Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic, I’m glad that I chose it over the Yamaha PSS-A50. Sure, the A50 could be fun, but the Sonogenic panel voices are definitely step up from the A50. The Rhodes electric piano sounds great and I’m warming to the synth voices like Analogon — good for classic R&B, soul and funk. I love the mellow jazz guitar, too. One minor gripe so far. When I play the Sonogenic in my lap, it tends to slide and get away from my hands where as Reface YC stays put.

For brevity, I will refer to the SHS-500 as the “Sonogenic” in this post. Yamaha also makes the SHS-300 Sonogenic. The SHS-300 is not as robust as the model 500 and has a smaller set of decidedly lower quality voices. The model 300 is at home with its peers in the PSS family like the PSS-E30 Remie.

I make light of my obsessive pre-purchase analysis, but one observation paid off. The Sonogenic Owner’s Manual mentions “General MIDI System Level 1” compatibility on page 8 and includes GM compatibility in the product specifications. Yamaha don’t make such claims lightly and I wasn’t disappointed.

The SHS-500 has a 16 channel General MIDI tone generator built in! I successfully played back General MIDI (GM) compatible Standard MIDI Files (SMF) through the Sonogenic. (DAW: An old version of Sonar.) Missing organ, oboe or vibraphone? You can find them in the GM sound set. The SHS-500 responds to the GM System On System Exclusive (SysEx) message:

    F0 7E 7F 09 01 F7

which puts the Sonogenic MIDI interface into General MIDI mode. The Sonogenic GM tone module accepts MIDI messages from the currently selected MIDI interface: USB MIDI, wired DIN MIDI and Bluetooth MIDI.

You’re not limited to just the GM sound set over MIDI. You can also select one of the 28 panel voices (or 2 drum kits). You’ll need to embed an XG System On SysEx message at the beginning of the song file:

    F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7

This message makes the SHS-500 respond to MIDI bank select messages as well as program change messages. For example, if the song sends:

    Bank Select MSB: 104
    Bank Select LSB: 0 
    Program Change:  27

on MIDI channel 1, for example, then the tone generator will use the rather decent Jazz Guitar panel voice instead of the GM jazz guitar.

This is all good news, of course. However, there are limitations:

The GM sound set is available only over MIDI. You cannot select and play a GM voice via the front panel.
GM voices cannot be processed by the DSP effect. Thus, you cannot add a rotary speaker effect to a GM voice.
You cannot change the front panel voice or DSP effect via MIDI. Incoming MIDI messages affect the GM tone generator only.

The Sonogenic control architecture has inherited the quirkiness of the PSR E-series. That is, keyboard control and MIDI control are quite separate and independent.

There is some hope, however. Let’s say that you really want to play the General MIDI drawbar organ voice (MSB:0, LSB:0, PC1: 17). You can loop MIDI from the Sonogenic through an external sequencer and return the MIDI to the Sonogenic. First, you’ll need to turn LOCAL control OFF through the Sonogenic’s FUNCTION menu. Then, you need make (virtual) incoming and outgoing connections to the sequence — the equivalent of two standard MIDI cables connecting the Sonogenic with the sequencer. Then, you can select the GM drawbar organ voice on the Sonogenic’s MIDI channel (default channel one) and play the organ voice using the Sonogenic keyboard. It’s a roundabout trip, but it works.

I’m experimenting with other options like using an iPad app to loop MIDI messages back to the Sonogenic and to select panel or GM voices.

Be forewarned. The Sonogenic panel voices are significantly louder than the General MIDI voices. I haven’t decided (yet) if this is an inherent flaw nor have I found a way to boost the GM voices.

Even though Yamaha promote Chord Tracker for Sonogenic, don’t count MIDI out. The Sonogenic has a solid GM tone generator on board and you can use it to compose and/or play back MIDI songs from an external sequencer.

One final tip, if you put the Sonogenic in Jam Mode, Yamaha-specific chord name SysEx messages tell the Sonogenic to display a chord name. By placing chord name events in the MIDI song, you can jam along just like Chord Tracker only the accompaniment is coming from a MIDI sequencer instead of an audio track.

I hope to write a short summary of the MIDI messages recognized and interpreted by the SHS-500 Sonogenic. The basic synthesis engine is similar to the Yamaha PSR-E463 and PSR-EW410, minus the XGLite sound set. C’mon back!

Yamaha YC61 stage organ

Posted on January 9, 2020 by pj

Not to be out-done, Yamaha have announced the YC61 61-key Stage Keyboard. MSRP is $2,499 and MAP (Street) is $2,000.

The YC61 has waterfall keys and drawbars with VCM out the wazoo. The YC61 also includes FM synthesis for FM electric pianos. Speaking of pianos, the YC61 has acoustic pianos as well as electric:

Acoustic pianos: CFX, S700, C7 and U1 upright.
Electric pianos: Real FM, CP80, 78 Rhodes, 75 Rhodes Funky, 73 Rhodes, Wurlitzer.

The voice list in the Owner’s Manual shows:

Acoustic pianos
Electric pianos
Synths (pad, strings, Brass, Lead, Bass, Chromatic Percussion)
Strings
Guitar
Brass
Sax/Winds
Basses
Chromatic Percussion (Glock, vibes, etc.)
Accordions

The selection of voices is very rock, pop and jazz-oriented as one might expect in a keyboard of this type.

Tone generation technology is specified as: VCM Organ, AWM2, and FM. Looks like Yamaha has finally issued a modeled B-3. Polyphony specs are:

VCM Organ + AWM2: 128
FM: 128

There are 32 effect types including rotary speaker and amp sims, of course. The amp sims are British Combo, British Lead and Small Stereo, all of which are recent vintage. I can’t tell right now if the main rotary speaker effect is brand new or not.

Quoting the Owner’s Manual about the “VCM Organ tone generator:”

The VCM Organ tone generator was developed to faithfully reproduce the sound of a tonewheel-type vintage organ.
VCM stands for “Virtual Circuitry Modeling™,” and is technology that uses DSP to emulate the functions of an analog electric circuit. This technology enables the instrument to reproduce sound with an analog-like depth, which cannot be reproduced by a simple digital sound. By applying this technology, the VCM Organ tone generator fully reproduces the following characteristics of a vintage
Natural, organic harmonies when playing chords — thanks to a matrix circuit that connects the keyboard, tone wheels, and drawbars
Percussion sound with remarkable presence — based on vacuum tube circuit analysis
Key clicks and leakage sounds — based on electrical circuit analysis
Natural sound distortion — simulating vintage vacuum tube pre-amplifiers
Vibrato/Chorus effect — from scanner-based vibrato circuitry
Changes in frequency characteristics and drive amount that responds dynamically to operation of the expression pedal
Adjustment of these detailed parameters makes it possible to accurately recreate the distinctive characteristics of the original instruments — including all of their specially attractive imperfections, faults and even deterioration.

Organ models are H1 (standard vintage organ), H2 (mid- to low-emphasis), H3 (percussive), F1 (simple sine waves), F2 (Vox combo), F3 (Farfisa combo).

Dimensions are 35.25″ wide by 4.25″ high by 12.2″ deep. It weighs 15.6 pounds (7.1kg) which is quite reasonable!

I just downloaded the Owner’s Manual. It will take a little study to figure out how the effect units are allocated — the spec is not exactly clear by itself.

It looks like there is good MIDI control — lots of CCs. Naturally, the devil is in the details. One doesn’t always know what’s missing until you get down to the nitty gritty of voice and rig configuration. The YC61 has master keyboard functionality (four zones including organ).

Well, that’s enough to get you started. Download the manual. Then pop the popcorn, sit back and watch the usual Web mania.

Korg unpops the NAMM 2020 cork

Posted on January 9, 2020 by pj

Just when I’m ready to tuck into a new toy, someone — Korg — announces another pair of new keyboards for NAMM. Let’s see, the new Korg spawn now include:

i3 Music Workstation
XE20SP Digital Ensemble Piano
wavestate
SV-2 Stage Vintage Piano
EK-50 L Entertainer Keyboard

Catch all of the action on Korg’s web site.

Meanwhile, the Kronos fanbois are gnashing their teeth and many people are still awaiting the Messiah — a full-size Arp 2600. It would be a boring world without variety, so I hope their dreams come true. [No offense intended.]

The EK-50L and the SV-2 are updates. The EK-50 L adds a more powerful amplifier (2x10W) and speakers (2x120mm double cone bass reflex) to the EK-50. The EK-50 is intended for entertainers who play small venues like coffee shops. With in-built speakers, it’s one trip from the auto to the gig. The SV-2 is an update of the SV-1 and is firmly in the middle of the stage piano market. In addition to new sounds, there is an SV-2S model with an internal K-ARRAY speaker system. The SV-2S would be great for casuals, coffee houses and such. Same idea, one trip from the car to the job.

I always liked the SV-1 sounds and its action — a tough competitor to the Yamaha CP73/CP88. Damn, the SV-2 EPs sound nice, and that German piano! Wish I had the space (and health) for a weighted action stage piano…

Korg is also reaching out to the trenches with the i3 Music Workstation. In the promotional text, I get wisps of song writing, composing, phrase library, etc. It’s a broad pitch to those who — dare I say it — would ordinarily shun an arranger keyboard.

I thought the i3 was the Krome replacement. Sure looks like it. Modern arranger keyboards are trending toward “synth workstation” anyway. The main difference is the content. Arrangers need a wide range of styles dipping into movie themes, Schlager, big band jazz, Román népi táncok, and Lord knows what else. The Yamaha Motif series distinguishes itself through its contemporary phrases (arpeggios). With the i3, Korg took the accompaniment technology from the PA series and mated it with some seriously modern sounding styles/phrases.

Ah, Korg are certainly dancing around the “A word.” It’s a shame that the word “arranger” has gotten such a negative connotation among certain musicians. Even the text for the home-oriented XE20SP refers to “automatic accompaniment”, not “arranger.” Anyone who has played a modern mid- to top-end arranger from Korg or Yamaha know the true nature of today’s machines. Yeah, some styles leave me cold. However, the playability of acoustic instrument voices is the best it’s ever been and the voices are at the same level as flagship sample-playback synths. In the case of Yamaha’s Genos Super Articulation 2 voices, the sound even exceeds the Montage flagship.

Well, there you go. We’re lucky to live in an age where manufacturers are rolling out a wide variety of electronic keyboards. I’m amazed that Behringer, for example, can issue as many different makes and re-makes as they are. They run the risk of cannibalizing their own customer base! Gosh, how many synths can the average punter really afford?

Enjoy. Peace to all.

[Hey, Korg! Somebody who is a native English speaker needs to correct the sometimes hilarious spelling errors in your specs, e.g., EK-50 L.]

SHS-500: Snap review

Posted on January 8, 2020 by pj

After analyzing the Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic from every possible angle (even the service manual!), I finally got one. On-line retailers are currently flooded with post-Christmas returns and bargains can be had. And so it was.

First, I must compliment Sweetwater for their prompt service and excellent packing. The SHS-500 was double-boxed. (The inner box was Yamaha’s original packing carton.) The unit is in excellent condition, matching Sweetwater’s assessment of its condition. Even though the inner carton has a big “DEMO” sticker on it, the Sonogenic is “like new.” Money saved and well-spent.

Since the Sonogenic was a demo, the initial settings are probably not factory. Thus, your out-of-the-box experience may be a little different than mine. I loaded the battery compartment with six AA batteries and turned it on.

Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic in fire-engine red

The internal speaker is not going to impress anyone. Sound quality is at roughly the same level as Reface and I never warmed to that. I’ll be playing the Sonogenic through either headphones, my trusty, portable JBL Charge 2 or a powered monitor. Sonogenic has a master EQ and it’s important to set it appropriately. My unit was set to “Line Out” and the sound through the speaker was weak. Changing to the “Speaker” EQ setting was much better. Be sure to change back to “Line Out” when connecting to an external powered monitor. (Or “Boost,” or “Mild”.)

The SHS-500 is quite solid in the hands — much better build quality than the new PSS series or the SHS-300. Key feel is comparable to Reface. After playing the Sonogenic, the PSS keys have a cheaper feel. Yes, you get what you pay for. The SHS-500 is like a Reface keytar.

Natch, the first thing was quick tour of the sounds. Every panel voice has a DSP effect. (See the table below for default assignments.) Sound quality is on-par with good PSR E-series voices and in a few cases, S-series. The SHS-500 is not a Genos. 🙂 However, the SHS-500 is better than PSS by far.

 SHS-500            Bank  Bank
 Voice               MSB   LSB  PC#  Default effect
 -----------------  ----  ----  ---  --------------
 Saw Lead 1          104    20   91  LPF
 Saw Lead 2            0   104   82  Flanger
 Quack Lead            0   112   85  DSP Chrs
 Bright Decay        104    21   85  Phaser
 Square Lead           0   112   81  Phaser
 Under Heim          104    51   88  DSP Chrs
 Analogon            104    52   82  Flanger
 Synth Brass           0   113   64  DSP Chrs
 Electric Piano      104    28    5  Phaser
 DX Electric Piano     0   112    6  DSP Chrs
 Electric Guitar     104     3   31  Dist.2
 Jazz Guitar         104     0   27  DSP Chrs
 Acoustic Guitar       0   117   26  LPF
 Electric Bass       104     6   34  LPF
 Slap Bass             0   112   37  DSP Chrs
 Synth Bass            0   112   39  Phaser
 DX Bass               0   118   40  LPF
 Piano                 0   112    2  DSP Chrs
 Piano & Strings     104    39    1  DSP Chrs
 Piano & Pad         104    40    1  DSP Chrs
 Air Choir             0   112   55  LPF
 Strings               0   116   49  DSP Chrs
 Brass                 0   117   63  DSP Chrs
 Trumpet               0   115   57  HPF
 Flute                 0   115   74  LPF
 Alto Sax            104     2   66  LPF
 Tenor Sax           104     3   67  LPF
 Harmonica             0   112   23  Tremolo
 House Kit           127     0   65  LPF
 Power Kit           127     0   88  LPF

The House Kit has the same program selection numbers as the House Kit in the PSR-E463 and PSR-EW410. These instruments and the SHS-500 are the only ones with this “House Kit.” Go figure.

My favorite voices are the Electric Piano, Jazz Guitar, Electric Bass, Synth Bass, Piano & Pad, Strings, Flute, Tenor Sax and Harmonica. Electric Piano with the Tremolo DSP effect is nice. Can’t wait to try these out with my backing tracks. Here’s a few more snap opinions.

I’ve never been that excited by the PSR synth voices although Quack Lead, Under Heim and Analogon can be fun. Drop Quack Lead down an octave or two for an alternative synth bass.
The electric guitar is OK and the DSP distortion effect is welcome versus a static sampled overdriven guitar. However, the DSP effect is not up to the PSR S-series, Genos or MODX, that’s for sure. It’s an early Yamaha algorithm.
The main piano is bright — think “house.” The piano in the layered voices is warmer.
The tenor sax needs to be played stylistically. The low end gets into baritone territory — a plus.
The harmonica is decent enough to go a little Jon Batiste or Stevie with the thing.
A few of the voices (e.g., flute, tenor sax) have vibrato sampled in. If you’re a PSR-type person, you’ll recognize these as “Sweet!”
The LPF is a bit of a let-down. One can hear changes due to cut-off, but a certain dynamic aspect is missing.

The DSP effects sound a little over-done. It’s easy enough to strip the effect off by dialing it out with the Effect Control knob. One might get tired of doing this after every voice change, which is why I want to experiment with MIDI Designer as a graphical front end for the Sonogenic.

In addition to the default DSP effect, the Sonogenic sets the octave which is appropriate (in some sound designer’s view) for the instrument. Change the voice and you change the octave, too. Depending upon the scenario, this could be a drag. There isn’t a way to go directly to a voice; you need to spin the Select knob and step through the voices — another motivation for a MIDI Designer front-end.

Jack positions all seem well thought out. The USB and MIDI DIN connector are hidden behind a rubbery cover. The MIDI DIN connector is the same as the Reface connector and takes the same breakout adapter to produce 5-pin IN and OUT.

The audio Line Out is mono. (Yes, mono, according to the Service Manual.) The headphone output is stereo. If you need stereo, give the headphone output a try. Dunno if the waveforms or effects are stereo, but the stereo signals are sent to the headphone jack. (The DAC is an AK4430ET, BTW.)

The SHS-500 includes a PA-130 power adapter. I have a PA-150 plugged in at all times and it works just fine with the SHS. The PA-150 supplies the same voltage and has a higher amp rating. All good.

Overall, the Sonogenic SHS-500 is worth the (reduced) price. Will I take it to rehearsals? Heck, yeah! It’s a shame that Yamaha left at least one organ patch out of the voice set. There is enough here for those weeks when organ is not in the church gig spotlight. Almost wish the SHS-500 and Reface YC were combined into the same ax…

Let’s get small!

Posted on January 7, 2020 by pj

I’m always looking to lighten the load and I’m pleased to see the new JBL Professional IRX Series portable PA speakers, announced for Winter NAMM 2020. There are two models: 8″ IRX108BT and 12″ IRX112BT. More class D amplifiers, no doubt, with JBL claiming 1,300 Watts. Connectivity includes two combo XLR/TRS inputs, XLR loop-out, and Bluetooth streaming. Two speakers can be linked via Bluetooth for stereo.

Light weight is achieved through polypropylene cabinets. The 8″ is 17.4 pounds and the 12″ is 27.3 pounds. Frequency response is 54Hz-20kHz and 53Hz-20kHz, respectively. I’m guessing that’s -10dB. [Funny, the press release doesn’t list the weights after touting “lightweight.”! Also, pricing info is inconsistent with the JBL sell sheet.]

Prices are reasonable. The IRX108BT is $329 (MAP) and the IRX112BT is $379 (MAP). In case you haven’t noticed, there is a lot of action in the $200 to $300 segment of the small monitor market, e.g., Headrush and others. If you’re a keyboard player, don’t disregard the full range, flat response (FRFR) monitors favored by modelling guitarists.

These days, with a health issue, I’m looking to get even smaller and lighter. I don’t need a huge amount of SPL on the job and a spot monitor like the Behringer B205D can do the job. I don’t want to sacrifice sound quality, however, Darn it, when I play an oboe patch, I want it to sound like an oboe — not an oboe played through the speaker of a 1969 Buick. I’m still not sold on class D amplifiers although class D efficiency is the way to small and light. The class A Yamaha MSR100 (now out of production) is still my favorite sound-wise.

Speaking of small, the Roland Jupiter-Xm really impresses! Yeah, it was announced last September along with the yet-to-be-seen Jupiter X. I’m sure Roland will be showing it at Winter NAMM 2020. It’s got all of Roland’s greatest hits on board — something for everybody — plus built-in speakers and battery power for on-the-go fun. You’ll have to get over your dislike of mini-keys, however. 🙂

Sand, software and sound

Electronics and computing for the fun of it

Monthly Archives: January 2020