Genos 2 is here

Posted on November 15, 2023 by pj

Key features:

Steinberg’s REVelation reverb
Over 1900 voices
Over 800 styles
Style dynamics control
Ambient drums
FM synthesis
Three assignable buttons (above the 3 articulation buttons)
Updated playlist features and interface
Bluetooth audio
Support by Rec’N’Share app
HDMI port
Front panel buttons for Chord Looper
MIDI song to style converter (computer-based application)

Let’s get the bad news over first: $6,599 USD (MSRP), $5,700 (MAP).

Style dynamics control: Increase the energy and dynamics of each style section in real-time by turning a knob. Instrument parts may be added or subtracted by the player with a single gesture. This is similar to the Adaptive Style idea (DGX-670) except the player has explicit control over the busy-ness of the auto-accompaniment.

Ambient drums: Use a live control to adjust the microphone distance from the drums. This adjusts the dry and ambient sound in real-time. The drum sounds have recorded drum ambience.

FM synthesis: Genos2 has both AWM2 and FM synthesis. Yamaha finally unlocked the FM engine in the SWP70! Genos sound designers are still on a 1980’s kick begun in Genos (gen 1). Now we get all of the DX7 classic sounds with real FM. And, of course, layered with anything and everything else.

Styles: Over 200 styles are brand new employing the new voices and dynamic drums. More 80’s: Throwback Pop, 80’s Sunday Pop, 80’s Funky Soul, 80’s Love Song, 80’s Soft Rock, 80’s Dance Pop, 90’s Dream House, Broadway Production, Action Anthem. The 80’s Funky Soul style is cool — especially if the unnecessary orchestration is backed out. Oh, no, more Schlager, but Yamaha do know who butters their bread!

Yamaha have finally improved style creation with the MIDI song to style converter application. I’ll have to take a closer look at this! 🙂 This application lets the user select the measures which are mapped to MAIN, FILL IN, and so forth. It’s about time.

Pianos: The CFX has more dynamic (velocity) layers. A brand new 80’s played-in, “German” character piano. The U1 upright has been updated. Genos2 adds more ethnic instruments, to pursue global sales, no doubt.

New voices: These new voices include Shakuhachi, nylon guitar, pop brass, orchestral brass, steel drums. Martin Harris handled the live stream demos — all very nice and well-played! I’m sure the golden agers are all digging the 90’s “four on the floor.”

There is a new Yamaha web site dedicated to Genos2. What is the URL???

Don’t forget to accessorize. Genos2 is going to maintain backward compatibility to Genos (gen 1). Customers get a five year extended warranty after registration. There are two new Genos2-focused expansion packs: DX7 pack and Genos complete pack. The complete pack contains Genos (gen 1) styles and voices not included in Genos2.

Comments and outstanding questions

I must give credit to Yamaha for re-working the Genos2 Owner’s Manual. The illustrations and descriptions are much improved. Good work! More vendors should pay attention to written documentation. [I’m talking to you, Hammond Suzuki.]

The other bad news for organ-punters like me — Genos2 did not get the new rotary speaker simulator. Genos2 is the same as Genos (gen 1) as far as B-3 organ is concerned.

The screen is tilted, but not tilt-able. The display is touted as “brighter and anti-reflective.”

Yamaha upgraded the CFX piano, but did not give Genos2 Virtual Resonance Modeling. In other words, Yamaha have once again maintained their product line silos. No cannibalization from Clavinova is allowed! The Genos piano collection is good: CFX, character grand, cinematic grand, felt piano, C7, U3 upright, and U1 upright. Still, not as good as Montage M. I love that felt piano, BTW.

The triple pedal is not supported. The Genos2 accessories include the FC4A sustain pedal which does not support half-pedaling. So, I doubt if Genos2 itself supports half-pedaling. The mystery back panel connector is for a subwoofer.

The new FM and ambient voices are described thus:

FM Voices: Characterized by dynamic changes in sound that cannot be achieved with PCM sound sources, since this is using a FM tone generator that is synthetic sound sources.

Ambient Drums, Ambient SFX Voices: Provides realistic and lively drum sounds that are difficult to achieve with DSP effects. When these Voices are used in a selected Style, you can adjust the ratio of wet (reverberant sound) and dry (unprocessed sound) sound in real time by using the Live Control knob/slider to which “Ambience Depth” is assigned.

As to slider behavior:

An LED meter on the right side of each slider displays the current value of the parameter corresponding to the slider, in the current Slider Assign Type. When any slider is operated, LIVE CONTROL view automatically displays the current Slider Assign Type and current values. When the slider’s position and the current parameter value are different, the current parameter value will be held until the slider’s position matches (catches) the value. Once they have matched, the slider’s position will be reflected to the parameter. When additional Slider Assign Types for Organ Flutes Voice are selected, the “catch” behavior described above does not apply and the slider position is always directly reflected.

The Genos2 Data List downloaded as a ZIP file containing an XLS file. What the what? And what is the bloomin’ URL for the Genos2 Web site?

The Yamaha USA site has Genos2 product pages.

Key Genos2 specifications

Keyboard: 76 key, Organ (FSX), Initial Touch/Aftertouch
Main display: TFT Color Wide VGA LCD, 800 × 480 dots, 9 inch
Sub display: VA LCD (LIVE CONTROL View), 512 × 48 dots
Polyphony: 128 for Preset AWM Voices + 128 for Expansion AWM Voices + 128 for FM Voices
Voices: 1,991 Voices + 75 Drum/SFX Kits
Styles: 800 (720 Pro, 69 Session, 11 Free Play)
Expansion voice memory: Approx. 3 GB
Internal memory (USER Drive): Approx. 15 GB
HDMI display: 1280 × 720p max.
Dimensions (W × D × H): 1,234 mm × 456 mm × 151 mm (48-9/16″ × 17-15/16″ × 5-15/16″)
Weight 14.2 kg (31 lb, 5 oz)

Genos2 pre-game

Posted on November 13, 2023 by pj

Gotta say upfront, I don’t have a horse in the race when it comes to Yamaha Genos2 (to be announced Wednesday). Montage M8x, on the other hand, really seized my attention because it potentially could fit a real need — an 88-key piano for home. All of the Montage M extras (AN-X, big sub display, and so forth) would be gravy on the biscuits. In the end, I placed an order for a Clavinova CSP-170. [Still waiting for delivery.]

I’m quite happy with Genos (generation 1) and will be keeping it. The FSX action is pleasant and, oh, the sounds! It’s set up to my taste and needs — no good reason to change horses.

Still, I’m a technologist and I’m anxious to see how Genos2 features point to the future.

Pianos and more pianos

The Genos (gen 1) acoustic piano voices have always left players wanting, especially when compared to Montage (gen 1) and MODX. Genos has been trapped by its XG synthesis and effects architecture. Voices are limited to 8 elements making 18 element CFX an unlikely creation.

Yamaha engineers found a way to break down the 8 element limit in Montage M. A single part now may have up to 128 elements. If Yamaha incorporates the same breakthrough in Genos2 (G2), deep, detailed acoustic piano voices are possible.

The first G2 teaser video features piano slathered in reverb. I don’t think that’s an accident. Given that the lowly Yamaha DGX-670 has a great sounding CFX, it’s time for G2 to get game.

Piano Room and Smart Pianist

What are new piano voices without Yamaha Piano Room? Piano Room is the place to tweeze and tweak piano sounds to your liking. Open the piano lid, adjust brightness, etc.

Along with Piano Room, we might see Smart Pianist support for Genos2. The tablet-based Smart Pianist app provides the capabilities of Piano Room — and more. You can select voices, change settings and save everything in registrations. On the CSP series, the player can select and control auto-accompaniment styles, too. Smart Pianist brings sophisticated audio-to-chord and audio-to-score capabilities, too. Audio-to-score goes beyond the free Chord Tracker app, converting chords into honest to goodness musical notation. The musician can play from a standard chart without needing to know chord theory.

If Yamaha adds Genos2 to Smart Pianist, Genos2 will be the first (true) arranger keyboard with Smart Pianist support. This is a big deal. First released in January 2018, Smart Pianist is now a central, strategic piece in Yamaha’s digital piano ecosystem. Adding Genos2 will cement Smart Pianists role for years to come.

Whither VRM? Virtual Resonance Modeling enhances relatively static digital piano tones with body and string resonance. VRM has been slowly trickling down from high-end Clavinovas to the portable digital piano line. Will Genos2 get VRM Lite or enhanced VRM? Stay tuned.

What’s this?

Enlarged and enhanced G2 pictures show a new connector (?) centered on the rear panel. Along with new acoustic piano voices, will we see the new FC35 triple foot pedal? The FC35 connects through a large multi-pin DIN connector. Perhaps G2’s new connector is for the triple strike pedal. We shall soon see…

Vegas at night

Rotary encoders are another big ask. The second teaser video reveals what are quite likely rotary encoders in place of standard potentiometers. The encoders are surrounded by LEDs denoting the current knob value.

Later video and pictures show LEDs alongside the G2 sliders. It would be neat if the LEDs would show the initial slider value to be manually “caught.” That capability would certainly make it easier to play the drawbars in so-called Organ Flutes mode.

Speaking of drawbars, did G2 get the VCM rotary speaker DSP algorithm?

Tilt, but not tilt-able

The main and sub displays appear to be the same size as Genos (gen 1). The G2 front panel has a few new controls. Since Yamaha needed to remold the top chassis panel, they decided to increase the tilt of the main and sub displays. This change should improve readability, especially when seated at the instrument.

Space is the place

I give Ton on the PSR Tutorial Forum credit for making a great catch.

The first video is titled “REVelation” and the third video is titled “Real ambience.” Coincidentally, there are Cubase plug-in effects with similar names. The Cubase REVerence plug-in lets you import an impulse response from disk.

These spatial reverbs and enhancements are popular creative tools. They are also memory-hungry. Did Yamaha provide bigger DSP RAM on the G2 SWP70s? Could these effect algorithms be ported to Montage M? Remember, the “Real Distortion” guitar effects appeared in Tyros 5 before that were added to Motif XF in update 1.5. Could history repeat?

A new keybed?

Comparing the G2 chassis form against my Genos (gen 1), it looks like Yamaha have remolded the chassis bottom, too. It looks deeper, possibly to accommodate the downward tilt of the displays. Or maybe a new keybed, replacing FSX.

This close-up picture of the G2 keybed has been nagging me. The front face of the white keys appears taller than the FSX in front of me in the studio. The height-to-width ratio of the pictured key is about 0.52; the height-to-width ratio of an actual FSX key is 0.24. Did Yamaha develop a new keybed for Genos2?

Oh, so much is still unknown!

We can see the keys, the box, and the displays. It’s the stuff inside that we can’t see which is unknown and tantalizing. Until Wednesday! Unless some horrible, awful leak happens. 🙂

Patience is a virtue

Posted on August 27, 2023 by pj

But, wait! There’s more!

mx49 posted this list of new product names extracted from a Yamaha warranty registration site:

    147641 - MODX6+ //E 
    147642 - MODX7+ //E 
    147643 - MODX8+ //E 
    147752 - P-125AB 
    147753 - P-125AWH 
    147970 - CK88 
    147971 - CK61 
    149017 - P-143B 
    149018 - P-145B 
    149019 - P-225B 
    149020 - P-225WH 
    149496 - GENOS2 //Y2 
    149720 - MONTAGE M6 //E 
    149721 - MONTAGE M7 //E 
    149722 - MONTAGE M8X //E 
    149729 - P-525B //Y2 
    149730 - P-525WH //Y2

Oh heck, might as well throw in the new STAGEPAS 100 BTR and STAGEPAS 200 BTR:

    STAGEPAS100 //B 
    STAGEPAS100BTR 
    STAGEPAS200 //B 
    STAGEPAS200BTR

Thank you, mx49, and the rest of the folks at Yamaha Musicians Forum.

The Montage M series leaked yesterday. Now we know that GENOS2 is on-the-way sometime in the near-term future, too. 🙂

Regular readers know that I’m trying out 88-key digital piano keyboards and developed a fondness for the Yamaha P-515. The P-515 was release in 2018 and it will be replaced by the P-525, again, sometime in the near-term future.

Wow, the new Montage MX8 and P-525 — both are worth waiting for and both potentially fill an actual need. Patience is a virtue. Keep repeating that. 🙂

I’ll have more thoughts about all of this tomorrow. Today is a typical Sunday — gig, God and football. Take a breather and start the new week fresh!

Yamaha VRM vs. VRM Lite

Posted on July 28, 2023 by pj

Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM) is one of one of Yamaha’s strongest differentiating technologies. Many of Yamaha’s home and portable digital pianos implement some form of VRM. Up to this point, the CP series stage pianos and other products in the synthesizer (music production) product families do not have VRM. Perhaps this will change in CP Gen 2. Yamaha arranger keyboards do not feature VRM, either. [Some synths and arrangers have a damper resonance insert effect. See “Synthetic fun” below.]

Yamaha Virtual Resonance Modeling [Source: Yamaha]

Sampled piano can sound lifeless even when the damper pedal is depressed. VRM adds a subtle dynamic quality to the overall sound. I tried turning VRM off via Piano Room while holding down notes with the damper pedal applied. There is a subtle difference in the sound. With VRM on, the overall tone (such as the P-515 or DGX-670) is fuller, more dynamic. Personally, I find the effect pleasing enough to regard it as a “must have” feature.

In slightly more technical terms, VRM adds sympathetic resonances such that the piano tone grows (blooms) over the duration of the notes. Acoustic piano makers and technicians go to great lengths to add and tune pleasing harmonics through resonance. Acoustic pianos are incredibly complex machines in the scientific sense!

You’ve probably read Yamaha’s description of VRM on its web site or in an owner’s manual. If you’re unsure of what it all means, then I recommend doing the same experiment yourself and hearing the difference. [Get thee to a dealer.] Whether you like the effect (or not) is personal. If it doesn’t immediately strike your fancy, please read on. Some models let you tweak VRM depth in Piano Room.

VRM technology has evolved since its introduction in 2014. The first models with VRM were the up-scale CLP 575 and 585. Per usual Yamaha practice, VRM trickled out to lower-end models in the 600 series and to the CSP and CVP series. Another thing happened, too. Yamaha began referring to “original VRM” and “enhanced VRM”. Yamaha describes original and enhanced VRM in the following way:

The original VRM (CSP-150/170) calculates the various states of the strings for each of the 88 notes on the keyboard, from one instant to the next, and timing and depth of damper pedals pressed.
Enhanced VRM (CLP-635 / 645 / 675 / 685 / 665GP / 695GP) now also calculates aliquot resonance in the upper octaves, and the full resonance of the soundboard, rim, and frame.

The calculations require some heavy mathematics and are computational intensive. I’ll say more about this in a future post. I will say, now, that VRM is a substantial, technological achievment!

Lately, Yamaha have dropped “original” and “enhanced” in favor of “VRM Lite” and “VRM”. I contacted Yamaha support asking about the specific modeling components supported by VRM and VRM Lite. They replied:

VRM has five components in it:
- Damper resonance
- String resonance
- Body resonance
- Duplex scale resonance
- Damper noise
VRM Lite has two components:
- Damper resonance
- String resonance

As you would expect, VRM Lite is a subset of VRM. I preseume “duplex scale resonance” means Aliquot resonance although technically the two are related, but not identical.

If your Yamaha digital piano has VRM or VRM Lite, you’ll have one or more VRM-related settings at your disposal in Piano Room and/or the Smart Pianist app. The DGX-670, for example, has three settings:

VRM effect ON/OFF
Damper resonance effect depth
String resonance effect depth

Thus, you can ditch VRM entirely, or individually control the amount of damper or string resonance. The latter two settings let you dial in the amount of each effect to suit your preference. P-515 (enhanced VRM) provides five settings:

VRM effect ON/OFF
Damper resonance effect depth
String resonance effect depth
Aliquot resonance effect depth
Body resonance effect depth

Special thanks to Dan (Yamaha Support) who chased down this information for me.

Synthetic fun

Yamaha Montage/MODX, Genos, and other Yamaha synths implement a Damper Resonance effect “that reproduces the rich harmonics and unique sound characteristics of an actual grand piano when using the damper pedal.” [Check the Data List PDF for your particular model.] The Damper Resonance effect depends upon the sustain pedal (Damper Control) — you must depress the sustain (damper) pedal to hear the effect.

For Montage/MODX cheap thrills, select the four-part “CFX Concert” Performance. All four parts assign Damper Resonance to insert effect A. The initial dry/wet balance is set to D21>W or thereabouts. Raise the dry/wet balance to D<W63 — full wet. Now when you strike a note and depress the damper pedal, you’ll hear only the sound of the damper resonance effect.

For further background information about the Damper Resonance effect, check out Half Damper Function, Damper Resonance Effect and Key Off Sample (Motif XF).

Here are my working definitions for Aliquot resonance and duplex scaling.

“Aliquot is a stringing method for pianos that uses extra, un-struck strings in the upper octaves to enhance the tone. These strings sympathetically vibrate with other strings in an acoustic piano, resonating with overtones, and adding richness, brilliance and complex color to the sound. Since they do not have a damper, they will continue sounding even after you release your hands from the keyboard.” [Source: Yamaha P-515 Owner’s Manual]

“Duplex scaling, built into some grand pianos, can be found on that portion of the string in the treble section between the back bridge pin and the hitch pin which is normally the non-speaking part of the string and dampened with a strip of cloth. Where there is duplex scaling this section is deliberately left open to resonate in sympathy with the speaking part of the string and add brightness to the upper partials.” [Source: Cambridge Piano Tuner]

These two Yamaha videos are still informative after 13 years: Stereo Sustain Samples and String Resonance.

MODX: Overdrive slight return (part 4)

Posted on June 12, 2023 by pj

Today’s post is part of a short series of articles relating to MODX drawbar organ sound:

I’m trying to recreate the experience of playing the new Yamaha CK keyboards with MODX. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…

I received a few comments and ideas that are worth passing along. All of the basic principles and sonic DNA are applicable to Genos and PSR, I might add.

First up, what makes a good overdrive or distortion? My colleague Uli is pursuing a similar investigation and he is using an Electro Harmonix Lester K as a reference. Using a reference sound is a super idea.

So, I dug into my old bag of tricks — literally. I have four different references on hand:

ART Tube MP
Electro Harmonix Lester K
Behringer GDI21 guitar preamp
Fender Super Champ xD modeling guitar amp

As yet, I haven’t tried the Super Champ xD because it is a solid state and tube hybrid. I will need to find a way to isolate the effect of the 12AX7/6V6 power stage. That experiment will likely require high volume and there’s only so much my poor ears can take! [Be sure to protect your ears.]

I bought the ART Tube MP mic preamp a zillion years ago. Tube MPs are still inexpensive going for roughly $100 USD. I used the Tube MP to warm up the sound of my old Nord Electro 2, trying to file the edge off of its digital sound.

The Tube MP is really intended as a mic preamp having a 12AX7 vacuum tube gain stage. If you crank up the gain, you can hit the 12AX7 pretty hard and get gobs of distortion. The Tube MP distortion gradually increases with gain and is warm and smooth. By “smooth”, I mean distortion which is not grainy or fizzy. To me, grainy distortion has an uneven clickiness to it, like a fast-ticking geiger counter instead of an old analog TV receiving the sounds of the universe. [Really.]

That said, the Lester K overdrive — a digital simulation — is not bad. The Lester K overdrive gets good reviews and deservedly so. The Lester K overdrive has a pleasing smoothness.

The Behringer GDI21 is sometimes disparaged as a copy of the Tech21 SansAmp. Compare schematics and you will find differences. The GDI21 uses a pair of JFETs to simulate a tube preamp (12AX7).

Both GDI21 and SansAmp emulate the input stage and power amp effects of a guitar amp. There are lots of variations to dial in, but you pretty much get three flavors: Fender Tweed, Mesa/Boogie high-gain and British lead. Maybe the GDI21 is authentic on guitar, but I didn’t care for its sound when applied to drawbar organ. The Tube MP and Lester K are better references, IMHO.

Given all that, what is my favorite MODX (Genos) amp sim (or whatever) for overdrive? Here are my top three picks:

SMALL STEREO (Preset: Overdrive)
US COMBO (Preset: Rich clean)
BRITISH LEAD (Preset: Dirty)

Judging from its distortion parameters, the SMALL STEREO is part of the MULTI FX pedal board chain. Thus, if you want to slap pedal effects on a drawbar organ, MULTI FX is a good way to go, giving you a pedal or two for free along with the amp sim. Uli is experimenting with chorus, too, and is giving MULTI FX a try.

The presets mentioned above are just starting points. Check out other settings in Part 3.

I grew up with the sound of 1960s Fender and that’s probably why I have a fondness for the US COMBO. I always wanted a Fender Twin Reverb (or Bassman) as a kid. Well, THAT dream never came true. [Might as well add a Vox Continental to the list of broken dreams, too.] 🙂 Twin and Bassman amps were the weapons of choice for combo organ back in the day.

The BRITISH LEAD conjures the sound of Wakeman, Emerson and others. Nuf said.

Have fun, tweak and don’t forget to boogie.

Yamaha keyboards: Which amp (sim) is that?

Posted on June 1, 2023 by pj

While diving into overdrive and distortion effects for drawbar organ, I challenged readers to identify the real-world amplifiers on which Yamaha based its MODX (Montage, Genos) amp simulators. I took my own challenge over a cup of coffee today and made my own list of best guesses.

Yamaha introduced several new amp simulators during the 2013-2014 time-frame. They first appeared in Tyros 5 under the sobriquet “Real Distortion”. Next, they were added to Motif XF by way of the Motif XF OS1.5 update. Since then, the “Real Distortion” effect algorithms have trickled down to mid-level synthesizer and arranger keyboard products.

Without further ado, here are my best guesses:

Tweed Guy         Fender '59 Bassman Tweed (6L6GC, 4x10) 
Boutique DC       Matchless DC-30 (EL84, 2x12) 
US Combo          Fender Twin Blackface (6L6GC, 2x12, Super Twin?) 
Jazz Combo        Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus (Solid state, 2x12) 
US High Gain      Mesa Boogie Mark II or Mark III (6L6GC, 1x12) 
British Lead      Marshall Plexi Super Lead (EL34, 4x12) 
British Combo     Vox AC30 Top Boost (EL84, 1x12 and 2x12) 
British Legend    Marshall JCM 800 Lead (EL34, 4x12) 
Distomp           1980s Yamaha distortion pedals (SHD-100/MBD-100) 
Y-Amp             Yamaha DG series guitar amplifiers and stomp 
Small Stereo      Fender inspired? 
Multi FX          Inspired by the Yamaha DG Stomp

Blake Angelos (Yamaha) wrote an early article which provides important clues. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t spill specific amplifier names.

A real Matchless DC-30 and the Boutique DC amp sim front panel

Better clues come from the faux front panel graphics on display in the Genos Mixer. These skeumorphic images resemble the actual amplifiers which inspired the amp simulators. More definitively, the control names resemble or are identical to the front panel knobs, switches and input channels of the original amps. The Fender-style graphic knobs threw me off at first, until I discovered that the first generations of Mesa/Boogie amps were housed in Fender Princetons.

There are a few inconsistencies, though. The “US Combo” clearly models Fender “blackface” amplifiers, most notably the famous Twin. The Fender Twin has a middle EQ knob, but does not have mid cut, width or sweep controls like the amp sim. Perhaps Yamaha’s software engineers replaced the single middle EQ knob with three other parameters giving great control over the mids? Or, maybe the software engineers had the Fender Super Twin in mind which has a five band EQ at fixed frequencies?

The Small Stereo Amp doesn’t claim any particular ancestor. The speaker types include Twin and Tweed, so maybe there is a Fender influence? Whatever its name, Small Stereo Amp is one of my favorites. It’s like Nando’s hot sauce; I use it anytime I want a little grunge.

The Distomp simulator is a blend of 1980s Yamaha distortion pedals. In particular, it combines controls from the SHD-100 Super Hard Distortion and MBD-100 Multi-Band Distortion pedals. Shred on, dudes.

The Y-Amp is clearly based on Yamaha’s own DG guitar amp series. The DG amplifiers are among the first digital modeling amplifiers. (Nerd note: DSP horsepower is delivered by a Yamaha proprietary DSP6 integrated circuit.) I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the DG amp sims and effect models jumped species and landed in Yamaha keyboard products, too.

Yamaha engineers often return to the same wellspring. The DG Series Amp Models (circa 2012) are:

    1) Lead 1 - Marshall 
    2) Lead 2 - Soldano 
    3) Drive 1 - Fender Bassman 
    4) Drive 2  - Fender Twin 
    5) Crunch 1 - Vox AC30 
    6) Crunch 2 - Matchless 
    7) Clean 1 - Fender Twin Nasal Silverface 
    8) Clean 2 - Fender Twin Full Blackface

The list makes you go, “Hmmm?” “Soldano” brings the Soldano SLO-100 classic to mind.

Before VCM (Virtual Circuitry Modeling) there was DG’s ECM (Electric Circuit Modeling). In this vein, the Y-Amp sim offers a choice of power tube: 6L6GC, EL34, or KT66. These vacuum tubes were used in some of the most famous and collectible guitar amps:

6L6GC: Fender '59 Bassman and Twin, Ampeg B-15, Mesa/Boogie Mark I  
EL34:  Marshall Plexi, DSL 100, Super Lead, Orange 
KT66:  Marshall JTM45 Bluesbreaker

Oddly, Y-Amp does not have an EL84 option (Vox AC30, Matchless DC-30). The KT66 is an improved version of the 6L6. The KT66 was first made in Britain by Marconi-Osram Valve Co. Ltd.

In addition to guitar amplifiers, the DG series included the DG Stomp multi-effects pedal. I can see where the DG Stomp might have inspired the MULTI FX pedal board simulation. The MULTI FX algorithm is a jack of all trades with compression, wah, distortion, phaser, delay and speaker simulation.

Hope you found this fun!

Before leaving, here is my speaker type decoder, once again, based on a little analysis and guess work.

    BS 4x12    British Stack 
    AC 2x12    American Combo 
    AC 1x12    American Combo 
    AC 4x10    American Combo 
    BC 2x12    British Combo 
    AM 4x12    American Modern 
    YC 4x12    Yamaha Combo 
    JC 2x12    Jazz Chorus 
    OC 2x12    Orange Combo 
    OC 1x8     Orange Combo

God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen (ChordPro)

Posted on December 20, 2022 by pj

“God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” by Jon Batiste, Judith Hill, and Stay Human really grooves and I wanted to get in on the fun(k). So, I started with Yamaha Chord Tracker and worked out a similar chord progression.

Wanting to hear the progression and jam on it, I wrote the progression and lyrics in Extended ChordPro:

{title: God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen} 
{Artist: Jon Batiste} 
{Key: Cm} 
{Time: 4/4} 
# Style: JazzGuitarClub 
{stylecode: 3878} 
{Tempo: 120} 

{start_accomp} 

# Intro [Cm][*IA] 

# Verse 1 
God [Cm:2][*MA] rest ye [Bb/D:2] merry, [Eb5:2] gentle [Fm:2] men, 
Let [Gm:2] nothing [Ab:2] you dis- [Gm:2] may. [G7:2][*FA]  
Re- [Cm:2][*MA] member, [Bb/D:2] Christ our [Eb5:2] Sa- [Fm:2] vior was 
[Gm:2] Born on [Ab:2] Christmas [Gm:2][*FA] day. [C7:2]  
To [Fm:2][*MA] save us [Bb:2] all from [Eb5:2] Satan's [AbMaj7:2] pow'r when
 
[Eb5:2] We were [Dm:2] gone a- [Bb/D:2] stray. [Bb:2] 
O [Eb5:2] Ti- [Ab:2] dings of [Dm:2] com- [Gaug:2] fort and  
[Cm:2] Joy, [Fm7:2] Comfort and [Bb7][*FA] joy. 
O [Eb5:2][*MA] Ti- [Ab:2] dings of [Dm:2] com- [Gaug:2][*FA] fort and 

# Funky interlude 

[Cm7:2][*MB] joy. [F:2] ---- [Cm7:2] ---- [F:2] ---- 
[Cm7:2] ---- [F:2] ---- [Cm7:2] ---- [F:2][*FB] ----  

# Ending 
[Cm7-9][*EA] --------

Extended ChordPro adds auto-accompaniment features to the well-known and widely used ChordPro song format. I translated the ChordPro to a Yamaha-compatible auto-accompaniment file and played it on Genos™.

In “God Rest Ye,” you’ll notice the new extensions right away. There are a few more directives like: {stylecode: 3878} and {start_accomp}. Chord symbols are enhanced with a beat count, e.g., “[Cm:2]“, placing chord changes on beats within a measure. Annotations indicate auto-accompaniment section changes. For example, “[*MA]” and “[*FA]” mean “Main section A” and “Fill in A”, respectively.

Getting to hear the progression — not just play it by hand — was a huge help. I found a few places where a minor chord was required instead of a major. Play-back encouraged me to listen critically and to find a few hipper voicings.

If you would like a copy of the Java program (cp2mid) which translates Extended ChordPro to a Yamaha auto-accompaniment Standard MIDI File, here is a pointer to the ZIP file page. If you would like more information, please see the ChordPro auto-accompaniment example and demo and my article with ideas and uses for Extended ChordPro auto-accompaniment.

ChordPro auto-accompaniment

Posted on December 15, 2022 by pj

Before we close out the year, a Christmas gift!

Last January, I developed and wrote about “cp2mid“, a Java program to convert extended ChordPro files to a Yamaha accompaniment MIDI files. cp2mid lets someone compose in extended ChordPro format and play the composition on a Yamaha arranger in an auto-accompaniment style of your own choosing. If you don’t feel like composing, just grab one of the many ChordPro songs on the Web, clean it up, translate it, and play it.

You’ve probably seen ChordPro on the interwebs. It looks like:

# A simple ChordPro example 

{title: God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen} 

God [Cm] rest ye merry, [Cm] gentlemen, 
Let [Ab] nothing you dis[G7]may. 
Re [Cm] member, Christ our [Cm] Savior 
Was [Ab] born on Christmas [G7] day.

Extended ChordPro adds a few new directives (the things between curly braces) and tightens up the notion of musical time in order to mark measures and place chord changes within measures.

cp2mid translates the chords and lyrics into a Standard MIDI File (SMF). The SMF contains all the magic needed to play an auto-accompaniment on a supporting Yamaha arranger keyboard. (PSR E series, unfortunately, is out of luck.)

If you would like more information, here are some links to dive into:

The first three posts are essential reading for cp2mid users. The last two posts are intended for coders and other technically inclined folks.

Oh, yeah, you’ll need the ZIP file with example songs and cp2mid Java code.

In the house: V3 Sound YAMMEX XXL

Posted on November 2, 2022 by pj

Thought I would post a quick note about the new unit under test — the V3 Sound YAMMEX XXL tone module. The YAMMEX is a member of the V3 Sound XXL family of tone modules. They all share the same triangular shape and are light as a feather:

V3 Sound YAMMEX XXL expansion tone module

The lump-in-the-middle power supply is roughly the same weight!

You might have seen and heard Piano Man Chuck demonstrate the V3 Sound Grand Piano XXL module. [Piano Man Chuck is a V3 Sound dealer, BTW.] Well, the YAMMEX has the same sound set as the Grand Piano XXL. The main differences are:

The MIDI bank and program change layouts are different: Grand Piano XXL for general use as an expander, YAMMEX XXL as a Genos/PSR expander.
Grand Piano XXL is supported by the V3 Sound Control app; the YAMMEX XXL is not.
Grand Piano XXL is supported by two different MIDI Designer templates; the YAMMEX is not.
YAMMEX XXL voices are selected using custom Genos/PSR user voices.

YAMMEX XXL arrives from the factory with a USB flash drive containing the custom user voices (VCE files) needed to select voices through Genos/PSR. It’s all described in the YAMMEX XXL manual. [Henceforth, “Yammex” means “YAMMEX XXL”.]

I found a Yammex on ebay at a price that was impossible to refuse. It would be a shame to confine Yammex to Genos duty alone, so I studied the heck out of its MIDI implementation. I also examined the VCE files available from the V3 Sound Web site. Hmmm, looks like it’s a simple matter of uttering the appropriate Bank Select MSB, Bank Select LSB and Program Change messages. We can do that!

An inquiry to V3 Sound about compatibility was answered quickly, but implied that Yammex was only for Genos/MIDI. If you know MIDI and your controller’s capabilities, and if you don’t mind a little work, Yammex definitely can do more than Genos/PSR.

I was sorely tempted by the V3 Sound XXL series because it is based on the Dream S.A.S. SAM5716B synthesis chip. After hearing the SAM2635 and its GM/GS sound set, I wanted to hear what a high-end Dream chip could do with 3GBytes of professionally produced instrument samples. Cut to the chase, V3 Sound do not disappoint especially at the price I paid.

The box arrives. I open the shipping carton and what the? The Yammex box is in fine shape, but is covered in round “Demo” labels. I instantly smell “Sweetwater”. And there’s candy, and a Sweetwater “Thank You” card. The ebay seller is Jeff’s Music Gear. After a Google, I discover that Jeff’s Music Gear is Sweetwater’s ebay consignment shop! Nice to know that I was in good hands all along.

OK, then, plug everything up using Yamaha MODX as a controller. (See my article about Yamaha MODX Zone Master.) Ooops, no flashing MIDI light and no sound. I’m already composing a message to Jeff’s when I remember this note in the Yammex manual:

No sound? The YAMMEX XXL sound expander only creates a tone when you call up a sound from the V3 folder in your keyboard’s display. Just connecting it to your keyboard is not enough.

They aren’t kidding! I select a voice through the MODX Zone Master screen and suddenly the MIDI light starts flashing and Yammex starts talking. Delete the message to Jeff’s.

One other note from the manual is helpful during bring up:

Testing MIDI connections and settings. After connecting your MIDI cable and making sure your MIDI settings are correct, select a V3 User Voice. The MIDI LED on the YAMMEX XXL should now blink with every keystroke.

I find this behavior to be a dubious design decision. The purpose of a MIDI light is to indicate MIDI reception under any condition. While troubleshooting, I connected the Yammex THRU port to MIDI-OX on a PC and verified MIDI operation. Most of V3 customers will not be that savvy…

I’ve just begun auditioning sounds and already I’m pleased. I like and prefer the Bösendorfer Imperial 290 (Vienna) over the Steinway Model D (Hamburg). I fell in love with Bösendorfer when I first touched one in 1980. The electric pianos are good although too clean and polite. The organ samples are damned good. There are two flavors: No Leslie and Leslie sampled in. Sans-Leslie voices are meant to be dirtied up by an external pedal. I’ll try the Electro-Harmonix Lester K for spin and throw some overdrive on the EPs, too.

I like the Oberheim pads — another love. The classical strings are solid. That’s as far as I’ve gotten into the sound set. I’m looking forward to hearing the rest.

As to the supplied USB flash drive, the previous customer zorched the factory VCE files. I found an X6A file instead which I recognize as a Yamaha MOXF dump file. I guess the previous customer tried Yammex with MOXF and was disappointed. Fortunately, V3 Sound provide the Genos/PSR VCE files on their Web site. The supplied drive is only 64MB. [Not really a complaint.]

Experiments to come? Once I get my faves down to 8, 16 voices or so, I’ll configure the Arturia Keylab Essential. The extra knobs and sliders will come in handy. Also, I will whip up a simplified MIDI Designer template for the Yammex. The existing templates are comprehensive — yet overwhelming. I’m thinking about a UI similar to Korg Module. Those Korg folks are definitely on to something. Simplicity is king. MIDI Designer (with StreamByter) on iPad should give me splits and layers — maybe even a wireless Bluetooth interface to Yammex? Finally, Dream multi-FX.

“P” is for “piano”: Yamaha P-S500 digital piano

Posted on October 8, 2022 by pj

While we’re distracted with “CK”, “AN”, and whatnot, Yamaha sneaks out a new P-series digital piano in Europe: the Yamaha P-S500.

Natch, you can read all about the P-S500 at Yamaha’s European web site. Physically, it’s a minimalist slab that’s designed primarily for the home or small studio market segments. Cost is about 2,100 Euro and I would expect it to retail for about $2000 USD in the States.

Basic features [courtesy of Yamaha] are:

Compatible with Smart Pianist app installed to a smart device
Stream Lights feature helps you perform even if you can’t read music notation
Enjoy playing along with the 403 preset Songs, covering a wide range of genres from pop music to classical music
Audio To Score function converts your favorite audio songs into piano accompaniment scores
Authentic Yamaha CFX & Bösendorfer Imperial concert grand piano Voices
Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM)
88-note weighted GHS keyboard
Huge variety of 660 high-quality instrument Voices, including Super Articulation Voices
Built-in Auto Accompaniment features with 370 Styles
Microphone input and automatic Vocal Harmony

Auto-accompaniment, styles, Super Articulation voices? We’ve seen these features in the DGX series, notably, the most recent DGX-670 model. The table below compares the P-S500 against the DGX-670. The DGX-670, by the way, goes for considerably less dough: $850 USD.

                DGX-670           P-S500 
                ----------------- --------------------------------- 
Main piano:     Yamaha CFX        CFX, Bösendorfer Imperial 
VRM:            Yes               Yes 
Key-off sound:  Yes               Yes 
Action:         GHS               GHS 
Piano Room:     Yes               Yes 
PB wheel:       Yes               No 
Dual/layer:     Yes               Yes 
Split:          Yes               Yes 
USB audio:      Play/record       Play/record 
Bluetooth:      Yes               Not built-in (optional)
Amplification:  2 x 6W            2 x (20W + 6W) 
Speakers:       2 x (12cm + 5cm)  2 x (12cm x 6cm oval+2.5cm dome)
Display:        480x272 color     80x16 mono LCD 
Weight          47.2 pounds       48.1 pounds

Here’s the decoder ring for Yamaha acronyms: Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM), Graded Hammer Standard (GHS), Super Articulation (SA), Cool (velocity switched), Live (stereo), Organ Flute (drawbar organ).

The P-S500 looks to be the upscale, uptown sibling of the DGX-670. At 48 pounds, I don’t think you’ll want to schlep the P-S500 out of the house very often. In terms of styles and voices, the P-S500 is superior:

                          DGX-670  P-S500 
                          -------  ------ 
Total voices              601      660     
    VRM voices            9        13     
    SA voices             49       111     
    Natural voices        11       25     
    Sweet voices          26       27     
    Cool voices           53       47     
    Live voices           68       58     
    Organ Flute voices    0        29 
Total styles              263      370     
    Pro styles            215      328     
    Session styles        19       25     
    Free Play styles      0        3     
    Pianist styles        29       13 
Drum Kits                 29       29

The P-S500 factory voice set includes many of my favorites. If you’re looking for a more than decent, mid-level keyboard with auto-accompaniment and a graded hammer keyboard, the P-S500 is worth a look. Versus a mid-level arranger keyboard, you’re still giving up a pitch bend wheel, multi-pads, style control buttons, MIDI record/edit, etc. If you just want to play and have a good piano experience, I’d go with the P-S500 in a heartbeat. (The DGX-670 is no slouch, either.)

There are many other differences that I’ve glossed over. So, if you’re trying to decide between DGX-670, an arranger or the P-S500, be sure to dig into the manuals and data list files. Yamaha doesn’t always make it easy to compare, especially as to your specific musical goals and use cases.

One enormous difference needs to be emphasized, however. The P-S500 front panel is utterly minimalist. If you want to exploit the P-S500 to its fullest, you must use the P-S500 with the Yamaha Smart Pianist app on a tablet (Apple or Android). In this respect, the P-S500 is more like the CSP series of digital pianos for the home. It’s like a CSP without the furniture. The CSP models have enhanced GH3X or NWX keybeds which improve the piano playing experience. Given that the Smart Pianist is almost a necessity, it’s kind of weird (cheap) to omit built-in Bluetooth.

Yamaha are certainly giving us choices!

A final, electronics nerd comment. While studying the internal design of current arranger, synth and digital piano products, the designs often seem like a deconstructed tablet connected to a keybed, tone generator and MIDI/USB interface. The digital electronics are remarkably similar. With the P-S500 and the CSP series, it’s like Yamaha said “Aw, the heck with it” and moved functionality out of the piano (arranger, synth) chassis into a stock, commercial tablet like iPad or Google Pixel tablet. I don’t think we have seen the end of this approach to instrument design…

Other reviews and comments about digital pianos:

Sand, software and sound

Electronics and computing for the fun of it

Category Archives: Genos