Yamaha PSS-16
(beginners FM keyboard with accompaniment & demos)
This FM keyboard is nothing really great and behaves unpleasantly stubborn
and unflexible, but it has many demo musics. Its special features are the
"ad- lib" (simply a pre- programmed monophonic melody fill-in track) and
"harmony" (trio) function, those Yamaha gladly named "computer aided
music".
Although it has in total 100 preset sounds, many of these are simply variations
of other with additional chorus, layer ("dual voice") or key split sound
combinations. All preset sounds are simple 2 operator FM imitations of
natural instruments those sound a little harsh and contain nothing avantgardistic
or tekkno- like. The 22 preset rhythms have an optional single finger accompaniment
(only a few standard chords) and consist of only 4 thin sounding low- res
percussion samples. There are also 4 rubber drumpads for them. This instrument
was previously released in 1990 as Yamaha PSS-190 (with blue drumpads
and boring black control panel).
main features:
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37 midsize keys
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2 built-in speakers (harsh and rather bassless, stereo)
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main voice polyphony up to 8 notes (only 4 with accompaniment, "ensemble
voice" & "dual voice" presets half polyphony)
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100 preset sounds:
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only 40 normal sounds ("single voice")
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10 chorus sounds ("ensemble voice")
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30 layered sounds ("dual voice")
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20 key split combinations ("split voice")
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22 preset rhythms {pop rock, boogie woogie, rhumba, 8 beat, 16 beat, rock
'n' roll, hard rock, rock-a-ballad, disco, bossa nova, swing, funk, techno
rock, shuffle, samba, jazz waltz, reggae, country, tango, waltz, march
1, march 2} (selected through white keys)
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preset sounds selected by 10 cipher + "enter" buttons
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single finger accompaniment (no manual chord mode)
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volume +/- buttons (11 steps)
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tempo +/- buttons (14 steps?)
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"ad-lib" & "harmony" button
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4 drumpads {cymbal, hihat, snare, base}
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2 operator FM sound generator for main voice, percussion made from 4 low-
res samples
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15 demo melodies (polyphonic)
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"melody off " function (mutes melody voice of demos to train playing)
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jacks for AC- adapter & headphones/ line out
notes:
The user interface of this instrument has various similarities with the
Yamaha
PSS-31. Very annoying is that Yamaha divided the preset
sounds into groups with or without chorus, layer ("dual voice"), key split
etc. with only quite few sounds per group. Why didn't they instead add
separate OBS effect buttons (or at least effect function numbers or similar)
to let the user decide to add such effects to any preset you want?! (The
great Yamaha PSS-390 had a separate
"dual voice" and "sustain" button like it should be.) The cipher buttons
and "enter" play a hihat noise, which disturbs live play. The "enter" button
is basically useless because all preset sound numbers consist of exactly
2 digits; by my knowledge no other Yamaha beginners keyboard has
this button. (I haven't examined the hardware yet.)
The main voice sounds of this instrument are plain ordinary 2- operator
FM. Unfortunately the sound set is strictly focussed on natural instruments
(fairly realistic imitated) and include no typical synth or tekkno sounds.
No even the "mandolin" rings. The "ensemble" and "dual voice" sounds layer
2 subvoices to create more complex timbres. The "harmony" button turns
the main voice into a monophonic trio. During accompaniment it plays in
the corresponding key.
(The full sound list can be found in the manual of this instrument,
downloadable on the Yamaha Manual
Library site.)
The "ad-lib" button plays for the duration of a bar (or so long the
button is held) a monophonic jazzy improvisation part in the style of the
selected rhythm. It can be played to it, and with accompaniment it plays
in the same key. This concept exists in a more versatile and sophisticated
form also in Kawai keyboards like the Kawai
MS20 or MS720.
The rhythms consist of only 4 thin sounding low- res samples, and selecting
a new rhythm (white keys + select button) waits until pattern end before
the change takes effect. The single finger accompaniments sound good and
employ many different sounds, but they behave static and unlike e.g. the
great Yamaha PSS-390 there are
neither fill- ins nor intro/ ending features. The disco patterns are nice,
and their rough and slightly harsh sound style has some similarities with
Casio
MA-130, despite the PSS-16 has FM timbres while MA-130 is completely
sample- based. Unfortunately there are no separate rhythm or accompaniment
volume controls, and there is no manual chord mode without rhythm, which
is particularly annoying because only during accompaniment the key of the
"ad-lib" and trio sounds can be changed.
The PSS-16 has a song bank of 15 polyphonic demo melodies. They are
not bad, although these ones are way simpler orchestrated than on Yamaha
PSS-6 and PSS-31 and sound
rather establishment.
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Joy to the World
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Brother John
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The Old Folks at Home
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House of Rising Sun
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A Little Brown Jug
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Silent Night
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Jingle Bells
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Ave Maria
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Die Lorelei
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Camptown Races
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When the Saints Go Marching In
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Brahms' Lullaby
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Yesterday (Beatles song)
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Hey Jude (Beatles song)
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Venus
When the demo button is pressed while the demo is playing, the main voice
is muted and thus the player can improvise to the demos. Every song repeats
in a loop when not stopped. Interesting is that many of these songs were
previously also released on Casio ROM- Pack cartridges, thus Yamaha
apparently copied the selection from them, although the Casio arrangements
sound nicer and more complex.
A shorter mono variant of the PSS-190/ PSS-16 was released
as Yamaha PSS-50 and PSS-9. These had only 32 keys and thus
lack the first 3 rhythms and 2 demos (since they are selected by the missing
5 leftmost keys) and also miss the drumpads. (Likely these all can be re-
added as keyboard matrix eastereggs). Unlike the light blue control panel
of the PSS-16, the PSS-9 panel is brown.
| removal
of these screws voids warranty... |
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