Yamaha New Synth with Alien Technology

lunaluna · Post by **lunaluna** » Sun Dec 13, 2015 6:30 pm

Is there a new Yamaha Synth coming in Winter NAMM 2016 ?

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2015/06/n ... interview/

Post by **Sharp** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:40 am

Powered by Alien Technology?
To operate this we shall expect a Neural connection that connects directly to our thoughts, and to be powered by Quantum Processors.

Meanwhile in the real world, sadly I actually don't care. Yamaha haven't done anything new in forever, so I'll expect only a desperate attempt at marketing hype and a new workstation that will merely be no more than an incremental improvement on the last.

Their own Tyros 5 Arranger series puts the Motif series to shame already.

Regards
Sharp.

chilly7 · Post by **chilly7** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:37 am

I totaly agree with Sharp.
But...... Never sey never.

afr · Post by **afr** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:31 pm

my personal feeling

Montage = Motif xf + new piano sample + FM section

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:31 pm

I live in hope, but it's probably a vain hope. I don't think Yamaha will ever be as innovative as they were in the past. Which is why I jumped ship to the Kronos.

But it would be nice to be surprised.

Steinberger · Post by **Steinberger** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 6:28 pm

The tech backend is 49 various sizes of cats, arranged by pitch, which are struck by a mallet assigned to a key on the keybed. Don't ask me how the filters, cat modulation, cat sync, cat tuning or polycat aftertouch works because you do not want to know.

I do not work for Yamaha.

chilly7 · Post by **chilly7** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:21 pm

afr wrote:my personal feeling

Montage = Motif xf + new piano sample + FM section

Ha-ha-ha.

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:09 pm

Beam me Up Scotty!

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 1:01 am

Sounds intriguing. Reface has been, despite the small keys, a huge breath of fresh air in an otherwise crowded synth market or reissues, most especially Reface CS. So Yamaha have got their thinking caps on in ways that no other synth company has right now (certainly among the "big three") - so if this comes true, perhaps we can hope to see Yamaha innovating in the synth domain as only they have been capable of through the '70's - late '90's. Fingers crossed.

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 6:00 am

afr wrote:my personal feeling

Montage = Motif xf + new piano sample + FM section

Partly right..
But it will be much much more...
If you look at what Yamaha did with other instruments since the release of the Motif XS/Xf...
If you have read the inside information on http://sandsoftwaresound.net/ ...
If you have seen what Steinberg did with Hallion 5...
If you know how Yamaha opperates...

then you will know what to expect....

- AWM technollogy will make a huge step (Halion modularrity) into combining sampling with all kinds of virtuall technollogies (VL, AN, CS, YC, FM, SCM, AEM, VRM, etc etc) that make it a true modular engine...

- Hardware will get an update, not to the level of Kronos, but it will make a huge step...

- The Montage will be fully audio capable, not just playing audio, but realtime manupilation of audio to...

- but also you can expect many things that Kontakt (NI) VST can do, like ensemble and orchestral to be inside...

- New drum engine...

- huge improvement of the number of voices and effects...

- Full integration with Cubase 8.5, even more then now, expect to see functionallity comparable to NI komplete and Akai VIP...

- touchscreen OS...

- it will be a full fnctioning Audio interface for any PC or laptop...

It took them long enough, but they will finally make an instrument on level with the Kronos, but much more userfriendly to opperate (this is where they make the biggest step)...

Will it feel alien?
Probably only to Motif users, that havent used anything else in the past decade or so...

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 7:45 am

Bachus wrote:
afr wrote:my personal feeling

Montage = Motif xf + new piano sample + FM section
Partly right..
But it will be much much more...
If you look at what Yamaha did with other instruments since the release of the Motif XS/Xf...
If you have read the inside information on http://sandsoftwaresound.net/ ...

- AWM technollogy will make a huge step (Halion modularrity) into combining sampling with all kinds of virtuall technollogies (VL, AN, CS, YC, FM, SCM, AEM, VRM, etc etc) that make it a true modular engine...

Well that will get back all the things they have ditched along the way!

My dream is to have Yamaha respond to the Kronos challenge and come up with a multi-engine synth workstation that contains all of their best. Then I can have the best of Yamaha and Korg in two keyboards.

I'll believe it when I see it though. Yamaha lost their mojo a long time ago, which is why I have instruments like EX5, AN1x, FS1r, SY99 and TG77 and not the latest Motif (I do have a Motif Rack ES as a "meat and potatoes" expander, but also with PLG150-AN and PLG150-VL cards fitted)! Coupled with having a Nord G2 Engine and a Kornos, then Yamaha are going to have to come up with something special to make me part with my cash!

gjvti · Post by **gjvti** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 7:51 am

Bachus wrote:
afr wrote:my personal feeling

Montage = Motif xf + new piano sample + FM section
Partly right..
But it will be much much more...
.....
It took them long enough, but they will finally make an instrument on level with the Kronos, but much more userfriendly to opperate (this is where they make the biggest step)...
...

hm... unlike korg yamaha used to have rack versions for motif, if we can expect rack/desktop of what you describe montage this gets interesting

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:20 am

Read the thread title. If Richard Divine is to be believed, whatever is coming is resolutely NOT what you're imagining. It does not take him several weeks to understand the architecture of a workstation with FM and new pianos.

And Derek - Yamaha's legacy is not built on reliable standards - it's build on a number of discrete steps, each one a risk, a unique advancement in synthesis that literally no other company engaged, even at the time:

CS80 - pinnacle of analogue performance
GS1/DX7 - FM
SY77 - RCM
VL1 - VA
EX5 - FDSP

coupled with other seminal advances such as the CP80, Breath Control, Aftertouch, Ribbon, 2 Modulation Wheels, WX5 and so on

Yamaha's DNA include two critical aspects of synthesis: Performance / Synthesizers as musical instruments; and synthesis innovation. that's it. That's Yamaha. Agreed they have not been there for over a decade - but - Reface is an intent statement towards performance; and by the sounds of it they are also engaging innovative synthesis.

Risky, but, Yamaha's DNA. If you want what you describe - buy a Kronos.

Yamaha are not Korg and never will be, and I can see from some of the posts here that some don't get that. That's fine, none of us 'gets' everything. But you cannot and should not expect anything seminal from Yamaha that does not engage their legacy - and it's starting to look (to me) that they do understand their own legacy.

I 'get' Reface - and I earnestly mean it when I say that, to me, Reface CS is the most innovative performance synthesizer of 2015. I don't expect everyone to agree, but I'm coming from a place of owning, and adoring, every Yamaha legend synth, and Reface CS fits right in. I don't believe this company is playing around at the periphery of synthesis at the moment - I think they mean business, in the medium term future.

We'll see how this pans out - but - the soundings are intriguing - and firmly in line with Yamaha's legacy and instinct. I've been among their biggest critics over the past ten years, but currently, I'm hopeful.

aron · Post by **aron** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:18 am

Some of my friends are at Yamaha but with very few exceptions, every Yamaha keyboard has had a major flaw. I love the company, but I don't believe that some new killer tech is coming around.

I doubt they will go back to VL - even though I have literally begged them to make a new breath controller and to revitalize the VL. The sad fact is that a ROMpler is more than enough for a large percentage of people and a while ago they realized that "good" sounds outweigh any type of power synthesis.

I would love to be proved wrong, but I don't believe it will happen. Yamaha was an amazing company at one time for leading edge concepts, but not now.

I dare anyone to make a keyboard that is as powerful as the Kronos for live use. This keyboard is a monster. I haven't played a better live performance keyboard - not with all of this power.

Kevin, like I said, I love Yamaha, but the SY77 was not very good sounding. That's why I immediately jumped to the SY99 which was a lot better sounding due to the effects. The VL1 remains a pinnacle of what could have been. The DX7 lives on, not with Yamaha but in my Kronos.

Yamaha cancelled the breath controller, they have no more ribbon controls, no more two mod wheels, no more WX7 - heck I don't even know if they make a wind controller at this point. - OK I guess they still have the WX5 but the WT-11 is long gone and the VL-70M is gone too.

I cry every time I have to rent a modern Motif because changing patches is so slow and you can't read the display in the sunlight. Then it takes twice as long to name and assign patches in Master Mode.

The saddest part is I am going to get a CASIO next because it is amazingly light and it sounds good.

I'm glad you like your CS - that's awesome! Maybe they will make something newer and bigger.... we will see.

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 12:48 pm

Kevin Nolan wrote:
Yamaha's DNA include two critical aspects of synthesis: Performance / Synthesizers as musical instruments; and synthesis innovation. that's it. That's Yamaha. Agreed they have not been there for over a decade - but - Reface is an intent statement towards performance; and by the sounds of it they are also engaging innovative synthesis.

Risky, but, Yamaha's DNA. If you want what you describe - buy a Kronos.

That's the point, Kevin. That was their DNA up until the turn of the century that gave us a whole bunch of innovative products which I have most of. Their DNA since then is rehashed AWM2, AWM2, and then some more AWM2, which has no appeal to me as their has been no advancment in AWM2 since the EX5. Bigger wave roms for sure, but the SY range showed what you could do with limited wave rom.

I do hope the pointers and hints (like that Richard Divine post) are right and that Yamaha have rediscovered their Mojo. But, I'll believe it when I see it on the basis that that will then give me the pleasant surprise rather than yet more disappointment.