Yamaha semi-weighted waterfall keyboard

CyberGene

As I posted in another thread I got a Yamaha YC61 yesterday. It's a keyboard that is targeted as a tone wheel organ emulation (Hammond, Vox, Farfissa, etc.) but also having pretty nice acoustic and electric piano samples, actually the same as those found on Yamaha CP88. They offer three variants of that keyboard, each with three different keyboard actions:

Semi-weighted waterfall keyboard in the YC61, most suitable for organ players
BHS in the YC73 most suitable for electric piano players, attempting to be good for both organ and acoustic piano, non-graded, lighter feeling
NW-GH3 in the YC88 targeted at acoustic piano players, with three-sensors, graded action, etc.

Now, it's clear what the two hammer-actions are for. However since all three YC-keyboards actually share exactly the same features and sound engine and have the ambitious goal of providing simultaneously a good organ, piano and Rhodes experience in one board, to me it seems Yamaha attempted to make even that semi-weighted waterfall keyboard as good as possible, given the constraints, for Rhodes pianos and acoustic pianos. It would have been a waste of sample-memory and a dubious product decision to provide a 61-keys version of a keyboard with the great piano and Rhodes samples as the ones in the CP88 if those were not playable through that organ-centric keyboard.

And I am pleasantly surprised to say they achieved the impossible! When I read that a keyboard is non-hammer and is "semi-weighted" my initial reaction is meh and I pass. I don't know what Yamaha exactly did there but they managed to make these keys feel pretty good for pianos! There is clearly something like an initial resistance of the keys, almost similar to that (in)famous initial resistance in their high-end hammer keyboards. Don't get me wrong, those are not hammer-action keys and nothing can replace a hammer-action but the keys still feel much better than any other non-hammer action keyboard I've tested. It's as good as it gets, taken in mind no hammers are used and the keyboard was made for organ players.

I believe this keyboard should be analyzed mechanically and reproduced by other companies 🙂 It's not a piano replacement but it's a good enough compromise for gigging musicians since not everybody is OK bringing 20+ kg hammer-action pianos with them. I would personally be more than OK with playing a 88-key version of this keyboard provided it's less than 10kg. While it can be argued that some keyboard actions are already slightly more than 10kg, so they are close in weight, one of them being the Fatar TP-100LR, that Fatar action is absolutely horrible in how heavy and sluggish it is in feel. I felt it was too heavy even for pianos, let alone synths and other sounds that are needed in some types of live music and band situations. A semi-weighted action like the Yamaha one will be IMO much more universal and non-tiring to play the entire spectrum of keyboard instruments.

David B

Congrats. I'm sure you mentioned it before, but what is this new keyboard going to be used for? Also, can we get a sample of it being used by you? 🙂

God Bless,
David

CyberGene

David B well, I usually say it's for "playing in a band" 🙂 It's very complicated since I last played in a real band in front of some audience (in bars) maybe 10 years ago 😀 After that I have mostly practiced/jammed with various friends of mine with the idea of forming a band but we mostly just enjoyed doing so without this moving forward into any real gig in front of other people. That all ended when I became a father but I'm gradually regaining some spare time 😉 So, in 2019 I started playing again with some of the guys from the old gang, we hired a cheap studio and rehearsed there, mostly improvising, also generating ideas, of course with the idea of seriously forming a band. In that time I bought a Yamaha MODX6 and also started my interest in synths and then bought a ASM Hydrasynth, a Behringer Model D, various soft synths (Arturia, U-He, etc.), I also purchased Logic Pro X, etc. But then came Covid and was on halt.

In the meantime I came to realize while I love how great the sounds of MODX are, I also hate how absolutely inhumane its architecture and sound design are, almost impenetrable for me, even though I'm a software developer and pretty good at sound design (I think so). I've embarrassed myself too much in front of the other guys trying to do simple stuff like even simple splits on the MODX and ultimately decided to change it to something Nord-like some day, so that I have direct access in live situation.

The guys are not very enthusiastic post-Covid though, only one of them but I'm not really sure we are on the same page... Last we played something like jazz chill-out music, light funk, etc. It's both fun and a bit boring, to be honest, we just stick to 4 chords and loop through them for ages...

My two best friends are from the university where we studied Physics. One of them is a guitarist and a bassist in a church who regularly plays and posts some interesting solo ideas in one of our chats. The other one sings very well although he never performed anywhere 🙂 And recently over some beers we said: why the heck we never tried to play together?! And so, a new band idea is born, however it would be oriented more towards rock, psychedelic rock, progressive, electronica, experimental, improvisational... We haven't yet started but we will have a better idea once we find a good spot to play, experiment and improvise (and, well... have beers 🤣), probably a garage. And so, I thought that maybe for more rock-oriented type of music I may have to find a keyboard that has piano, Rhodes and Hammond in one, is light and portable. I will add to it my Hydrasynth probably. We will see.

As to demoing the YC61, I guess I may do something like that soon 🙂

David B

CyberGene We haven't yet started but we will have a better idea once we find a good spot to play, experiment and improvise (and, well... have beers 🤣), probably a garage. And so, I thought that maybe for more rock-oriented type of music I may have to find a keyboard that has piano, Rhodes and Hammond in one, is light and portable. I will add to it my Hydrasynth probably. We will see.

Your piano buying sounds a lot like my gun buying back in the day. My wife would ask, "why do you need another rifle/handgun?" I would respond by saying that I need to be prepared for this or that. 😀

Thankfully, my "situations" never came to fruition and I was able to sell a lot of my guns in order to by an N1X. Hopefully, your situation will be realized and you can put your instruments to good use having fun with your friends being creative. Just go easy on the beers, you know…brain cells and all that. 😉

God Bless,
David

CyberGene

David B Your piano buying sounds a lot like my gun buying back in the day. My wife would ask, "why do you need another rifle/handgun?" I would respond by saying that I need to be prepared for this or that

Yes, the same, I've had so many purchases around that idea 😀 It's good I abandoned photography, it was one of those hobbies that are also like bottomless holes for money...

David B Just go easy on the beers, you know…brain cells and all that.

I'm known in my friend circle as a bad drinker which in Eastern Europe means I drink too little 🤣 I don't drink beer either, I'm mostly a wine drinker but I don't have more than 2 glasses of white wine usually. They say it's even healthy and good for the heart.

HZPiano

David B sell a lot of my guns

The other day I heard: "Beware of the man who owns only one gun. He may well know how to use it".

Cheers and take care,

HZPiano

David B Well well. Should I ever be so lucky as to fulfill my dear wish of visiting Yosemite, I'll make sure to enter through the Tuolumne Meadows and avoid the Mariposa region.

😉

PS CyberGene Sorry for this silly sidetrack 😲

David B

HZPiano The other day I heard: "Beware of the man who owns only one gun. He may well know how to use it".

There is a lot of truth in that. But I'm a redundant freak. I like to have double in case one breaks. Also, there are different tools for different jobs. I can't shoot a sub-half inch group @ 100 meters with my Beretta 9mm handgun, but I can with my .308 scoped bolt acton rifle. 😀

This was shot with my own handloads. 5 shot group 100 meters.

God Bless,
David

CyberGene

HZPiano whoever knows me, knows I love sidetrack and I occasionally dive into it (and was suspended on PW for discussing socialist era cars in a Nord Grand thread…). All is good!

HZPiano

CyberGene Nord Grand Theft Socialist Era Auto?

Nord Grand Turino?

😋

CyberGene

HZPiano 🤣

Henri

I am a professional musician (not a pianist) and my son is taking piano lessons. I decided it was time to upgrade the very basic keyboard I had been using this for Finale entry, ear training, and to plunk out ideas for years and get something with weighted keys for my son to practice on. After a lot of research, I chose the YDP143R. It appears on many "best digital pianos under $1000" and "best beginner digital piano" lists.

CyberGene

Henri thanks for the recommendation. The YDP144 has a standard hammer action though, the ubiquitous Yamaha GHS action. And this discussion is about a non-hammer action by Yamaha that is still acceptable for piano playing. That’s the Semi-weighted waterfall action used in the Yamaha YC61. It’s an action that is most suitable for Hammond organ playing and is made to emulate the authentic Hammond organ action, however I found out that it had mechanical feel that, despite not using hammers (hence having very low inertia), isn’t unpleasant for piano playing and exhibits better than average dynamic response for piano playing, something that is often a big struggle in non-hammer (spring loaded) actions. On other spring loaded actions I’ve often found myself producing unexpectedly loud, or quiet (sometimes silent) strikes, however on the YC61 the dynamics are those I expect. I believe part of the reason for that might be better sensor switch placement.

As I posted, I sold the YC61 (and I miss it) but 5 octaves was insufficient for both piano and Rhodes. If there was a Yamaha YC73 with that semi-weighted waterfall action (there is a YC73 with BHS hammer-action), I would purchase it without a blink.