Here’s our review of the all-new stage keyboard, the Yamaha YC61 keyboard.

The Yamaha YC61 is a synthesizer and music production tool. This Yamaha keyboard is a new organ-focused instrument combining the sought-after organ sounds of popular music with the sonic versatility and real-time control of today’s keyboardists demand.

SOUND

The power of the Yamaha YC61 Keyboard is in its ability to reproduce the warm, authentic sound of an organ in a compact stage piano. The keyboard has a built-in organ engine from the ground up. The proprietary Virtual Circuitry Modeling (VCM) recreates the circuits of vintage analog EQs, compressors and phasers right down to the transistors and resistors to capture the subtleties other digital simulations can’t.

This keyboard gives an authentic keyboard sounds for any genre of music whether playing grand piano, upright piano, electric piano or more.

FEATURES OF YAMAHA YC61 KEYBOARD

VCM ORGAN

Yamaha puts the favorite classic organ sounds in one powerful, compact stage keyboard. YC61 models three organ vintages – just out of the box, well-traveled and character-rich vintage. Need more? Go under the hood to adjust key click, leakage, rotary speaker speed and more to get the one-of-a-kind organ tone you’ve been searching for.

VCM ROTARY SPEAKER

YC61 brings the authentic sounds of classic rotary speakers with no maintenance required. Choose from two faithfully modeled rotary speaker profiles – clean and full or dirty and aggressive – and adjust top or bottom rotor speed for total control.

VCM EFFECTS

VCM re-creates the sound and behavior of vintage effects and high-end studio signal processors by modeling the circuits down to the original analog component level.

FM ORGAN

The YC61 keyboard brings FM synthesis to the organ for a new generation of players. Simply switch to FM Organ and your drawbars control 8 FM Operators that send a pure sound with massive low end. Intuitive controls make it easy to discover new sounds. Or recreate classic transistor organ tones from warm to reedy to buzzy by choosing one of three popular FM Organ modes.

TOUCH

With a totally redesigned waterfall keyboard and the perfect action, the YC61 keyboard feels the way an authentic organ was meant to feel. It’s no wonder more players reach for Yamaha keyboards than any other.

WATERFALL KEYBOARD

The all new Waterfall keyboard on the YC61 is the result of painstaking traditional organ keyboards research refined with feedback from top keyboard artists. The result is an authentic keyboard action designed to accommodate organ technique and expressive acoustic and electric pianos, synth leads, brass sections and more.

DESIGN

Alot of consideration were put into the design of the YC61 keyboard. It isn’t just designed to be played. It’s made to be bumped, jostled, scratched, crammed in a van, stuffed in an overhead bin and adored by players and fans, gig after gig.

DRAWBARS

Yamaha YC61 keyboard comes with nine Drawbars. The drawbars have the footages and ratcheting you expect in an organ. See-through drawbar stops with customizable LED light color make it easy to see differences between simulated upper and lower configurations and play in split mode. It’s like having a virtual set of drawbars to give you more sounds, more flexibility and more choices than you ever thought possible in a compact stage keyboard.

Pricing and Availability of Yamaha YC61 Keyboard

The Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of the Yamaha YC61 Stage Keyboard is $2,499. Shipment of this monster instrument to retailers will begin in June 2020.

YAMAHA YC61 KEYBOARD SPECS

Music Director

I am Music Estate’s Music Director