Yamaha Shows 100 new products at NAMM 2016
January 2016 – Yamaha Corporation of America had a completely redesigned and reimagined their booth at NAMM 2016 in the ballroom area of the Anaheim Marriott next to the main NAMM convention area. The company introduced about 100 new products in the concert, studio, professional, band, percussion, piano, guitar, strings, and electronic instruments categories, as well as a re-layout of their expo space.
Before entering the booth, the visitors were presented with the sounds of the Bösendorfer Oscar Peterson Signature Edition Piano which was created in collaboration with the “Estate of Oscar Peterson” which preserves Peterson’s legacy. It is a limited edition of 12 units and is available in size 200 to 290. Each instrument will have a limited edition plate bearing Peterson’s lion logo and signature and include the book “Oscar, With Love” with never before released compositions, all recorded in his home studio on his treasured Bösendorfer Imperial Piano.
Bösendorfer Oscar Peterson Signature Edition Piano
The special edition piano also has a “Sit beside Oscar Peterson” mode. The Oscar Peterson Signature Edition with built-in Yamaha Disklavier E3 technology is only available in the US and Canada and provide this unique experience. In the early 1980s, a Bösendorfer Artist sat down on a piano bench and pressed a “record” button. He then poured the full power, joy and expression of his musical prowess into the performance of 13 tunes. These digital recordings, which captured extremely accurate key and pedal data of Peterson’s performances, have been meticulously rescued and converted to a modern-day format. With activation of the Disklavier technology, the instrument’s keys and pedals come alive, moving up and down to recreate Peterson’s original performances, just as he played them 40 years ago.
On the Band and Orchestral side, we took a look at the new line of Yamaha Electric Violins (YEV). The new YEVs are nearly identical in weight to an acoustic violin and anticipated to appeal to acoustic players. In addition, the YEVs have been designed so established violin players can use his or her existing shoulder rest and favorite bow with the YEV Series. The solid center body is crafted from maple, mahogany, and spruce, while the instrument frame is constructed of a rich, resonant walnut. The maple neck is capped with a solid ebony fingerboard and ebony tuning pegs. Both models are available with a natural wood body, or in a modern transparent black finish.
Yamaha Electric Violin NAMM 2016
On the electronics side, the YEV series use the same integrated bridge and pickup design found on the higher-end Yamaha Silent Violin Pro series. This unique system faithfully captures the sound of the entire instrument — the strings and the body, plus the player’s bowing and articulation – while minimizing feedback. Controls are simple, with just a single volume and volume bypass knob.
Following along with Roland and Beyerdynamic to update their industry standard devices created in the 1980’s, Yamaha finally has a worthy successor to the classic DX7 in the Motif series synthesizer. The new Montage is available in 61, 76 and 88 key versions. The core of the unit is a new Motion Control Synthesizer Engine, which is an intuitive way to interact with sound. The Motion Control Synthesizer Engine controls two Sound Engines: Advanced Wave Memory 2 (AWM2) and FM-X.
Yamaha MONTAGE7 Synthesizer
The AWM2 engine is significantly more powerful than the previous Motif XF engine with nearly ten times more wave memory, has integrated flash, double the effects and twice the polyphony while maintaining compatibility with previous generations of Motif Libraries. For the first time this powerful Motif engine is joined with the FM-X engine. This is an advanced pure FM (Frequency Modulation) synthesizer engine capable of producing classic ‘80s or cutting-edge EDM sound with incredible dynamic range, power and fidelity.
Yamaha Demo of the Montage at NAMM 2016
To control these dual engines, Montage also features a brand new user interface with color touch screen, endless rotary encoders and the Super Knob. The Super Knob is a user definable macro control device that allows users to control multiple parameters simultaneously. The combination of the FM with AWM2 engine allows for integration of true instrument models – including double reeds (bassoon, oboe, English horn) to have realistic sound and be generated live in the context of the Motif sounds. The Montage will be available in early 2016.
