Weighted-action Keyboard Synth
Reviews : Keyboard
Yamaha have taken a weighted keyboard from
their latest digital pianos, added high-quality piano samples and Motif
sounds, and thrown in a playback sequencer and arpeggiator, and
master-keyboard facilities. Left to simmer, the S90 is the result...
Photos: Mark Ewing
 |
Just as one can count on Yamaha to continually
revise and develop their core range of synthesizers and keyboard
workstations, it's also no surprise to see the company repackaging their
existing technology in the guise of a serious master keyboard.
Such was the case with the S80 (reviewed in SOS
February 2000), which added a sober black casing, wood-effect end
cheeks and an 88-note, weighted piano-action keyboard to a synth engine
that was essentially a CS6X with additional piano and keyboard waveforms
and voices, plus master-keyboard functions. Jump forward to December
2002, and SOS reviewed the S08, which amounted to a cut-down S80.
And here we are in December 2003, looking at the
64-voice polyphonic S90, which offers similar master-keyboard facilities
to the S80, borrows sounds from the Motif range of synths, and adds a
brand-new, three-layer stereo piano sample set, plus a variety of
acoustic and electric keyboard samples. There is an 88-note instrument
in the Motif range — the Motif 8 — and the S90 offers that instrument's
Balanced Hammer Effect keyboard (itself based on the action supplied
with Yamaha's dedicated digital pianos), but loses the Motif's
sequencing and sampling functions. It does, however, retain the Motif's
arpeggiator — more of a phrase generator than anything — and grows a
number of new Voices and Performances based on the new waveforms.
Physically, the S90 is large, though not much larger
than such a substantial keyboard action would warrant, and rather
heavy, at 23kg. It's supplied with plenty of buttons and sliders, which
enable the synth's operating system to be comprehensively accessed in
conjunction with the large (240 x 64-dot) LCD. Rear-panel connectivity
is a high point: the main stereo audio out is joined by a pair of
assignable outputs and the headphone socket (why do few manufacturers
apart from Korg appear to put headphone sockets on the front of their
instruments?), four footswitch sockets and breath controller input, an
audio input, MIDI In/Out/Thru connections, and a USB port, for linking
to a Mac or PC. A blanking panel can also be removed to allow an mLAN
high-speed audio and MIDI interface card to be installed. While
currently a little expensive, this option is now more of a going concern
since more third parties, and Yamaha themselves, are finally supporting
the protocol with compatible products.
Synth & Synthesis
The S90's synth sound engine is based on Yamaha's
S&S (sample and synthesis) standard, AWM2. Although basic waveforms
are always being modified or improved and effects complements tinkered
with, Yamaha's synth voice-generation system has tended to remain
similar of late. That means that the basic architecture of the S90 is
essentially that of the original Motif family (not the new
Motif ES range, which is due any day now). The waveform collection on
the S90 is identical (bar some extra acoustic and electric keyboard
waves, of which more in a moment), and the factory voices are also
similar, although again with new Voices and Performances taking
advantage of the uprated data.
The S90 is structured in the usual hierarchical
fashion. Synthesis starts with an Element, which contains all the basics
for electronic sound production: an oscillator with one of 1347 sampled
waveforms at its heart, tuning and pitch-envelope parameters, a
resonant filter (available in no fewer than 21 types) with filter
envelope, level and pan controls, and an amplitude EG and LFO that can
be routed to the pitch envelope, filter envelope and amplitude envelope.
Up to four Elements make up an S90 Voice, and those Elements can be
given their own key and velocity ranges, making for a mini
'Performance'. However, if you use more than one Element in a Voice, the
total polyphony drops accordingly.
S90 editing is via the standard combination of
function and soft keys used in conjunction with the LCD, data wheel and
Inc/Dec buttons (centre). Sounds are selected using the buttons on the
right, while real-time control is afforded over them via the assignable
sliders on the left.
|
In addition to standard Voices, there are Drum
Voices, which are broadly similar in synthesis features, though a
different waveform/synthesis pairing can be set for every key of the
S90's 88-note range. In practice, the synthesis features are a little
simpler, but filtering, pitch, tuning, the LFO and so on are all
available.
Next, we have the Performance, whereby up to four
Voices are layered, with or without velocity switching, and/or split
across the keyboard. Performance creation is related somewhat to the
S90's master-keyboard functions, which I'll address in a moment. Offsets
can also be applied to significant synth parameters for Voices within a
Performance (envelopes and filter response, for example), so you don't
have to keep creating new Voices every time you'd like a Performance
part to be just a little different.
This standard structure becomes a little more
complicated if you install one or more of Yamaha's optional PLG synth
boards — the S90 can accommodate three — but only in that you'll have to
become used to a given board's synth-editing system, and that an S90
Performance can include one Voice from each of up to three boards in addition to the four Voices sourced onboard (there's more on the PLG boards in the box above).
The S90 is generously provisioned with factory
settings; 384 Preset Voices and 48 Drum Kits, 128 General MIDI Voices
and one GM drum kit, and for the user, 128 Voice and 16 Drum Kit
memories (the latter are filled with factory settings when you take
delivery of the S90, but can be overwritten at any time). Factory preset
Voices are sensibly assigned to different categories on the S90 (for
example 'Acoustic Piano', 'Keyboard', 'Synth Lead', 'Drum/Percussion'
and so on), and this is a habit you should consider forming as you
program your own Voices. The S90 has a sophisticated search facility
that lumps similar Voices together, and clearly labelled buttons allow
you to access and audition related Voices via the display.
Finally, there are 128 factory Performance memories,
but these too can be overwritten by the user. More memories, preset and
user, become available if you install PLG boards.
Sounds & Effects
The sound set of the S90 is essentially that of an
original Motif, although over 30MB of extra wave ROM is given over to
new acoustic and electric piano waveforms. Consequently, the factory
sound set is slightly different to allow for the many piano and keyboard
sounds.
Yamaha have made a big deal out of the new stereo
piano samples supplied with the S90. On first examination, the deal is
worth making: the pianos have presence and a lively feel, and play well
from the keyboard. The samples are also free from annoying artefacts
such as buzzy loops. On closer examination, however, the situation is
less clear-cut. There don't appear to be enough multisamples for a
start, and so an artificial edge appears where some samples have been
keygrouped a bit further than they should. I occasionally found some of
the solo preset piano Voices to be a bit plummy, but tweaking edit
settings did help here; in any case, not all suffer from this problem.
The three-layer split of the first piano in the set —
'A01 3LayerS700' — is also a little disappointing: there is too much
timbral contrast between layers, especially the low- and mid-velocity
layers. This contrast makes it very difficult to play a convincing
crescendo or decrescendo, as the timbral change at the crossover point
spoils the effect. So I wouldn't stick my neck out with the S90 on a
solo classical gig. But in a pop (or even ensemble jazz) context, the
piano is genuine and convincing, sitting nicely in a mix, and adding
quite a sophisticated sheen, particularly to pop arrangements.
I have fewer reservations about the electric piano
sounds: Yamaha usually get these right, and the S90 is no exception.
Across the board, they're wonderful to play, especially with this
excellent keyboard. I liked the Motif's sound set, so it's no surprise
that I found the remaining S90 sounds to be well up to Yamaha's high
standard. The drums, basses, pads, and synth recreations are all worthy
of praise. What's more, if you crank up the volume, you'll notice the
S90's really chunky bottom end, which bodes well for dance and
electronica work — although that might seem strange considering the
sober exterior of this particular instrument.
And how do effects fit into this equation? Again,
these are largely the same as those on the original Motif. First of all,
there are the Reverb and Chorus send effects, available in all modes.
Reverb offers 12 types, including all manner of rooms and halls, plus
'Basement', 'Plate' and 'Canyon' amongst others. Chorus offers 25
effects, with the usual suspects (chorus, flange, and phasing) joined by
a number of straight (and not so straight) delay effects. In
Performance and sequencer-playback mode (of which more in a moment), a
third send effect, Variation, is added; the options here number 25,
ranging from more chorus, flanging and phasing effects to distortion,
auto-pan, amp simulation, compression, EQs and enhancers.
In addition, there are two insert effects that can
be freely assigned in parallel or serially to one or more Elements
within a Voice. One insert duplicates the 25 effects offered by the
Variation effect, whilst the other offers 104 effects that really do
cover all the bases, including off-the-wall treatments such as 'Digital
Turntable', 'Attack Lo-Fi', 'Low Resolution', 'Digital Scratch', and
'Talking Modulator'. Lastly, there's a five-band Master EQ section
across the S90's main output.
Multitimbrality & Sequencing
The S90 lacks a fully featured sequencer, and thus
lacks what might be dubbed a 'Song' mode on a workstation synth. It
does, as previously noted, offer a playback sequencer, and it's in this
mode that you find the instrument's multitimbral setup. And it's here
that you also play the S90 multitimbrally from an external sequencer.
 
Round the back of the S90, as befits a performance
keyboard, there are two pairs of sockets for attaching footswitches and
pedals, plus a breath-controller input. As well as the headphones socket
and dual pair of analogue outputs, there's also an audio input and
associated gain control. The right side of the rear panel is where you
interface with your computer, either via a Smart Media card, or the USB
connection. MIDI interfacing is possible with the usual five-pin trio of
MIDI sockets, but also via the blanking panel on the left where the
optional mLAN card (which can also carry digital audio) may be fitted.
Just visible on the left of the main picture is another panel where the
optional PLG boards may be installed (see inset, left).
|
A button labelled 'Seq Play' takes you into the
sequencer-playback mode, which is where you can load and play MIDI files
from Smart Media cards located in the S90's rear-panel card slot.
Function key 6 in this window is labelled 'Mix' and accesses a pretty
fully featured set of mixer pages. On the basic S90 (ie. one not yet
expanded with PLG cards), this equates to 16 channels of level and pan
controls on one window. You can navigate to the channels via the S90's
standard Edit arrows, or via the lower two rows of buttons labelled 1-16
to the right of the front panel (these buttons double as solo/mute
functions). Other sub-windows of the Mix page allow you to tweak the
sends to the reverb, chorus and variation effects, set up the audio
input, and select Voices for each part to play. The S90's Category
search facility can also be used here.
Initially, it appears that there are no memories for
Seq Play Mix setups, but closer examination reveals a Template window.
Here, not only can you select from a handful of factory mix templates
aimed at various musical styles, but you can save your own Templates
(which consist of Voice assignments, levels, effects settings and so on)
for recall at a later time. There are 50 locations, and all can be
named and overwritten by the user. Usefully, it's also possible to
quickly send all the settings of a Template as a bulk dump to an
external sequencer, so that they can be recorded at the beginning of a
MIDI file for instant reconfiguration of the S90 whenever that Song is
selected.
When using the playback-sequencer function, it's
possible to create chains of MIDI Files from an inserted Smart Media
card, and transmit individual sequence tracks to external MIDI devices
via the S90's MIDI Out. MIDI Files are beamed to a Smart Media card
installed in the S90 via a piece of bundled software (File Utility,
which works on both Macs and PCs). In addition, your custom Voices and
Performances can be saved to Smart Media card without you having to
bother with the computer.
If I have one niggle with the S90's multitimbral
setup, it's that busy sequences heavy in controller data can cause the
sequencer to 'choke' and slow down. Pressing some front-panel buttons
during playback — such as you might to search for new Voices in the Mix
Template — can also cause small hiccups during a busy performance. More
normal sequences, with a bit of restraint on the controller front, work
flawlessly.
|
Free Software
Yamaha are nothing if not generous with the freebies they supply with
their instruments these days, and the S90 is no exception. Central to
the suite of software bundled with this instrument is the Voice Editor for S90
application (shown right), for both Mac and Windows, which provides
detailed and graphical access to all Voice parameters, plus easy
computer-based offlining of banks of your custom Voices. The only thing
you can really moan about is that you can only load up the Voices from
the User bank, and that it's not possible to edit Performances. File Utility
is also cross-platform, allowing files to be sent to and extracted from
a Smart Media card slotted in the S90. USB drivers for both platforms
are also supplied, as are setup files that allow various mix parameters
and transports of some popular MIDI sequencers, such as Cubase, Logic and Sonar, to be controlled from the S90.
There is more for PC users, though: they gain SQ01, a full sequencing software package, and the matching Auto Arranger utility that works in tandem with SQ01. Note that there is nothing specifically for Mac OS X yet, though a Mac OS X driver is available at www.yamahasynth.com.
Finally, an additional CD provides demo songs of, and editors for, Yamaha's family of PLG boards.
|
The S90 As Controller
Quite independently of its synthesis facilities and
effects, a lot of people will be looking at an instrument like the S90
just for the quality of its keyboard and the potential offered by its
control set and master-keyboard functions.
First of all, I'll just say that I found playing the
keyboard a pleasure. It's perhaps a little lighter than the real thing,
but allows you to access the maximum expressiveness from the new piano
sample set. It's not quite the same as a real piano feel, but it's
close, and provides a good halfway-house for someone who spends most of
their time working with lightweight, plasticky synth keyboards.
Personally, I do find there's an adjustment period, but my fingers don't
get as tired on the S90 keyboard as they do on a real piano, and they
become used to the action much more quickly.
The keyboard is great for playing all manner of
piano Voices, but it can be a slightly disconcerting experience to play
more straight-ahead synth Voices and trigger drum sounds from such a
substantial keyboard — as it is with any weighted keyboard of this type.
As a source of real-time control, the S90 scores
well, starting with velocity and aftertouch sensitivity, pitch-bend and
mod wheels (which are located in a slightly odd but still accessible
area of the front panel), a pair each of footswitch and footpedal
sockets, breath-controller input, and four control sliders. The latter
can address up to 20 parameters between them, courtesy of a handy
'Control Function' button.
Beyond this, the S90 functions as a four-zone master
keyboard, capable of addressing onboard Voices or sounds from external
instruments, depending on what you wish to achieve. Up to four zones can
be layered, velocity-crossfaded and/or split across the keyboard, on
different MIDI channels when routed outside the synth.
There are 128 memories in which to save
master-keyboard setups, though a Master Mode memory could be something
as simple as just one Voice assigned to the whole keyboard. Used in this
way, you can create your own little sub-set of the onboard Voice
library for even easier access than when using the Category search
option.
One small point: a lot of synths and keyboards that I
play 'auto-sense' the polarity of the footswitch being used for
sustain-pedal functions, or have a 'utility' menu item that lets you
choose one or the other. Not the S90. The footswitch I had handiest
needed a quick solder job to function with the synth! And while I'm at
it, the manual also has to be the subject of some criticism. It appears
to be trying very hard to be clear and well-organised, but it fails. In a
manual of over 130 pages, 32 pages are given over to a Basic Section, and another 60 or so are gathered together as a Quick Guide!
The index isn't all it could be, and all I can say in its favour is
that the Reference/Function List section centralises all important facts
and features, though this still isn't perfect.
Conclusion
Overall, the S90 is a great instrument — fabulous to
play, producing a great sound that could stand its own in almost any
musical setting from club muso on stage to dance jockey in search of
something a bit more ambitious. It'll also impress clients in any studio
setting. I would have preferred to be more bowled over by the new piano
samples, but you can't have everything. And in any case, they may suit you
down to the ground — they certainly work in many contexts, just not a
solo classical recital! The effects complement seems a little stingy
compared with what's usual these days, but the quality is very good.
Apart from small niggles like the manual, it's hard
to be negative about the S90. Overall, the synth offers good value for
money, and is expandable (with PLG cards and the mLAN board). The Smart
Media slot also makes it a doddle to move data around and access MIDI
Files. My feeling is that it would sit well at the centre of a stage or
studio rig, and offers a level of playability that's unreachable with a
plastic synth keyboard.
No comments:
Post a Comment