Keyboards

Looking for an all‑in‑one playing and sequencing solution? Look no further...

In terms of pure bang for your buck, it doesn’t get much better than Yamaha’s CK keyboards.

Back in November 2020 Don Lewis discussed his time programming the Yamaha DX7’s factory sounds. In the wake of Don’s passing, we decided to publish this excerpt and put on record his important contribution to this iconic synth.

Yamaha look to reclaim their stage keyboard crown with two world-class live instruments.

Yamaha's seriously capable MODX is a Montage for the masses.

As its name implies, the Montage combines multiple technologies within a single, powerful instrument. But does it have what it takes to be the market leader Yamaha want it to be?

Yamaha’s Reface range recreates four of their classic instruments in miniature form.

The CP4 is Yamaha’s best stage piano yet, and it’s also significantly cheaper than its predecessor.

Fruit continues to fall from Yamaha's Motif tree and the latest and cheapest example is the MX range...

Yamaha’s MOX range offers unusually tight integration with your DAW. Is this the way forward for synthesizer workstations?

Yamahas new flagship stage piano is unashamedly specialist and expensive. How does it rank alongside the best sampled and modelled alternatives, or indeed the original instruments it strives to emulate?

The new Motif XS range is top of the pile when it comes to Yamaha synth workstation technology, and thus will be going head-to-head with flagship contenders from other big-name manufacturers. Does the XS have what it takes?

Looking to create a more affordable keyboard version of their Motif range of workstations, Yamaha have pared back the spec of the Motif ES a little — though not much — to create the M06 and M08.

Two and a half years after the launch of Yamaha's impressive Motif workstation synth, the range has been further enhanced and upgraded. How much better can it get? We find out...

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...

Finding an affordable keyboard with a good weighted action and a healthy selection of sounds suitable for studio and live use isn't as easy as you might think. Could Yamaha's S08 be the Holy Grail?

In the second instalment of this two-part retro, Gordon Reid recalls FM's finest hour, and describes the heyday of what was perhaps the most successful family of synthesizers ever developed.

In these days of virtual instruments and fully featured software sequencers, why should you even consider spending £2000 on a cumbersome hardware synth workstation? If the workstation is as well thought-out as Yamaha's new Motif, perhaps you should.

Although FM synthesis has its roots in the sixties, the instruments that popularised it were to dominate the synth scene of the eighties. Gordon Reid uncovers the origins of FM and charts its rise to fame from its unlikely beginings in academic research in the USA.

Rumours of a new Yamaha synth were circulating at January's NAMM show, but nothing was confirmed until a few weeks later, when SOS were invited to Yamaha's London R&D Centre. Matt Bell meets the Motif...

Looking like a 23rd-century Minimoog pumped full of anabolic steroids, Yamaha's sequel to the hugely successful DJX offers more of the same sampling, sequencing and performance features. Paul Farrer doesn't want to rock, DJX — but it's making him feel so nice...