Lofi Tip - Hidden Monosynth Mode on Yamaha pss-480 pss-580 pss-680 pss-780

[1svega]

amazing!

[1svega]

Thank you so much! I appreciate your response. I'm having a lot of fun with

this and want to try and make something decent (for myself at least) Thanks

again! Do you know where I may find a manual?

[ChrisLody]

@1svega I do as it happens. Luckily Yamaha keep all their manuals online in an archive. Just search for 'Yamaha Manual Library' and type the model number into the search thing on the right. Brilliant really. Hope you have fun!

[1svega]

I have a pretty basic question - I just received this is in the mail today. I ordered it for fun, I have absolutely no experience with music and I'm just wondering if there's a way to erase songs from the Song Memory. I was just trying to see if everything worked an accidentally recorded some stuff. Also, what's the correct way to record? Do I press record and then the number? It seems like sometimes it works and other times it doesnt?

[ChrisLody]

@1svega I happen to have a copy of the manual so i had a look. The correct way to record is to hold the record button then press 1 or more you want to record to (you need to press more than 1 to record chords), then start to play. There doesn't seem to be a way of deleting, seems you're expected to record over anything you don't want. It will reset if left with no batteries for long enough though. I'm planning another video with this at some point showing some more advanced sequencer tricks. :D

[LeonDigz]

...or for realtime tweaking....most midi sequencers will record sysex automation.

[LeonDigz]

@ChrisLody That is pretty sweet, this synth is kinda a wolf in sheeps clothing! I picked mine up from goodwill last nite for $6, wasn't working but I opened it up today to find a broken trace on the dc plug. Yeah, in regards to the remote SL, it let's you create templates (patches) for what the controllers output, normally it's is midi cc or nrpn/rpn, but it can also be sysex. Great for synths with limited midi cc implementation, or to give yourself a hardware editor for synth patches.

[LeonDigz]

...strings or do you need to send the whole patch? Wondering if I can build an editing template on my novation remote sl

[ChrisLody]

@LeonDigz In midi mode 99 It's 16 channel multitimbral with 12 note polyphony! Only 5 of those channels can be your own sounds but hey, that's pretty good. I know that when editing the pss with pss edit it can send a single sound without having to send everything else. Editing it from an SL would be great. I had no idea that would be possible.

[LeonDigz]

Very nice...I think these simple 2-op yamaha fm synths sound great. I'm surprised this synth is multi-timbral as well, how many parts can it do? Can this thing be edited by single sysex

[GitaneMan]

hi i cant get pss edit to work on vista is it xp compatable only

[ChrisLody]

@GitaneMan By the sounds of it its xp only as that's all i've ever used it on and i have no vista to test it on.

[mickmelon]

does anyone know how to turn midi thru off on 480's? anything received via the in is immediately re-echo'd back out the out. Wish I could tell it not to. It doesn't do it in the other midi mode, but then you lose the portamento stuff.

[ChrisLody]

@mickmelon Unfortunately i don't think its possible to stop this which is a shame.

[rhoggard76]

oh i need to put this thing back together and get it into my studio for recording

[schnoot]

Great tip, thanks :)

What voice is this dirty bass? Or did you edit a preset?

[ChrisLody]

@schnoot It was a custom patch i made using Pss Edit which is just a basic waveform. If you'd like i can send you the patch data for it and some other voices. Send me a private message if you're interested.

[nogrules]

Awesome This is what I've been looking for. Sweet monophonic bass lines on my pss-480. Thank you.

[SadBunnyNL]

Nice! I've given away an old 480 to a niece of mine about a year months ago... Guess I'll have to break into her little room at night sometime soon wearing a ski mask and retrieve that thing. I miss it.

[ChrisLody]

@SadBunnyNL Heh heh, it'll be worth it!

[1787dude]

i modded a psr 6, it has a built in distortion now and sounds like sega

[mrslig100]

Thank you so much :D

[mrslig100]

I got my 580 for a £1 at a car boot sale.

[ChrisLody]

@mrslig100 Nice one!

[errorspending]

Which one is your favorite out of the series?

[ChrisLody]

@errorspending Hmmm, tough call. I had the 580 first and really enjoyed improving on it on the sofa because its nice and small. The 780 adds a pitch bend, an extra octave of keyboard and midi thru, but is quite a lot bigger and has an annoying high pitch whistle. If i could only keep one it'd be the 580.......i think? :D

[errorspending]

@ChrisLody I got the 480! it's awesome, though I wish you could edit it a little bit more! I'm surprised the vibrato/reverb/sustain aren't editable like the portamento is...

[ChrisLody]

@errorspending You can edit tons more on the 480 if you have the ability to link it to your computer via midi and use Pss-Edit. There is a link to it in the info pane of the video. The software also allows you to save your patches into the computer for safe keeping. Great stuff!

[interweboscar]

Do you know if 460s have portamento?

[ChrisLody]

@interweboscar I don't think it does. I've never owned a 460 but i had a very similar model once and it had no portamento. Also just checked out one on google images and didn't see a portamento button so i guess not.

[interweboscar]

@ChrisLody Ok, thanks very much for the quick response!

[mootbooxle]

That's hot!! I wish it would work on my 470! I always dreamed of it being monophonic...lofi FM is great!

[mathowlett]

Just waiting for a 780 to arrive.. going to try this straight away !! Thanks :-)

[Laicka1992]

Oh nice, thanks for the tip!

I have to try that on my 680 then :)

[DefectiveCactusBox]

I finally understand how "monophonic" part of monophonic synthesizers work, and holy crap, it's awesome! I always assumed it was only able to play one note at a time, and I had no idea how how that would work...

[rhoggard76]

farking AWESOME, had this on the shelf for 12 years now

[ChrisLody]

@rhoggard76 Maybe time to dust of that old Yamaha then? Thanks for all the comments by the way. Cheers.

[radionactive]

This trick should work on the PSS-590 and 690 as well, but will it also work with the PSS-51 and PSS-790 vector workstations?

[ChrisLody]

@radionactive Unfortunately i don't own any of those keyboards so i can't answer your question. I'll be on the look out for them though, pretty much any 80's yamaha like these is on the list! cheers.

[mickmelon]

hey. that is a brilliant tip! Thanks loads

[ChrisLody]

@mickmelon No worries, hope you find it useful. Cheers.

[RaedwuIf]

is it possible to use it as a midi controller? i mean to connect another keyboard to it or a pc to use the midi patches from there?

[ChrisLody]

@RaedwuIf You sure can. Depending on your PC you'll need a midi to game port cable or a midi to usb cable. These keyboards won't send velocity though as their keys are non touch sensitive. You can also use your pc to play the keyboards internal sounds from a sequencer, with up to 16 part multitimbrality with 12 note polyphony. Great little keyboards really.

[RaedwuIf]

@ChrisLody ty very much, i just need it for solos and stuff like that, since the size of the keys makes it more comfortable...

[tekkentool]

dirty, should be fun with a talkbox. could do roger troutman covers endlessly.

[ChrisLody]

@tekkentool That's a good idea! I don't own one but that's never stopped me before, i'm thinking a plastic pipe+plastic cone+speaker+amp would do the trick.

[tekkentool]

@ChrisLody There's plenty of tutorials out there for doing ghetto talkboxes out of old computer speakers. I've just never gotten around to making one, and not for want either. I love peter frampton.

[ChrisLody]

@tekkentool Yeah i just had a quick look around and some people have come up with some nice easy ways to isolate the speaker. all i need is the pipe. Its not something i'e ever used so should be fun.

[LuckyButtonPusher]

I don't own these yamahas but I think it's a very informative tutorial!

[ChrisLody]

@LuckyButtonPusher They are well worth looking out for. Cheers.

[kingofkeyboards]

great little tip there! sounds really full on and gritty too so great stuff!

[sauermusicDE]

Thanks for uploading. I think I'm gonna try this on my PSS-780.

[squeakD]

Good tip!

[ChrisLody]

@squeakD Thanks man, i wonder if anyone else found this since the 80's when these boards came out.

[jorgealanisg]

how did you found out! :O

[ChrisLody]

@jorgealanisg Completely by accident. I was playing around with the built in mini sequencer recording loops and improving over them, caught the 'Duet' button by mistake and found this. I already liked this keyboard lots, now i like it even more.