Yamaha MM6 Keyboard

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If you are looking for a good synthesizer but cannot afford the Yamaha Motif , the MM6 may satisfy your needs.

It is an entry level synthesizer which includes Motif's technology, advanced sounds and many other professional features.

One of the problems with synthesizers is that it takes a long time to learn how to operate them. I know many people who bought an advanced synthesizer but were not able to benefit from it because of the complexity of the instrument.

The Yamaha MM6 is a portable 61 keys (5 octaves) synthesizer which is aimed towards two groups of buyers:

1. Musicians who want to enter the world of synthesizers - the MM6 is an easy keyboard to operate and it doesn't take weeks to learn how to use all of its features.
2. Musicians who want the professional Motif workstation but unfortunately cannot afford to buy it.

Here is a video showing how friendly and effective the MM6 is:

Let's see the special features found in the Yamaha MM6:

Sounds

As mentioned above the MM6 takes the voices from the professional Motif. It has 8 groups of voices including various types of piano, organ, guitars, etc. In effect there are hundreds of professional and authentic sounds.

The piano sounds are warm and beautiful, but if you are interested in a keyboard with the best piano sound you should look for a digital piano . (You may also check the Yamaha - MM8 -88 keys with the Graded Hammer Action. It is a more piano-focused instrument). The electric piano and organ sounds are effective for blues, gospel and other styles too.

The sound of the acoustic guitar has a special character - the harder you press a key, the brighter the sound - achieved by plucking the strings of the guitar with fingernails. There are more sounds for the guitar such as the distortion, wah-wah, and if you learn how to use the pitch bend wheel you can get an authentic sound of a guitar.

Other voices, such as brass and the woodwinds are effective too, but I would recommend you to compare the different sounds of the MM6 to other keyboards. You may like the sound of the flutes but you may find the individual strings not-authentic.

Pitch bend wheel

The Yamaha MM6 comes with the pitch bend feature. This tool is a must for those who want to create music that includes the sounds of a guitar, brass and any other instrument that can change its pitch while playing an individual note. Guitarists love bending the notes by slightly moving the finger on the fret while the string is pressed. It is impossible to imitate this effect unless you have this pitch bend wheel.

The second wheel is for modulation.

Polyphony

Yamaha MM6 keyboards come with 32 notes polyphony. This means you can play 32 different notes simultaneously. A beginner may think that it is quite enough (since we have just ten fingers), but when creating music - 32 notes may limit you.
I'll explain...

When you play on a keyboard you can perform many notes simultaneously - chords, arpeggios, drums, accompaniment and effects. Therefore you can easily get dozens of different sounds at the same time.

The Yamaha Motif , for example, allows you to play 128 notes simultaneously (in professional terms - 128 notes polyphony).

The Yamaha MM6 is a great keyboard with professional features but the limitation of 32 notes polyphony is one of the things which put it under the category of semi- professional keyboards.

Recording

As an entry level synthesizer, I find the Yamaha-MM6 very handy. It is very easy to use, unlike professional keyboards.

The MM6 comes with 8 different tracks on which you can record anything, plus one track for rhythms. It allows you to record up to 5 different songs.

Professional keyboards by Yamaha such as the Tyros, Motif and even some of the PSR keyboards enable you to record on 16 different tracks. Well, as I said before, the Yamaha MM6 is a semi professional keyboard.

The small number of songs that you can record is not a problem since you can connect the keyboard to a computer and even store your music into a USB device which can be connected directly to the MM6.

Effects

The Yamaha MM6 comes with the following controllers: Cutoff, Resonance, Attack and Release.

Each of the controllers is responsible for a different element of the sound. They allow you to change the sounds in real time and by that enabling you to create fresh and special sounds.

The 4 knobs on the Yamaha MM6 are very effective for a keyboard player who has never had the chance to play with these kinds of features. I extremely recommend you to try playing with these controllers. A whole world will open up before you.

In more professional keyboards there are many more controllers. I see that as a disadvantage for a beginner who may get lost by the variety of the options.

Price

When you check the price of the Yamaha MM6 you will 'bless' the Yamaha Company. You can find it for $ 600-700. This is an extremely low price for a keyboard which contains advanced technologies derived from the legendary Motif.

I have seen the Yamaha MM6 shown at $680 in a local store. On the internet it is offered for $600. Usually we feel safer to buy instruments in an actual store rather than buying on the web. This conception is true if you buy an acoustic instrument (such as the piano). However, digital instruments are safe to buy on the web as long as the store is reliable, gives you good service and guarantee for their products. Make your own research, check reviews about stores and you could save between 20%-30%.

Yamaha MM6 Music Synthesizer Workstation The Yamaha MM6 Music Synthesizer Workstation is a 61-key synth with 418 voices and 22 onboard drum kits (plus an extra set of GM voices) combined with lots of realtime controls for performance and song creation. Nicknamed the "Mini-Mo" because it draws on the powerful sound engine from the pro-level MOTIF series workstations, the MM6 has a wide variety of dynamic, realistic and just plain powerful voices to help you create amazing music. The MM6 makes it easy to take control of your sounds—just twist some knobs and tweak the sound in realtime as you play. You also get special patterns for full backing of your live performance and song creation. Exceptionally light and portable, you'll be able to bring your MM6 anywhere your music takes you. Maximize your Music Much of today's music is being made on computers and the MM6 digital piano is built to fit right into any computer music system. Just connect the USB (to host) terminal on the MM6 to your computer with a standard USB cable and you've got the makings of a sophisticated recording setup. Just to make sure you've got a head start, it includes a free copy of Cubase LE—a full-featured music production application that has all you need to record your performance data from the Yamaha MOTIF MM6 via MIDI, e dit the data, process the sounds with effects, arrange it in multiple tracks and perform the final mixdown. Patterns to groove on The MM6 has a full set of Patterns that give you rhythmic backing in a wide variety of music styles—including hip hop, rap, dance, ambient, pop, rock, jazz, and even world styles. These patterns are just what you need to shake up the dance floor. All dynamic, all powerful—the MM6 gives you the real thing. Patterns that stay in the groove but never sound mechanical. Drum loops with a truly human feel that dance and float around the beat, yet remain firmly in the pocket. Riffs and licks that get you inspired, get you moving, and get you creating some serious music. Arpeggiate yourself The powerful arpeggiator feature lets you automatically create repeating rhythmic phrases and note patterns. A full 213 arpeggiator types are built in, letting you trigger a variety of musically useful and exciting patterns to get the house jumping. Many of these arpeggiator types use synth lead, piano and guitar voices to generate melodic and broken chord patterns based on the chords you play with your left hand. Bass arpeggios and drum voice rhythm loops are also included, letting you easily set up dynamic riffs and beats to jam over. Save and swap When you play live, you want to be able to make sound changes quickly—not just between songs, but in the middle of a song too. The Performance Memory feature is just the tool you need to smoothly switch gears and take things up a notch or two. Each Performanc

MM6 Package This package deal gives you Bold Motif sounds in a great 61-key synth with a quality stand and bench so you're ready to play. It includes Yamaha's MM6 Music Synthesizer Workstation, an On-Stage Designs Deluxe X stand to securely rest it on, and a Musician's Gear Keyboard bench for you to rest on.

To summarize, the Yamaha MM6 is an extremely recommended instrument. It is one of the most popular Yamaha Keyboards due to its price, quality, professional tools and the fact that it is user-friendly.

Click here to read more about Yamaha MM6.

If you have questions you are welcome to post them on our piano forum and we will get back to promptly...

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