October Sweetwater Gear Review Giveaway - Yamaha QY100 Music Sequencer
The October contest is again sponsored by our good friends at Sweetwater.com.
www.sweetwater.com
When you are ready to record, Sweetwater can help. From handheld sequencers like the one in this review to full-blown computer recording setups, Sweetwater can explain what's involved and help design a system to get great sound on any budget.
We are going to give the QY100 away to a lucky newsletter reader next week.
To register to win, just reply to this thread!
Please read the rules in the next post to be sure you are eligible. Unfortunately, we can't ship this out of the U.S., so it is only open to U.S. residents.
In order to win this prize, you must "enter" the contest by posting on this thread before Friday, October 10th.
Jeff did such a good job on the last review, that we have asked him to review this product as well. Thanks, Jeff!
October Sweetwater Gear Review Giveaway - Yamaha QY100 Music Sequencer
# 1
*** Sweetwater Gear Review Giveaway Contest Details ****
How Winners are Selected and Notified:
On October 10th we will randomly select one winner from people who post a reply to this forum thread. Posting more than once will not increase your chances to win.
Winner will be announce in this forum thread (save your newsletter, it is the only external link to this thread).
Official Contest Rules
- Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
- Contest is only open to U.S. residents who are over 18 years of age.
- No purchase necessary.
- All Guitar Tricks members including both Full Access and Free Membership are eligible to win.
- Guitar Tricks instructors, forum moderators, staff and members of their households are not eligible.
- Winner will have 30 days to claim their prize.
- If you win, we will need to use to your name and image in the newsletter, so have a good photo of yourself to send us!
- Prize winners are responsible for all federal, state and local taxes.
- By accepting a prize, all winners agree that Guitar Tricks, their affiliates, and all of the officers, directors, employees,
representatives and agents of Guitar Tricks, will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be held harmless by winner for any
liability for any injury, loss or damages of any kind, to winner or other persons, including (without limitation) injuries, loss or
damages arising out of or relating to death, and, injuries, damages or losses to property, due in whole or in part, directly or
indirectly, from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize or participation in this giveaway.
- Guitar Tricks reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the giveaway, reject any entry, or make any revisions to the
official rules as we deem necessary.
How Winners are Selected and Notified:
On October 10th we will randomly select one winner from people who post a reply to this forum thread. Posting more than once will not increase your chances to win.
Winner will be announce in this forum thread (save your newsletter, it is the only external link to this thread).
Official Contest Rules
- Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
- Contest is only open to U.S. residents who are over 18 years of age.
- No purchase necessary.
- All Guitar Tricks members including both Full Access and Free Membership are eligible to win.
- Guitar Tricks instructors, forum moderators, staff and members of their households are not eligible.
- Winner will have 30 days to claim their prize.
- If you win, we will need to use to your name and image in the newsletter, so have a good photo of yourself to send us!
- Prize winners are responsible for all federal, state and local taxes.
- By accepting a prize, all winners agree that Guitar Tricks, their affiliates, and all of the officers, directors, employees,
representatives and agents of Guitar Tricks, will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be held harmless by winner for any
liability for any injury, loss or damages of any kind, to winner or other persons, including (without limitation) injuries, loss or
damages arising out of or relating to death, and, injuries, damages or losses to property, due in whole or in part, directly or
indirectly, from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize or participation in this giveaway.
- Guitar Tricks reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the giveaway, reject any entry, or make any revisions to the
official rules as we deem necessary.
# 2
Yamaha QY100 review
By Jeff Obee
$499 at Sweetwater.com:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/QY100/
Released back in 2000, the QY100 is a stand-alone, portable sequencer designed for personal accompaniment. And portable is right; it is approximately the size of a medium sized paperback novel, and weighs only slightly more.
Though a songwriting tool for musicians of all stripes, the QY100 seems to be aimed in part at guitarists, due to the inclusion of an amp simulator, and a 1/4 inch guitar (and mic) input.
Overview
This unit packs a lot into its small footprint. This means navigating several menus of several pages each, but once you get the hang of the layout it’s quite easy. It offers 16 tracks of sequencing with a maximum of 32,000 notes. 32 notes of polyphony get divvied up between the 525 onboard synth voices and 22 drum and percussion banks, set up for General MIDI and XG. There’s a full complement of quality Yamaha effects onboard, as well.
The QY can be used as a full-fledged sequencer or as a simple preset accompaniment device. 768 preset patterns in 128 styles are included, along with 99 chord templates, for those who don’t want to write your own sequences. The unit employs a phrase/pattern/song hierarchy.
Being a MIDI device and stand-alone sound module, you can of course use your own controller of choice. But hey, if you want to use it on the road as a sketchpad, Yamaha has included a micro keyboard on the top face. The “keys” are very small, but it’s two octaves and has an octave shift button, so it’s handy when you don’t have your regular controller around. Plus, the keys do double duty for the chord templates.
The QY can be connected to your computer, but it utilizes a serial port- a most decidedly outdated method for such a task. However, there is a SmartMedia slot on the side, and cards are still in abundance (and inexpensive), providing you with lots of storage for your sequences. And although I didn’t try, my hunch is you can compose sequences in GM or XG format on your computer sequencer, save them as SMFs using a card reader, then load them into the QY100.
Let’s Focus
Much could be written about the QY100; it’s a pretty deep little device. Too deep, in fact, for the purposes of this brief review, so I’ll focus on the primary audience here: guitar players.
One thing that really stands out is the inclusion of an amp simulator. This doesn’t rival amp modeling or a dedicated effects pedal, but nonetheless it sounds quite good. You get a bank of 18 sounds built on three chained effects blocks: preamp, chorus, and reverb. There are 18 well-programmed presets, but you can tweak the parameters and save your own sounds on card. Oh, and the amp simulator is separate from the other effects, so it you’re not taking away from any that are used on your backing tracks.
The preamp block consists of Drive (amp gain), along with Hi and Lo EQ settings. You can dial in the Drive setting and EQ to get everything from light crunch to gritty or muted blues tones to heavy overdriven distortion.
The chorus block contains Mod Speed, Mod Depth, and Feedback parameters, allowing you to create not only chorus, but phase and flange effects as well. The reverb block is a single reverb with Level control. Lastly, there is an On/Off parameter that you can assign to any of the three blocks.
The other ideal aspect of this for guitarists is the “band-in-a-box” concept. The abundant synth and drum sounds enable you to create full, powerful backing tracks over which to solo, try varying rhythmic ideas, or experiment with “tonescapes”.
Conclusion
The QY100’s strengths indeed lie in its portability, combined with the numerous onboard sounds: as a tool for practice, sketching out ideas for songs, and accompaniment for small solo or duo gigs.
Practicing with this is especially good, as you can use headphones and set up whatever chord changes you desire, with as sparse or full backing tracks as you desire, and blast away. The flexible and in-depth sequencer makes song-sketching or full blown composition a breeze.
And you can carry a whole band to your next solo or duo gig in just one small section of your gig bag!
By Jeff Obee
$499 at Sweetwater.com:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/QY100/
Released back in 2000, the QY100 is a stand-alone, portable sequencer designed for personal accompaniment. And portable is right; it is approximately the size of a medium sized paperback novel, and weighs only slightly more.
Though a songwriting tool for musicians of all stripes, the QY100 seems to be aimed in part at guitarists, due to the inclusion of an amp simulator, and a 1/4 inch guitar (and mic) input.
Overview
This unit packs a lot into its small footprint. This means navigating several menus of several pages each, but once you get the hang of the layout it’s quite easy. It offers 16 tracks of sequencing with a maximum of 32,000 notes. 32 notes of polyphony get divvied up between the 525 onboard synth voices and 22 drum and percussion banks, set up for General MIDI and XG. There’s a full complement of quality Yamaha effects onboard, as well.
The QY can be used as a full-fledged sequencer or as a simple preset accompaniment device. 768 preset patterns in 128 styles are included, along with 99 chord templates, for those who don’t want to write your own sequences. The unit employs a phrase/pattern/song hierarchy.
Being a MIDI device and stand-alone sound module, you can of course use your own controller of choice. But hey, if you want to use it on the road as a sketchpad, Yamaha has included a micro keyboard on the top face. The “keys” are very small, but it’s two octaves and has an octave shift button, so it’s handy when you don’t have your regular controller around. Plus, the keys do double duty for the chord templates.
The QY can be connected to your computer, but it utilizes a serial port- a most decidedly outdated method for such a task. However, there is a SmartMedia slot on the side, and cards are still in abundance (and inexpensive), providing you with lots of storage for your sequences. And although I didn’t try, my hunch is you can compose sequences in GM or XG format on your computer sequencer, save them as SMFs using a card reader, then load them into the QY100.
Let’s Focus
Much could be written about the QY100; it’s a pretty deep little device. Too deep, in fact, for the purposes of this brief review, so I’ll focus on the primary audience here: guitar players.
One thing that really stands out is the inclusion of an amp simulator. This doesn’t rival amp modeling or a dedicated effects pedal, but nonetheless it sounds quite good. You get a bank of 18 sounds built on three chained effects blocks: preamp, chorus, and reverb. There are 18 well-programmed presets, but you can tweak the parameters and save your own sounds on card. Oh, and the amp simulator is separate from the other effects, so it you’re not taking away from any that are used on your backing tracks.
The preamp block consists of Drive (amp gain), along with Hi and Lo EQ settings. You can dial in the Drive setting and EQ to get everything from light crunch to gritty or muted blues tones to heavy overdriven distortion.
The chorus block contains Mod Speed, Mod Depth, and Feedback parameters, allowing you to create not only chorus, but phase and flange effects as well. The reverb block is a single reverb with Level control. Lastly, there is an On/Off parameter that you can assign to any of the three blocks.
The other ideal aspect of this for guitarists is the “band-in-a-box” concept. The abundant synth and drum sounds enable you to create full, powerful backing tracks over which to solo, try varying rhythmic ideas, or experiment with “tonescapes”.
Conclusion
The QY100’s strengths indeed lie in its portability, combined with the numerous onboard sounds: as a tool for practice, sketching out ideas for songs, and accompaniment for small solo or duo gigs.
Practicing with this is especially good, as you can use headphones and set up whatever chord changes you desire, with as sparse or full backing tracks as you desire, and blast away. The flexible and in-depth sequencer makes song-sketching or full blown composition a breeze.
And you can carry a whole band to your next solo or duo gig in just one small section of your gig bag!
# 3
Yamaha products always catch my attention. Even though they are usually cheaper than other brands, they have good quality. I own 2 Yamaha guitars (1 electric and 1 acoustic) and i love them.
This Yamaha music sequencer would be a good addition to enhance my gear.
PS: First to reply!!! lol :D
This Yamaha music sequencer would be a good addition to enhance my gear.
PS: First to reply!!! lol :D
# 4
# 5
I know they make a kickin bass used by Nathan East.
Check it out.
:cool:
http://www.yamaha.com/Artists/ArtistList/0,,CTID%25253D501401,00.html
You will not be disappointed.
Check it out.
:cool:
http://www.yamaha.com/Artists/ArtistList/0,,CTID%25253D501401,00.html
You will not be disappointed.
# 6
# 7
Great review. I just watched some demos of this unit in youtube.
Looks like a cool music sequencer to have.
Looks like a cool music sequencer to have.
# 8
I'm all for anything that helps me put my inspirations into production.
Looks like this one may fit the bill! Thanks for the review!
Looks like this one may fit the bill! Thanks for the review!
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Great review! Looks like a very nice product. I tend to like Yamaha music products overall, knowing the products target market.
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# 15
If this sequencer is anything like Yamaha keyboards, it's a rock and a great value. Thanks to Sweetwater for making this available for review. :p
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