Reviewers have a wide range of opinion regarding this keyboard, with some claiming it is terrific and others that it is awful.This note attempts to reconcile these different claims and help potential buyers make the best decision.
1.The YPT-310 is functionally identical to the earlier model YPT-300.The new model changes simply made the device more environmentally friendly ("greener").
2.The YPT-310 is not a piano.A piano doesn't need batteries or an adapter that plugs into an outlet.If you are willing to pay thousands of dollars, you can purchase a piano that produces wonderful sounds, and the key action has a good feel.On the other hand, pianos take up a lot of room. They need to be regularly tuned.They are sensitive to humidity and temperature.Eventually a piano will need to be repaired.The sound you create on a piano can bother your neighbors.In addition, pianos produce only one kind of sound, that which is generated by hammers striking strings.(Some people have done bizarre things to pianos, such as putting tacks into the hammers, but most of us are not going to make these modifications).
Pianists who have played a great deal of piano music, who have no interest in expanding their palette of musical tone color, or who have neither the time nor desire to learn about the controls on a modern synthesizer are unlikely to be happy with the YPT-310.On the other hand, someone who appreciates the tone color of different instruments and is willing to invest a small amount of time learning about synthesizers, will find that this keyboard opens up a whole new world of musical possibilities.
3.Sustain Pedal (foot pedal). The sustain pedal allows the sound to continue after you release a key.This is critically important; without a sustain pedal, you have only half an instrument.This keyboard does not come with a sustain pedal; you will have to purchase it separately.The pedal costs very little, and the cheapest one (about $15) can be glued to a piece of wood to keep it from moving around under foot.
Note: when you power up the YPT-310, the keyboard software "assumes" the foot pedal is not depressed.If the sustain stops when you press the foot pedal, that means you had it depressed when you turned on the keyboard.
4.Sound Quality.There are three ways to produce sounds from the keyboard.You can use the speakers that are part of the device; you can use the headphone jack and the analog signal available there to externally produce sound; or you can use the MIDI interface to have external equipment generate sound based on key press characteristics.The YPT-310 is capable of producing fabulous sounds as well as horrible sounds.The following notes give further details and make some specific suggestions on how to produce the more pleasing sounds.
5.Speakers and Headphones.The built-in speakers have very limited bass response; that is, the low frequency sounds (sounds with a low pitch) are weak.Ironically, some of the most beautiful sounds the YPT-310 can produce are in this low frequency range.The violin (instrument 53), flute (instrument 84), and Vibraphone (instrument 101) are examples of this.In order to hear these sounds, rather than the poor imitation coming from the built-in speakers, you will need headphones or the ability to connect the headphone output jack to a more capable sound system.If you want to listen to some of the beautiful sounds this instrument is capable of, check out the 30 second samples of the music found on the Time album at http://cdbaby.com/cd/peterbaum. The voices from the keyboard were sent via the headphone jack to a computer where they were mixed using multi-track software.Typical of professionally mastered CDs, post processing was performed on some of these tracks using software; for example, echo effects were sometime used and multiple tracks laid down to create ensembles.However, the instrumental voices heard on every single track were generated by this inexpensive keyboard.The quality of the 30 second samples isn't the best possible, since they are in MP3 format, but you will hear some amazing sounds if you are using headphones or a good speaker-driven sound system.The tracks on the CD itself sound better.More information about the YPT-310 voices used on each track of the CD can be found at http://mysite.verizon.net/aesir_research/Peter%20Baum%20-Time-%20Notes.htm).
6.Listening Environment.Your music listening environment can dramatically change how the music is perceived.For example, most cars are not good places to listen to music, especially if you don't use headphones.If you are composing music, your sonic environment can also influence the content of your compositions.
7."I Hate Synthesizers."There are some people who simply hate the sound of synthesizers; they often describe the sound as harsh, mechanical, or cold.In addition, there sometimes is an unnatural, high frequency component to the sound.I agree that some sounds from some synthesizers have these characteristics, and I will even agree that many of the sounds from the YPT-310 sound this way.However, I also found very pleasing sounds among its many voices.Even the sounds that are less than pleasing can be put to good use.I found that some voices, such as the bassoon, could be made warmer by using the built in dual voice function to add an accompanying string section.I also found other sounds that became important compositionally, even though they sounded cold as solo voices.
8.Finding Beautiful Sounds.Because of the way this synthesizer generates different notes based on a sound sample from a real acoustic instrument, the tone quality (sometimes called tone coloration or harmonics) can depend on the pitch of the note.This is also true of real acoustic instruments, the bassoon being a striking example.As I mentioned previously, the violin, vibraphone, and flute sound especially good in their low registers on this keyboard.The "Clavi," "Baritone Sax," and "Fretless Bass 4" voices do too.Some instruments sound best when played in a range that is higher than normal.For example, the Oud sounds like a sweet, tiny bell in its upper register.If you want to produce a variety of useful sounds, you have to be willing to explore the keyboard by sampling different voices in a variety of registers and other settings.
9.The Bottom Line.For around $150, this is an amazing instrument.It can be used to produce professional quality music, if its limitations are respected and its strengths taken advantage of.
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Yamaha YPT-310 61 Full Size Touch Sensitive Keys with 500 Tones and 32-Note PolyphonyProduct Description: Yamaha's 61-key YPT-310 is a great way to get started with keyboard/piano playing, featuring 61 touch-sensitive keys, 482 voices, a music database and stereo speakers. Plenty of fun sounds and an advanced set of helpful learning tools built into the instrument, letting you teach yourself how to play and perform.
A great way to get started with keyboard/piano playing. Click to enlarge. Expressive Touch Like a Piano If you're buying a keyboard having piano in mind, you'll want Yamaha's Touch Response feature. On an acoustic piano, striking a key harder will produce a louder sound, striking it softer will produce a softer sound. With Yamaha's "Touch Response" the YPT-310 keyboard responds like an acoustic piano.
Backlit LCD Screen Since you spend a lot of the time at your keyboard looking at the LCD display screen, you might as well get one that's easy to see--like the backlit LCD in the YPT-310.
Portable Grand: One Press to an Amazing Stereo Grand Voice You're never more than a button push away from the most realistic piano sound in portable keyboards today. One press of the Portable Grand button resets the entire keyboard to a stereo-sampled piano--perfect for when it's time to practice. Yamaha is known around the world for the quality of our acoustic pianos and this attention to detail is evident as you enjoy the warmth and clarity of the YPT-310 Portable Grand piano. And of course, the keyboard includes a Sustain Pedal jack on the back for practicing and playing piano pieces.
Yamaha Education Suite (Y.E.S.): Learn How To Play Now! The YPT-310 has 102 built-in songs for you to learn to play, using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are separated into left and right hand parts, providing 7 levels of lessons plus a convenient chord dictionary.
Three keyboard lessons for each hand:
Lesson One--Listen & learn the melody or rhythm of a selected song
Lesson Two--Timing mode allows you to play the melody or chord by pressing any key using the correct timing
Lesson Three--Waiting mode stops the playback of a song until you find the correct note and then continues
Lesson Grading--monitors your progress as you practice each lessons two and three and gives you a grade.
Chord Dictionary--shows you how to play chords and tells you which chords you are playing by displaying the notes and chord name on the LCD screen.
Notes and chords are displayed on the screen for learning. Stereo speakers for realistic character and spatial depth. Sound Effect Kit: Have Some Fun! If your student doesn't think playing keyboard is cool, wait 'til he hears this keyboard! Get the world of Hip Hop and all the hottest sound effects in your Yamaha keyboard. Push the Sound Effect button, hold down a key with your right hand, and you're groovin'!
Sound Quality: Real Stereo with Bass Ports (Not Just 2 Speakers) Some keyboards have two speakers but aren't stereo. Don't be fooled. Just because a keyboard has two speakers doesn't mean that it's truly stereo with two separate amplifiers. All Yamaha Portable Keyboards feature stereo-sampling technology.
Bass Ports--Port on each speaker that adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction
Stereo (Not just 2 Speakers)--We all know that stereo sound adds realistic character and spatial depth. But how can you tell if the portable keyboard you're looking to purchase is stereo or not? With Yamaha, the answer is simple. All Yamaha Portable Keyboards are true stereo.
32 Note Polyphony and 16 Part Multi Timbrel In electronic keyboards, the more sounds made at the same time--polyphony--the more memory is needed. Obviously, more is always better, because too little polyphony can cause dropouts in dense passages of music. Some keyboards at this price point have only 12-note polyphony. The YPT-310 has 32 notes of polyphony and will play back 16 different parts or sounds at once (16-part multi timbrel); enough for the most demanding needs.
106 Accompaniment styles and the One Touch Setting The YPT-310 comes with 106 built-in styles, waiting for you to play along with. It's just like having a built-in band. Call up your favorite style of music like Rock, Big Band or Country, press a chord or play Single Finger mode, and the YPT-310 will follow you through a piece of music, providing all of the drums, bass, piano, guitar, horn and string parts for you. And to make it easy and fun, when you select one of the styles, the One Touch Setting function will automatically configure keyboard parameters, such as voice selection and digital effects, to match that selected music style. In addition, you can transfer new Styles into the Flash ROM in the keyboard. Selections can be found at www.yamahamusicsoft.com.
482 General MIDI (GM) and XGLite Voices The YPT-310 has a large selection of professional sounding voices called XGlite. Only Yamaha's best keyboards have the capacity to support and reproduce Yamaha's XGlite voices. The result is amazing sound quality and almost 500 voices for you to choose from, offering even greater compatibility with both 3rd party and Yamaha XG software. For a look at some of the GM/XG music titles available from Yamaha, check out www.yamahamusicsoft.com.
Computer Connectivity and Flash ROM The YPT-310 comes with 102 built-in songs and an interactive lesson system, divided into left and right hand parts, for learning them. In addition, you have the ability to connect to a computer, download more songs from the Internet into the internal Flash ROM, and use all of the Yamaha Education Suite V5 features to help you learn to play them. Yamaha makes it easy to get connected with the new PC button. Now, instead of wading through function menus and fighting through a maze of selections, one button is your expressway to music on the web and your computer. You can connect to the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) port on the back with an optional USB-MIDI Interface like the Yamaha UX16. Once connected, you can play your songs into the computer, edit them if necessary, and e-mail them to your friends and family. And with General MIDI (GM) and XGlite compatibility, song data always plays back with the correct sounds.
9 Digital Reverb Plus 4 Chorus Effects Yamaha has long been a world leader in digital signal processing technology. In fact, Yamaha professional audio products are found in most professional recording studios around the world. The YPT-310 takes full advantage of this know-how, giving you an extensive range of nine, top-quality reverb effects that simulate playing in everything from a small room to a large spacious concert hall and four chorus effects that add richness to electric pianos and guitars in particular.
What's in the Box YPT-310 Keyboard, Music Rest, Owner's Manual
Want to buy Yamaha YPT-310 61 Full Size Touch Sensitive Keys with 500 Tones and 32-Note Polyphony at other amazon sites? Click the corresponding icon below:
This exact Casio LK 110 can be purchased new for $69.00 at Guitar Center, Musician's Friend---just to name a few.
