In the 70s I played in a band with another keyboardist who had a YC45-D, the big, two-manual brother of your organ, and a 760 Leslie. Wow, what a sound! The band, btw, was called ‘Dream Machine‘. Honestly!
i too had a band called "dream machine" that included said organ and companion leslie. it was the best band ever, we didn't have a cute gal, just dudes with missing limbs. mostly from trimming trees with dull chain saws. anyway . .
I really like the sound of that organ, and you play it so musically! That organ sound is one of the things that attracted me to Dream Machine music in the first place. It is a very special kind of sound and it mixes really well with electric guitar.
Loved the video with some demos and info on this keyboard! I also love how you basically made this your own with a unique look as well. Plus I know what that shy feeling is like when playing around anyone, still get that myself. But anyway, in the meantime, I'll check out your band!
Thanks so much! This keyboard is awesome for learning if you ever get a hold of one. The key action is nice too, it almost feels semi-weighted even though it's not (it doesn't have hair-trigger like some keyboards which allows for easier learning)!
This was the firs professional keyboard I played back in the early 70s. However, I could never learn how to use the little pen buttons that are in the back, with with you can get distortion and other effects that I never learned how to use. But, in general, I love the sound and it brings memories to me.
my favorite combo organ. I just bought my second one. Everything works on it! I'd still kill for a YC45 but thye have skyrocketed in price. Love you band BTW!
I am lucky to have a YC45 and two working YC30s, portamento strip and all! The two YC30s, strikingly, sound very different - and one seems to have Swedish (!) labels on some switches. If anyone is aware of different build versions, I'd be interested. The fuzz, in my opinion, can be quite harsh. The best thing about that, though, on the YC30 is that you can dial in a very mellow registration in the left section (say, just the 8 drawbar) and a more complex one in the right section (either more drawbars, or maybe even just the odd drawbars). Then, you just use the slider that blends over from one section to the other, and get a myriad great options for adding in very interesting and cool-sounding harmonics. It can sound like a ring modulator, a synth, a distorted organ (ahem) and everything in between. Love it, love it, love it. :-)
a good organ is any organ you can find a great sound on. this sounds smooth with extra percussion and individual adjustments for everything, plus drawbars - very cool. I play on Farfisa, Hammond, Wurlitzer & Vox and they only sound close when they’re in the “Hammond” settings. Outside that, all very different in a good way. phenomenal playing, btw.
Love mine! It was given to me by someone that just wanted it out of their attic - three stories up - worth every step!! Also came with a RA-50 amp original stand (and stand bag) - and a cardboard sound wheel that shows you settings to dial in certain sounds.
Hi. Lovely video. I’m a big fan of YC’s, too. The Steely Dan song you mention doesn’t use portamento, the bendy effect of the notes is done on the tape echo by manipulating the tape speed. Best of luck with your music.
Hey, great video. I have a YC 30 in white with working portamento (you mean the ribbon strip ?) and the original legs which are very stable btw. I got it for grabs here in Germany. I like the music from Dream Machine, and I will definitely get your first album with your lovely playing. Keep up playing and thanks for these great sounds...
I played my YC-30 for about 10 years in the 70's and 80's. Still own it and it's in pretty good shape electronically. Yes, the vinyl gets ruffed up through the years. The only thing wrong with mine is that one of the small preset levers snapped off..... but it still adjusts fine with a small screw-driver or whatever. No matter, it's a preset meant to set and forget. And I never used the portamento so it's also in great shape. Mine has a black top. I bought mine in 1973... and by the way, not once in all of those years did I have my YC-30 tip over lol. I used it with a Minimoog Model D on the right side and a Yamaha 6-channel mixer on the left side of the YC-30. Great organ. Sturdy and long lasting.
The matching leslie is awesome... I love that thing! It's like hot sauce! I put it on everything! Portamento works and I can fix them with a little dielectric and my hands! Lol. I'm the main organ tech in the midwest. I had no desire to become this... they just wouldn't let me STOP!!
Love mine, although the main 'mode' is soundless, only the two presets work. It's a rare kind of instrument you can develop a relationship with. Sounds great on your LP, too. Say howdy to Matt for me. Ah, and the portamento is amazing.
I did play a dual manual Yamaha that had a portamento strip on it (can't think of the model another unusual features that had a one octave pedal Claver and what looks like a Trumpet Case). A singer I work with got it along with a small Farfisa. She was kind of a diva and I would annoy her by making "Toilet Sounds" on the Portamento Strip just to Razz her. The band was called Trickki Vickki and the Mississippi Leg Hounds.
Love it Doris. I am also a big fan of the Yamaha YC series organs and still have a few including the YC-45D which is the double keyboard version of the YC-30 with even more features (and a working portamento strip!)! The YC organs were built like tanks and unlike most of the combo organs of the era, are almost all working still. Your record sounds great and your playing is super. Keep it up. PS The stands of the YC organs are super stable and are unlikely to fall over but I love your homemade speaker cabinet! It is essential to have a large speaker to get the full organ sound.
Wow I wish I could play like that, also that's a beautiful organ! The look and instantly recognizable sound of combo organs has always made me want one, long before I had any interest in learning keys. Edit: Hey Jesus!
Your journey is very interesting. I like how you took all of that 'pretentious' training to unique use. You are very talented and Matthew is a lucky man twice over in a band mate and husband.
It was one of these that the Osmonds used for the wild horse sound on Crazy Horses, using the portamento. They put it through a wah pedal and into cranked up Marshalls to get the right tone.
Your organ sounded great, Ray Manzarek from The Doors is my favourite organ player he played the vox continental organ and the Gibson g101 organ also with the fender Rhodes piano bass sat on top of the organs very cool and talented guy.
I had one in 1975 and 76. I wonder if it's still out there somewhere. The water stain on the top right of yours reminds me of my organ. I had a similar mark on mine. You didn't happen to find this on Long Island or NYC, did you? I sold mine years ago. Don't remember to whom. These were introduced in 1970 I believe. They sound great with the Yamaha rotary speaker too. Thank you for sharing!
I gotta show this vid to my eldest daughter, she is very much in festival burnout, AND she is very very talented (got her grade 8 in flute and theory by 14, plays just about anything short of piano style thingies or drums) but she only really plays at school and maybe on the odd Sat. I often think she needs to explore and get inspired. The Organ is super cool, the sound is super distinct, I dig it. Can that electronics setup let you midi the Organ ? The Marimba is dope AF ! I know nothing about keyboards so I got no suggestion on that, has Mathew done a gear vid on that sic axe of his ?
Thank the song 96 Tears that introduced Me to the Vox Continental treble organ co-oped with the Fender Rhodes piano bass. This organ sounds like it would take care of those kind of songs just nicely!
so, i am guessing that you hate the Yamaha Reface YC reissue, right? Nice that they tried to reissue it but it does not sound anything like a YC in my view.
Exactly, I never understood why Farfisa or Wurlitzer organs are always talked up compared to the Yamaha. I love how you had the volume pedal "disconnected at a place called *switched on*"
Will there be any exciting electronic Organs. They are the best remembered for the Theater Pipe-Organs, also their Electric Pianos (What'd I Say by Ray Charles, Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! by Joe Zawinul and the Adderley brothers). They did build a combo organ, but it is something of a rarity, never found it's way onto a major record.
Sly Stone used the Red Yahama combo organ which I always thought it was the Red Farfisa Combo organ but anyway if you use a leslie you can get some sly stone combo organ tones. Steppenwolf organ used a lowrey organ and his leslie cabinet fell which damaged the crossover network which they disconnected that is why you get these unusual harmonic intermodulation distortion sounds of certain intervals beating together. You can hear it on born to be wild when Goldy John is holding down a Dominant 7th chord bypassing the leslie crossover network the beating of the notes. If you get live concerts of sly stone to really hear the yahama combo orgam sound he uses, plus when you see sly stones outfits in the 70's you will know that is a STAR which its rare.
With my bent for exotic, vintage electronic keyboards and synthesizers, I probably would have preferred having a model like this one over the Hammond E organ and Leslie 31H speaker that I owned for 11 years.
Too bad the portamento strip is dead. I owned one of these back in the dinosaur days and that strip, with a Space Echo, was the very best thing about the YC series. They weigh a freaking ton. And the legs are probably sturdier than the old organ case🤣 I might add that a Rat pedal, or clone, a Wah pedal and a stereo phaser, deep reverb and delay increase the fun and musically useful factor exponentially. The reverb alone dialed in wet will give you big time creepy cathedral. There are songs waiting to be written. Good luck, have fun, turn it up, get after it.
Hi like hammond organ keyboard and sounds and my name is latrell my favorite guitarists Tony iommi and Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Blackmore love mexwell French roast coffee .
Man, you are a cool lady, and I'm happy for you, listening to your stories. I have a red, YC-20 organ. It has some very similar tones, but yours has more features. They seem to me to be mind-bogglingly great instruments, and somewhat underrepresented. A vintage phenomenon. On a side note, I am a Christian and all that. Your friend may look something like Jesus, during His life on earth. But I would point you to Revelation chapter 1 for a portrait of the real Jesus, as we believe He is now, glorified by God the father. It sounds so trippy, I know. Just trying to spread the good word. Keep on those keys and bless, Jack
heyy i just got a really old and dirty but good looking YC30 and it does actually turn on and seems fine but i have no clue what audio cable i have to use to connect it and i'm struggling to find it on the internet. can anyone help me out with what it needs?
You know you're spending too much time on RU-vid when you see Jesus bargin in a video and expect him to speak about NordVPN and he actually doesn't XD. Joke aside, a very interesting video, my only organ being a Yamaha Reface YC, I understand better now where it comes from :)
We tune ours to A 432hz, and you can tune them with a small hex key. Open it up and inside you will find 12 small oscillators that you can adjust one for every note in a key
Hey thank you! The weird tape delay sound effect comes from combining the rightmost sustain and attack buttons on the keyboard. It can only get increasingly interesting when you add the marimba sound which really just sounds like a tremolo effect to me! -D
The original amp actually had a real deal rotating leslie speaker in it but it didn't produce loud enough sound for playing live! It was nice while it lasted though
It's like we should give a YC-30 to all the autistic kids. Because if you need something to quell the bees in your head, You should get something that sounds like bees outside of your head.
Loved the reflections on the YC30. You say explicitly that comments to your vids must be respectful. Then why didn't you practice what you demand? The promo by "Jesus," was not merely dumb, base, unimaginitive and unnecessary, it was patently offensive to anywho recognize in Jesus the Son of God who gave His entire being to redeem this ungrateful human race of ours. To draft His likeness into a dimwitted hawk job is enough to wipe out all the good will charming Doris earned by her winsome, intelligent and informative spiel. Perhaps the Lord might show how thin was the ice you were skating on.
I love my YC30! My portamento and the ribbon strip work great!! I like it better than my Korg CX3 2001 reissue and my Philips Philicorda (although I do love that one too!) Thanks for the video and all the great music:) You should do a video on the Philips philicorda! It's a bit of a one trick pony but it does the trick really well:)