Why This Tiny Yamaha Keyboard Is My New Gig Workhorse 

Aimee has the most soothing voice on the internet. Come for the lesson, stay just to hear her talk.

One talented lady! And the guitarist is a perfect fit. You two compliment each other like hand and glove! I have a lot of Yamaha equipment, DX7, DM2000 board, KX88 controller and lots of modules from the past. Love them all! Never had to repair one in 40 years.

Despite it not being a "review" video, you've reviewed it very well. Yamaha - quite a remarkable company.

awesome video - yamaha should give you a sponsorship - best video I've ever seen on a CP reface - real life examples

The CK61 solves every problem you mentioned. Has piano's, E piano's, strings brass guitars bass. Split and layer. It's a combi of all the reface models, with direct edit options and saving. Weighs 5 kg. And has normal size keys.

Aimee - try a Yamaha CK61. So light but the sound engine has the organ (with draw bars) and all the EP and piano patches and effects. Bag is a backpack. You could play on your lap too or small table. Full size keys. Its my fav Yamaha keyboard. Speakers and battery powered. Easy to travel. You would love it.

The secret sound was officially explained by Yamaha as an in-factory test voice.

Good Lord your vocal on Walking on the Moon was kiiiiiiii-ller! Wow, great stuff.

The instrument is cool... but it's YOU and YOUR VOICE that are AMAZING❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Yamaha should be really pleased with this video. They should just send you a catalog and tell you to circle anything you want! This video probably doubled their sales! Thanks.

Hi Aimee. Listening to you from the UK. What a great jazz voice you have. I could definitely listen to you singing anytime. Best wishes.

What a brilliant duo/musicianship ! As a guitar player, I've learned a lot about comping, chords inversions and octave management on keyboard just by watching you play. If a talented musician like you can do all that stuff on that small thing, as a beginner on keyboard I should be able to play more simple things. It gave me a little boost that convinced me that it is the kind of "couch-keyboard" I need. Greetings from France !

You'll want that toy piano sound if you want to play "Summer Breeze" by Seals and Crofts.

Beautiful voice, both singing and talking! Nice guitar and keyboard duo.

I got one these a couple months back and it's been in constant use. Really amazing piece of gear.

His solo is 🔥 at 9:45……And so is your comping, Ami……

Cool Aimee, thanks!

aimee 👍🏻 you’re amazing, no one else could get the sounds out of that keyboard that you do ☝️

"This little Guy" makes gig ❤s smile!!! "Show us about it!" 🤗😎 Your demo passion makes me so inspired!

Keys look real nice but how great is it to see you gave a heads up about GROUND NEWS. I did not check this yet but it is beautiful you are raising this topic from your piano channel, thank you so much!! It is inspiring!

Yea, I get it. You looked comfortable with that on your lap and a mic to sing on. Certainly didn't stop you playing a load of different styles/sounds.

I've had the CP for years.... I love it!!! I have played entire gigs using it. I absolutely love your videos.

Love my Reface CP and CS. They’re beautifully made. It’s a lesson in pricing. When the series was introduced, each went for around $700. People didn’t get the idea of mini-keys and a board with just one focus, especially at that cost. But then Yamaha lowered the price to between $285-$350. And since then, they’ve been one of their bestsellers.

That's a great little board. And I'm digging that Earthworks mic too!

This is what I call an insight into an instrument, the best review of this little gem of a keyboard I have seen. Thank you, love from Norway :)

I can see how much fun you have being challenged to work within the limited range of the keyboard, and yes, how nice to not have to lug all that gear back and forth to the gig. Beautiful "authentic" singing, as always.

Hi Aimee. I also have it and I love it. Especially as I travel for work, it’s easy to carry around and goes with me everywhere. ❤

You might want to consider the CK61. It would require a keyboard stand, but the unit itself is extremely light, can run on batteries, you can get a backpack case for it, full-size keys, and it has everything (afaik) that all the Reface keyboards have, and then some. And no rebooting to get a piano!

You guys sound REALLY GOOD!!!Live It .GREAT SINGING Amiee

I work out chords and solos on it while sitting on the sofa... just amazing... sounds better than my Nord Electro rhodes to be honest

Definitely will keep this thing in mind Aimee, thanks. A guitarist who in recent years has divested from keyboards and practicing them, I think it might be nice to get back into them in a modest, convenient way. This thing might be perfect.

I love my CP!I use it more than my synth for recording and also recently got the YC which literally blew my mind.Also your singing and piano skills are awesome!

I have all the four Refaces and they are pretty interesting, each one on its own kind of instrument. Love them! ❤

Best thing I ever bought!! Glad it’s going to such great use by such a fantastic professional musician!! Love it so much I got the DX when it was 50% off. Love that so much I plan to eventually have the YC & CS Refaces. They’re incredible. But the CP is king. I’ve seen plenty of people say they’ve ended up playing it more than their e-pianos. I’m a Wurli girl too, and that’s my favorite on this.

I have this thing - I love it! I've been taking it to community jazz band rehearsals when I don't want to bring my whole 88 key. Works well in a pinch! The rhodes and wurli sounds alone are almost worth the price of admission. And the fact that you can run it off AA batteries!!

Wow! You guys sound so good! Love your voice.

16:03 - LOVED the Jewel reference!! 🤣

You have a beautiful voice. Great video. Oh, Mike is a fabulous guitarist too. ❤

Love that keyboard, works with full size midi controller. Fun to see you using it also.

Those Yamaha Reface synths/keyboards pack a powerful punch in a compact package. You and Mike sound great together! I have the YC61 which is fantastic and has all these sounds in addition to drawbar controllers and organ stuff. But for the size and sound quality, the Refaces are hard to beat.

you both play fantastic on your instruments beside your outstanding singing . I also have the CP And you presented me some new ideas THANK YOU

Those little keyboards are stupidly handy and fun to use. I initially found them to be a bit too pricey for their feature sets, but over time I got 3 of them (except the CP incidentally) on various sales and I love them. BTW the YC version is so, so good - my favourite of the series.

Yamaha should create a signature gig lap piano for you and give it whatever you want. This is a very good review.

I liked your video. The biggest take away for me is that we always have to try things out and do what works best for us. Nice video, you are very talented and I hope Yamaha does reach out to you and sponsor you

Nice, glad you found a solution Aimee. I to am too old to be hauling gear around, been there done that. I have a similar solution with a small midi controller and small MacBook, but your solution is even simpler.

Had the Reface CP since it was new and whenever I break it out, I remember how much fun it is. It's nice to see even years later, people making videos about this gem. One of my favorite things about it is the mini-keys aspect. Sometimes without any thought, I'll drop the fingers of my right hand randomly on the keys and discover some random (very quirky) chord and just vamp for a while. Then I'll move over to my Hohner Pianet T and play the same chording. It's a great tool for that kind of outside the box inspiration, especially since I can achieve complex chords with my right hand without stretching, using the mini keys. I also completely get the playing the keys like an organ thing. The mini keys snap back quicker than an acoustic piano or even a physical wurly/rhodes key action.

Love this little guy, used to have one myself! I know folks are mentioning the CK61, but another option might be the Korg Microstation. It's been out of production for a while but it's 61 minikeys, so it's incredibly lightweight and I think it might still be lappable without a keyboard stand. Internally it's a full-on workstation with all the piano, EP, organ, synth , etc. sounds you'd expect; check out Daniel Fisher's video where he programmed a custom B3 with fully controllable drawbars/percussion!

Those have been on my wishlist for so long

Awesome video, as always. Credit to your venue - most would have opted to buy a decent digital piano for the cost of a few sessions with the guitarist. As it is they get two great musicians and your innovative, minimalist, creative solution.

The secret Grand Piano sound is pretty useful too. Turn it off, set the knob halfway between Toy and CP (takes a bit of balancing, but it will stay there) then turn it on. Works with the FX, is a pretty decent Yamaha sounding piano, and it's great for comping, though you do have to turn the unit off to get back to it if you switch out. There's a mod you can do to add a switch, but it still requires the unit to be turned off.

I’ve been using these on the road for years. I can practice on the bus to gigs, jam backstage and have even used it for stripped down gigs on tour, like a rooftop gig on tour in the Netherlands in Rotterdam, when getting loads of gear up to the top would have been a nightmare. Great keyboard! I use the secret piano sound most of the time.

This is totally awesome! Talk about being efficient! (and I thought playing my Hammond SK1 61 key keyboard was hard 🤣 when I usually play 88 note boards. 👏👏

I saw Danae Greenfield (a jazz pianist) who's touring with Clairo now is using it on stage, standing, handheld-style. Kind of like a keytar, but without it having to be a keytar. I think that's pretty cool! My Reface is definitely my favorite piece of music gear I own. Also I love its aux-in! You can plug iRealPro in, headphones on, and practice in the park! Ahhhh it's great

I had a reface CP for a few years. An absolute joy to play. Kind of regret selling it - might have to get it again. Would love to see Yamaha continue to evolve this series.

I've wanted a Reface CP for a while. You spoke my own thoughts when you said you wished they made it with included organs. I've always hesitated in my purchase because I want both this and the Reface YC with its combo and Hammond organ tones. I can only imagine what you'd do with a little, low-profile stand in front of you as you sang with both the CP and YC. It would be sweet! Oh, and I loved your singing voice. P.S. I just read after I posted this that you also own a Korg SV, another keyboard I lust after.

I came to this channeI to watch some info about a keyboard I've aIways Iiked, and found this other worIdIy singer / pIayer, and couIdn't stop sighing and wowing aII trhough it, for just how awesome it sounds. DefiniteIy subscribed!!! Greetings from Costa Rica :)

I like your music and singing very much, best regards Kai

I dare say that a great part of your success in utilizing this keyboard in a gigging situation is more due to your talent, knowledge and experience than the feature set of the keyboard as impressive as they may be (i really like the organ reface). You said you missed having an organ. Have you looked at the Yamaha CK-61? It is more expensive, but you get more keys that would eliminate having to switch octaves. It has a lot more sounds, and you can make live sets with the ability to use 3 sounds at once. These sounds can be layered and split across the keyboards. This keyboard features an organ with 9 drawbars like a Hammond with a Leslie speaker with all the speed control. You can also turn off the Leslie effect for the straight jazz organ sound. This keyboard also features speakers, on-board effects, minimal menu diving, and it can be battery powered. And since you don't want to mesa around with a heavy keyboard setup, this keyboard weighs in at a whopping 12lbs. Another option might be to bring your Hydra keyboard to use for basses, leads, and organ sounds. Anyway, just a couple of thoughts. Great video! It is especially cool uses such a minimal setup to great effect.

If you like the Reface with mini keys (did you mention that?), you'll love the Casio CT-S1 with full size keys. I also have a Reface CP and the Casio CT-S1 is my preferred little jazz keyboard. It weighs 9 lbs, is 61 keys, has built-in stereo speakers, it's super streamlined and portable, the action is better feeling and more dynamic, has a great Rhodes sounds and a great Acoustic piano, vibes, and split bass... and you can put a guitar strap on it and it won't slide off your lap. And it can run on batteries for 6 hours.

That is indeed a great keyboard! I do like the sound

You’re a very good jazz singer. Love your voice.

Yes amazing voice I can listen to you for hours❤ and great talent you are blessed I'm gonna look into that keyboard although I'm old school 88 key

Love your sound, fantastic voice and brilliant playing by both you and your excellent guitarist. Yes the Reface CP is an amazing little unit and you play the heck out of it, just brilliant and I loved your Walking on the Moon cover, the best version I’ve ever heard of that tune. I’ve had the Reface CP for years and it really has some of the best piano type sounds of any keyboard. You can have the keyboard modded with a little switch at the back to switch over to the hidden piano sound. A friend of mine who is an electronics whiz modded mine and apparently it’s quite a simple mod to do. There are videos on RU-vid that show how to mod it if you need to.

Great video Aimee! Don’t know this for sure, but I suspect the fact that the acoustic piano requires a re-boot is a technical limitation. As a digital keyboard, there’s a little CPU in this guy (as well as RAM and other computer-y components). Grand pianos are typically the most resource-intensive sampled instruments, as they’re often very deeply sampled. My hunch is that the guts of this thing are not powerful enough to run everything at once. Like, this little computer is powerful enough to be a grand piano OR a few other instruments - but it can’t be all of them at once. Totally speculation based on my software experience, so take it with a large dose of salt. 😁

These Reface keyboards fit perfectly into standard size carryon luggage, like Yamaha took this in consideration in their design.

Aimee, you make this little Reface earn its keep! Nice work, and great that you found such a workable solution within your requirements. I was going to mention the CK61 (ORGANS! PIANOS!) but I see that others have already done so. I haven't got my hands on one yet, but plan to, for similar reasons to yours: I don't want to lug around my SV-1 anymore! Just one more idea to throw out there: I bought myself a little Casio (I know) CT-S1 about two years ago, as my "BBQ / Tailgate" keyboard, and it's great for that! Will run on AA batteries for hours. AND it has a patch that splits the keyboard: Grand piano on top, Upright Bass on the bottom. I have used it - with that patch - in a duet situation like yours, and the Upright bass sound is pretty impressive. 9.9 pounds, 61 keys. Oh, and $200.

Absolutely fabulous gifts! With your skill set, you could help sell the old toy psr keyboards! Great video!

Bought a Reface CP a couple of years back. Best musical purchase I have ever made!

This guitar player thanks you for this video. It could be very useful for me. I'll have to check one out.

Great video! I’ll have to check out this smaller keyboard. I have a Y CK88 and love it, and almost bought a CK61 for its same basic engine but great portability.

U2 cover sounds killer

Damn, Aimee, now I have to have one of these. The CP is a stage piano over $3k in Canada. The Reface CP is $500 and lots of great sounds that are missing from my 76key keyboard I just got for getting back into piano (along with my string instruments - but a kbd always feels essential, and so are these jazz/funk/pop sounds.)

Nice! A set of big sounds in a small box. What's not to like? Thanks for the demo.

I have all the Refaces and CP is my favorite. You should get the YC too though. It's quite unique and should pair with a guitar as well as a CP but also work better for some use cases with its infinite sustain. I got each of mine used / floor units at about 50% without issues.

Gotta get me one of those!

Great playing, agree its a nice little keyboard. Use it for travel as alternative to melodica.

Ive been playing a small casio sa 21 for many years almost every day i hold it more like a guitar its carefree and fun. I have alot of other keyboards but the way it sounds and feels fits me

If I could play, I'd probably get two or three of the Reface keyboards, I think they're incredibly utilitarian, as you've shown.

Love you and your music.. The Reface is so cool.. might want to check out a CK61 by Yamaha.. It is so lite weight and has organs strings, and horns, and even great guitar sounds

I got the Red (Organ ) Version, the YC... It's awesome, and the CP is the next on my list.

I have the reface CP and was thrilled when I found out that is also has a great grand piano sound in it, which Yamaha unfortunately has not put controls on the surface to select - but it's in there. Maybe they designed it with a real acoustic piano, but decided at the last minute not to release - so they left the controls out. I modified my reface CP to add a switch to select the piano. It's great.

I love mine too. In fact, I love all of my reface keyboards.

I have the CS and it works so well for small gigs that require synths

Youre going to have to demo the other refaces now. Yamaha needs to send you a few.

It's awesome - the wurly is the best! I got one. I liked it so much, I replaced it and my P125 with the big version (CK88). There's also a medium sized version (CK61) that weighs something like 12lbs. Now I keep the reface CP in my car, with the batteries fully charged, in the shoulder bag, ready to go. They Refaces seem to go on sale once or twice per year. If someone wants bigger keys, the CK61 also has the organs from the Reface YC, a couple of better acoustic pianos, and it runs on batteries. The CK61 is as light as a 61 keys Casio kid's keyboard, except they put good sounds into it. But if that's even too much... can't beat the Reface. Sure, you could bring a Keystep, iPad, audio interface, and speaker, and cables, if you want more potential points of failure. The clavinet thru the wah thru the onboard speaker can sound like surf guitar, for leads! Disclaimer: I have no connection to Yamaha or any musical instrument company. I like keyboards by Korg and Roland and small manufacturers too... they each have different strengths.

Rachel K. Collier used to use Reface KBs quite a bit. I think she endorses Roland now. You seem to get around on that little KB really well! My fave controller is a CME 2 octave...it is just a controller but it is really amazing!

That wurlitzer wah sound is so good. If you want, you can run it from a portable battery pack. I velcro'ed one to the side of mine and it lasts forever.

Love all the refaces. The DX is fun also. But the CP is the best.

Great video, thanks. - The Yamaha Reface DX has 32 presets, some effects and a looper. Idk if there is a B3, but probably, plus bass, electric pianos, etc..

THE BASS!

It runs on batteries an has inbuilt speakers so you can jam anywhere! Busking comes to mind- I have seen "Barry Morgan" busk using the YC reface.

Yamaha should know you exist. 😊

now when I play anything where there is no setup for me, I take one of the reface (depending on gig) for preshow or questions or roadmap work if I'm filing in with a new band. the CP and organ pretty much stay with my go gear unless it's still in the car. ❤

I have one and it is great ❤

Great video. If you want more organ voicing, put it through a EHX B9 pedal. It’s amazing.

So great to see you having fun with this keyboard ! How much do you think one could learn, as a beginner keyboardist, in terms of harmony and basic pianistic techniques, on this little guy ?

A ck61 would do everything you need. Plus it’s still super portable.

Love your videos keep on 😎

try the toy piano sound with octave all the way down, about 50-75% distortion, and reverb up high. Sounds like tubular bells! add some chorus and it can be trippy.

Great mini-review and great playing! Can always rely on Yamaha to make great instruments. I like Roland and Korg's stuff, too! Japanese quality, hahah!