i am simply unable to get used to producing videos of this quality in series. Those carefully selected spotless color backgrounds for every single synths, the sound quality, the lighting, the content... Mind blowing!
Right! The composition and lighting is so clean it feels almost rendered in 3D. Or maybe it is... In that case, kudos for super realistic hands animation :D
WOW. Your videos are truly astounding on many levels: artistic, communicative, visual, technical, consistent, educational, entertaining; to name a few. The fact you published the first of this series just a week after my 480 arrived is simply icing on the cake. If there's anyone at the top of my list of artists / producers to support, it has to be you. Keep up the excellent work sir!!!!!
Back in the early eBay days, I managed to build up a collection of those old Casio ROM Packs, along with a few units that can play them, which I still own up to this day.
OK... as of the first video, you have had me amazed. I have owned a Yamaha PSS-480 ever since I walked into our local K-Mart and plopped down my saved paper route money for it in 1987.... and I didn't know or appreciate half of what it could do or be used to achieve. I found your PSS-480 songs on SoundCloud several years ago, was amazed, bought the album, got the downloads. So awesome to look for you on RU-vid and get to see all this! Words don't do it justice, man, this is just straight-up awesome talent. Gonna start playing around with everything you've covered and see what I can come up with on my own today.
Your work is unparalleled 👏, without your expertise 99% of users will only use 1% of these instruments capabilities 😁 , very entertaining and informative 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹
You can clearly hear the “Funk 3” style in Queen’s “Invisible Man” around 3:50. Not sure if they used this exact model, but definitely something from that era.
My special recomendation: The PSR-36. Ful size keys, MIDI and a "programmable" synth as well. OK, you can't save sounds and it's editing is not stepless but if you tweak the hell out of it in real time it can even sound like a PPG 360 Wavecomputer! :-)
Yes, more love for the PSS-480. It's really a great machine. You showed a combination of things i did not know yet. The FM functionality is a thing by itself already but also the midi functionality and programmable options are great. The custom drummer is also great. I think the options and complexity are way beyond a 'toy' keyboard, i start to wonder if they just added the speakers to disguise it. I have checked other keyboards in the same category from many brands but i cannot find anything that is comparable except for other PSS models. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
This is really helpful! I've never bothered with any of the custom stuff because I just couldn't figure it out. Time to plug it back in and use this video as a manual.
My good sir! You did a great job in explaining all the features and showcasing the power of this little beast! Thankyou!. I did all my pro work with this keyboard when I was a teen back in the early 1990s and it was my only keyboard! Kudos on a job well done!!
10/10 I’ve been jamming on the PSS units for about 2 years, my faves are the 480 and the 36. Excellent work hear, incredibly thorough and well produced. The narration is ridiculously good.
My father bought me one pss480 back in the 80's. Unfortunatly , we sold it 'cause I never learned to use it. A couple of years , I went to this fleetmarket,and bought the only one left. Very useful. It works so great.
Your video is superlative. Back in time I had a PSS-680, when I started my passion for keyboards, synth and organs, but I used it just about 1% its capabilities. These mini keyboards were masterpieces. I have a PSS-790 now and I love the styles, I notice you able to control the chords from an external keyboard. Please tell me how to do this, I tried to drive the accompaniment section of my 790 from an external master keyboard but no luck, I can just get the lead (melody) sounds. Thanks in advance.
@@KeenOnKeys Thanks for your tip. I remember I did exactly same, but only the right hand section were transmitted, not any chord section. Probably the 790 has something different in its midi implememntation, but I will try again. So, Mode 00 and just activating Fingered (od S.F.) to turn on the styles, I should be able to drive all the keyboard remotely, right?
This was my first synth that I got back in 1989. I still have it to this day. I spent endless hours just playing with the synthesizer portion and making custom sounds. But something I never really incorporated into my songs, was the accompaniment. Wow. These videos are a very impressive demonstration of it's capability. I had no idea it was this powerful/flexible! Not only did these videos take me back, they made me feel a little proud that I selected a such a unique synth in my youth. One that (these days) has a nice 'vintage' FM sound to it. After watching your videos, I am very likely going to head out to my garage and dust off this old piece of music tech and mess around with it. Thank you for these awesome videos!
Coming back to this video after getting a Behringer neutron to finally crack into the sequencer functions of this keyboard and I've gotta say, its a fantastic pairing. The neutron is a great monosynth in its own right and the PSS works well as a handy midi controller thanks to the full-size ports at the back - still blessing the guys at yamaha who decided to chuck midi functions into a toy piano in the 80s! A big plus is being able to push audio through the neutron's input jack, so that means when I'm done recording analog basslines with the neutron I can switch to the PSS and have the polyphony to play smooth FM pads and process the yamaha's sound with the neutron's lush analog filter along with resonance, LFO, overdrive, and delay. Hell, even the 480 drum loops can sound like a gritty daft punk beat with enough modulation haha. I haven't touched the sequencer in the 480 since owning it as I found it easier to push midi into it using FL studio and a usb cable, however getting the neutron made me decide to try the fully "dawless" looping experience and this video is a great reference. I found running two seperate melody banks through a mono synth gives very cool portamento effects - perfect for some TB-303 style slides. :)) Once again big thanks for putting together the PSS 480 video series, still can't believe I managed to snag the 1980's equivalent of a Korg volca FM crossed with an Arturia keystep for only £20! PS. Your video on the behringer CAT was a fun watch too, although I went with the neutron because of the patchbay. Would recommend taking a look at that synth if you haven't yet, might not be exactly "toy keyboard video" material but I'm certain you'd have fun with it if you got your hands on one.
This series is really awesome for this synth. I actually picked up one of these so I can play around with it, and that was after just the first video. Well done sir. I am excited to explore this instrument.
Awesome video as always! Can't wait for the part III. After watching this video I downloaded the manual again to finally learn all the MIDI implementations for real. I need to figure out how to reach for the custom sound banks in that multi timbral mode to control my custom made drum patches. I recently acquired QY70 and I had an idea that it would make an interesting combo to program those custom drum patches using that MIDI sequencer. Also that external clock function was a real eye-opener moment for me. And I thought that it has something wrong with MIDI feature being old and slipping out :D
I also have a QY70 and want to run MIDI into my 580 to use as a 16part soundmodule (ok 12 then given the note limits). Let me know if you find a way the 5-synth voices can be accessed in this MIDI mode.
I just got a 480 and I've watched all 3 videos you've made on this keyboard a couple times while taking notes. I never knew how to use FM synthesis or what all the parameters meant/did but now I'm having so much fun (even more than I would have if I had just gone in blind which still would have been lots and lots :] )
I'm still trying to figure out the multitimbral mode. In the manual it seems like they cut off some important instructions, or something. I'm trying to use an external MIDI sequencer to send a unison signal to MIDI channels 1-12, but I cannot figure out how to actually have different voices on each of those MIDI channels, and then how to manipulate the voices on each of those channels. It is all very unclear, but it is probably just a matter of playing around to figure it out! I love the dirty sound from this thing. It is totally unique in my setup.
Okay, this was my first synth back in the 90s,, it was kind of cheap where I live, I didn't understood literally nothing about that thing but I remembered going to the manual twice, that was like : "what the heck an oscillator mean"?. And I remember my rich friends who got 20k Korg, which sounded awesome, and I was so jealous because they sounded so cool. And today, I'm friggin' paying for 600$ hardware sequencers while this thing literraly is better and funnier?
I fell in love with synthesizers after using CV-rack, and my quest for more has led to guitar lessons and a serviced PSS-480 is on it's way (thank you Reverb seller!). It was this series that sold me on the 480, I cannot thank you enough for showing me such a wonderful keyboard! I know I can begin creating right away, and learn keys as I go. Thank you Friend!
Superb video 👌 One thing these keyboards were especially good at (among so many other) ,is REAL TIME /AD LIB style live performance, tracking and mixing!. For instance the separate melody lines can drop in or out on cue: randomly in the mix, and typically the entire song can be "re-phrased" in real time this way.. Found this particularly vital for those live performances where the lead singer improvises the song randomly - restarting sections, repeating/free-looping the melodie/bassline, crowd enganements/breaks,etc, completely off from the present arrangement. The sequence being so free-ended, you could also play the song unbroken for literally hours on end (no memory run out isses). Very few other keyboards I know do this ( real-time) song sequencing his way or so effectively, except some high end synths (via ,muli-pads etc).
This was my first synth on which I had spent years learning the basics of music theory. Unfortunately I had to sell it off to buy a higher model as I cudnt afford both. Regret to this day. Will really like to buy another one if I can lay my hands on one.
Hello there, Mission accomplished! There are 3 weeks since I've just got a PSS 480,! Wow! It works just fine, it's in good condition and I love it so, so much!
Cool vid. Very informative. I love the Casiotone and Portasound keyboards, they all seem to have their own unique features. Any plans on looking at the PSS-470/570?
@ Keen On Keys I like how this keyboard has 100 rhythm styles plus a feature that allows you to program your own rhythm pattern. In that respect, it can be used as a drum machine.
I know this is a long shot but I thought I'd ask. Is there documentation out there breaking down the configuration/parameters for PSS480 patches? I want to remake some of these patches on a latterday FM synthbut the PSS480 only shows settings for 5 or so parameters and there's clearly more going on under the hood (e.g. ratio locking, velocity sensitivity, time scaling etc). I'm particularly interested in recreating the steel drum, vibraphone and musical saw patches. So any links to how to set up those patches is gratefully received. Thanks.
I normally don't recognise the songs you play when you demonstrate these keyboards, but when you demonstrated the techno rock 1 beat, I immediately recognised Small Town Boy, I love that song.
Hello there, I just watched all those 3 videos about Yamaha PSS 480 keyboard, especially this one, for at least 4 times, and I'm really out of words! Wow! Awesome! Now, let me ask you the following: At the minute of 12:30, you just talked about the reggae style, which sounds really great, but the theme you've just approached, is entirely mindblowing for me, so, I really love that! The melody at 32:52, is at least the same too. So, my first question to you is this: do you already have such an entire song with the theme and the chord progression provided in this video for the reggae style? If yes, how can I find, for example, this song only? Where can I listen and/or even purchasing it, or such album which contains this, and, than, - the melody at the minute of 32:52 in this video and even the other themes you just performed here? Otherwise, which kind of drum machine did you use for the song at 32:52? How about the other sounds in this song? Are they from the main set of sounds on the PSS 480? Or are there such patches you've probably created for this keyboard? Thanks in advance for your reply and I wish you all the best!
The only songs I've completed so far are on my PSS-480 Album which you can listen to on Bandcamp. Maybe I will finish some more songs in combination with a PSS-780 video next year. The sounds you hear in this video were all made with the PSS-480, except for the midi out examples. The small piece at 32:52 is such a midi example, I think I used the EZDrummer for that, but I can't remember what I used for the other sounds.
@@KeenOnKeys Hello again, I just found your PSS 480 album, listened and purchased it. I really like it! Now, back to the main subject. So: because I like that reggae style theme at12:30, which you just gave us as an example, I tried to play it for myself on my Casio CTX 3000 keyboard, but with no success. I didn't caught it correctly from the first listening, especially the bass line. ☺ after listening the 12:30 reggae theme example for the second, the third and even the forth time, I think I understood how, especially, the bass line sounds. Now, my Casio is somehow professional, has so many sounds, has more drumsets, has probably style editor or style creator, and I really like that, although it doesn't have fm synth. So, now, - I just found a Yamaha PSR 3500 in my country, and I just bought it from a guy which published such announcement on a classifieds website. I just find out that Yamaha PSR 3500 was released in 1989. I have it since 3 years, but I don't know too much about how to get the most out of it. If possible, and, of course, if you have one, a full review and a tutorial for the Yamaha PSR 3500, will be so much appreciated. Thanks and have all the best!
@@KeenOnKeys The Yamaha PSR 3500 has, not just one single roll bar, but two. That second roll bar, by default, can be used for such secondary volume control, or for vibrato. Otherwise, I don't know if it would be used for other sound parameters. So, it's just the only thing I found out about that roll bar and even about other it's extra features.
whoa, this "heavy metal" pattern sounds a decent bit more like metal (well, cheesy 80s hair metal) than it does on my pss-390, where it sounds...mostly like "you may be right" by billy joel
I have a lot of love for PSS-480.. My first Midi Keyboard! That had full 16 channel control! It was why I always put my drums on channel 16 from the standard channel 10..
I found one at a thrift shop for 24 cdn$, what a steal. Works fine but has a single broken key. I looked it up on ebay but I'm quite confused as to where i could replace it.
I kind of understand what the accompaniment features do, but what I don't understand is what they'd be used for besides demoing the keyboard. What would people use this feature for? I mean like where, under what circumstances?
