Yamaha YC61 Review - Hammond Organ LESLIE SPEAKER 

i could have gone on for two more hours. splendid job to any viewer that makes it to the end!! :D

my timing is impeccable!

probably 990% more than anyone in their right mind actually needs to know... :)

it's been such an inspiration, but has got me lusting over the much more expensive hammond organ clones now...

yeah, i have an old version of VB3 somewhere, it's always been incredible and is the engine in the Mojo, I tried the IK emulation, but was somewhat underwhelmed, VB3 or Blue3 for me :)

@@WoodyPianoShack I think VB3 make II is much better. Give it a try, Woody. Some friends in Cantabile forum (a wonderful VST host and automation system) like Acoustic Samples B5

@@furiobisotti8150 Just listened to the B5 and it does sound pretty darn good!

The Leslie sim in the YC61 is not good -- especially on fast. Listen to the YC61 through a Neo Vent and you can get a much smoother ('rounded, floating' ) kind of effect. (Video clip of that combination here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N5q9quiTBVg.html )

sounds like a great rig, would love to see a photo if you want to join our discord! vb3 is awesome, yeah.

haha, thanks for sharing, enjoy the hammond!

The YC61 much better through a Vent... until (and if?) Yamaha do something about it.... Example here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N5q9quiTBVg.html

@Michel de Nostradamus I couldn’t be arsed correcting the date after mistyping

cool, congrats! i'm constantly surprised with the 3 organ models, just when you think you've get to know them all, you suddenly find some new combination of rotary and organ settings, which gives you a completely different hammond, it's awesome and I'm sure people can coax out of this pretty close to whatever organ they have in mind. how are you getting on with mapping YC control panel to the software ?

@@WoodyPianoShack , in YC61 i create a special "live set" in Mastermode for 2 Zones as upper/lower and set "External Keyboard" to "ext only" and only for the organ section. Don't forget to switch "Midi Control" on manually because this will not be stored in Live Set. Than i match all for me important CC parameter from YC(user manual). So mainly Drawbars, organ volume, Leslie Volume, rotor slow/fast, spring reverb on/off etc. It's up to your taste but not all is possible what the B3x is able to receive so far. With this setting the great thing ist that the internal YC organ will not sound in parallel but you can use the Drawbar sliders, switch and some Knobs to match with B3x easily. You can still use the YC A and B section as normal. Because my iPad is placed close next to me I can switch on/off Perc, Vibr, Perc Vol etc directly from the B3x organ screen on the fly from the iPad air 2 touch screen.

interesting keyboard for sure, not totally into the concept though, would prefer myself to try one of their more organ-specific clones.

i noticed that too, pretty impressive!

i despise the sound of the vox and farfisa combo organs, but luckily the vox has a b3 organ as well, cool looking board too!

@@WoodyPianoShack Can't do your best Ray Manzarek on a Hammond though.

@@WoodyPianoShack anybody who despises the Vox and Farfisa organs are either young, stupid, or both.

Fingers crossed!

I agree. If the leslie sound was better I’d be all over this.

Even playing the YC61 through a Vent is much better than the current sim.... This video clip: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N5q9quiTBVg.html is an example of that

I agree and do it like you said using my YC61 for some songs to triggering B3x and hope for a Leslie SIM Firmware update.

ah good call, thanks for clearing that up!

There's also a Fender version of the Leslie which sounds quite different and is the "Leslie" you hear in Black Hole Sun. You also have the Doppola, where the speaker rotates instead of having its sound pass through a rotating drum.

people always say my timing is excellent. except for other musicians.

@@WoodyPianoShack haha good one

i would agree! you should have swapped amps!

nice one! which was the best overall clonewheel sound of that bunch?

@@WoodyPianoShack The XK3c sounded the most like well...a Hamond. But the Numa's Leslie sim was obviously the best (as long as you monitored it in stereo) The stereo image of the Numa almost sounds 3D'ish. But, monitoring the Numa in mono, didn't sound as good as the Nord when comparing the Nord in mono. But, to be fair to the YC61, the YC could easily be the champion if Yamaha could vastly improve its leslie sim to at least the sound of a Neo Ventilator. On other note, I hope I get a chance to play the new SK PRO. This keyboard may be the game changer.

@@JoelBouchillon interesting, thanks, and the xk3 is the old model, the xk5 supposedly improved in every regard, but very pricey,! not too fond of the looks or features of the pro, but am upgrade to the sk2 with the new hammond sound engine would be pretty tempting! yeah, i've been doing my research! :)

Can I use the hammond EXP100F pedal for the yc 61 and control volume AND leslie sim with this pedal?

i don't have my YC any more, it was on a temp loan, but from the demos I've heard it sounds great, right up there with the very best. the other features passed me by, already forgotten what they were.

@@WoodyPianoShack Well thank you for the quick reply, we all really enjoy your excellent commentary in everything you review.

well spoken sir! have been using the 10 day trial of b3x wasn't overly impressed, not at that price anyway, leslie was very good though.

@@WoodyPianoShack Ya the actual organ is ok. not more, but the leslie and effect section is spot on

i did try the demo, but I think my favorite might still be vb3!

same here, the weighted 73 is of no interest to me.

@@WoodyPianoShack I guess it would be an expensive manufacturing choice to offer the 73 in waterfall and hammer action. However Nord do offer that choice in the electro range and at a cheaper price.

I guess best of both worlds would be owning YC88 and also YC61 right? 73 seems like a waste…

I wish also to try the hammond, but i have no contacts there, and can't justify buying one just for a video

yes, i was surprised too, already a member of tony's school!

I have a Montage 7 I use with the YC61. Best setup I’ve ever had!

well caught!

@@WoodyPianoShack Well Woody I need to admit something. 2 months ago I was looking into my first steps into keys (I am 57) and this version of light my fire was one of the reasons to learn to play. So the YC61 is my first keyboard and I am now in my first week of lessons..... I guess still a long way to go. Not only did you influence my choice for selecting the 61, you are also playing that song ......... creepy

@@peterschut63 yeah, spooky, congrats, what a good board to start with, enjoy!

HI patrik, indeed, andreas and I were speculating today that you might have one! We should work on a demo together :)

@@WoodyPianoShack Yes 👍 I will have the Hammond SK Pro shortly!

@@WoodyPianoShack It sounds nice. It seems a little clunky. It is presumable very lightweight (just over 10 kg's for the 73key version). Jim Alfredson already have 5 video's up with it :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DKCGOBYzzmA.html

new firmware today with 4 new pianos, yay! no changes to rotary afaik, haven't installed it yet... let us know...

@@WoodyPianoShack Looks like just a few new sounds and parameter modifications. They say the changes are based on listening to their customers, but the single biggest thing I hear on EVERY forum and social media site is a need to update the rotary sim. So... DO they listen to customers or not? yamahamusicians.com/yamaha-updates-yc-stage-keyboards-to-os-v1-1/

@@WoodyPianoShack Hmmm ... Yamaha says the updater is available beginning Jan 14th, but I've scoured the site and found nothing but a couple of brief mentions. Maybe it's available in the UK, but not yet in the US?

@@vanessajazp6341 available now, i found it, hunt around a bit, 1gb with all the new piano samples

@@WoodyPianoShack At last ... found it. It’s like hide and seek almost, geez.

lot of players raving about the vent yeah!

yeah you can tweak that, i never had an issue with the speed tbf.

yc has better features in every department, but I prefer the fatar keybed on electro, so tough one to call.

hmm, yeah, that makes sense!

so far nobody complaining about a 50 minute demo, always pushing the limits of YT typical viewer attention span :)

Sorry for coming here late! Everything about Leslie, apart from the history fact that the holy Hammond wasn't interested in the Leslie speaker at all and not before Suzuki got both of it, Leslie and Hammond. Of course Yamaha has its own character / interpretation of the RS but and I think it should be the player's interpretation of how to use it. Before I played a Yamaha organ, I had a Hohner organ with a lovely Leslie and some people may remember the Hohner ORT 100 Leslie speaker. Happy if you still have one! Woody doing an awesome job and Floyd you're right about how well he does show us in this limited timeframe (well in a time when people get bored about videos longer than 30s xD ) I've watched some amazing playing of the YC with Mike Patrick too, he handles the YC really well!

they seems to have in mind the L-100 that Keith Emerson stabbed and reaped at the end of ELP’s concerts…

It's almost unbelievable but take a Ketron Arranger Keybaord (p.e. SD9) an hear the rotary sound.

Its kinda interesting, cause Yamaha always had some decent "base" organ sounds. I have used both the Yamaha TX-802 and some of their "Arrangers" and the base organ sound is ok. Their leslie sims always failed tho. I Used an old Dynachord CLS-22 on both my TX-802 and the PSR-9000 Pro, and it was miles better than even the newer sims they use in Tyros line and the genos, and even the expensive Genos can't keep up. Quite weird as Yamaha have a great reputation in making advanced DSP ever since the dawn of digital processing, making some of the best reverbs, DSP processors, digital mixers etc, and the DSP is one of the great things especially in the newer Tyros models and the Genos, but a leslie sim they never managed to do well.

The new 1.2 update has improved the YC Series Leslie immensely, as well as adding some really cool new FM organs. Check it out!

​@@ianperesmusic It certainly does !.... it's been long time coming, but the new Leslie sim is a BIG improvement. I would say it's now pretty much as good as my Neo Vent. I never thought I would ever be saying that...... :)

no it doesn't, that just turns down the hiss & hum, did you hear what I was talking about?

@@WoodyPianoShack Hi. Yes I hear the harmonic that your mention. On some of the old Hammond vsti's I used to hear something similar when the rotary was turned on and was wondering if that was the issue. I've got a YC-61 arriving today and will check it out.

@@richardpenrose1968 congrats, you'll love it i''m sure, i'm still tweaking and finding great sounds every day!

yeah i put it on whilst demoing the sound without leslie and overlooked it for a while, lot of stuff to keep on top of!

yeah, i'm with you, weighted 73 a very strange choice for an organ focused keyboard, especially when CP73 is available for the piano guys. congrats on the new board, you'll love it I'm sure!

@@WoodyPianoShack Thanks, would a CP73 next (under via Midi) be a nice choice? You have plenty keyboards there, is it an idea to make a YT clip about a YC61 with second manual via a 2nd keyboard?

The YC61 has some great piano voices, which can benefit from being played from a fully 'weighted' keyboard... I use my old Yamaha P105 as a second keyboard to my YC61. You might look at the P121 ? Less money than the CP73 - although you will need a MIDI/USB host device like the Kenton to interface the P.121

trouble is you can't emulate that unless you have a keyboard with 9 contacts, right? might come close with velocity control, but not the same.

@@WoodyPianoShack Hammond's XK series does it with a regular velocity key bed and I believe VB3 does it using a similar mechanism of dividing the velocities and assigning them to reach drawbar.

I downloaded Blue3 to check and it does have contact emulation. I don't know how accurate it is by comparison, maybe an organizer could tell.

@@BrunodeSouzaLino yes they do it with a regular key bed but one of the newer ones with 3 sensors, so they group 3 (virtual) busbars per sensor and afaik you can also adjust a slight delay within the group and i think also which busbar is located on which group. so it is not completely the same as a real vintage hammond (or the "new B3") with 9 individual contacts, but it comes very close and makes the difference in sound and feel. but i think the most important thing for the best sound is still a REAL leslie/rotating cabinet. you will have so much more fun, even with a mediocre hammond clone. i started with an XB2 right 25 years ago, and the digital leslie was just shit. i was quite disappointed. but in the same year i got an L122 and suddenly it was amazing! it is just the complexity of the sound ... all the reflexions and transmissions in the cabinet itself etc .. still cannot be simulated 100% obviously. they have come quite close now, really close and it is good for some backing chord tracks or so (or practising etc with headphones). - but then take an ordinary mic and record a real leslie (with a B3 in the best case of course) in mono from a random place next to it and it will just sound awesome. hot. sexy. you can hear the difference in andreas' video.

@@Jenairaslebol27merde It's hard to determine because of how the story of both devices crossed paths. Laurens Hammond didn't like the speaker and, consequently, Donald Leslie didn't like the Hammond either. He tried to sell the Leslie speaker to the Hammond company, but was refused and they even changed the pinout in their proprietary plug to prevent the speaker from being used. I don't know how reliably you would get the same sound running a Farfisa, Vox or Wulitzer through a Leslie because I've never done it. There's a free plugin version of the L122 you can find. I believe many people despise it because it's not a tone wheel organ and because many of the defects present in the B3, like the key click, were fixed.

xp50player that's not what your wife says...

B-3x is the kind of organs. So real sounding. So lush. I can hear the wood in the cabinets .

coincidentally they released both today!

@@WoodyPianoShack I thought I dreamt it haha. Lockdown madness.

totally agree with you, if on, then it was by mistake, lot to keep in mind when doing these demos and easy to overlook stuff, sorry!

thanks for clearing that up!