Yamaha S30


Yamaha S30
by Tom Hensley
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The Yamaha S30 is a 61-note keyboard with aftertouch. You might call it the "S80 Lite" if you're familiar with its grander sibling. The S30 features the identical synthesis architecture and sound banks of the popular S80, with 64-note polyphony (expandable and variable), 64 multi-mode resonant filters and 24 mB ROM.

On-board voices include 256 presets with stereo-sampled pianos, strings, brass, guitars and synths of all varieties. Eliminating the 88-note weighted keyboard of the S80 brings the manufacturers suggested retail price down to $1,295, an appealing deal if you already have a controller or just plain prefer a Yamaha synth keyboard feel.

Having only two audio outputs limits the S30's use as a multitimbral tone generator in the project studio, although the many effects on board might tempt you to mix multiple tracks right in the box. Gigging musicians will find the 128 performance setups useful, with the factory assortment of splits and layers offering lots of one-man-band potential. There's a 128-pattern arpeggiator as well as an on-board sequencer that will only playback Standard MIDI Files (SMF).

The synth engine is expandable using Yamaha's PLG Modular Synthesis Plug-in Expansion boards--you can spring for a DX7 card, or for a plug-in piano expansion card that adds an additional 64 notes of polyphony...enough for all but the most dogged of sustain pedal junkies. Play piano on a 61-note synth keyboard? That's between you and your own inner demons.

Onboard sounds are well-organized and grouped by instrument type. The orchestral sounds probably won't make you rush out to sell your samplers, but the synths and pads seem useful and the drum sounds are appropriately varied. There are 128 memory locations for user-programmed sounds and four assignable controller knobs front and center, making chosen parameters available for quick tweaking.

The user interface is penetrable, and the manual is readable if not eloquent. The S30 has a connector for linking to MACs or PCs. I didn't try out the bundled XGWorks 3.0 Lite Sequencing and Editing CD-ROM, since it runs on PC's only. Yamaha plans to offer a free version of MOTU's Freestyle that flys on MAC's and PC's. S30 owners should write to Yamaha DMI and include a copy of their sales receipt.

For more information on the S30 Synthesizer write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Digital Musical Instruments, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail to: info@yamaha.com or visit www.yamaha.com on the Web.

Tom Hensley, an LA session stalwart in the 1970s, spent the last 25 years playing keyboards in the Neil Diamond band. He composes and records multimedia music in his cluttered garage retreat, piled high with Macs and "gear of all ages."

Edited by: Barry Rudolph

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