With sampled sounds, digital effects and an on-board multi track sequencer, the SQ16 shouts it loud and proud - a home keyboard's place is not (necessarily) in the home...

Auto-accompaniment keyboards have long been derided by synth players for their 'playalongasong' ethos, dated accompaniment styles and inferior sound-generating technology. Yet, in truth, this kind of keyboard has been doing a lot of catching up in recent years, and nowadays the more sophisticated ones can stand proud alongside their synth brethren.

Yamaha's latest keyboard, the PSR-SQ16, is a case in point. One of the most sophisticated 'home' keyboards currently available, it has all the ingredients required of a contemporary workstation instrument: a 61-note velocity-sensitive keyboard, a wide range of sampled instrumental sounds, 'drum kit'-style arrangements of sampled drum and percussion sounds, digital effects processing, an onboard multitrack sequencer, MIDI connections and a built-in 3.5" disk drive.

Other features which show the SQ16 to be a thoroughly modern instrument are a General MIDI patch configuration mode, the ability to sustain sounds across patch changes, and the ability to read/write sequences in Standard MIDI Files format. This latter feature allows sequences to be transferred via disk between the SQ16 and a wide range of sequencing packages running on Atari ST, Apple Macintosh and PC-compatible computers.

At the same time, being a keyboard rather than a synth, the SQ has built-in stereo speakers and an auto-accompaniment section - in this case one which offers 269 styles divided into three types of accompaniment: full (100), part (100) and rhythm (69). Full auto-accompaniments provide Intro, Main, Fill1, Fill2 and Ending sections, with A and B Variations in each case (one accompaniment is 'fuller' than the other). The Part accompaniments omit the Variations, while the Rhythm accompaniments consist only of Main rhythm patterns - the idea being that you can copy the patterns into the SQ's sequencer and use them within your own music.

This crossover between the preset and the programmable is characteristic of keyboard instruments these days. The SQ16 allows you to copy entire Full and Part accompaniments into its 16-track onboard sequencer, where you can edit them to your taste. You can also store edited accompaniments into any one of eight programmable accompaniment memories, where they can be used in the same way as preset accompaniments. No longer are you confined to the styles provided by the manufacturer.

Another significant feature of Yamaha's latest keyboard is its 56-voice polyphony, which puts many a synth to shame. In fact, this polyphony is divided equally among two banks of Voices (patches), meaning that any one Voice can be played with at most 28-voice polyphony - still a very reasonable figure by today's standards.

Yamaha's AWM sampled sound technology, already familiar to synth players from the SY series instruments, lies at the heart of the PSR-SQ16. However, it's not the latest, cleanest generation of AWM technology as used on the company's recent workstation synth, the SY85.

The SQ16 has what I would term a 'gutsy' sound, with plenty of punch and body where needed and a certain amount of noise where, according to your taste, it may or may not be needed. Noise is particularly noticeable on a number of the basses in their lower range, but when they're used in ensemble this doesn't detract from their effectiveness. In a similar vein, to my mind the SQ16's clunky acoustic pianos are more effective in ensemble than they are as solo instruments. Brass, synth and pad sounds are among the most effective sounds on the SQ16, while overall the guitars are much less successful. The keyboard really scores with its drum and percussion sounds, however; these have a strong contemporary flavour to them, with plenty of vitality and 'attitude'.

SQ16 rhythm tracks really leap out of the speakers and grab you by the scruff of the neck. Clean and polite they are not. Drop a funky synthbass and a punchy orchestral hit over the top and you've got an aggressive, modern sound which doesn't conform to traditional notions of what auto-accompaniment keyboards sound like.

Similarly, the SQ16's accompaniments stomp all over the styles traditionally associated with 'home' keyboards. The Full accompaniments do include a small March & Waltz section which provides traditional 6/8 marches, polkas and Viennese waltzes, but these seem a mere afterthought on Yamaha's part. Categories such as Dance & Pop, Funk & Soul, Jazz & Swing, r'n'b and Caribbean demonstrate clearly where the SQ16 is 'coming from'. More specifically, the PSR's auto-accompaniment styles include dixieland, boogie woogie, fusion, disco, house, soul ballad, gospel, pop shuffle, heavy metal, rock 'n' roll, Cuban pop, soca, calypso, hi-life... You get the idea. But are they any good? The answer is a resounding yes. The 'world' rhythms in particular fire on all cylinders.

As usual on auto-accompaniment keyboards, the accompaniment follows the harmonies you play in the lower half of the keyboard. In Single Finger mode, you select one of four chord types by playing the root note (for a major chord) or the root note and the black and/or white note to its left (for minor, major and dominant seventh chords); in other words, you don't actually need to have any knowledge of chord structures. With Fingered 1 mode selected, you play the actual chords; the SQ recognises 17 chord types, but nothing beyond seventh chords.

Fingered 2 is slightly more sophisticated in that it recognises chord inversions and puts the appropriate note in the bass. Incidentally, you can drop out all parts except the rhythm at any time simply by playing three consecutive notes on the keyboard; to bring the parts back in again you just play a chord.

A function known as Note Processor allows you to select harmonisations or rhythmic effects to be applied to the notes which you play in the upper part of the keyboard. Harmonies give you a choice of open and close chord voicings - with or without strumming - while the rhythmic effects (which can be synchronised to the tempo if you want) provide pan and polyphonic echo, tremolo and glissando at various rates.

Using the 16 Keyboard Channel buttons located centrally on the SQ16's cluttered and initially rather bewildering front panel, you can quickly assign any one Voice to the keyboard, or layer anything from 2-16 Voices to create some amazing composite sounds. A two-way keyboard split can easily be created, with user-programmable splitpoint, and you can record into two sequencer tracks using this split texture - for instance, record bass and piano parts together. As you can record multiple tracks at once, layered textures are also easy to record. You can record into the sequencer from an external MIDI source, so, for example, you could record rhythm parts from a set of electronic drum pads.

Each Keyboard Channel can be assigned a Voice (or be set to Local Off ie. it will play via MIDI only) together with settings for Volume Level, Pan Position, Effect Depth, Vibrato Depth and Fine and Coarse Tuning Amounts. Beyond this, sound programming is not part of the SQ16's world.

Using the keyboard's onboard sequencer you can record your own music from scratch, or you can use the auto-accompaniments and simply record a melody line on top. Track nine can be used to record just your left-hand chord voicings - from which the SQ will derive its harmonies. Alternatively, you can record an auto-accompaniment into tracks 10-16, in which case the actual notes generated for the accompaniment are recorded. You can then go in and edit any aspect of the accompaniment, and drop individual parts in and out on playback using the Sequencer buttons. Accompaniments recorded in this way can become user-created accompaniment styles or provide the basis of your own songs.

The sequencer provides both real-time (Rewrite, Overdub and Punch In/Out) and step-time recording options, and has a not particularly generous maximum record resolution of 48ppqn. Both forms of recording have been straightforwardly implemented. Sequencer edit functions provided are Quantise, Velocity Offset, Transpose, Clear, Copy, Cut, Paste and Insert, all of which can act on any range of bars within the selected track. Editing operations can also be limited to a note range. All in all, you get a generous degree of editing flexibility for an onboard sequencer, whether on a synth or a keyboard.

In the keyboard market the PSR-SQ16 ranks as one of the most powerful, versatile and flexible instruments available - in a number of ways it even betters some more expensive keyboards (including Yamaha's own PSR-6700 flagship). Features such as 56-note polyphony, General MIDI and Standard MIDI Files support, a 16-track onboard sequencer and a built-in disk drive all put the SQ16 at the forefront of keyboard design, while its sounds and accompaniment styles give it a welcome contemporary character far removed from the traditional image of the 'home' keyboard.

With its somewhat cramped and cluttered front-panel layout, the SQ16 isn't the most approachable of keyboards, but it's definitely worth persevering with. If you're a musical and/or a hi-tech novice, keyboard workstations are an ideal starting point - and none more so than the SQ16. You can start out with some instant gratification by playing around with the accompaniments, then gradually progress through creating your own styles to your own songs, and begin exploring the wider MIDI world. And with Standard MIDI Files song storage you can move on to a computer-based sequencing package at a later stage, safe in the knowledge that your songs can be imported into the sequencer.

Finally, if you're not sure whether a keyboard or a synth would be your best bet, compare what the PSR-SQ16 and the SY85 (reviewed MT November '92) have to offer and see which approach you prefer.

Price: £1199 including VAT

More from: Yamaha-Kemble Music (UK) Ltd. (Contact Details)