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Minisynth Supplement

Yamaha Portasound PC-100

Article from Electronics & Music Maker, November 1982



This latest addition to Yamaha's Portasound range is intended to be a revolutionary product that lets you enjoy playing and learning keyboard music in a variety of ways; obviously Yamaha have set themselves a difficult task to accomplish in a small keyboard, and yet in many ways they've achieved their aims with a certain flair not often seen these days.

The major feature on the learning side of the instrument is its use of the 'PlayCard' system, which is capable of programming and replaying melody, bass, chords, arpeggio and rhythm for an entire song. Each song is contained on a 13 x 9cm card bearing conventional top line musical notation, chord symbols, and a magnetic strip along the bottom carrying the programming information. As the melody plays, an indicator light goes on above the note sounding at the time (red for white notes, yellow for black) and it is possible to cancel the melody line and play it back by hand, following the indicator lights or the music score. After being pushed through the slot along the top of the instrument which contains the card reading head, the Playcard stands in the position of a normal music rest; eventually the aim is that the user will learn to play directly from the score and be able to switch off the indicator lights (using lamp cancel). The twelve cards provided range from the very simple 'Do-Re-Mi' to quite complex tunes such as Take the A Train', via an incredible version of 'Night Fever'!

After mastering right-hand technique, the learner can add one-finger chords read from the score by cancelling the autochord/bass facility. The remaining rhythms and arpeggios have individual volume sliders to balance the overall sound, and it's also possible to transpose all the functions up or down by anything up to half an octave, using the large dial on the left of the keyboard; this helps when accompanying a singer or, for instance, an instrument such as the B flat saxophone.

Although the magnetic strip selects an ideal rhythm and sound for each tune, this can be changed by the user after starting. There are ten rhythms and ten polyphonic sounds, selected by the now familiar system of five switches and a sixth 'a or b' selector. The organ and vibraphone sounds are particularly good, with added key-click and a slow tremolo respectively, while the violin and some other presets have a fixed delayed vibrato. The rhythm sounds are bright and convincingly metallic, certainly not a simple burst of white noise, and with autobass, arpeggios and sustain all in use the overall effect is very enjoyable.

The PC100 voice and rhythm selection controls.


Sound generation is by Yamaha's Pulse Analogue Synthesis System, P.A.S.S., first used on the large home organs such as the C and D Series. Polyphony is provided by a multiplex system based almost entirely on 3 large custom-designed Yamaha ICs, together with half-a-dozen standard CMOS devices. The card reader uses two CMOS RAM ICs for storing the tunes, and once you've mastered sliding the PlayCard through at an acceptable speed, programming becomes very rapid and efficient.

As a learning machine, then, the PC-100 is highly versatile and adaptable. There's even a 'free tempo' control which slows the rhythm down until you've correctly played the next note of the melody, so there's no chance of falling behind. The keyboard, although miniaturised, is pleasant to use with a fair degree of 'push-back' and the 3½ octave span (F1 - C5) coupled with the clarity of the polyphonic sounds makes the PC-100 a pretty reasonable performance instrument as well. It's stylishly designed with a lacquered ABS resin body, comes in a futuristic-looking plastic case, and has a built-in speaker, headphone socket and a range of power supply options.

The selection of PlayCards available is very wide, including Classics, Pop, Walt Disney, Abba and Stevie Wonder, and so the appeal to learners is obvious; on the other hand the quality of the PC-100's sounds is high enough to appeal to the more accomplished musician in search of portable entertainment as well - and so another all-round success for Yamaha!

The Yamaha PC100 is distributed in the UK by Kemble Yamaha, (Contact Details)

Specifications

  • Keyboard: 44 keys (F1 - C5)
  • Playcard System: Repeat, Lamp Cancel, Free Tempo, Melody Cancel, Play, 30 Melody Lamps.
  • Orchestra Section: Organ, Piccolo, Trumpet, Violin, Clarinet, Oboe, Piano, Harpsichord, Guitar, Vibraphone. Sustain.
  • Rhythm Section: March, Disco, Waltz, Slow Rock, Jazz Rock, 16 Beat, Swing, Bossanova, Rhumba, Samba. Synchro Start, Tempo, Volume, Tempo Light.
  • Arpeggio: Volume.
  • Auto Bass/Chord Section: Single Finger Chord, Variation, Volume. Other Controls and Indicators Power Switch, Power-On Light, Master Volume, Transposer (% octave high and low), Pitch Control.
  • Auxiliary Jacks: Headphones, Aux-out, Expression Pedal, DC 9-12V Input.
  • Amplifier/Speaker: 1.4W (RMS)/7.7cm.
  • Power: DC 9V using 6 x 1.5V batteries, AC power adaptor, or car battery adaptor.
  • Dimensions: 62.3(W) x 18.6(D) x 4.3(H)cm.
  • Weight: 2.0Kg (4.4lbs) (excluding batteries and case).
  • Price: £345



Previous Article in this issue

Micro Music

Next article in this issue

Technics SX-K200


Publisher: Electronics & Music Maker - Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing.

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Electronics & Music Maker - Nov 1982

Minisynth Supplement

Gear in this article:

Keyboard - Home/Personal > Yamaha > PC-100

Review

Previous article in this issue:

> Micro Music

Next article in this issue:

> Technics SX-K200


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