My first two MM6 keyboards came in today. I've had a chance to play a little. It's just like any Yamaha PSR or DGX type keyboard in it's structure. The keyboard is a breeze for me to play because of my arranger knowlege.
The sounds are part PSR and part Motif. Mega sounds, Sweet sounds, cool sounds are here.
The addition of Yamaha's arpeggiator is nice for the mega guitar sounds. Strums and fingerpicking is easy when using the Arpeggios. You can split, layer and play patterns in fingered mode quite easily. The styles are arranged first as complete styles with multiple tracks, then the same with bass and drums and then the same with drums only.
The performance memory has 3 banks where you can save what style, sounds, splits, layers and tempos.
the song mode works like the DGX. You can record your pattern and then 7 more tracks.
It's extremely light weight and looks very pro and is priced very affordably.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

and george i think you should add that there are no intros and endings on any of the styles/patterns, no variation to styles apart from one generic "fill" button, no user editing and no storage..plus the chord recognition engine does not see slash chords...

Here's a question on the MM6 I can't seem to answer looking at the manual: does it have any kind of "swing" quantize? ie, is it possible to change the feel of an onboard pattern?

was very surprised to see in the manual that because of the way they split the styles (as George described above, w/ full orch, just bass and drums, just drums), there are really only 56 different patterns.

will it read/play midi styles off a usb stick I wonder....

and actually, miden, according to the pdf version of the manual there ARE variations, four per style just like the psr 3000...

yeah tom i think you might be right on that oops!!, but there are still no intros/endings..and if its anything like the es series arps, when you switch it off it just cuts off immediately!!! very unnatural....hence the need for at least endings..its a computer tool really, i would not imagine it being very good for live, unless its as a sound module only...although having said that i suppose you could run, say, a psr's midi out to this unit and get it playing the superb es sounds but with the psr arranger data...(no good for me as i already have a s90es, and i actually need the arranger data not the sounds!!)
cheers
dennis

here's some info form the yamaha forums site, from phil clendenin....
"It does not have the capability to Load a MIDI file. You can playback a 16 Part MIDI file from an external sequencer and the MM6 will be able to play it back - but it has no ability to load a MIDI file. You can Load that MIDI file to Cubase LE using the IMPORT > MIDI FILE option, and play it to the MM6.

It does not appear in the Load screen because you cannot load it. You can only load a file you make with MM6 - USER SONG."
hope that helps
dennis

[This message has been edited by miden (edited 02-12-2007).]

this is not good.SMF playback with no outboard gear could've save the day for most seq only gigs/live.

Ha-ha! So it is actually a sound module. Despite the mega sounds it is far more limited than the new PSR S500 which sells for only $100 more.

Can't do hiphop on a PSR......

Looks like some of us will be digging out our old Datadisks!

So far I am not impressed.

Ian

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Cha d’dhùin doras nach d’fhosgail doras.

In the UK the S500 is typically £50 ($95) less then the MM6.

Bill

This new MM6 was not and is not designed to function like the "workstation" based Motifs. If Yammie did that and priced it around the current price of the MM6 or slightly higher they wouldn't sell any MO8's or Mo6's.

The MM6 was Yamaha's way of giving people a keyboard with Motif based sounds, and real-time control and keeping the price down. This board is nothing more than a budget "instant groove keyboard". It's exactly what the original DJX was with some additions and some features taken away.

Yes, you can do hip hop on this unit if you use the included Cubase software. Besides, I would never rely on an arrangers sequencer or "style recorder" to create hip hop beats. It's the wrong platform. You need a pattern sequencer--where you're not limited and restricted to keeping tracks within a specific key signature.

Personally given all the features on the unit, I feel the MM6 is a little overpriced and based on its features I think the $499 range is more reasonable for this type of budget keyboard.

Of course this MM6 is an arranger so obviously catching the attention of zoner's now. However, to be honest--if you want to create modern music in this price range I would strongly suggest the Roland Juno-D over the MM6. The Juno has a modern sound set, and its features are more on a pro level than the MM6. The Juno-D is more of a "synth" than the MM6 too. It too ships with sequencing software (Cubase Le). One major goody the Juno-D has over the MM6 is the Juno-D has "Editor Software" too. The Juno-D and MM6 are in the same price category.

If you want the instant gratification "out of the box" that is typically associated with arrangers then the MM6 will work for you (as long as you understand its limitations, and don't expect it to function like the actual Motifs).

If you want a more "real" synth with a modern sound set, ability to store custom voices, arps, and performances, editor software and sequencer software, then I'd suggest you get the Juno-D. The Juno-D has some great re-creations of classic Juno sounds too. You can get some nice "phat" pads, leads, and basses from the Juno-D.

If you want to hear and see the Juno-D Demos here's the link.
http://rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=429&ParentId=83



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 02-13-2007).]

a few points I didn't see before:
You can play single fingered mode, fingered mode or full keyboard mode. At first I thought there was only "fingered mode". Actually, there is Yamaha's multi-mode and full keyboard mode. Multi lets you play single fingered style chords (maj, min, 7th and m7) or multi fingered chords and full plays three note chords anywhere on the keybaord.
Also, I said there were 3 banks of performances and again I was wrong, there are 8.
Also, I plugged my flash drive into the keyboard and my 500 midi files play directly from the flash drive like on the PSR3000, PSRS500 and Tyros2.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

There is one user location where I can load a Yamaha Style from my flash drive.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

In comparison if this is fair, how does the MM6 features compete with the Roland GW7? Or is it comparable?

Thanks,

-Lin

Good question Linda. You would have to look at the features to see what you'd really miss and what you would and wouldn't use really.

The GW-7 has more poly (64 I think)
The GW-7 has user slots for custom voices

The MM6 soundset is based on the Motif Classic
The GW-7 has its own soundset, but also has a lot of ethnic voices too

Both are limited in their sequencers. The GW-7 will give you 16 tracks though where as the MM6 only gives you 8

The GW-7 will function better for more traditional styles. The MM6 is geared for modern music

Neither unit will allow you to record user styles

I think construction quality on the GW-7 just might have the edge on the MM6

The MM6 is going to have mega voices, and it has some good acoustic guitar arps too.

This is good enough.Sequence/edit @ home with cubase and bring flash drive to gig for SMF playback.How fast is it?like 3k?Can you change basic stuff like volume/pan in realtime?

You'll also have a USB midi controller with 4 knobs,mod wheel,both sustain and controller in,midi ins/outs and most importantly 11 lbs.GREAT.


[This message has been edited by jamman (edited 02-13-2007).]

George: did the styles from yr USB pen drive behave the way they do on a yammie arranger?

could you, for example, play the style, change drum kits and tempos?

that makes it a lot more useful if so...

thanks...

another question: does anybody know if it's possible to change the swing feel (ie, straight 8th notes to shuffle 8th notes) on onboard styles in the mm6?

Let's just put a lot of questions to rest..... If you don't want to play PRIMARILY hiphop, rap, techno and urban music, STOP READING!

This is NOT a PSR. There are no ballroom styles, no 50's and 60's styles, no trad latin.

Look elsewhere unless you WANT to sound current, hip and urban. Buy one for your kids, they will love it, you will hate it (unless you buy them headphones too!).....

There, that saved you a bunch of time, didn't it....?!

That's right Diki! If you're a person looking for an arranger for the classic and more traditional styles, then ya better look past the MM6. Aint no polkas on this puppy Plus if you look at the pattern list and the names for the patterns you'll see that even the patterns like jazz ect have a twist to them.

Diki is right. If you want a traditional arranger, buy something else. If you want a very good sounding, inexpensive Synth with cool contemporary styles and a decent but limited seq. then look here!


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

thanks for the replies...I get that this isn't a traditional arranger. still, even with very limited onboard editing capabilities, it seems close to being a solution for some, if only because the drum sets of Motif lineage have sharper individual samples than those of the psr series.
and if it does read midi or .sty files, that will multiply its usefulness for some.

people use arrangers in all different ways, and despite the either/or tone of the above posts, there may be some who want a credible jazz waltz style or a polka AND decent hiphop/R&B/electronica styles. (which, in my opinion, are weak in the psrs). if the MM6, which doesn't offer that many onboard "patterns," can be expanded via a USB pen drive, that seems worth knowing.

If you want ONE keyboard for normal stuff, and another for contemporary, I think most (if it's in their budget) would be better served by a workstation as the second keyboard.

Take a listen to the new Korg M3...... un-freakin'-believable!! Too expensive (though they DO have a module version)? Maybe a Karma, or MotifES Rack, Juno-G, etc., etc.. Most of these have the capability to grow more that the MM6.

But if you are on a tight budget, and play for the kids now and again, this might be the ticket.....!

are there good amount of ROCK styles in MM, how are they ?

Motifator.com has good demos..... but I haven't heard anything I'd call 'rock', but maybe I'm old school.....!

hey diki, word around the korg traps is that the M3 61 note could be at about $2699 msrp, and the module would be close to that...at that price its looking possible...that M3 module will be an absolute killer (provided the user likes tweaking!!!!)
dennis

That's inaccurate. I own a MM6 and of course you can load a MIDI file from the USB drive. But by "load" I mean "play". I think you can't load it as a user song to edit it.