Upon closer examination of the voice list, I noticed the MM6 has only a limited number of the 'live', 'cool', 'sweet', and 'mega' voices...not ALL of those which we've come to love and appreciate. I guess Yamaha didn't want to give us too much at this price!

Well I honestly didn't expect them to include all of them Still for the price of this unit it's just a nice added bonus to see the Mega Voices. Sweet, Cool, and Live Voices were I guess to be expected, but the Mega voices are a nice surprise (even if it's just a few)

This new MM-6 really is the "re-birth" of the DJX series IMO. The original DJX was a HUGE HIT, and I wore mine out!! I think this is Yammies way of bringing the DJX back, but now making sure it gets taken more seriously this time--by including it as part of the Motif line, and carrying over Motif Classic features.

The MM-6 is an arranger geared towards "modern" styles such as rap, hip hop, and R&B. That is "exactly" what the original DJX was designed for.

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 01-18-2007).]

yeah it does seem better and better squeak, but importantly, with modern styles in mind, i could not see anywhere in the manual that it supports slash chords...i have posted the question on the mm6 forum, so perhaps dave or phil can let us know...and still nothing from namm as yet...i am like you, this would be an "add-on" board
dennis

I expressed concerns about the PSR-S500 not supporting slash (on bass) chords, and I feel any instrument not allowing such chords as not intended for professionals...or at the very least, serious players.

Not only do many songs contain these chords, it would also severely limit a composer, reducing the types of chord voicing available.

I hope this is not the case with the MM6...if it is, I for one, will not take this instrument too seriously.

Ian

------------------
Remember to leave good news alone.

Do you guys actually LISTEN to much hiphop? You hear many slash chords there? (you hear much in the way of a chord structure at all?)

Don't forget, hiphop is not put together the same way as conventional music at all, more a montage of beats and sampled riffs. Trying to apply older song construction ideas to hiphop usually destroys it....

Diki you beat me to it man! I was just about to say the same thing You'll get chords in hip hip, but the "slash" chords aren't there often.

The best way to construct hip hop is via pattern sequencing. The linear sequencer on the MM-6 will be a nice sketch pad, but if you want to really rip out some Hip Hop or Rap on the MM-6 you'll need to use the Cubase Le software that ships with it. The software has me curious though. Will Yammie include "full instrument Defs" to open up the "entire" voice set for recording, or will we have to write those on our own...??

Also another thing I like is that the MM-6 has the "Motif Classic" Power Grand. I like the Classic Power Grand much better than the PSR pianos.

I also am impressed with the arps. Even though you can't create user arps they did include some really good ones from the Motif Classic. There are many good acoustic and electric guitar arps on the MM-6.

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 01-18-2007).]

Diki,

I agree with your view that some hip hop may not contain slash chords, but that's no reason to limit the chord recognition to voicing that are only based on the root.

It would be nice to have the OPTION of arpeggios that could work from a pedal tone, and root only chords would certainly limit any experimentation on the part of the user.

The arpeggiator on the PSR-E403 will do pedal tone arps when in full keyboard mode....perhaps the MM6 will as well.

Ian



------------------
Remember to leave good news alone.

diki and squeak i disagree, a lot of time you get a repeating root running with chords changing and evolving over them(even if they are only roots and fifths), they are in effect a slash chord, not your standard ones sometimes but they still are...
dennis

[This message has been edited by miden (edited 01-18-2007).]

yeah squeak, agree with the piano choice, its one of the pianos on the S90es (under a diffent name!) but it cuts well in a mix
dennis

Well, we've been begging for ages for regular hiphop ability in ordinary arrangers with no luck, so asking for regular arranger capability in a hiphop keyboard might be a bit futile (especially at it's price point)....

Let's just hope that this thing takes off like a rocket, and you might actually see some of it's capabilities trickle UP, for a change!

But I expect that Yamaha's (and all the other's) market research show that the hiphop and ballroom crowd are pretty much mutually exclusive (in general terms), so if ever much of this sound-set and arpeggiation ability makes it to a REAL arranger, expect to see very little except complaints from the older crowd.

And if you put older styles in the MM6, expect to see the hiphop crowd bail on it like a bad white rapper.....