Keep in mind that the MSPS (Modular Synthesis Plugin System, aka PLG) boards for the 9000Pro (and many other Yamaha devices, including the SW1000XG pro-quality PCI sound card for PCs, the S-03/30/80 line, the CS6x, the Motif line, the higher-end MU models, etc. etc. etc.) don’t work like other expansion cards for other brands. Theirs are for the most part just ROM memory loaded with more wave samples and presets. MSPS cards, on the other hand, add whole new synthesis and/or effects engines to the unit, enabling it to do whole new types of things it could not do before. Even the two that don’t really add new synthesis methods and do seem to merely add new AWM2 wavetable sounds in ROM(the PLG-150XG and and PLG-150PF boards) are still adding new AWM2 engines (which means more actual polyphony) and effects processors (more reverb, chorus, etc. units that can be assigned, added to the ones the host device already has!).

The others, though, not only add new engines and effects, but also (with the exception of the PLG-150VH) new synthesis methods! The VH board adds vocal harmony to devices that don’t already have it (the 9000pro would not need it, obviously), and may be able to add more harmony voices to those that do. But the really powerful ones are the PLG-150AN (emulates a Yamaha AN1X analog-modelled synthesizer, which in turn emulates the classic Prophet 5, the first mass-produced polyphonic analog synthesizer), the PLG-150DX (emulates the classic Yamaha DX-7 and its successors in the world of eight-voice six-operator FM synthesis), and my favorite, the PLG-150VL (emulates the Yamaha VL series of physically-modelled Virtual Lead synthesizers). Each of these works not by sampling the sounds of the Prophet 5 or DX 7 or real physical lead instruments into AWM2 samples in ROM, but by actually duplicating how those instruments worked! You don’t just get the sounds, you get all the powers (and then some) of those original instruments! The AN board can do frequency (with sync and/or ring mod, etc.) and filter sweeps, LFOs, etc. in real time, just like the original Prophet 5. Unlike the Prophet 5, all of that power can be controlled by MIDI! The DX board can change the frequencies, levels, envelopes, feedback levels, etc. of FM algorithms in real time, just like the original DX-7. Unlike the DX-7, this power is accessible through MIDI!

Not exactly. The VL card adds over 300 new voices that are physically modelled as opposed to sampled. The one disadvantage of this is that it is so computation-heavy that at present the Yamaha VL units, including the VL card, are limited to producing one note at a time. But what a note! This is intended for either a solo/melody line or an extra-powerful and expressive bass line, with the regular wave-sampled sounds from the host device (and/or perhaps another PLG card, say, a PF or XG or AN or DX) providing the backup sounds. You can switch which instrument is being used, as I did with the above song (when I modified it from the original found on the NTonyX website), but you can only use one at any one time and it can only play one note at any one time.

Also, most of the voices don’t sound all that great when you just press keys on the keyboard. The power of VL is in the expressiveness, and to get that you need to have additional input above and beyond what can be done with keyboards alone (even with aftertouch). A foot pedal (not the switch type, but the kind that is similar to an organ’s expression pedal) can help here, but for best results you need to obtain either a Breath Controller or a Wind Controller. A Breath Controller fits in your mouth and plugs into a special jack on the back of the host unit, while a Wind Controller looks like a small clarinet or some such and has its own MIDI Out jack that can plug into a MIDI In jack. If you play solo, you would use a Breath Controller. If you have someone who knows how to play, say, a clarinet or a soprano sax, you can have them use a Wind Controller (the keying patterns are the same). Both detect breath pressure, and some even detect lip-shape (embouchure), tonguing, biting, and other things wind players do to alter the tonality of their sounds. My sample song above used special PC software to simulate Breath Controller input to the VL, but that’s not an option with an arranger keyboard — you need live Breath Controller input. As one review stated, VL sounds only come alive when you breathe life into them yourself.

The VL preset sounds include far more than just winds, brasses, solo bowed and plucked strings, etc. You also get combination sounds that don’t exist in reality, such as what a clarinet might sound like if it had a flute mouthpiece! You also get out-of-this-world synth and sound effects sounds like Space Horse (move the Mod Wheel up and it “whinnies”!), Waterphone (I can not describe this one! You just have to hear it!), and Jurassic (simulates various dinosaur roars), all with powerful real-time expressiveness that no wavetable sample could possibly achieve! Some months ago I posted a list of the default VL voices with brief notes on what they do and what expressive effects they have.