One thing that bothers me is that most of the organ voices, but not the adjustable organ flute voices, do not sustain when you press the sustain pedal. There is a very quick decay, just a tad more than no pedal at all. I never remember having this issue with any of my other PSR's.

All the other voices sustain when the sustain pedal is pressed - except for voices that have a rapid decay like glockenspiel.

This bugs me because I am used to using the sustain pedal with the organ.

Could someone else tell me what they think?

Beakybird

[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 10-06-2009).]

They probably have that set as the default setting as most organ sounds don't use much if any sustain unless you're going for that old schmaltzy Lowrey organ sound. I'm quite certain if you just go to where you modify the voices (voice edit) you'll find you can adjust the sustain to where you want it and then save it as a user voice. I had experimented doing that with a piano sound a while back using different settings for reverb and sustain to make it sound better in rooms that have dead acoustics.

I just reread your post, I missed the part that you are using the sustain pedal, I thought you were using the sustain button. Don't know on that, because it's not really a typical organ sound, it would be like using sustain on an accordian. Course you might get some cool effects you like doing it.


[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 10-06-2009).]

Investigating this in more depth, it looks like Yamaha set the release on the organ voices at -24, and that causes the voices to not sustain. I don't know if they did this on purpose, but I do not like a quick decay on the organ when I have the sustain pedal pressed. I've never played a real organ, but as a general keyboardist, I like the way things were on my past PSR's.

Knowing this, I can adjust this parameter when I save the organ voice to a registration. Nevertheless, I would like to be able to just pick an organ from a voice menu or OTS and have the organ play the way I've been accustomed to for the last 11 years I've been playing PSRs.

I hope that Yamaha changes/corrects this in an OS update.

Beakybird

Those who own an S900 (Mine is boxed up for shipping), a T2, or T3, look at one of the cool organ voices. What is the release set at?

Beakybird

I'd look but don't know where to find that setting?

What's the navigational path to it?

------------------
Bill in Dayton

Choose a voice, and then choose VOICE SET.

Beakybird

Larry,

On my S900, the preset panel organs under the Organ category, like Cool!Organ, Cool!FullRocker, DanceOrgan, etc. have a sustain about the same as a piano voice when the pedal is held down.

If I go to the Organ Flutes section, then the sounds like JazzDraw, PadOrgan, SixteenOne, etc. have a continuous sustain when the pedal is held down...in other words, the sound does not stop unless you release the pedal.

This works the same way on my buddy's PSR-3000, and another friend's PSR-9000 Pro.

Now, on my Tyros3, under Organ the SA JazzRotary, SA RockRotary and Cool!HoldItFast have a very short sustain...almost none.

The SA WhiterBars, SAProgRockOrgan, Cool!Organ (the latter the same as on the S900) all have a sustain about the same as a piano.

The Organ Flutes (or drawbar)section on the Tyros3 has a continuos sustain, the same as the S900's Organ Flutes section.

Seems the S910 may be using the same type of organ tone generator as the Tyros3 (and perhaps the Tyros2), albeit, with less choices, although I have no official confirmation from Yamaha.

Perhaps Steve D. from Yamaha USA would know more about it....have you contacted him?

.

I can adjust this parameter to my liking my adjusting RELES on the VOICE SET menu. I changed it from -23 to -4 or -5. I have a folder of USER organs now adjusted how I like.

I don't understand the sonic advantage and can't hear it either of having the Release set so low.

I would love it if Steve Demming would pipe in.

I know that I'm not an organ player. I grew up playing the piano so I depend on the sustain pedal, and I'm disappointed that without creating a USER voice or a custom registration, that I can't get sustain on the coolest organ voices the keyboard has to offer.

At least I have a workaround.

Beakybird

Well Larry, I grew up playing the Hammond B-3 and Yamaha Electone, and I still like to use the sustain pedal on organ voices...especially the ones that decay slowly (like a piano).

I use it to let the sound fade out naturally, sort of a pseudo volume pedal effect...it's also handy with other voices like SA Sax and the Live!Strings, to name but two.

Don't know why it was changed, as I was happy with the previous setup...I'll have to use the same workaround as you, I guess.

Since it is the same as on the Tyros3, I can't see it being a "glitch", but, perhaps someone else (like Steve) knows the score.

I'm still waiting for my S910.

Quoting Ian:

"Seems the S910 may be using the same type of organ tone generator as the Tyros3"

Seems that way Ian. Looking at my Ty3 the Release setting for the Cool Organ voices is generally -24ish (-25 in one case), but Organ-a-gogo is zero and JazzOrgan and Organ are just -4. So the 3 latter will react OK to the sustain pedal.
There seems to be little consistency with the SA organ voices too- some Releases are set at o, so will sustain, others are set at -24 and won't obey the sustain pedal.

John

Yes, John, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the settings...I'll have a look when I get my S910...it was sent yesterday, so I may have it tomorrow or Friday.[crosses fingers]

I'm glad the panel isn't changed much...I like the registration buttons in the middle.

It will be good to be able to compare the S910's SA organs with the ones in my Tyros3...plus, it will be nice to have the new style format as well.

Are there people who prefer the release set so low? What are the advantages? Were the Yamaha people just willy nilly when they set these parameters or is there a purpose to it?

Beakybird

I doubt if they were set "willy nilly"...the Tyros3 and the S910 seem to be set the same way, so there is a common pattern.

I'll probably change the release and store it in a registration memory...that way it will be easier to add it to an OTS.

Usually the Release is useful if you want to build some automatic sustain into a voice - eg. strings, which are a little "too fast" for a slow tempo song and tend to cut off too soon.
For that you'd use positive values. Using negative values I've found up to now doesn't seem to do too much sonically. Going negative would help to cut off a voice more abruptly if it's needed but in general most of them cut off cleanly enough at close to zero. I can't see what benefits there are in going to -20's - apart from turning off the sustain pedal

John