Yamaha CK61, CK88 keyboards being introduced!

[SciNote]

There has been speculation on these possible keyboards here in the past.  It looks like they're now a reality.  I stumbled upon them on YouTube, and they're on Sweetwater.com.  They're stage pianos with synth and organ features, including drawbars.  I don't yet know much more about them, but they look interesting.  Sweetwater has the CK61 listed for about $1000 US.

[AndrewKeyz]

I excitedly clicked on the emails this morning thinking by the name it was a CP88 follow up / replacement.

I was a bit disappointed to be honest.

I think the Roland Juno DS88 I owned for a bit, seemed better value than this.

I like the retro style but it seems a bit limiting somehow and really bad placement of the mod wheel / pitch bend.

[svpworld]

Sadly though the same AWM sounds we've heard in Motif, Montage, MODX, Genos and umpteen other boards from Yamaha but now packaged in yet a different box. I get the Nord electro approach in terms of the user interface but I can't see me buying another Yamaha synth until it sounds uniquely different to everything before. I feel Yamaha need to get more innovative with their sound generation underpinnings instead of repackaging it in different boxes each time.

Simon

[pjd]

As usual, I posted some details and opinions elsewhere:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-ck88-unverified-leakage/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-ck-random-bits/

Quick summary, the CKs are for price-sensitive customers who will be happy with entry-level sounds and a quick, intuitive front panel (user interface) without a lot of menu diving. If you own an MODX, then you already have all the samples and tools. Just learn your instrument! 

When Yamaha released the Reface series (September 2015), quite a few punters asked for a full-size keyboard combining the Reface synthesis engines. The CK combines Reface YC and Reface CP giving it full-size keybeds. Took almost eight years to respond. [Guess when Yamaha will implement all of your Genos dreams!  ]

All the best -- pj

[SciNote]

As usual, I posted some details and opinions elsewhere:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-ck88-unverified-leakage/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-ck-random-bits/

Quick summary, the CKs are for price-sensitive customers who will be happy with entry-level sounds and a quick, intuitive front panel (user interface) without a lot of menu diving. If you own an MODX, then you already have all the samples and tools. Just learn your instrument! 

When Yamaha released the Reface series (September 2015), quite a few punters asked for a full-size keyboard combining the Reface synthesis engines. The CK combines Reface YC and Reface CP giving it full-size keybeds. Took almost eight years to respond. [Guess when Yamaha will implement all of your Genos dreams!  ]

All the best -- pj

I have a few questions that maybe you can answer...

1.  It looks like it can split the keyboard, but can it also layer sounds within each split, or at least within the right-most split?
2.  Are those live set buttons the same as registrations?  For example, can they store different split points, different effects selections, and different parameters for the synth settings and organ drawbars?  And if so, are there multiple banks of those live sets?
3.  Does it have any kind of background drum/rhythm section?  I don't care about automatic chords -- just drums.  And if so, can these drum patterns be set, or "frozen", so that they do not change when you select a new live set, assuming that the lives sets are like registrations?

I'm not sure if I'd spend this much for a keyboard, but a full-sized reface YC and CP, with a little bit of CS thrown in, sounds intriguing.

Thanks for any info!

[pjd]

1.  It looks like it can split the keyboard, but can it also layer sounds within each split, or at least within the right-most split?

CK have three parts (voices): A, B, C. Split/layer settings from the CK manual, page 13:

A/BC      Part A on the left section and Part B and C on the right section of the keyboard
AB/C      Part A and B on the left section and Part C on the right section of the keyboard
A/B/C     Part A on the left section, Part B on the center section, and Part C on the right section of the keyboard
ABC       Voices on Part A, B, and C are layered

[pjd]

2.  Are those live set buttons the same as registrations?  For example, can they store different split points, different effects selections, and different parameters for the synth settings and organ drawbars?  And if so, are there multiple banks of those live sets?

I believe that is correct. The manual implies that all of those parameters are stored into a single Live Set Sound. A Live Set Sound is similar to a single Registration.

There are 20 Live Set Pages. Each Live Set Page holds eight Live Set Sounds. There are 160 total Live Set Sounds.

[pjd]

3.  Does it have any kind of background drum/rhythm section?  I don't care about automatic chords -- just drums.  And if so, can these drum patterns be set, or "frozen", so that they do not change when you select a new live set, assuming that the lives sets are like registrations?

There are no drum sets, rhythms, auto-accompaniment, arpeggios, etc.

The CKs can play back an audio file from a USB flash drive. Playback is triggered from an assigned key on the keyboard. I can't tell  if playback loops. If it loops, then a musician could use a WAV drum or instrumental loop.

I honestly don't think the CKs have much on mid- to high-end arrangers. The internal sounds are basically recycled from other Yamaha synths and arrangers. That's how they hit such low price points...

Hope this helps -- pj

[SciNote]

Thank you for your information.  I also checked out the manual online, and you appear to be correct.  I thought there were some background drums in the video I saw, but I did not pay close attention to it, so the drums were probably coming from an external device.

I remember when I bought my PSR-E433, I was also considering a Yamaha MM6 synth, which was being closed out and was available for not that much more than the E433 at the time.  It had various drum patterns onboard, but as far as I could tell, if you set up the equivalent of a registration on that keyboard, you would also save the drum pattern with it, and there was no way to "freeze" the drum pattern selected when switching from one registration (or live set, or whatever it was called) to another.  That made it a no-go for me.  I was just wondering if this new keyboard had something similar, but I guess not.

It still seems like a neat keyboard, with the physical drawbar and synth controls.  But while I am looking for a back-up keyboard, this one is still a bit more than what I'd like to spend.  Ideally, I'd get another E433 as a back-up, so that I could easily exchange registrations between the one I have now and a back-up with a USB flash drive, but those keyboards have gotten very difficult to find.