Re: Yamaha combos (sorry -- long winded!)

[John Botari <bnhoj@ecsask80.innovplace.saskatoon.sk.ca>]

In his note to the list, Vincent Gagnon wrote (in part):

>       Some months ago, I saw a video of the song "Adrenaline" by Zebulon... 
> The
> keyboardist played a white keyboard with lots of drawbars on it...
> 
>       I had the chance to speak him after a show.  He said it was a "Yamaha 
> combo
> organ"... has anyone heard of this ?

I actually own a couple Yamaha combo organs ... the ones that I have
are a YC-45D and a YC-25D.  Right now it appears that they are cheap
to free ... the '25 cost me $75CDN at a local music store, and the
'45 was given to me by another member of this list.  The '45 is by
far the nicer of the two ... it has two 61-note manuals, whereas the
'25 has offset 49-note manuals.  They are "additive-synthesis" organs,
which puts them in the same family as the Hammonds ... however, the
tone generation is all-electronic (twelve oscillators for the top
octave with dividers for the remainder).  The generator actually
puts out 96 tones, meaning that only the 1 3/5' and 1' ranks "fold
back" ... the remainder run straight to the top of the manuals.  The
individual tones are rather "flutey" (probably not pure sine waves).
Incidentally, the 1 1/3' is missing, so that there are only 8 footages
available instead of the Hammond's nine.  There's also provision for a
13-note pedalboard ... I have one of those as well, which was given
to me by yet another Hammond list subscriber.  Thanks guys!  8-)

All of the electronics, incidentally, are solid-state; I believe that
these organs date from the early- to mid-70s.

My combo organs don't actually have drawbars ... each footage is con-
trolled by a little paddle.  Paddles are continuously variable, but
each has a couple of index stops to assist in setting them without
looking.  The setup for percussion, etc., seems to have been pat-
terned fairly closely after Hammond practice, but there are more
varieties available (16', 4', 2 2/3', 1 1/3'), as well as a 1 1/3'
"attack" that differs from the percussion in that it can be trig-
gered multiple times (so that you can use it while playing in a
legato style).

All of the above refers to the '45 ... the '25 has fewer footages
available both on the main paddles and on the percussion voices,
and it omits the "attack" feature.

The '45 also has two additional presets (controlled by auxiliary
sets of levers), whereas the '25 has none -- just the main levers.

Both organs have some preset "reed" and "string" voices, but the
'45 also includes "piano" (eeew!), harpsichord (well, not too bad),
as well as vibraphone and marimba (no comment!!).  As an adjunct
to these, it also has some velocity sensitivity (on the upper man-
ual only).  Players of the '45 also have at their disposal some
truly cheesy special effects which can be played from a two-octave
glissando strip above the upper manual ... they have names such as
"Slide Trombone", "Squawk", "Birds", and "Astro" ...

These organs are very nicely made, and are set up to make service
quite easy.  I think that they sound OK (though opinions may differ);
played through a Leslie, they are rather Hammond-ish, although I
don't think that I'd call them "clones".  I guess what makes them
"combo" organs is that they're allegedly portable, 'though I would
bet that the '45 with its stand and pedals is close to 100 Kg (that's
220 lbs. for those with non-metric heads).  Come to think of it,
that's lighter than a Hammond ...



  jb

-- 

John Botari -- bnhoj@ecsask80.innovplace.saskatoon.sk.ca
Saskatoon - Saskatchewan - Canada
Voice:  +1 306 975 6918     Fax:  +1 306 975 6929