There was a time, not long ago, when portable keyboards were rated not by their sound, but by their cheese factor: Little plastic machines making little plastic bossa nova rhythms. Man, have times changed. From first hand experience, I can tell you that today's portables have very little in common with their ancestors. See, I bought my father a Yamaha PSR530 last Christmas. I bought it because he had to give up his prized Kimball piano when he moved into his retirement community and he wanted something he could use to continue writing music in his spare time (I think his retirement is more active than my so-called "normal" life).

   He and I were both amazed when we heard the quality of the sound coming out of the onboard speakers. But what was even more startling was the complexity and sophistication of the built-in accompaniment. My first thought was: I gotta get me one of these things. As a late night "sketchpad," I wouldn't even need to turn on the equipment in my studio to lay down some tracks. That's because the integral multi-track sequencer can store everything until I have a chance to either write out the parts or sit down and record the "real thing" in my studio. For me, there's nothing worse than losing an inspiration because I haven't got a tape cued up.

The do-it-all, take it anywhere PSR630 from Yamaha: Nothing short of amazing!

   And then I thought: "Wow! I could even take this thing with me to the beach or up to the mountains." Duh! Yamaha has been telling us this for years. Guess I wasn't paying attention (hey, I was real busy, okay?).

   Take it from me, every keyboard player needs one of these machines. You won't believe how good they sound or how much attention Yamaha paid to the sheer musicality of the accompaniment styles. Yes, there's still a polka or two lurking in there, but there's more than enough rock, jazz, country and Latin grooves to keep anyone tapping their toe — these are accompaniment styles that are truly so good they can actually inspire your creativity!

   I won't take up a lot of space here listing all the different PSR-Series keyboards that Yamaha makes — it would take up two pages anyway. Log on to Sweetwater's Web site and you can download all the information you need on these amazingly versatile and surprisingly affordable instruments (prices start at just $149.95). While you're there (in case you still don't believe me when I say these things are amazing), check out the Yamaha PSR8000 with its Virtual Arrangement function (intros/endings, multiple fills, bridge/chorus/verse arrangements), Vocal Harmony feature (build your own backup singers) and Gender Function/Pitch Correction (shift the pitch of your voice up or down while retaining human voice quality or just adjust the pitch of your voice to match the key of the music). This is heavy duty musical firepower, folks.

   Now if you don't happen to have Net access at the moment, feel free to call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for all the specifics on these great instruments, plus your very special low Sweetwater pricing. You'll find it's, well… inspirational! — J.M.

Accurate pricing and availability of products shown here in Sweet Notes may fluctuate. Products may be discontinued or newer versions may be available. While we do try to keep this information accurate, please contact your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for current information.

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