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Yamaha YPT400MS Portable Electronic Keyboard

There are many tools in the keyboard that make it easy to be a power user from the first day you own the keyboard.

• Music Finder:
  Complete keyboard setups by song title. The keyboard selects an appropriate voice for the right hand melody, the correct musical style and the correct tempo. Simply call up a song title and start playing.
• One Touch Setting (OTS):
  Provides you with a recommended voice with effects for each style. For example, on a jazz style OTS might be piano, for a Latin style it might be acoustic guitar and for a rock style it might be a guitar with overdrive etc.
• Registration Memory:
  Set the keyboard up just the way you like and take a digital snapshot by memorizing it to one of the Registration buttons. Load and save up to 16 Registrations to User memory. The Registration buttons are conveniently located just above the keyboard.
  • Performance Assistant Technology:
    Performance assistant technology is a feature from Yamaha that guarantees that you can’t play a wrong melody note or chord. Here’s how it works. Select a song, press the Performance Assistant button Chord Mode and play the keyboard – any notes you like. Every note you play will fit the music! If you move up the keyboard, the pitch goes up. If you move down, the pitch goes down. Play a perfect arpeggio, or play chords in time with the music, or really “go for it” and play a solo. As long as performance assistant is “on”, you’re “on”. Imagine being able to give a concert to your friends or relatives the very first day that you bring this remarkable keyboard home. Well, with the YPT-400 and performance assistant technology, you can! This keyboard is the first in the line to offer Chord/Free Mode in addition to Chord Mode described above. Chord/Free Mode allows those that have learned a melody with their right hand to have the keyboard correct the notes of their left hand. This allows you to concentrate on one hand at a time while learning. Play the correct notes with the right and any notes with the left and you’re making beautiful music. In addition to working with any of the internal songs with chords, this feature also works with XF MIDI files.

Yamaha Education Suite: Helps you learn to play
The YPT-400 has 30 built-in songs, plus 70 more on an included CD-ROM, for you to learn to play using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are separated into left and right hand parts, providing 7 levels of lessons plus a convenient chord dictionary.

• Three keyboard lessons for each hand
  • Waiting Mode – stops the playback of a song until you find the correct note and then continues.
  • Your Tempo Mode – Learn to play the correct notes with the correct timing. Song playback tempo will vary to match the speed you are playing at. The song will slow down when you play wrong notes, so you can learn at your own pace.
  • Minus One Mode – Here’s where you can perfect your technique. The song will play at the normal tempo, minus the part you have chosen to play. Play along while listening to the song.
• Lesson Grading – monitors your progress as you practice each lesson and gives you a grade.
• Repeat and Learn – The song location will move back four measures from the point at which you pressed the button, and playback will begin after a one measure count-in. This section will repeat allowing you to practice until perfect!
• Chord Dictionary – shows you how to play chords and tells you which chords you are playing by displaying the notes and chord names on the LCD screen.

Easy Song Arranger
You can change the “feel”, or arrangement, of songs by simply pressing the Easy Song Arranger button, allowing you to re-mix any MIDI file. For example, you can try your favorite song with a Rock feel, Hip Hop, then Jazz. It’s fast, powerful and one-button simple.

Auto Accompaniment Styles
In addition to the 100 songs mentioned above, the YPT-400 also has auto accompaniment styles that “follow” your playing. Simply select a style of music from the 150 built-in Styles (example Rock), play a chord and the YPT-400 will create a backup band (bass, drums, strings, guitar etc.) and “follow” you through the song. You can play your songs and try different genres of music.

Digital Effects
Yamaha has long been a world leader in digital signal processing technology. In fact, Yamaha professional audio products are found in most professional recording studios around the world. The YPT-400 takes full advantage of this know-how, giving you an extensive range of nine, top-quality reverb effects that simulate playing in everything from a small room to a large spacious concert hall and four chorus effects that add richness to electric pianos and guitars in particular. You’ll also find 26 types of Harmony effects for your melody parts.

2-Way Speaker System with a Bass Boost System
Separate woofers and tweeters deliver sounds with clarity and precision for more lifelike instrument voices. Also, a special port on each speaker adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction.

USB Connectivity
The YPT-400 comes with 30 built-in songs plus 70 more on an included CD-ROM and an interactive lesson system, divided into left and right hand parts, for learning them. In addition, you have the ability to connect to a computer via USB, download more songs from the Internet into the internal Flash ROM (PC only), and use all of the Yamaha Education Suite features to help you learn to play them. Yamaha makes it easy to get connected with the new PC button. Now, instead of wading through function menus and fighting through a maze of selections, one button is your expressway to music on the web and your computer. In addition, once connected, you can play your songs into the computer (PC and Mac), edit them if necessary, and e-mail them to your friends and family. And with General MIDI (GM) and XGlite compatibility, song data always plays back with the correct sounds.

Quickstart DVD
All Yamaha portable keyboards and digital pianos feature a Quickstart DVD with introductory lessons to help you start playing real music today!

Casio Portable Keyboard Bench

From the Manufacturer

Capable of holding up to 250 pounds, this bench folds flat making it extremely portable. The padded black seat cushion makes this portable bench comfortable as well as attractive.

Works with the following models:

CTK-431, CTK-451, CTK-471, CTK-481, CTK-491, CTK-496, CTK-551, CTK-571, CTK-573, CTK-591, CTK-651, CTK-671, CTK-691, CTK-731, LK-40, LK-42, LK-43, LK-45, LK-50, LK-55, LK-73, LK-90TV, MZ-2000, WK-1200, WK-1250, WK-1300, WK-1350, WK-1500, WK-1600, WK-1630, WK-1800, WK-3000, WK-3000DX, WK-3500

Product Description

Professional-style, portable bench is especially designed for comfortable use with Casio Musical Keyboard Instruments

Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner

A Little History:
I have been a guitar player for forty-odd (some of them, VERY odd) years. For the first thirty of them, I tuned by ear - starting by guessing at what a low E sounded like, then tuning the other five strings by fretting, listening and tuning. I could never understand why the tuning often sounded perfect for one chord, yet remained `off’ for others… it took quite a long time to get it right. Then, about ten years ago, I thought I had figured it out. The problem (I thought) was that my guesses at a true “E” were off - so I got myself an “E” tuning fork (320 cycles) and used it to tune the first string. Then, I did as I had always done - fretted and tuned the other five. Not much better as a result - kept having to tune and retune for quite a while to get all chords to sound right. During those years, I tried tuning all six strings to (what I believed was an accurately tuned) piano as well as by ear to tones available online. Nothing gave me better tuning on the first try. Then, I saw an ad for a Chromatic Tuner and lightening struck.

The Realization:
There have been many - each of which has led me closer to what I have now - near perfect tuning on the first go `round! First off, I realized that when we say “E”, that is not just one note. It is a range of literally hundreds - perhaps even thousands- of specific tones. The same is true for every note. This is akin, I guess, to the realization as a child, that no matter how many shades of `blue’ are in a box of crayons, the chanced of having the precise shade you want for a specific drawing are rare. Purchasing my first Chromatic Tuner (a CT440, manufactured by SwitchMucic and sold through MusiciansFriend.com) moved me a long way along the continuum of learning and accurate tuning. However, that tuner had at least two limitations. Firstly, it’s construction is rather light and flimsy - it works OK, but has a second limitation that conaused me to buy the Korg (for about the same price) That is that the Korg has a built in tone generator and speaker allowing the option of tuning that way rather than having only the single option of having tones made by the instrument read and metered back to you. Both tuners have plug-in for electric instruments, and, so far as I can tell, their accuracies are similar. I prefer the Korg for the reasons I have mentioned. Additionally, the Korg can be manually recalibrated for special tuning needs - and `remembers’ the original tuning/tones so you can return to it for more `standard’ usage. A nice, extra piece of flexibility. The LCD meter is easy to read and colored lights tell you, right away, whether you are sharp, flat (and by how much!) or right on!

As a point of surprising interest, the tuning fork I had used for years turns out to be profoundly FLAT! A shock to me - given that I had grown up learning that tuning forks gave off perfect tones! I have saved it as a reminder that all things are not what they are promoted to be. I guess the round pitch pipe that Ms. Sweeny used to tune up the class in the 5th grade was probably not quite as precise as she would have presumed!

And Finally:
This is a marvelous little (and inexpensive) device - well constructed, accurate and flexible to allow for many different tuning need situations and circumstances. I assume that there will be still higher places for my `learning curve’ in this area to rise to - but for right now, this is it. I am using it, regularly, on all my stringed instruments (two six-string Martins, a twelve string Epiphone and a frailing banjo. The time it saves tuning the 12-string alone makes it more than it’s own price!)

If you have not discovered Chromatic Tuning (maybe I really WAS the last one to discover these things!?), I suggest you do so immediately and spend your time enjoying the pleasures of making music rather than sitting in frustration trying to adjust the tunings by ear so it sounds `really’ right. Perhaps people with `perfect pitch’ can do very nicely without a Chromatic Tuner - I am not one of them. Are you?

Yamaha PKBX2 Double X Portable Keyboard Stand

I had looked at numerous stands for my Yamaha keyboard and didn’t want to spend a ton of money for a professional grade stand (at professional prices). With that in mind, the Yamaha PKBX2 Double X Portable Keyboard Stand is a good choice at $29.99. I had seen other stands that were not as sturdy (single X stands)and cost about the same price.

Tips for assembly:
- Don’t read the instructions, just look at the enlarged image of the keyboard stand on Amazon and assemble the stand the way it’s shown.
- The bolts for attaching the arms and legs come screwed in to the stand. Use the (included )Allen Wrench to remove them and then re-install them when you are putting it together.

PROS:
- Low price.
- Solid, sturdy stand.
- Works for just about any keyboard.
- The stand’s height is fully adjustable, and can be easily changed in several seconds - without having to unscrew anything.

CONS:
- There is no way to attach a keyboard to this stand. No screws, bolts or straps are included, even though most (including my Yamaha) keyboards have pre-drilled holes for screwing the board to a stand. The keyboard simply sits on top of the stand. I was VERY disappointed about this.
- The included Allen wrench did not work for one of the bolts. The bolt came screwed in to the stand way too tightly to be removed using the included tool. The Allen Wrench only stripped the bolt, it did not loosen it. Luckily my husband had a better Allen Wrench of nearly identical size, and that one worked. Without it, we would not have been able to loosen the bolt.

Lee Oskar Major Diatonic Harmonica

I love the Harmonica. It’s a great instrument, very handy in that it sounds cool when it is played well yet also cool when played poorly. For example, adds nicely to the texture of the blues of James Cotton (well) as well as complementing the songs of Bob Dylan (awful).

If I ever go to prison, I’d love to have a harmonica. I hope this doesn’t happen, although sometimes the unstructured time seems appealing. But I know I wouldn’t last long in prison for the same reasons I didn’t last long at the Buddhist monastery: I’m not good at keeping quiet.

John Popper, there’s a talented harp player, although it isn’t blues harp in the classical sense. I also like Junior Wells, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Carey Bell, and the aforementioned James Cotton. For jazz, there is Toots Thielemans.

You know what I dig? I like when someone is playing the harmonica, playing musically, fast and with gusto, I like that little grunting noise you hear sometimes for just a fraction of a second between notes. Those little tongue clicks and snores, that’s the music to me.

This is a nice harmonica. You can find cheaper, but the price isn’t bad for this, and it sounds good regardless of whether you blow well or suck hard.

KORG Digital Metronome MA-30

This is chock full of features and hands-down the best budget portable metronome on the market, with only one caveat which’ll be mentioned later. A terrific buy for students.

Battery life is great, getting around 200 hours out of two AAs. The display is clear and easy to read. I’ve dropped it once and it didn’t cause any problems. For a digital metronome, the beep isn’t an irritating chirp as some other metronomes tend to be.

It can generate any tone on the chromatic scale for manual tuning, and even allows you to adjust the pitch slightly away from A440 if you need to (sometimes necessary, especially for wind players playing outdoors in the extreme cold)

It can handle 1 - 7 beats per measure, and can give you triplets, 8ths or 16th notes on top of that.

It has a handy tap feature to determine tempo.

This isn’t perfect, it’s not a Dr. Beat (the best metronome on the market, period). The volume control is very sensitive, and if you have it in your pocket you can easily accidentally blast your ears with headphones on. An LED would be a nice addition.

The caveat mentioned earlier is this: Most people prefer a dial to adjust tempo as opposed to the up and down buttons of this model (The Matrix MR500, MR800 and the Seiko SQ50 have less features and lack a volume control, but do have a dial and LED). Still, for the price and the features, you can’t beat it.

Korg GA-40 Guitar Tuner

First let me say right off that I’m a beginning guitar player. Everything I’ve heard and read said that I absolutely needed to learn by playing in tune. So after doing quite a bit of homework (I’m a bit over the top about researching things I buy), I settled on this unit. Now that I’ve been using it for a couple of months, I can say without hesitation that it was a good purchase. To tune the guitar, you simply pick each string (EADGBE - Eddie Ate Dynamite Good-Bye Eddie) and watch the gauge. Tighten or loosen the stings until the needle lines up perfectly and the green “all’s well” light comes on. Very easy to use and small enough to toss in a pocket. Definitely recommended.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of “Process of Elimination” - a cool erotic thriller that pits a martial artist against a world-class sniper out to shape the next Presidential election.

KORG TM-40 Digital Metronome

I’ve always had difficulty finding tuners with adequate response, and this one was actually a downgrade from the OT-12 (my favourite pocket-sized tuner), but it surprised me by working better than any previous combined metronome-tuner while not costing much more. The response rate is not adjustable, but sits at about a medium (there has to be at least a second of sustenance, but not more than two if you’re steady). The precision is about as good as most will ever need, although it’s dubiously delineated between -3 and +3 cents. The rest of the spectrum to fifty is clear-cut (it is fully digital, for better or for worse). The accuracy is also as good as could be asked for at its price-range, but not great - you may want to let it cycle a couple times for the more troublesome notes or if you’re of the end-inward school of tuning. There are no temperament settings, but very few musicians will miss that option. There is an input for contact mics, though the impedance choice is commodity. There is a mono-out as well, if memory serves (as opposed to stereo - monochannel is standard). Overall, the tuner is better than any budget-priced combination product I’ve ever seen (esp. the increasingly popular but rarely satisfactory Sabine MetroTune).

The metronome function is likewise fairly good. 7 beat options and some standard subdivision patterns, the usually discrete-option tempo selection (hence, precision not the most flexible, but not worse than similar combination products). Accuracy is fair enough but not great. It fits the r10 error rating given by the factory, as opposed to the r15/r18 of the very cheapest units or the excellent r2/r1 of purposeful objects like the Dr. Beat. Experienced musicians may wish to trust their instincts after getting the right idea from the metronome. The error is scalar, it will be less troublesome at lower tempos. The state of affairs in small and cheap timing devices is surprisingly bad, but this is certainly not the worst (for that, see Sabine, again).

Unlike most similar products that I’ve seen, the two primary functions can be used simultaneously (tuner and metronome). I don’t use this aspect much but some customers might really like that (esp. instruments that will draw a faster response from the tuning function).

I cannot yet attest to the average battery life of the thing, except to say that it’s at least not bad.