Big news from Yamaha at the show is the launch of the MO Synthesizer. Targeted to the young musician, home and project studio, songwriter and live performer markets, the 61-key MO6 and 88- key MO8 draw on the advanced technology of the professional-level Yamaha Motif ES with a full set of authentic sounds and comprehensive music-making features—including an emphasis on contemporary styles and voices—plus an exceptionally large internal wave memory capacity and the immediacy of hands-on control.
Designed to be highly portable and compact, the MO Series also serves as an ideal keyboard for live performance applications.
Athan Billias, director, Technology Products, Yamaha Corporation of America said this of the MO, “The Yamaha Motif ES is established as the most advanced and best-sounding music production workstation in the market. With the release of the more affordable Yamaha MO Series, we’re bringing ES sonic power and music creation capabilities to a whole new group of customers. All of the sound palette, hands-on control and computer software control capabilities of the ES are now available at a very attractive price.�
Sounds
Sounds include a full complement of realistic instrument Voices and Drum Kits plus a number of modern and vintage synthesizers, making the MO Series well-equipped for today’s hip-hop, dance and electronica music styles. For sound shaping and signal processing, the MO features sharp, responsive filters with comprehensive real-time knob control, and an extensive set of high-quality onboard effects (reverb, chorus, EQ, Master and three separate Insertion blocks).
Music Production Tools
Advanced music production tools include a built-in Song/Pattern sequencer featuring the same Phrase Factory capabilities found in the Motif ES. The powerful Arpeggio feature provides more than 1,700 sequenced phrases that can be controlled interactively via the keyboard. The Master mode function allows the MO to be used as a master keyboard controller (with independent Zones), and to be easily reconfigured between Voice/Performance play and Song/Pattern play in live applications. Category search will quickly call up desired sounds, while Performance mode will combine up to four different voices in layers or a keyboard split.
Computer Compatibility
The MO will seamlessly integrate into computer music systems and features full remote control of DAW software— including transport and mix controls, as well as track arming, muting and soloing. There is even full editing for soft synth plug-ins directly from the front panel and the Motif ES-sized LCD display. A new feature on the MO Series is the inclusion of global templates to easily cconfigure the keyboard to work with computer software. The MO6 and MO8 are the latest instruments in the Yamaha line to feature compatibility with Studio Connections, a joint initiative led by Yamaha and Steinberg to bring total integration between hardware and software into the music production environment.
Athan Billias adds, “With Studio Connections you can create and save MO settings to a song within a DAW application such as Cubase SX 3 or Nuendo 3, and instantly recall and restore those settings when you reopen the song. Audio Integration takes the hardware/software link a huge step further by allowing you to treat a Studio Connections-compatible synthesizer exactly as if it were plug-in software connected directly to the VST mixing engine.�
Additional computer-oriented features include two USB (TO HOST and TO DEVICE) connections and a built-in coaxial digital output, plus compatibility with Yamaha’s powerful Voice Editor and Multi Part Editor software.
Pricing and availability
The MO6 (MSRP $1,499) and MO8 (MSRP $1,999) will be in stores in January 2006. More info:

www.yamahasynth.com

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