Vagabond Synth Nerd’s Journal Vol. 173 - I Tried to Copy the Sound of The Classic Greg Mathieson Project Using a Yamaha YC61

■ Characteristics of YC61

It's been about three months since I bought a Yamaha YC61 at the end of the year.

Yamaha / YC61 Stage Keyboard

The YC61 is an innovative keyboard that uses Yamaha's proprietary VCM sound source technology to reproduce the sound of a Hammond organ, rather than sampling it. It reproduces a certain unique sound that cannot be obtained with a normal sampling sound source. What's more, it comes with three different Hammond organ voices installed.
The Hammond organ used in the recording has a different sound depending on the genre. Being able to choose from these three types of voices is very convenient.

Even when playing in a real studio, the sound of the YC61 is not lost in the band ensemble. This was also the case with the Nord Electro 4, but the YC61 has a different taste to the Nord organ.
Personally, I've always had the impression that Yamaha keyboards tended to produce a rather thin sound, so I think the YC is an exception to that rule. There are exceptions to that rule, such as the Polysynth CS80 and the Electric Grand CP80, though... (lol)

■ I tried making actual “sounds” using the Minimoog's sounds and FM sound source

I am currently playing a song called “Bump me” from the GREG MATHIESON PROJECT album “THE BAKED POTATO SUPER LIVE! On this album, Greg Mathieson uses only a Hammond organ and a Minimoog. The Minimoog sound is played with little filtering, with the bare sound.

■ THE BAKED POTATO SUPER LIVE! - GREG MATHIESON PROJECT (1982)

Released in 1982, this album is considered a classic AOR album. It was only released in Japan and was never released in the US. This is a live recording from the Baked Potato, a live house in LA.
The album features performances by guitar virtuoso Steve Lukather, drummer Jeff Porcaro and bassist Robert “Pops” Popwell, with Greg Mathieson, known as the arranger and producer of Larry Carlton's classic “Room 335”, at the center.
This album was recorded in a single take, and although guitarist Steve Lukather wanted to replace his solo, it was not possible because the live tape was sent to the record company immediately after the recording. You can hear the relaxed yet distinctive tension of a live performance, as well as the skill of Greg Mathison playing the Minimoog and Hammond organ, and Jeff Porcaro's wonderful drumming, and the four musicians' groovy masterful performance.

■ A Greg Mathieson sound reproduction attempt using the YC61!

Now, let's try copying the sounds of the two different keyboards by Greg Mathieson on YC61.

I am well aware that, of all the synthesizers out there, creating a sound similar to the Minimoog is one of the most difficult challenges. This is because the Minimoog is a classic that has been used by many musicians since its release in 1971. The reason there is such a need for it is that the Minimoog is one-and-only, and it is difficult to reproduce its sound, so it is a sound that can only be produced by the Minimoog. If it could be reproduced by sampling, everyone would use a sampling sound source...
So, without getting my hopes up too much, I tried selecting a MiniMoog-style sound made using the FM sound source that came with the YC61. I applied a slight filter to the sound, adjusted the rise and fall of the sound using the envelope generator, and programmed it to sound like a Matisse. I then applied portamento to the sound. I added a short delay and a light reverb effect to complete the sound.

Next, let's make the sound of the Hammond organ.
As mentioned earlier, you can choose from three types of Hammond on the YC61. Greg Mathison's Hammond has a gritty, rock-oriented sound, so I chose the second type on the YC61. I set the drawbars to the typical sound of a rock organ, with the bottom four drawn out, and apply a light reverb.

I actually tried making some sounds in the studio.
The analog synthesizer sound simulated by the YC61 is not as fat as the Minimoog (of course it isn't! lol), but it does sound similar. It was an impossible challenge to recreate the Minimoog, but could it be that the thickness of the sound of the new FM sound source (the new FM sound source has 8 operators, compared to the old DX7 and 6 operators) is having an effect? I was surprised by the reproducibility of analog synthesizers using the new sound source.

■ Major Elements Pitch bender

One of the reasons I bought the YC61 was because of the pitch bender. The pitch bender is a device that raises and lowers the pitch of notes by turning a wheel or lever on the left side of the keyboard. I prefer the wheel, but the lever in the photo is also sufficient. The lower lever is the pitch bend lever, and the upper left is the modulation lever.
It is also possible to program how many notes the pitch will be raised by when the lever is turned all the way up.
The organ sounds of the NODE Electro 4D I used to use were also great, but unfortunately the Electro 4D did not have a pitch bender. The Electro 4D also had a thick sound sampled from a synthesizer, but when I copied the Little Feet songs, I couldn't reflect the bending in the performance because there was no pitch bender.
The YC has a pitch bend lever, so I find this function very useful.

In a previous report, I used the Profitt analog synthesizer TAKE5 to copy Jan Hammer of The Jeff Beck Group, but now I use the YC61 to copy Jan Hammer.
The analog synthesizer produces a more persistent sound, but I don't need to take two keyboards to the studio for practice, so I can use just one YC61, which is great for someone with back pain.

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