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Yamaha Black Phoenix Alto Saxophone: Vivid Look, Sweet Sound<br />
Yamaha has added esthetic<br />
appeal, cool collectibility and a<br />
touch of mellow tone to its<br />
YAS-82Z Custom alto saxophone<br />
with the Black Phoenix<br />
YAS-82ZBP. The visually striking<br />
new alto model is part of<br />
Yamaha’s Black Phoenix line of<br />
limited-edition wind instruments,<br />
which commemorates<br />
the company’s 50th anniversary<br />
of U.S. manufacturing.<br />
The Black Phoenix alto features<br />
vivid black lacquering on the outside<br />
and inside of the instrument. This marks a<br />
departure from Yamaha’s black lacquering<br />
method, which doesn’t cover the interior surface<br />
of the horn.<br />
The process produces a subtle difference in<br />
tone, according to Jonathan Goldman, product<br />
marketing specialist for Yamaha Winds.<br />
“The Black Phoenix alto does play a little<br />
tighter, and there is a timbre change because<br />
the black lacquer is a little bit thicker—especially<br />
with it being inside the body of the<br />
instrument,” Goldman said.<br />
Play-testing the Black Phoenix alto revealed<br />
plenty of positives in the way the instrument<br />
feels and responds. The key mechanisms and<br />
blue steel springs allow for<br />
nimble, quick fingering. The<br />
body, bow and two-piece<br />
hydro-formed bell of the<br />
horn are all annealed during<br />
production to make the<br />
horn less resistant. It projects<br />
with a sweet tone that<br />
contributes to its jazz<br />
appeal.<br />
The Black Phoenix YAS-<br />
82ZBP alto saxophone will<br />
provide pros, intermediate<br />
players, college students and educators with a<br />
refreshing new option. Only 150 will be made,<br />
and each model will include the standard<br />
high-F# key. Yamaha’s Black Phoenix line also<br />
includes the YTR-8310ZBP trumpet and the<br />
YSL-697ZBP trombone. —Ed Enright<br />
»<br />
Ordering info: yamaha.com<br />
Korg M50 Workstation: Solid Performance at an Affordable Price<br />
There was a time when the hardware workstation<br />
was the holy grail for keyboardists<br />
and composers. The advent of computer<br />
sequencing and recording, and the dearth of<br />
high-quality sample libraries and virtual<br />
instruments, have diminished the number of<br />
workstations on the market, but Korg has<br />
stayed the course. Its Oasys mega-workstation<br />
offers cutting-edge capabilities and<br />
sounds, but at a price out of reach to all but<br />
the most well-heeled musicians. The company<br />
has since released the M3, which incorporates<br />
many of the Oasys’ features and<br />
brought it down to a more manageable price<br />
tag, but still not what most would call affordable.<br />
Is there a solid keyboard workstation<br />
available at a price that won’t break the bank?<br />
Enter the Korg M50.<br />
The M50 draws many of the M3’s popular<br />
features and sounds and puts them into a<br />
more economical package. It is available in<br />
61-, 73- and 88-key versions. I had the 88-key.<br />
The keyboard feels nice, and incorporates<br />
Korg’s RH3 hammer action, which has a firm<br />
response, and represents the full dynamic<br />
spectrum well. The 61- and 73-key versions<br />
have a semi-weighted synth keyboard. The<br />
front panel is easy to navigate, partly due to<br />
the large touchscreen at the center. There is<br />
also a control joystick in place of pitch and<br />
mod wheels, and a couple of dedicated<br />
switches in that area for patch variations.<br />
The M50 uses the M3’s EDS synth engine,<br />
which sounds great. It also includes a host of<br />
onboard multisamples and drum kits that<br />
offer a wide array of sounds that you would<br />
expect from any decent workstation. The<br />
sounds range from good to great, and there’s<br />
a comfortable mix of staples and experimental<br />
stuff. Missing here are the sampling capabilities<br />
of the M3, and Korg also stripped out<br />
the expansion slots and its KARMA music<br />
generation technology. KARMA can be added<br />
to the M50 by purchasing a $200 software<br />
package, which allows you to develop the<br />
KARMA programs on the computer and<br />
dump them into the M50.<br />
The M50 also has a nice multitrack<br />
sequencer onboard, which I found to be intuitive.<br />
It is a creative boost to be able to put<br />
together a quick tune without having to fire<br />
up the DAW. There are also two full-featured<br />
polyphonic arpeggiators. These have enough<br />
options to keep you tweaking for hours, and<br />
they are a blast to play with. The M50 also<br />
has what Korg calls a “drum track,” which<br />
basically amounts to having a little onboard<br />
pattern-based drum machine, which is great<br />
for sketching out a quick tune idea.<br />
Also in the box is editing software for your<br />
PC or Mac. This will allow you to do your<br />
editing on the big screen, and serves as a<br />
librarian too. You can also use the SD card<br />
slot in the back to load/unload information, or<br />
use it as an expansion of the internal patch<br />
and sequencer memory. Another nice feature<br />
is software that allows you to use the M50 as<br />
a plug-in virtual instrument in your favorite<br />
DAW while offloading all the heavy lifting<br />
back to the Korg.<br />
The M50 is a winner. I am a computerbased<br />
player most of the time, but I miss<br />
when my workstations were the center of my<br />
compositional arsenal. There’s something visceral<br />
and immediate about being able to create<br />
a multitrack arrangement on the synth<br />
you’re using, with all the sounds coming from<br />
the same source. The M50 offers that experience<br />
at an affordable price. —Chris Neville<br />
»<br />
Ordering info: korg.com<br />
March 2009 DOWNBEAT 93
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