Incredible Sounds, Effects, and Styles Make Yamaha Genos the Ultimate Songwriting and Performance Keyboard

Featuring a sleek and modern design that commands attention onstage, this game-changing instrument is set to elevate performance and enjoyment for professional musicians, hobbyists, and listeners alike.

Among its myriad improvements and new features are:

Breathtaking New Sounds

Genos features nearly twice the amount of AWM2 sample ROM as the Tyros5 that chronologically preceded it, including gorgeous new Yamaha CFX and C7 concert grand Voices. Brand new Revo! drum and special FX Voices use more dynamic sampling and round-robin triggering to create startlingly human rhythm parts.

Also new are Kino strings, developed with film and TV scoring in mind. Their sound quality is on par with the best software scoring libraries, and they use similar stereo techniques — such as panning different players in the string section to different channels — to achieve blockbuster-worthy authenticity. New brass Voices are also on hand, as are new guitars (acoustic and electric), basses, synth leads and pads, accordions, and more.

With 256 notes of true stereo polyphony, available notes will never be cut in half just because stereo Voices are in use, and even dense arrangements and performances won't brush the "ceiling." Plus, Articulation Element Modeling (AEM) technology automatically chooses the correct instrument articulation (a way an instrument can sound depending on how it is played) in real time according to the player's keyboard technique: key velocity, tempo, legato versus staccato, and so on. This allows for flawlessly realistic acoustic instrument emulations across brass, strings, woodwinds, guitars, and many other categories. The player can also select specific articulations (bowing techniques, guitar slides, brass fall-offs, and much more) using the three Articulation buttons or connected controllers such as pedals.

Audio Quality and Massive Effects Power

Digital-to-analog conversion is the last thing that happens to any digital instrument's sound before going on to the listening system, and it's a make-or-break link in the signal chain. That's why Yamaha used new 32-bit DACs on the main outputs for exceptionally smooth sound. Also included is a S/PDIF digital output for computer recording, providing better-than-CD-quality resolution at 24 bits.

Expanded DSP provides a gargantuan 28 insert effects, which may be stacked and distributed in any way players need — even all 28 on a single Voice. These use the same Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM) technology as high-end Yamaha mixing consoles, emulating the sound and behavior of classic compressors, choruses, rotary speakers, reverbs, and much more. With graphical user interfaces that recapture the look of vintage gear, they look as great as they sound.

Among the new VCM effects in Genos are Real Reverb, numerous classic guitar and bass amp models, stompboxes, and improved rotary speaker for organ and damper resonance for piano.

Control and Interface Features

Genos offers more real-time control than any songwriting or performance workstation ever made. The Live Control section provides nine assignable sliders and six assignable knobs. Above these is a crisp OLED strip showing the setting each knob or fader controls at any instant, so the player doesn't need to delve into the main display in order to make changes on the fly. From the balance of parts in an accompaniment Style to individual parameters in a synth sound to drawbars in an Organ Flutes Voice, this unprecedented level of control is sure to make Genos as appealing to today's synth enthusiasts as it is to veteran users of auto-accompaniment keyboards.

The main display is a brilliant 9" color touchscreen with updated graphics. To its right, six large Gateway Buttons quickly navigate to Genos' major modes of operation such as Style and Voice selection, Song mode, and more. Below these are six assignable buttons that let the player cue custom actions or changes, again avoiding the menu-diving that would otherwise interrupt the creative flow.

Ten registration buttons (with multiple banks) save and recall virtually all Genos panel settings. Registrations can now be organized into Playlists for quick access at gigs that might cover diverse types of music. Multi Pads trigger one-shot musical phrases and hits to spice up performances while the keyboard is busy playing the main instrument Voices. Via the Audio Link function, the Multi Pads can trigger user-created audio files for even more customization.

Miles of Styles and Robust Recording

Yamaha accompaniment Styles have always led the industry in realism, conducting a real-time backing band that follows players' chord changes and musical choices. Genos' cornucopia of new sound content makes its 550 Styles better than ever, across all musical genres from pop to jazz to classical to rock to hip-hop to EDM to regional and world flavors — and beyond.

Though the Styles are incredibly diverse and each has many selectable variations, intros, fills, and endings, musicians who want utterly original accompaniment can craft their own Styles in the Style Creator — either by editing factory Styles or from scratch, thanks to the full-featured 16-track MIDI recorder that resides under the hood.

To develop an original idea, pick a Voice and Style, work out the arrangement, and then record it as a MIDI song. The MIDI Quick recording mode automatically assigns all the keyboard and accompaniment Style parts to the proper channels. A MIDI Multi recording mode is also present for more advanced users who wish to build songs a track at a time. Then, overdub more Voices, add a vocal track right onboard (using the highly realistic and flexible Vocal Harmony features if desired), and record the result as a stereo WAV file.

Being able to mix everything to audio — what the player's fingers are doing, what the Styles are doing, mic input, and even the Multi Pads — makes Genos a songwriter's dream. Without requiring any other gear, demos can sound as polished as studio mixes.

What Songwriters are Saying

Despite the Genos' deep feature set and technical prowess, songwriters of a decidedly music-first, technology-second bent are finding it intuitive and immediate to use. Among these are Nashville A-listers Beth Nielsen Chapman and Ashley Gorley.

They found, as any musician who tries Genos will, that it is simply the best sounding, most complete, easiest to use, and inspiring Digital Workstation keyboard ever created.

Additional Features and Specifications

• FSX semi-weighted premium keyboard action with aftertouch, enhanced touch response for very expressive playing, and high-precision, durable construction.
• Dual Song Player lets the user crossfade smoothly between two audio Songs (or one audio and one MIDI Song).
• Play back Songs continuously using Song List function.
• Arpeggios add 216 motifs and riffs to performances using MegaVoices, going far beyond the abilities of traditional arpeggiators.
• Vocal Harmony and Synth Vocoder: Apply realistic multi-part harmonies to a vocal coming through the mic input, or use the Synth Vocoder for classic "robot voice" effects.
• Premium Packs to expand Genos' capability by adding new Voices, Styles, and more, including even higher-quality content than the factory presets. Yamaha Expansion manager for Mac and PC.
• Personal Packs to manage Voice, Style, Song, and Registration content efficiently.
• Huge 1.8 GB of internal, non-volatile Flash memory.
• WAV, AIFF, SoundFont, and even REX support for creating original Voices and Drum Kits.
• XLR-1/4" combo mic input with phantom power.
• Four sub outputs allow routing of different aspects of the performance to different listening destinations, mixer channels, etc.
• Downloadable Cloud Audio Recorder app (iOS) to record via WiFi and share via SoundCloud.
• Downloadable SongBook+ app (iOS) for managing scores and lyrics from an iPad.
• Optional GNS-MS01 speaker system and L-7B keyboard stand.
• Dimensions: 1234 mm x 456 mm x 138 mm.
• Weight: 13 kg.

For more information about Yamaha Genos, please visit https://www.yamaha.com/genos/