Large colour screen

The LCD on keyboards is your connection to the instrument, whether it's electing a voice, reading sheet music or browsing songs and styles on the Internet; bigger is better and color is better yet - like the QVGA display found on the PSR-3000. Color adds a new dimension to the different screens you use to control your music, but is most appreciated on ones with a lot of knobs and faders like the mixing screen. As with your TV or computer screen, after seeing and working with a color screen, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

Mega Voice Styles

First introduced in Tyros, Mega Voice brings a new level of realism to the PSR-3000 keyboard. Why are Mega Voices so special? They feature multiple samples across the keyboard with sophisticated velocity switching - for incredibly authentic instrument sounds. They contain not only the basic samples of the instrument but also the performance techniques used with it - including open and muted string sounds, slide effects, harmonics, hammer-on notes, strumming and body noises. Taking this a step further, included with the PSR-3000 is MEGAEnhancer software, which allows you to convert MIDI data on your PC so that it takes full advantage of the PSR-3000's Mega Voice capabilities. So now, MEGAEnhancer does for MIDI files what Mega Voice did for the built-in styles - taking data that sounds programmed, to sounding like music.

Virtual Drawbars

If you are a fan of that vintage organ sound, then look no further than the PSR-3000 Organ Flutes. One press of the Footage button calls up a graphical representation of nine drawbars and assigns the increment/decrement buttons under the screen for controlling them. You can make adjustments in real time that include flute footage volume, rotary speaker speed and type, organ type, vibrato, percussive attack and length, response and EQ. Once you get it the way you like, then simply save the new voice and call it up any time you like. And because the PSR-3000 has 2 Foot Pedal jacks, you can assign one to control rotary speed for smooth, hands free operation.

Sound Creator

Sound Creator allows voices to be modified easily, with parameters easily adjustable from buttons on the keyboard.

A Keyboard with more Style

The PSR-3000 features Styles (accompaniment patterns) in a variety of different musical genres including Rock, Jazz, Latin, Country and Dance. As you play chords with your left hand, the selected Style will automatically provide drums, bass, guitar, strings, organ and horn parts. This is live playing at its best. For even greater diversity, the PSR-3000 offers four sections to the built-in Styles. For example, you could use the A section for the Verse, B section for the Chorus, C for the Bridge and D for a Solo. In addition, each Style has three different Intros and Endings with dedicated panel buttons, and will automatically fill, if you like, between sections.

Quick record

To record a song, just press the Record button. Recording starts as soon as you start playing the keyboard and will record everything you play - the Style, Left & Layer Voices and Multi pads - or a single track.

Mixing console

To change voices, adjust levels, panning, transpose, tuning, pitch bend and effects on various tracks or parts that you play, simply press the Mixing Console button and make adjustments using graphical representations of rotary pots and faders.

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.

Performance Assistant Technology

Guarantees that you can't play a wrong note. Here's how it works. Select an XF compatible song, press the Performance Assistant button and 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".

Built-in Help

Help messages give you explanations and descriptions of the main functions and features found in the keyboard. Language choices include English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish or Italian.

Demo

In addition to the main demos showing some of the more advanced features found in the keyboard, there is also a short demo for every sound.

Multi pads

These four buttons change to match the genre of each Style (or you can change them yourself) and can be used to play a number of short pre-recorded rhythmic and melodic sequences that can be used to add impact and variety to your keyboard playing.

One Touch Setting (OTS)

Provides you with a recommended voice with effects for each section of a Style (four per style). Can be set to change automatically or you can select one of the four buttons. For example, on a jazz style, one OTS might be piano, the next jazz guitar with a little echo, the third sax with reverb and the forth might be piano and vibes layered.

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 banks of eight registrations to User memory, SmartMedia or USB device. The eight Registration buttons are conveniently located just above the keyboard.

SmartMedia™ offers high-capacity storage

For the utmost in simplicity, compatibility and portability, the PSR-3000 features SmartMedia storage (card optional), offering up to 128MB of high-speed access to songs, styles, registration memory and user voices. Unlike audio files, MIDI songs and styles are small files, allowing you to store literally hundreds of your favorite tunes on a card that is not much bigger than a postage stamp. For convenience, there are a couple of ways to get data to the card. You can connect the keyboard directly to your computer, using the USB jack on the back, and transfer songs and styles from your computer to the card. Or, if you don't plan on having the two devices in the same room, simply pick up a memory card reader for your computer from your favorite electronic supply store and transfer data that way. For those that have large collections of MIDI data on floppy disk, you can connect an optional USB floppy drive and transfer the data directly to a SmartMedia card.

USB connectivity

The PSR-3000 has two USB ports on the back, USB TO HOST and USB TO DEVICE. You'll need your computer to activate an account, but once that's done, you can browse through songs and styles and download music directly into your keyboard, play it, score it and learn it - no computer required. For the ultimate in user control, if the MIDI file is an XF file with embedded chord data, you can re-mix it. The keyboard will follow the chords in the song and replace appropriate tracks with auto accompaniment tracks like bass, drums, horns and guitar. For example, you can take a Rock song and convert it in real time to Latin, Jazz, Country or Hip Hop. This feature also adds accompaniment to interactive digital sheet music, which normally would only have the left and right piano parts (see Scorch XF at www.yamahamusicsoft.com). And with Yamaha's interactive Guide Mode, even a novice can learn to play their favorite music. Simply start a song, press Guide, and the keyboard highlights the notes on sheet music in the display screen and slows down or even waits for you to find the notes.

Microphone input, Vocal Harmony and Video out

This past couple of years has seen a resurgence in TV talent shows that is adding new talent and vitality to the music market and entertainment field. Whether you sing for fun or for a living, the PSR-3000 has features that help you sound great. The keyboard is equipped with a microphone input (MIC not included) and a professional Vocal Harmony function, upgraded from the previous model to 4-part harmony including your original voice, which transposes your voice in real time to provide authentic sounding harmony. Add a choir to provide more depth and emotion to a ballad or expand your singing range with the unique Gender function. The harmony function can be triggered in real time from 3 different sources; left hand chords, right hand notes or from a track in a MIDI file. There are literally thousands of song files available from many different sources on the Internet that contain lyric and harmony information (for example: see the XF section at yamahamusicsoft.com) that makes the whole process plug and play. Call up the song and follow the lyrics in the screen, or connect the video out jack to your television for a family get-together or for audience participation in a club environment. The lyrics advance as the song does and the harmony will come and go at the appropriate times. And because it's MIDI, you can change the key without altering the sound. Once your friends and family try it, your biggest problem will be getting the microphone back!

Specially designed speaker system

A keyboard can only sound as good as the speakers that reproduce its sound. The stereo speaker system in the PSR-3000 has been specially designed to faithfully reproduce the powerful dynamics and subtle overtones of the onboard voices and music styles. The keyboard comes with 829 voices and is 128-note polyphonic. Additional sound features include a selection of special samples called Sweet!, Live! and Cool! Voices.