The Yamaha SK-30
The Yamaha SK30 is made up of four distinct parts which can be output in any combination thanks to an onboard audio mixer. There are other instruments from the 70s and 80s that offered a similar type of setup. the Moog Opus3 offered a String, Brass, and Organ combo platter. The Arp Quadra had a Bass synth, Poly synth, Lead synth, and String synth and special phaser effect in an all-in-one-package. And, as mentioned above Roland offered a few variations of an Organ/Strings dual synth in the Roland RS09.
Yamaha seems to concentrate on the combo-synth for a few years making a few different varieties, each with their own features and sounds. The SK30 lies towards the top of this evolutionary scale with four distinct sections featured in similar forms in the SK20 and SK50. It also adds some other bells and whistles I have never seen on a combo synth and even though it was made in the late 1970s when I researched it i found it had a surprisingly robust design which explains why the one I found this month was in such good shape and fully working after all these decades.
On initial glance the SK30 looks to be a complicated beast. Sliders and buttons fill out the massive front panel and the effects and various split points often fight with each other for dominance on the full 61 note keyboard. But if you've ever seen a combi-synth or classic analog with sliders once you get to know it the design turns out to be remarkably user friendly.
Each section is broken down with it's own controls featuring a few presets and a manual section which allows you to create that part from scratch using the various sliders and buttons assigned to it.
There is the Organ section with multiple flute drawbars and three adjustable percussion sliders similar to a Hammond organ:
There is the Polyphonic Synth section with a full analog Filter, Envelope, octave switch, and modulation settings.
The string section has three preset buttons with no editing. Each offers a similar sound but in a different octave range:
And finally there is the Solo Synth section which offers a unqiue monosynth with Filter, Envelopes, flexible Portamento Modulation, and Waveform settings, two key ranges (including a manual bass setting) and even three assignable keyboard aftertouch effects .
On the back of the unit is more. Multiple and mix outputs for the individual voices, connections for CV/gate, various pedals (including volume, brilliance, portamento and sustain), a Leslie cabinet multi-pin jack and connector for an external full size floor pedal unit. All-in-All it's kind of a touch control synthesist's dream.
The Yamaha SK-30 is a fully polyphonic analog synth that is comprised of 4 independent "voice" sections: ORGAN, POLY-SYNTH, STRINGS, and MONOPHONIC SOLO (very similar to a Roland SH-101).
This Video focuses ONLY on the Organ section.
The Organ Section offers a full range of stop levers from 1' to 16', percussion levers with adjustable decay, and controls for overall sustain, brilliance and decay. The organ's sound is FM based and it sounds very B3 like. You can add a Vibrato, Tremolo and, of course, an extremely realistic leslie-simulator.
The Organ's sound is all about the 70's era rock organ, especially with the Ensemble chorus effect in use.
In addition to the dedicated 1/4" Organ output, the SK-30 also has an 11-pin external Leslie-speaker connector.
YES, THIS KEYBOARD IS FOR SALE!
To hear this keyboard in a live-band mix, please watch my other KZread video:
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