Yamaha Digital Saxophones were designed to allow anyone to experience the joy of performing, anytime, anywhere, while offering the same tonal diversity, deep low notes, and delicate highs of an acoustic instrument. These ground-breaking new wind instruments retain the full expressiveness of the saxophone, yet unlike an acoustic saxophone they can be as quiet as you want, making them more convenient and easier to play. Yamaha teamed up with professional performers to sample the sounds of Yamaha acoustic soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Meticulously recorded in whole tones, so that you can enjoy a natural sound.
YDS-120
The YDS-120 combines acoustic and digital technologies into a new form, giving you the ability to control your volume at will so that you can play anywhere you want. With total of 56 voices of the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone you can enjoy the variety of expression the saxophone can deliver from the very first note. There are also voices of other instruments like the shakuhachi, flute, electronic instruments and more, giving you a total of 73 instruments to work with.
With the same key configuration as an acoustic saxophone but with fifteen volume levels and a headphone jack you can enjoy playing, without worrying about being too loud, instantly.
A breath sensor detects air blown into the mouthpiece, while a digital sound generator drives a speaker to produce sounds transmitted through a simple horn-type acoustic mechanism. Simply blowing into the specially designed mouthpiece allows you to produce sound without having to worry about your embouchure. The mouthpiece can also be removed for easy maintenance.
The YDS-120 comes equipped with an auxiliary input terminal for connecting devices such as smartphones, allowing you to connect to an external audio source to feel like you’re playing in an ensemble. Sound must be output from the headphone jack.
Yamaha also developed a dedicated app which enhances the performance of the YDS-120 and further expands the range of sound creation and includes instrument settings and sound editing. You can make detailed settings intuitively and visually from the app, that cannot be done on the instrument itself.
YDS-150
This digital saxophone is a fusion of two technologies – acoustic and digital modelling. The whole instrument resonates along with your blowing to naturally create the delicate, breathy wind feel unique to the saxophone. The Integrated Bell Acoustic System, created by the fusion of acoustic and digital technologies, delivers an incredibly authentic, gorgeous sound that even feels and responds as if you were playing an acoustic instrument. This new advanced system, consisting of speaker unit, enclosure, acoustic pipe and a real brass bell, responds to your breath from the mouthpiece and digitally creates sound that drives the speaker causing the brass bell to resonate and vibrate. The high-quality brass bell is made of the same material as used on Yamaha’s acoustic saxophones. Drawing on their extensive know-how and experience of making acoustic instruments, Yamaha designed this bell to gorgeously reproduce the long reverberation peculiar to wind instruments as well as the delicate, sonically nuanced sounds when playing pianissimo.
The mouthpiece is designed like that of an acoustic saxophone for optimum blowing comfort, and the key layout based on Yamaha’s acoustic saxophones ensures natural playability and smooth operation. The breath sensor detects the strength (pressure) of your breath, allowing you to control the tone of your sound as you play.
The YDS-150 comes equipped with an auxiliary input terminal for connecting devices such as smartphones, allowing you to connect to an external audio source to feel like you’re playing in an ensemble. Sound must be output from the headphone jack.
Yamaha also developed a dedicated app which enhances the performance of the YDS-150 and further expands the range of sound creation and includes instrument settings and sound editing. You can make detailed settings intuitively and visually from the app, that cannot be done on the instrument itself.
Click here to see the Saxophones at Ackerman Music
