Expanding YC

Thanks again for purchasing YC. This guide is designed to help you find resources for expanding your YC Stage Keyboard.

DOWNLOADS

Get the most out of your YC Series stage keyboard with OS updates, our “Mastering YC” series and free sounds at Soundmondo, our social sound sharing network. Best yet, all of these are free! Check out the details below.

OS UPDATES

The YC isn’t just a stage keyboard, it’s a platform for music-making. OS Updates are always free and add new sounds and features to keep YC fresh and up to date. You can find OS updates, USB MIDI Drivers and PDF Manuals here.

OS updates can completely initialize the YC so make sure you back up before installing the OS update. All you need is a USB flash drive of over 2GB capacity formatted on your YC Series. Go to [MENU]/File/File Utility/Format to format your flash drive and follow these steps:

  • Connect a USB flash drive to the USB [TO DEVICE] terminal of this instrument.
  • Press the [MENU] button
  • Select “File” and press the encoder or [ENTER]
  • Select “Back Up file” and press the encoder or [ENTER]
  • Select “Save” and press the [ENTER] button to call up the screen for selecting the destination.
  • The “Save *** File” screen for editing file name appears
  • Press the [ENTER] button to execute saving. The messages “Saving..” → “Completed.” will appear on the screen, and then return to the Top screen.

Once you’ve downloaded the latest OS and backed up your data you can update. Here’s how:

  • Unzip the downloaded package and copy the file named “8T25OS_.PGM” to the root level of your USB flash drive.
  • Power off the YC and connect the USB flash drive to the USB [TO DEVICE] port of your YC Series.
  • With the YC powered off, press and hold the the [MENU] and [STORE] buttons and switch the power on. Continue to hold the buttons until the “YAMAHA” logo appears on screen and release. Do not press any buttons other than the [MENU] or [STORE] buttons.
  • The YC OS updater will begin with a “Now loading” message, Follow the prompts in the screen. The first one you will see reports the current OS version and the new version of the update:

YCUpdate1

  • After the [ENTER] button is pressed, the following message will appear:

YC Update2

  • Press the [ENTER] button again to execute the update. All the Live Set Sounds and the settings of MENU screens and SETTINGS screens will be initialized. Press the [EXIT] button to cancel the update.

Very Important: DO NOT power off or remove the USB flash drive from the YC until the “Completed. Please turn off.” message appears. If power is accidently interrupted while running the updater (by disconnecting the AC cord, etc.). This is important as the unit may become inoperable. If this happens, run the updater again. If the unit still does not function after doing this, please contact your nearest Yamaha service center.

  • When the update is finished, you’ll see the new version and the words “Completed. Please turn off.” You can now cycle the power and reload your back up file if necessary.

MASTERING YC

Mastering YC is an article series designed to help you get the most out of your new YC-series stage keyboard. You’ll find articles on each Section, video overviews, sound demos and more.

SOUNDMONDO

Soundmondo is a free social sound sharing service that allows users to discover new sounds, share their own sounds and organize sounds. You can access Soundmondo in the follow ways:

  • On Mac, PC and Android, you can access Soundmondo through the Google Chrome web browser available here. You must use this browser because it has a specific API called WebMIDI that allows you to connect your YC to the computer via USB directly.
  • iOS users can download the Soundmondo app here. You will need an Apple Lightning to USB Adaptor or USB C to USB connector to connect to your iOS device.

Questions/comments? Join the conversation on the Forum here!

Welcome to YC

Thanks for purchasing YC. This guide is designed to help get you up and making music ASAP!

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

Make sure you have all of the following items in the YC box. If you don’t, please contact your favorite authorized Yamaha dealer.

  • Owner’s manuals (download PDF manuals here.)
  • IEC Cable
  • FC3A (YC73 and YC88 only)

QUICK CONNECTIONS

Here are a few tips to get you up and running as soon as possible.

POWER

Connect the supplied power cord to the [AC IN] jack on the instrument’s rear panel. Connect the other end of the power cord to an AC outlet. Make sure your instrument the voltage requirement for the country or region in which it is being used.

AUDIO OUTPUT

To connect the audio output: Use the two 1/4″ standard mono phone (unbalanced) jacks together to output stereo audio signals. When using mono output, connect only to the [L/MONO].

For the best sound quality, we recommend connecting your instrument to a mixer, audio interface or powered speakers in stereo. Many of the instrument sounds are sampled/programmed in stereo and many of the effects are stereo effects as well. All of these elements sound acceptable in MONO but are best if amplified in STEREO. We don’t recommend connecting to guitar or keyboard amps unless you’re going for a special effect.

Set the appropriate input gain on your mixer, audio interface or powered speakers. Then adjust the output level to the optimal level for your playing and listening environment. For more information on input gain and gain staging go here.

AUDIO INPUT

To set the gain of the AUX input: These jacks allow you to connect an external audio device like a second keyboard, mixer or any music playback device and mix the output of that device with the YC’s outputs. Use the [GAIN] knob to adjust the volume balance.

USB/MIDI

On the YC keyboard there are two USB connections, TO HOST and TO DEVICE. The TO HOST connection is for connecting the YC to a computer or Mobile device, using a USB cable. The TO DEVICE USB connection is for connecting USB memory device, like a USB flash drive, so that the internal content created in the YC can be store on an external memory device.

ADJUST TOUCH RESPONSE

For best results, do this after setting optimizing your gain staging above. Want to know more about optimal gain staging? Check out this excellent article.

The scale of velocity (how hard you hit the keys) varies greatly from player to player. Adjustment to the level of velocity sensitivity on the YC keyboard can be adjusted to your playing preference. Simply press the [TOUCH] button (below the display) and select from five different velocity response choices.

EXPLORING SOUNDS

YC Series keyboards have three different Sections (Organ, Keys A and Keys B.) The LIVE SET is a way to store and recall Section combinations.

There are 20 Pages of LIVE SETS, each LIVE SET Page containing eight LIVE SETS. To select a LIVE SET Page, press the [PAGE +] or [PAGE -] buttons. To select an individual LIVE SET, simply press one of the 8 [LIVE SET] buttons (1-8) below the YC display screen.

PRODUCT SPECIFIC GOOD TO KNOWS

A few more quick tips for navigating YC:

  • Instrument Sections can be turned “On” and “Off” by flipping the toggle switch in each Instrument Section on the YC.
  • In the Organ Instrument there are 6 different organ models that can be selected, using the black rotary dial in the Organ Instrument section.
  • To select sounds in the Key A oy Key B Instrument section, turn on Key A or B and then choose from 4 categories (Piano, Electric Piano, Synth, or Others) and then use the red toggle switch to select a desired sound.
  • In addition to the instrument sounds in all sections, there are a variety of effects for additional sound exploration.

Want to know more? Check out the YC Series articles and videos HERE!

Questions/comments? Join the conversation on the Forum here.

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