Hello guys,

It’s known that when a new big keyboard gets released, some new activity takes place here.

4 years ago I was introduced to PSR-S950 at Yamaha’s office at Moscow. At that time they were looking for new people to demonstrate their products like Peter Baartmans does, I was one of those people. I got more or less good deal to purchase that keyboard, although soon they cancelled the project and hired no one. As you know, the economy isn’t very kind mostly everywhere, and Russia is in a quite questionable state right now.

As long as $500-600 a month is considered an “okay” income here (US dollars and euros have almost doubled their cost after events on Ukraine), a middle-range keyboard for $2000 seems here, I presume, as extraordinary, so I can’t blame Yamaha for cutting down some expanses. In other words, when I pictured myself here trying to promote such a product I felt quite unsure.

I’m addicted to playing instruments since my childhood, so it’s no wonder that I’ve been playing my PSR-S950 quite a lot. Now the keys are quite noisy, the power button doesn’t work to shut it down (I have to unplug the cable), and now I have to push the turn-on button for several time to succeed, also, pitch-bend is partly broken… So, the thing has got old. All this can be fixed, if I get around and bring it to the service.

Nevertheless, it’s not my point right now to complain about stuff. I remember my feelings when I had a chance to play PSR-S950 at Yamaha’s office for the first time. At that point I had PSR-3000 at home, also Yamaha MM6 and Yamaha C40 (which is a classical guitar). On one hand, I was quite happy with what I had, I thought to myself that it’s all about music, not equipment. On other hand, I was impressed with the fact that I was in Yamaha’s office, in Moscow (I live in suburbs), the new keyboard seemed to be so contemporary and, as some people said, “light-years ahead”, so I was kind of sad having to go back to my dated PSR-3000.

The thing is that at that time I was so impressed with guitar voices of PSR-S950 and new styles that I thought that it would provide some “bright future” for me, that it was the whole new level of quality and so on. But now, with the excitement gone, I see that these voices, being quite decent, are still the voices of a keyboard. So, the thing is that if I am to play in public, I will feel safer just playing with piano and electric piano voices, and I also have a sort of dream to play an actual guitar on a decent level…

Sometimes I even think to myself that that deal with Yamaha and PSR-S950 was a distraction to me without which I would have become a more decent player right now, but still I cherish that experience.

So, my PSR-S950 is to me now like PSR-3000 used to be before, and this fancy GENIS is a new temptation. I know that if I get a chance to play with it for a while I may convince myself that with this tool I will become a successful musician (song writer), although it seems illogical that it will help me with lack of talent of lyricist (and this is mostly what song-writing is about);

Frankly, I’m quite alarmed, because I know that Yamaha knows how to touch a player’s heart. You try it, and you are not thinking “it sounds realistic”, you just feel love and you don’t what to give it away.

Although I have been enjoying PSR-S950, it’s hard to state that owning it has bought me a pass to somewhere… In fact, I have to think that owning MX61, which is more than two times cheaper, could be more practical.

I have to say, that it’s not the first time that I had to pay more attention to cheaper alternatives after making an expensive purchase. MX61 doesn’t look too attractive with its small “retro” screen, but – wow – it has 128 voices polyphony, how did I miss that?..

I know that I’m a kind of hypocrite. Today I declare that I’m a minimalist and will be happy with a cheap keyboard and a guitar. Then I’ll get bored, offer some services to some store and get a fancy keyboard and enjoy this illusion that I’m on a whole new level of professionalism and creativity.

I was singed it on this forum in 2004. I was… 18 years old… Now I’m 31… do I really hope to refocus my priorities? The hell with them! Does anyone have a Peter Baartmans’s email? He owes me a Genos! (ha-ha)