Realtime control knobs, intuitive panel design and operation, easy-edit voice architecture, specialized multi-effects, and much more make the Yamaha A3000 a truly unique professional sampler with a sound and style that’s all its own.
Designed from scratch for professional breakbeat and phrase sampling, the Yamaha A3000 sets new standards for ease of use and built-in versatility, providing the power to capture those lightning bolts of inspiration as they strike, plus a full range of handy sound processing tools and real-time control features that let you “get a grip on the groove” and style your own personal pop signatures without resorting to racks of external gear.
An ideal workhorse for techno, jungle, hip hop – literally all types of modern dance music -the Yamaha A3000 truly has something for everyone.
Professional musicians and sound designers will love its Easy Edit functions, cross-platform sound file compatibility, and other time-saving features which help increase productivity in high-pressure composing and recording situations.
DJs will love its versatile sample mapping functions, original effects, and real-time performance features which provide an extra edge for keeping the dance floor hot and hopping. Beginners will love its intuitive nature and general ease of operation which demystifies the sampling process and permits great-sounding results with a minimum of time and effort.
With the Yamaha A3000, everything you need is right at your fingertips, with all main functions printed in a matrix on the Yamaha A3000’s front panel. All parameters are instantly accessible through the quick touch of a Mode switch and function key or the simple twist of a control knob. A 40 x 2 LCD provides plenty of visual feedback as you do your thing.
It is also ideal for compiling related samples, such as breakbeat patterns, riffs and phrases, normal instruments, and other sounds used for a specific song. For example, samples can be mapped across a keyboard for triggering in real-time performance. Sample Banks include parameters with common values which you can edit just as you would an individual sample. You can always access and edit the individual samples used by the Sample Banks at any time.
Samples and Sample Banks are used to construct Programs. The Yamaha A3000 holds 128 Programs in RAM, each with effects configuration and Easy Edit parameter settings. Easy Edit parameters let you make quick adjustments to Sample Banks as well as individual samples.
The Yamaha A3000 provides you with an enormous range of control over your sound, not only as you edit individual samples and set up and edit Sample Banks and Programs, but also in real-time during play.
For example, the Beat Change function provides time-stretching for adjusting the timing of a breakbeat or phrase loop, either faster or slower. This can be performed in real-time by turning a knob (or using an external MIDI controller) to adjust the tempo.
In the same way, you can use the knobs (or MIDI input) for real-time control of the dynamic filters including Lo Pass, Hi Pass, Band Pass, and Band Eliminate types – as well as envelope and parametric EQ settings.
What’s more, control knobs 2 – 5 can be used as assignable controllers, and the six function keys can be used as sample triggers for internal sounds and MIDI out.
The Yamaha A3000’s high-quality DSP features three sophisticated effects blocks which can be freely configured, either as independent units or connected in series, for each Program. Individual parameters for all effects can be accessed and edited at will.
There are a total of 54 effects available, including everything from Hall, Room, Stage and various other reverb effects, to Delay, Echo, Pan, Chorus, Flange, Exciter, Distortion, Pitch Change, and 3 Band EQ.
There is also a collection of original effects designed specifically for techno and dance music, including “AutoSyn”, which makes any sample sound like it’s been synthesized, “TechMod”, which adds a ring modulation type effect to the sample, “Radio”, a Lo-Fi type of effect which simulates the noisy sound of a cheap radio, and even “Turntable”, which adds the clicks and pops of a vinyl record!
Versatile to the core, the Yamaha A3000 features a no-frills but handy MIDI sequencer for quick and easy recording and playback of song sketches as well as playback of SMF (format 0) song data imported from a floppy disk.
Sound file compatibility includes the ability to load in files from popular samplers, as well as WAV (Windows) and AIFF (Macintosh) format files. User-installed hardware options include an optional AIEB1 I/O expansion board with six assignable outputs and coaxial and optical digital I/O.
Auto Sequential Recording permits continuous creation of isolated samples from an audio phrase sampling CD, and CD-ROM Drive Control for controlling a CD-ROM drive like an audio CD player.
