Yamaha EL17E, EL17 User Manual

Main Features

Your Yamaha Electone is packed with many sophisticated functions. Yet it is
amazingly easy to use. The main features are described here so that you can
quickly understand the capabilities of your Electone.

Included among the main features are:

Astoundingly True-to-life Sounds

The new AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) tone generation system provides authentic, dynamic voices, making
the Electone a truly expressive musical instrument. (See page 13.)

Expressive Touch Tone

The Touch Tone function provides you with expressive control over the volume and timbre of a voice, making it
possible to perfectly reproduce the subtle dynamaic and tonal changes of actual instruments. (See page 15.)

Dynamic Rhythm Patterns

The Rhythm section of the Electone features authentic drum and percussion sounds, ranging from Waltz to 16
Beat including convenient metronome function. (See page 16.) The Keyboard Percussion function is also provided
for you to play the realistic percussion sounds from the Lower keyboard and pedalboard. (See page 18 .)

Table of Contents

Panel Controls................................................... 2

1. Basic Operation.......................................... 4

Getting Started ......................................................................... 4

Playing Back the Demonstration Songs ...................................5

Playing Your Electone ................................................................6

Basic Registrations ............................................................ 6

2. Voice Sections.......................................... 1 3

Selecting Voices from the Panel ............................................. 13

Setting the volume for the voice sections............................... 14

3. Effects........................................................... 1 5

Touch Tone ............................................................................... 15

Reverb ...................................................................................... 15

Sustain...................................................................................... 15

1. Basic Operation

2. Voice Sections

3. Effects

4. Rhythms

Appendix

4. Rhythms....................................................... 1 6

Selecting Rhythm Patterns...................................................... 16

Playing Keyboard Percussion ................................................. 18

Percussion Assignments ...................................................19

Appendix.......................................................... 2 0

MIDI ......................................................................................... 2 0

Troubleshooting ....................................................................... 23

Specifications.......................................................................... 24

MIDI Messages ........................................................................ 25

Panel Controls

Front Panel

1 REVERB Buttons (See page 15.)

Adjust the Reverb effect for the entire sounds.

2 SUSTAIN Buttons (See page 15.)

Add the Sustain effects to Upper/Lower Keyboard and
Pedalboard.

3 Monitor Speakers

Built-in speakers for your monitoring.

4 UPPER KEYBOARD VOICE Section

(See page 13.)

Selects the Upper Keyboard voices and adjusts the volume.

5 LOWER KEYBOARD VOICE Section

(See page 13.)

Selects the Lower Keyboard voices and adjust the volume.

6 LEAD VOICE Section (See page 13.)

Selects the LEAD voices and adjusts the volume.

7 PEDAL VOICE Section (See page 13.)

Selects the Pedal voices and adjusts the volume.

8 BASIC REGIST. (Basic Registration)

Buttons (See page 6.)

Select the Basic Registrations.

9 MASTER VOLUME Control (See page 4.)

Adjusts the entire volume.

0 METRONOME/RHYTHM Section

(See page 16.)

Selects a rhythm or metronome pattern and adjusts its volume
level.

!

KEYBOARD PERCUSSION Buttons
(See page 18.)

Used to play the percussion sounds with Lower Keyboard or
Pedalboard.

@

BAR/BEAT／TEMPO Display (See page 17.)

Displays the rhythm tempo or bar/beat.

2

18

19
20

21

22

24 25

23

Other Parts,
Controls and Terminals

# TEMPO Dial (See page 17.)

Adjusts the rhythm tempo.

$ BAR/BEAT Indicator (See page 17.)

Flashes to the first beat of every measure (or every beat).

% SYNCRO START Button (See page 16.)

Puts the rhythm pattern in "stand-by" and enables the Lower
keyboard or Pedalboard to start the rhythm.

^ START Button (See page 16.)

Used to start or stop the rhythm pattern.

& POWER Switch (See page 4.)

Turns the EL-17 on/off.

* Key Cover/Music Stand

Å@

( Upper Keyboard

) Lower Keyboard

q MIDI Jacks

w Expression Pedal (See page 4.)

Used to adjust the entire volume level during the perfor­mance.

e Pedalboard

r AUX. OUT Jack (RCA/Mono)

This set of stereo outputs (RCA pin jacks) is for connection to
external amplification/speaker systems. Typically, they are
for direct connection to a home audio system or cassette
deck.

t HEADPHONES Jack

For connection of a stereo or monaural headphone set.
When headphones are connected to this jack, sound to the
Electone's built-in speaker system is automatically cut off,
allowing you to play without disturbing others.

3

1. Basic Operation

No matter what your level of playing experience, we rec­ommend that you take the time to go through this basic
section. It shows you in the simplest possible manner how
to start playing your Electone.

Getting Started

Once you've set up your Electone and plugged the power cord into an electrical outlet, you're
ready to get started and play.

Turn on the Electone by pressing the
POWER switch.

1

POWER

Yamaha products are manufac-

tured specifically for the supply
voltage in the area where they are to be sold.
If you should move, or if any doubt exists
about the supply voltage, please consult with
a qualified technician.

2

3

Set the MASTER VOLUME control.

The MASTER VOLUME control is an overall control which affects the volume
of the entire instrument.

MASTER VOLUME

5

4     6

3        7

2         8

1        9

MIN     MAX

Press the Expression pedal down with your
foot.

The Expression pedal also controls the entire volume of the Electone. Once
you have set the MASTER VOLUME control to a suitable level, you can use the
Expression pedal to change the volume with your foot as you play.

Turning the Electone off erases all

panel settings you have made.
When the Electone is turned on, Basic Reg­istration 1 is automatically selected.

Louder         Smaller

For now, press the pedal down slightly beyond the halfway point.

4

Playing Back the Demonstration Songs

The Electone has five demonstration music pieces for your listening enjoyment. Try playing back the demos

before you start to play.

1
2

3

Press and hold down the PEDAL/DEMO button.

The five lamps in the BASIC REGIST. section will start blinking.

Release the PEDAL/DEMO button.

The lamps above the Basic Registration buttons will go on blinking, indicat­ing the Electone has entered the stand-by mode for playing back a demon­stration song.

Press the Basic Registration button you want
to play back.

The followings are the demo songs assigned to each Basic Registration Button:

Basic Registration Button 1: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik W. A. Mozart
Basic Registration Button 2: London Bridge English Folk Song
Basic Registration Button 3: To a Wild Rose E. MacDowell

Basic Registration Button 4:

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

French Folk Song

PEDAL

DEMO

BASIC

REGIST.

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

These lamps blink in
succession.

4

Basic Registration Button 5: Comical Train M. Watanabe

The demo song you have selected will start.
When playback of the demo song is completed, the lamps will start blinking
again, indicating that the Electone is ready to play the demo songs again.

Press the PEDAL/DEMO button again to cancel
the stand-by mode.

You can also cancel the stand-by mode and stop the playback while a demo
is being played back.

PEDAL

During playback

DEMO

Stand-by mode
cancelled.

Stops

During demo playback, only the

Basic Registration buttons and
PEDAL/DEMO button can be used. All other
controls, as well as the keyboard, are tem­porarily disabled.

The demo function does not

operate while the MDR-4 (the op­tional Music Disk Recorder), if installed,
is played back.

5

Playing Your Electone



Basic Registration 1

Basic Registration 2

Basic Registration 3

Basic Registration 4

Basic Registration 5

1

2

3

4

5

BASIC

REGIST.

As a performance aid, the Electone includes convenient Basic Registrations that let you instantly change the

voices and other settings for all of the keyboards, even as you play. Each registration is pre-programmed to be

used for a specific music style or instrumental combination.

Basic Registrations

The Basic Registration section has five factory preset registrations, each with
a different set of voices for the Upper/Lower keyboards and Pedalboard, and
each of which is specially suited for playing in a different music style.

When you turn the power on, the Electone automatically selects Basic Regis­tration 1. If another registration has been selected (the lamp on the button
will be lit), press the button for Basic Registration 1.

The chart below lists the voices that have been set for the Upper/Lower key­boards and Pedalboard.

Basic Registration 1 Basic Registration 2 Basic Registration 3 Basic Registration 4 Basic Registration 5

Upper Keyboard Voice Strings Brass Flute Cosmic (1) Synth. Brass
Lower Keyboard Voice Strings Horn Piano Cosmic 2 Cosmic 3
Pedal Voice Contrabass Tuba Contrabass Cosmic 2 Synth. Bass

Now, try out all five Basic Registrations with the following music examples. Press the appropriate buttons to select
the registrations. Each music example has been chosen to best suit its companion registration.

When the Electone is turned on,

Basic Registration 1 is automatically
selected.

The voices, Cosmic 2, Cosmic 3,

Synth. Brass and Synth. Bass, used in
the Basic Registrations are not selectable from
the panel voice buttons.

The rhythm (except for metronome)

volume and tempo will be reset to
each default value (volume: 0, tempo: 120)
when one of the Basic Registrations is selected.

6

Basic Registration 1

Symphonie No.9

Try playing with

your right hand.

CG

55

44

G

G

L. Beethoven

3

2

4

1

Right hand

1133 3 33

FF

22

C

5

7

C

EEEE E

22

D

DDD

CCG

E E E E

55

44

F F

GG

222

D

111133 3 3

D

7

D

CCC C

7

Next, play the accompaniment parts
with your left hand and foot in

Basic Registration 2

addition to playing the melody line.

When the Saints Go Marchin’ in American Folk Song

8

Basic Registration 3

Romance de L’amour

Accompaniment pattern

3

4

2

5

1

Left hand

Pedal

Left foot

Am

555 5 3 321 123

E E E E

531

Am

4

D

C C

Spanish Folk Song

E

B

C

AA

555

A A A

Am Dm

5

4

A

3

G

F

531

Am

Am Am

E

D

Am

531

3

21 12 2 2 2

F

E

D

D

521

Dm

E7

CC

B B B B B

A

E7

E

521

E7

33 3

F

C

E

E7

B

F

521

1232222123345

A

Am

4

G

E

F

E

531

9

Basic Registration 4

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

French Folk Song

10

Basic Registration 5

Chopsticks

Hilster

11

●

Selecting Voices

Try playing the voices not assigned in the Basic Registration section.
Select the voice to play on the Upper Keyboards from the Upper Keyboard voices/Lead voices. The LED (s) will be lit
above the selected voice button.

UPPER KEYBOARD VOICE

STRINGS BRASS CLARI-

ORGAN PIANO GUITAR VIBRA-

NET

PHONE

PHONE

SAXO-

CHORUS HARMO-

NICA

COSMIC TUTTI

MAX

MIN

LEAD VOICE

VIOLINFLUTE

TRUM-

OBOE TO

PET

MAX

LOWER

MIN

Select the voices to play on the Lower Keyboards from the Lower Keyboard voices.

LOWER KEYBOARD VOICE

STRINGS BRASS CLARI-

ORGAN PIANO GUITAR VIBRA

NET

PHONE

PHONE

SAXO-

CHORUS HORN

COSMIC TUTTI

MAX

MIN

Select the voices to play on the Pedalboards from the Pedalboard voices.

You can play the Lead/Pedal voices

on the Lower Keyboards.
(See page 14.)

●

Selecting Rhythm Patterns

CONTRA

BASS

BASS

PEDAL VOICE

ELEC.
BASS

TUBAORGAN

LOWER

MAX

TO

MIN

Try playing the Electone to the rhythm or metronome. When one of the Basic Registration is selected, the rhythm
volume is automatically set to “0”. Set the rhythm volume to any value but 0 before starting the rhythm. After press-
ing the desired rhythm button to select the rhythm, press the START button in the Rhythm section.

METRONOME

3

4

MARCH WALTZ SWING

2
4

TANGO LATIN

4
4

RHYTHM

LATIN28 BEAT 16 BEAT

1



BOUNCE SLOW

ROCK

MAX

START

MIN

The rhythm starts to play. Pressing the START button again stops the rhythm.

START

Stops

You can also adjust the rhythm tempo by turning the TEMPO dial, as indicated in the illustration below. Turning the
dial clockwise makes it faster and turning it counterclockwise slower. (See page 17 for details .)

BAR/BEAT

TEMPO

Slower     Faster

12