The Portasound PSS-580 by Yamaha is a japanese vintage portable keyboard synthesizer , released in the late 1980s.
It was used by many professional musicians, including the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure, and New Order.
The PSS-580 is a monophonic synthesizer with a built-in sequencer and a variety of sound-shaping features.
It has a two-octave keyboard, a built-in speaker, and a headphone jack. It also has a built-in arpeggiator, a pitch-bend wheel, and a variety of sound-shaping controls.
The PSS-580 also has a built-in chorus effect and a built-in reverb effect.
The PSS-580 is a relative of the 480, 680, and 780, with the same voices and most of the same features in common. The 680/780 boast a couple more features, but the editable FM synthesizer parameters are common to all these keyboards, with control from the front panel of the keyboard over attack, decay, frequency, feedback and modulation for 2 operators
Specifications
Year released: Mid to late 1980’s.
Price when new: £99?
Type of keyboard: Synthesizer
Analogue/Digital: Digital
Sound generation: Frequency Modulation (FM, Main Voices), Pulse Code Modulation (PCM, Drums)
Number of keys: 49
Key size: Mini
Touch Sensitive: No, but will respond to velocity via midi while in “Sound Source Mode”
Battery backup: Yes, features a rechargeable battery for remembering custom voices, is recharged when the keyboard is connected to a power source
Storage: 5 sound banks for storing custom voices, 1 custom drummer bank and 10 banks for the built in sequencer (5 melody and 5 auto accompaniment)
Expandable Storage: The Keyboard does not have any expandable storage, however, settings and custom voices can be dumped to a computer or MIDI recorder as “System Exclusive” (SysEx) files.
Polyphonic: Yes, 12 notes for the main voice, 8 for drums.
Mono mode: The keyboard does not feature a mono playback mode, but it can be simulated using the “Harmonise” feature.
Volume control: 1 Master volume control + digital volume controls in “Keyboard Assign” mode, volume can be controlled via midi velocity commands in “Sound Source Mode”. Changing the digital volume control effects the value of the “Velocity” data that is transmitted over MIDI from the keyboard.
Synth Edit: Yes (Only some parameters can be edited directly on the keyboard. A special program like “PSS-Edit” is required to edit the rest of them.)
Stereo: The main FM sound chip is mono, however the drum chip is capable of panning the drum sounds.
Sound chip: Unknown but I suspect that it is the same as the PSS-480 (YM3420AD)*1
CPU: Unknown, but I suspect that it is the same as the PSS-480.
MIDI Ports: In, Out
Built in Sequencer: Yes
Pitch Bend Wheel: No, but the synth can respond to pitch bend via MIDI (Sound Source Mode only and pitch range is fixed to 2 octaves)
MIDI Specifications:
Velocity: Auto accompaniment section transmits velocity data in “Keyboard Assign Mode”, keyboard will respond to velocity data in “Sound Source Mode”
SysEx support: Yes
Multi-timbral: Yes, the keyboard can transmit on MIDI channels 1 – 16 in “Keyboard Assign Mode” and receive on MIDI channels 1 – 16 in “Sound Source Mode”
Drums controllable via MIDI: Yes, Drum channel is fixed to 16, auto accompaniment can be synchronised with external sequencers by setting the MIDI Clock to external
Volume controllable via MIDI: No
MIDI Channels: 1 – 15 FM voice channels, 16 fixed to Drums. While the keyboard can receive on MIDI Channels 1-16 only 12 FM voices can be played simultaneously due to the 12 note poly limit. The keyboard can also be set to ignore certain MIDI channels.
MIDI Clock: Can be set to internal or external
Parameters editable via MIDI: Parameters can be edited by altering System Exclusive files via a special program like “PSS Edit”. The synth does not support editing synth parameters in real time.
MIDI thru via MIDI out: Sort of. I've found that the keyboard applies it's settings to the MIDI data which is forwarded out via the MIDI Out i.e. if you set the MIDI transmit channel to 3 on the keyboard, then all MIDI data that is forwarded will be sent on channel 3 etc. This only works in Keyboard Assign Mode
Playable note range via MIDI: C0-C7
MIDI Patch range: 0-99 preset voices, 100 – 105 custom voices
Voice Generation: 2 Operator FM Synthesis
Bulk dump support: Yes, the settings for the custom drummer, built in sequencer and custom voices can be dumped to a MIDI recorder.
Sound Generation
The PSS-580 generates its voices via “Frequency Modulation” (FM) Synthesis. It is a basic 2-operator FM synth with feedback.
There is a bit of distortion and digital quantisation noise from the FM chip, which is most likely caused by a low bit depth. I’m not 100% sure what bit depth that the FM chip operates at but I suspect that it is around 8 – 12 bits.
An LFO can be used to modulate the pitch and amplitude of both operators. Its waveform is fixed to a triangle wave and the frequency cannot be altered. The modulation depth as well as an LFO delay can be altered using a special program like “PSS-edit”.
The drums are generated via “Pulse Code Modulation” (PCM) and is the only part of this keyboard that can operate in stereo. I suspect that the sampling rate for the drum samples is around 22khz.
The PSS-580 operators can use the following waveforms for both the Carrier and Modulator: Sine wave, Squared Sine Wave, Sine Half Wave and Squared Sine Half Wave (See image below).
An image showing the Operator waveforms the keyboard can produce
Editable Parameters
Note some parameters can only be edited using a special program such as “PSS-Edit”. These parameters will be in italic. Parameters with an asterisk (*) indicate that they can be applied to both the Carrier and Modulator individually.
Envelopes:
Attack*
Decay 1*
Decay 2*
Release*
Sustain Release*
Waveform:
Sine wave*
Squared Sine wave*
Half Sine wave*
Squared Half Sine wave*
LFO:
PM (vibrato) Sensitivity (Depth)
AM (tremolo) Sensitivity (Depth)
Vibrato enable
Amplitude Modulation on/off*
Other Parameters:
Sustain Enable
Feedback
Key-scaling (Low)*
Key-scaling (High)*
Fine detune*
Coarse detune*
Frequency Multiplication*
Total Level
Modulation Level
Drums
The PSS-580 has a total of nine PCM drum sounds.
These are:
Kick drum
Snare
Rim Shot
Tom Low
Tom High
Hi hat closed
Hi hat open
Ride cymbal
Crash cymbal
As a separate sound chip generates the drum sounds, playing a drum doesn’t reduce the number of FM voices that can be played. The drum chip is capable of playing 8 notes at once.
The drums are mapped to the “Yamaha Standard Voice” MIDI standard but due to the low number of drum sounds available (9) some sound are repeated.
Below shows which MIDI note corresponds to each drum sound.
D1: Snare
D#1: Not used
E1: Not used
F1: Not used
F#1: Not used
G1: Not used
G#1: Kick Drum
A1: Kick Drum
A#1: Rim Shot
B1: Low Tom
C2: Low Tom
C#2: Snare
D2: Low Tom
D#2: Rim Shot
E2: Snare
F2: Tom High
F#2: Not used
G2: Not used
G#2: Not used
A2: Hi Hat Closed
A#2: Not used
B2: Hi Hat Open
C3: Crash Cymbal
C#3: Crash Cymbal
D3: Ride Cymbal
D#3: Ride Cymbal
MIDI Modes
The PSS-580 has two MIDI modes in which it can operate in: “Keyboard Assign Mode” and “Sound Source Mode”.
Keyboard Assign Mode:
Keyboard Assign Mode is the default mode that the keyboard normally starts up in.
This mode is intended for using the keyboard for controlling other MIDI instruments as well as using it as a stand alone keyboard.
The keyboard will respond to all MIDI channels, however only one voice can be played. The drums can be sequenced on MIDI channel 16. An additional octave higher can be played on this keyboard via MIDI in this mode.
The auto accompaniment can be synchronised via MIDI by setting the MIDI clock to “external”. The keyboard also transmits a MIDI clock signal when the MIDI clock is set to “internal” for synchronising other MIDI instruments and drum machines.
The melody data stored in the built in sequencer is also transmitted over MIDI. The MIDI channel that each part transmits on corresponds to the current transmit channel that was set on the keyboard while recording, so setting the keyboard’s MIDI transmit channel to 1 and then recording part 1 will then transmit that part on MIDI channel 1 etc.
The auto accompaniment notes are also transmitted via MIDI, the MIDI channels which each part transmits on is written on the top right of the keyboard.
Sound Source Mode:
Sound Source Mode is mainly used for operating the keyboard as a multi-timbral sound source. When in this mode, local control is turned off so if you press a key, you won’t hear any sound. The keyboard does, however transmit MIDI data.
The majority of the buttons on the keyboard e.g. the auto accompaniment and sequencer etc. do not work in this mode.
The keyboard can respond on MIDI channels 1 – 16 and can play a total of 12 voices simultaneously. MIDI channel 16 is fixed to the drums.
Sending velocity commands via MIDI can control the volume of each note. The keyboard does not respond to channel volume controls however.
Despite not having a pitch bend wheel, the keyboard can respond to pitch bend commands via MIDI in this mode. The pitch bend range however is fixed to 2 octaves and cannot be changed.
Custom voices cannot be edited directly on the keyboard in this mode, it can receive SysEx files containing custom voice data. The keyboard does however pause for a brief second while receiving SysEx data so it is not feasible to send custom voices to the keyboard on the fly.
Playing Range
The PSS-580 is capable of playing notes from C1 to C5 with an additional octave playable via MIDI in “Keyboard Assign” mode. In “Sound Source Mode” the keyboard will respond to notes C0 to C7.
An image showing the octave playing range directly on the keyboard or via an external MIDI controller
Voice List
The PSS-580 has a total of 105 voices (100 preset voices plus 5 user banks which can store custom voices). The preset voices corresponds to the “Yamaha Standard Voice” set and the are listed below.
00 Synth Brass
01 Jazz Organ
02 Pipe Organ 1
03 Piano 1
04 Harpsichord 1
05 Electric Piano 1
06 Celesta
07 Vibraphone
08 Marimba 1
09 Steel Drum 1
10 Violin 1
11 Cello
12 Jazz Guitar
13 Rock Guitar 1
14 Wood Bass 1
15 Trumpet
16 Trombone
17 Horn
18 Soprano Sax
19 Clarinet
20 Flute
21 Oboe
22 Harmonica
23 Whistle
24 Music Box
25 Honky-tonk Piano
26 Toy Piano
27 Transistor Organ
28 Tremolo Organ
29 Small Church Organ
30 Funky Clavi
31 Accordion
32 Glockenspiel
33 Hawaiian Guitar
34 Banjo
35 Bowed Bass
36 Acoustic Guitar
37 Harp
38 Picked Bass
39 Slap Bass
40 Ukulele
41 Strings
42 Alpenhorn
43 Bagpipe
44 Mute Trumpet
45 Tenor Sax
46 Jug
47 Panflute
48 Ice Block
49 Reed Organ
50 Electronic Organ
51 Pipe Organ 2
52 Piano 2
53 Harpsichord 2
54 Electric Piano 2
55 Glass Celesta
56 Bandoneon
57 Street Organ
58 Synth Bass
59 Marimba 2
60 Steel Drum 2
61 Chimes
62 Tubular Bells
63 Hand Bell
64 Carillion
65 Synth Tom
66 Timpani
67 Violin 2
68 Rock Guitar 2
69 Tremolo Guitar
70 Rock Guitar 3
71 Pedal Steel Guitar
72 12 String Guitar
73 Classic Guitar
74 Mandolin
75 Sitar
76 Koto
77 Shamisen
78 Jamisen
79 Mute Bass
80 Electric Bass
81 Wood Bass 2
82 Electric Trumpet
83 Wow Trumpet
84 Tuba
85 Alto Sax
86 Bass Clarinet
87 Bassoon
88 Recorder
89 Ocarina
90 Piccolo
91 Samba Whistle
92 Brass Ensemble
93 Woodwind Ensemble
94 Human Voice 1
95 Human Voice 2
96 Human Chorus
97 Kazoo
98 Musical Saw
99 Sine Wave
Style List: The PSS-580 features 100 auto accompaniment styles which I have listed below.
00 Rhythm & Blues 1
01 Rhythm & Blues 2
02 Slow Blues,
03 Gospel
04 Disco
05 Rap
06 Safari
07 Fusion 1
08 Fusion 2
09 16Beat 1
10 16Beat 2
11 Techno Rock 1
12 Techno Rock 2
13 Funk 1
14 Funk 2
15 Funk 3
16 Funk 4
17 Rock’n Roll 1
18 Rock’n Roll 2
19 Rock’n Roll 3
20 Rock-a-Ballad
21 Hard Rock
22 Heavy Metal
23 Speed Metal
24 Pop Rock 1
25 Pop Rock 2
26 Rock Baroque
27 Christmas Rock
28 Oriental Rock
29 Brass Rock
30 Swing Guitar
31 Swing Piano
32 Swing Organ
33 Swing Vibraphone
34 Big Band 1
35 Big Band 2
36 Big Band 3
37 Big Band (Waltz)
38 Modern Jazz
39 Jazz Waltz
40 5/4 Swing
41 Jazz Ballad
42 Shuffle
43 Boogie Woogie Piano 1
44 Boogie Woogie Piano 2
45 Boogie Woogie Piano 3
46 Boogie Big Band 1
47 Boogie Big Band 2
48 Dixieland Combo
49 Dixieland Banjo
50 Jazz Baroque
51 Bossa Nova 1
52 Bossa Nova 2
53 Samba 1
54 Samba 2
55 Samba 3
56 Salsa 1
57 Salsa 2
58 Salsa 3
59 Tango
60 Habanera
61 Mambo 1
62 Mambo 2
63 Mambo 3
64 Rhumba
65 Cha-Cha-Cha
66 Conga
67 Merengue
68 Calypso 1
69 Calypso 2
70 Son Afro
71 Reggae
72 Cuban
73 Beguine
74 Island Folklore
75 Mariachi
76 Argentine Folklore
77 March 1
78 March 2
79 Majestic March
80 Fanfare
81 Lullaby
82 Baroque
83 Baroque (Waltz)
84 String Quartet
85 Viennese Waltz
86 Polka
87 Bolero
88 Flamenco
89 Classical Guitar
90 Ragtime Piano
91 Country
92 Country Piano
93 Country Steel Guitar
94 Bluegrass
95 Street Organ
96 Hawiian
97 Mandolin Band
98 Chanson
99 Barbershop Quartet
More Infos in the Operation Manual.
