The Plas Hyfryd Hotel, Narberth, was the comfortable venue for an impressive and entertaining demonstration of Yamaha keyboards on Tuesday evening. Demonstrator for the evening was Ian House, who comes from Bristol but tours the UK throughout the year employing his remarkable skills in demonstrating the full potential of the latest Yamaha keyboards. The event was hosted by Musicians World, a musical instrument shop that opened on July 5, 2013 and has already created a big impact with a welcoming atmosphere friendly staff, instrument tuition and live music performances by local musicians. In these days of computer-based music you could be forgiven for thinking that entertainment keyboards are "old hat," but it was clear from the demonstration that Yamaha keyboards have a great deal to offer in 2014. Innovations include 'free play' styles that follow the tempo of your playing and 'super articulation' whereby the quirks and ornaments of a real instrument (e.g. guitar fret noises and hammer-on sounds) can now be faithfully reproduced from the keyboard. The top model of Yamaha's midrange, the PSR-S950, pioneered audio styles - these are accompaniments that are real audio recordings. They include a Rio Samba group, a US Marching Band (actually recorded in Romford!), Irish folk percussion and a replica of Ringo Starr's drum kit, assembled and recorded at Abbey Road Studios. With the Tyros 5, Yamaha's newest flagship keyboard, Ian unveiled an array of faithfully recorded instruments including realistic guitar sounds sampled from genuine 1950s and '60s guitars, complete with classic amps, and orchestral patches recorded using a 77-piece orchestra. "The Tyros 5 is my favourite instrument," declared Ian, and reminded us that Yamaha make a whole range of acoustic instruments as well. He went on to explain the 'ensemble voice' feature on the new Tyros, whereby playing a chord using, say, 'string quartet', each note is cleverly assigned to an appropriate instrument within the quartet. (Previously playing four notes of a string quartet sample would have produced the sound of 16 string players!) The Tyros demonstration covered many styles of music from Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony with its breathtaking all-stops-out'tutti' to The Shadows, where the Hank Marvin tone was instantly recognisable. Each performance was accomplished, flawless and yet had the appearance of being easy. Ian House is clearly very good at what he does, and the sound was undeniably satisfying; frequently outstanding in realism. The evening ended with an opportunity to try out a range of Yamaha keyboards and ask questions. Ian House returns to the Plas Hyfryd on Thursday, June 26 for a Yamaha Clavinova Digital Piano Showcase, starting at 7 pm. To add your name to the guestlist, call Lee on 01437 770808 or e-mail [email protected]">[email protected]

PATRICK OVENDEN