PSR-36 - MAME machine

Musical Instrument (Electronic) published 38 years ago:

PSR-36 © 1988 Yamaha

The Yamaha PSR-36 was an early PortaTone arranger keyboard designed for home users and beginners. It combined a simplified FM synthesis tone generator with PCM-based rhythm accompaniment and automatic bass/chord functions. It allowed users to play preset orchestral voices, use built-in rhythms, and generate automatic accompaniment patterns, making it part of Yamaha’s first wave of affordable electronic arranger keyboards.

TRIVIA
The PSR-36 is part of Yamaha’s early PortaTone PSR generation, before the later standardized PSR-100/200 and PSR-1000 series.

It features two banks of orchestral voices (32 total sounds) and a built-in digital “voice editing” section for basic timbre shaping.

It includes a PCM rhythm section and Auto Bass Chord (ABC) system, allowing automatic accompaniment with bass + chord + drums.

It supports simple MIDI implementation (basic send/receive functions), which was still rare for consumer keyboards of its era.

It includes a Chord Sequencer, letting users record and replay chord progressions automatically.

A built-in “Digital Synthesizer / detune function” allows thickening sounds by layering or slight pitch offset.

It uses battery operation or 9–12V adapter input, reinforcing its portable home-instrument design.

Unlike later PSR models (PSR-110 / PSR-150), it is not AWM sample-based—its sound is derived from early FM + digital hybrid architecture.

It includes a built-in demo song system and rhythm programming tools, typical of late-80s Yamaha arranger keyboards.

It sits historically between Yamaha’s PortaTone FM keyboards and the later fully AWM PSR generation.

CONTRIBUTE
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