Yamaha KX88 MIDI Controller Keyboard

Yamaha, together with other manufacturers, had been working on the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) 1.0 standard for several years releasing a draft standard in 1982 with the ratified published standard being released in August 1983.

With MIDI came the ability to link keyboards together.  At this point in the electronic music generation journey, you would buy different keyboards to deliver the different sounds.  Compute was expensive, the ability to layer multiple sounds on a single keyboard was not available requiring the musician to have multiple keyboards to generate the desired sounds.

Just think of musicians like Rick Wakeman being surrounded by multiple keyboards in his various concerts, compared to a modern musician who has a keyboard, Apple MAC and a copy of Mainstage.  I know what I would like to see.

The other area MIDI opened up was the development of the tone module.  A synthesiser that had no keyboard and could be loaded into a 19" rack.  Compact synthesisers.  3 or 4 of these in a rack would significantly increase the sound scape available to the keyboard player.

Enter the Yamaha KX88.  The Yamaha KX88 was launched in 1984 a year after the MIDI standard was adopted by all the manufacturers.  The Yamaha KX88 allowed the keyboard player to control all their instruments and sound sources from a single point.

Over the years many have cited the Yamaha KX88 and Roland A-80 as the definitive MIDI controllers of the era.  The A-80 was released 4 years after the KX88, was more functional with an LCD display used to interface with the keyboard player.

However, in the years between 1984 and 1988 the Yamaha KX88 set the standard for MIDI controllers.  It was adopted by many keyboard players.  It had a full 88-key key bed, described by many as wood like.  The key bed simulated a weighted keyboard that had the ability to transmit both key velocity and aftertouch information via MIDI.

You would see the Yamaha KX88 teamed in the early days with other famous keyboards from the Yamaha range (DX/TX keyboards and modules of the era).  Find videos of David Paich playing keys for Toto during the 1980's where the KX88 was the primary keyboard in his rig.

I have both a Yamaha KX88 and Roland A-80 in the collection.  More of A-80 over on the Roland section of the website. 

Both the Yamaha KX88 and Roland A-80 are heavy.  The KX88 is 30kg.  Which when you consider the size (144cm width and 35cm deep) makes the keyboard difficult to manoeuvre by one person.  Many people have described the keyboard as 'built like a tank'.  And that was another reason why this was chosen by touring musicians for their touring rig.  It didn't go wrong on the road.

There is some general maintenance that needs to be undertaken on my version of this keyboard other than the items called out above before this Yamaha KX88 MIDI Controller keyboard can be returned to full operation.