1987 (Oct.)
Initially sold for ¥23,800
The Yamaha SHS10 is a shoulder keyboard, part of the "Sholky" line of products, with a basic FM synthesizer and MIDI connectors. It could be considered as a hybrid between the more serious "guitar style" controllers like the KX5 or KX1 and the Portasound line of toy-ish keyboards (the VSS30 was featured alongside the SHS10 in ads). It was available in 2 colours: silver "for him" and red "for her". A special glossier black version with gold accents exists but was probably reserved to Japan.
The SHS10 includes 25 non-editable FM sounds that could be played either through the internal speaker or via line out. There's also a drum machine with 25 rhythms to choose from, and an accompaniment section. On the left side, a pitch bend wheel, next to three "effect" buttons: vibrato, portamento and sustain.
The big feature of the SHS10 is the MIDI OUT connector, allowing this keyboard to act as controller for an external sound source, or as trigger for an external drum machine / sequencer.
Features
- Automatic performance.
- 25 amazing voices. 25 surprising rhythms.
- Auto chords that anyone can play.
- Various effects such as pitch bend.
- A chord sequencer that stores chord progressions.
- Internal batteries, external power adapter, MIDI terminal.
Note: yes, this is the keyboard that Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling) plays in La La Land.
