Yamaha MU-15 Tone Generator > Reviews > A very 'sound' piece of equipment

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	The instruments are of high quality and it is easy to use
Disadvantages:	The keyboard sounds are not 100% brilliant

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As part of my GCSE Music course I have to compose three pieces. I can do these on the school’s computer, but also my own. This is where the MU-15 comes in extremely handy. All I have to do is connect it to my computer and I have instant access to all the General MIDI and XG sounds, so I can see what my composition will really sound like.

The MU-15 is a small, but highly ingenious sound module that has many features, such as the ability to alter the pitch of or mute instruments and change vibrato. It also has a small keyboard on it which double out as the features. This means that you can input notes into the software you are using, without a keyboard. You can also put the keyboards up or down several octaves, in order to get the full range of the stave.

I have only used this module using the RISC OS and PC versions of Sibelius. It works perfectly on the latter. However, there is a problem with RISC OS Sibelius, which means it cannot play a drum stave. This is however rectified if you play a MIDI file that makes the module say TG3000.

The sounds on the module are of a very high quality and range. As I have already mentioned it conforms to General MIDI and also Yamaha XG standard. I cannot compare its sounds with any other sound modules, but it does sound extremely life-like. The keyboard sounds lack slightly in their likeness to their real-life counterpart, but they do not sound noticeably odd.

Overall this is a very good sound module that I find really easy to use. It costs around £100 (I do not know exactly as I borrow it periodically from school) and is well worth the money. It is particularly god for novices as it is inexpensive, does the job well and has no complicated user interface.