I wrote a review earlier this year on the keyboard my husband bought me. In my wildest dreams I would never have imagined how this would change my life.

A neighbor asked me if I would like to learn to play the organ. I said 'Sure', and she started to give me lessons on her $35,000 Yamaha. I picked it up really quickly and so she gave me an old "Dutch" organ, an Eminent. Unfortunately because this organ was over 25 years old the pedals made a humming sound and spoiled the overall performance.

I was lucky enough to have a Lowrey Genie Gl-3 left me. It had been the property of an elderly lady at the ALF I work at. This too had problems. The expression pedal didn't work and 2 of the pedals. We phoned everyone in the telephone book, and ended up with the same answer. Both too old to get the parts.

My husband wasn't deterred. Off we went to the largest organ store in the area. I sat and played several, almost new ones. So which one did I fall in love with.
Okay, so you know by the title. Yamaha Electone HS-8T. This model is the top of the line.


Why did I choose this one over the other organs.

All the ones I played had a wonderful orchestral sound. Dozens of different combinations. Great stereo quality.
The first one I tried had a 1 and a half octave of pedals with the expression pedal to the right of them. Fine if I am wearing trousers or shorts, but certainly unlady like with a skirt. Another was so high that the music stood above my head. Not good with progressive bifocals.

This model is the same width and depth as the other organs, but not as high. It has a regular organ bottom, but a modern low black keyboard area, with a glass top. Very elegant to the eye.


The sound.

The easiest way of explaining how good it is, is to tell you a little story. I telephoned 2 friends, my daughter, step-daughter, and my old Dad, of 85 years young.
I told my daughter I would play her a song. When I had finished she said it sounded like an orchestra on the television. Better still my Dad would not believe it was me playing. I even played him a second tune, and he still said that I could not be playing anything that beautiful. Len's daughter too was totally blown away by the sound of it.

Is it hard to play.

It can be as simple as you want it to be. Just one finger on the right hand can play the melody. Then press the settings to play rhythm and pedals.

I play 1-3 fingers on the melody (top keyboard), chords on the lower keyboard (3 or 4 fingers) and pedals. I have been lucky enough to have a retired lady of 70 teaching me.

What else does it have.

Far too much for me to write about. This model has 16 preset orchestral arrangements. 20 setting on a roll type device. This twists round to give various different enhancements to the sounds being played.

The orchestral settings can be changed for every song, or during songs. There are hundreds of combinations.

Rhythms are just below. Fancy a waltz, 8 beat, or swing. The choices just go on. When setting the rhythm the amount of beats shows up in the display. If you start playing and it is too fast, no need to push buttons. There is a circular disk that can be spun in either direction in a second. I just love this little gismo.

Intros, endings, and fill in buttons are wonderful. They enable me to sound professional.

Not only can you record and playback on this organ, but it also has the MDR-2 Yamaha Music Disk Recorder. This is a unit under the right side of the keyboard. My organ is approximately 4 years old and came with a dozen floppy disks. Some have recorded music on them, others are to enhance the sounds being played. I have been told that I can record my own floppy disks, however, I will go to the monthly lessons on the Yamaha organ to find out how to do this.

This particular model cost $18,000 new. We purchased it for $3,000. I truly think this to be a great buy.


Who should buy it.

Certainly not a novice. It is a little too advanced for me right now, but with lessons on using this organ, I plan to enjoy each and every note it can play.


Final thoughts.

This is an elegant piece of furniture. It will give me years of pleasure, and hopefully my husband too. It came with a 90 day warranty. I certainly would not have shelled out the new retail price, but I know I have a bargain here.

There is so much to write about this product. If I have missed out something that will help you to purchase an organ, don't hesitate to e-mail me.

Thank you for reading.

~Susan~



Recommended: Yes