Yamaha YVS-100 Venova Casual Wind Instrument with Case, White YAMAHA: Everything Else
About this item Easy fingering similar to a recorder Rich and expressive tone that sounds like a saxophone Key of C with a fully chromatic 2 octave range Made from lightweight and durable ABS plastic Uses a soprano saxophone mouthpiece and reed
$79.99
10 reviews for Yamaha YVS-100 Venova Casual Wind Instrument with Case, White YAMAHA: Everything Else
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Yamaha YVS-100 Venova Casual Wind Instrument with Case, White YAMAHA: Everything Else
$79.99
Dennis McIntyre –
I am 50 and musically illiterate. I hummed through a flutophone in 4th grade. My youngest daughter took up the clarinet. I thought I’d learn music also. I chose the recorder, as I understood it simple. I bought a VENOVA from the great promotion and its similarity to the recorder. It WORKS! Just a couple weeks, and I am still horrible. But I can now play a few tunes and the VENOVA sounds great despite the player.I switch between recorder and Venova easily. I would call the Venova a Reed Recorder, or Recorder on Steroids. The Venova is easier than the recorder to hit the low notes, louder, and sounds cool. I like it!!! I am a beginner, 50 years without an inkling of music and I am playing simple songs on it within a week.My daughter with only 2 months on the clarinet picked it up and was able to play the few songs she just learned on clarinet within minutes.I want to buy the Alto. A reward to myself if I keep getting better. It’s fun. It has occupied my time well worth it.
Solmangrundy –
Bought the YVS-120 for its saxophone sound and durability/portability claims.Most spend my time practicing at work in a extremely dirty environment so being able to just spray it down with a hose and not worry is great for me.Never tried the stock reed. Everyone says its too stiff so I picked up a Legere #2.5 Reed and dont really have any trouble playing it.I’m completely new to wind instruments and for the first few days practice was just me trying to figure out how to play notes. Which may put some people off of this. As this defiantly isn’t a pick-up and start playing for people who’ve never used a reed instrument before.There isn’t really that much for music out there thats transcribed for it either so unless you can learn by ear or transcribe your own you may not want this instrument until its popularity increases and people produce more readily avalible music thats specific for the venova.
Wearybear –
I am enjoying playing the Venova a lot. It only took me a couple days to figure out how to play a good tone and do a C-to-C scale quickly. I think this instrument works just fine. It’s sound isn’t going to fool anyone into believing that you are playing a sax, but it sounds great to me. I think the Venova would be best suited for either people who already know how to play the recorder as well as those who want to try a reed instrument without spending a bundle. A couple suggestions. One, get a synthetic reed (especially if you are new to reeds). I bought a Legere 2.0 reed and can get a good tone without a ton of blowing. Two, get a Hal Leonard Easy Fake Book. All songs have been simplified and come in the key of C. They even have a Christmas fake book (the holidays are coming). Nothing motivates a person more than being able to play an actual song. The Venova is a real instrument and requires real practice. But, I am seeing a good potential here for anyone who makes a conscious effort.
A –
Yamaha is marketing this instrument exactly right. Seeing complaints from professional musicians saying it’s not tuned well or isn’t a serious instrument gave me pause until I realized that’s exactly what I wanted: an instrument I can take to jam with friends and not worry about. Its chromatic scale, even the harder notes to produce like G#, is perfectly adequate and not as bad as I’ve experienced with more expensive, “nicer” reeds instruments.If you want a professional concert-worthy instrument, you’d be foolish to think an ABS plastic instrument is trying to pass as one. If you want something relatively inexpensive, durable, fun, and actually a nice sound, this is for you.Get 2.5 reeds to start with, as the resin reed is prone to squeaking until you get better breath control.
Mark –
I have no relevant experience, nor inherent skill, and was still playing the basics by the end of the day.my bkgd is in bass guitar and didgeridoo, luckily I had got a #2 reed since I saw a comment about the included #3 being a bit hard for beginners. so if you are new to reeds, maybe buy some other #reeds so you can try each one out and find your favourite.you can make a bunch of cool sounds with this by simply playing with embouchure and doing stuff like humming.I’m totally going to have bunches of fun mastering this neat instrument (and maybe I even get indirect experience for sax)
Don –
First off, I’ve never played an instrument with a reed before, so this is a totally new experience for me… I have played flutes and fifes before. I am really enjoying the learning experience with the Venova. I am far from good, but I am learning and improving daily… and it’s fun.I would recommend buying a pack of 2.0 cane reeds if you’re a beginner. It comes with a synthetic reed that is rated at 2.5… the first sound I was able to get out of the instrument was something like an insane Canadian goose honking… after a few tries I switched to the cane reed which I’d bought at the same time as the Venova and it made it a lot easier to get started.Does it sound like a real sax? No, not when I play it… the musicians in the videos make it sound really good and maybe someday I’ll get there, but I don’t think it has the rich brass sound of a real sax. It has it’s own sound. For what it costs, in comparison to even a student sax, it’s worth the money to me since I’m playing it mainly for my own enjoyment, not to perform on stage. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll post a video on FB…
Southern style –
12 year old saxophone player was very happy Christmas morning He wanted to pause opening gifts so he could practice. He’ll spend lots of time playing it
CollierCatMan –
I’m impressed. This thing is the real deal as long as you know what you’re buying. Just a few things to realize before you order. I played saxophone for decades. This is not a beginner instrument! While I was able to pick it up and play some songs in C right away without even looking at fingering charts and make some good sound out of the thing, I can tell that it will take some work to make really beautiful music out of this thing. Playing sharps and flats is difficult and definitely requires some on the fly embouchure adjustment to get those half steps in tune. And really you only have 2 octaves to play with. Many easy sheet music you find online will drop down to a low B or something, in which case you need to get creative and jump an octave or something. Also, the included synthetic reed requires a really hard blow and makes the Venova sound and feel like a cheap clarinet. I took the advice of others and ordered some Rico 2 clarinet reeds. Huge difference. With the clarinet reeds, it really sounds like a soprano sax. Beautiful warm tone both low and high notes, and much finer tone control become quickly apparent when switching to the natural reed. I doubt I’ll be trying the synthetic reed again.I haven’t played anything for nearly a decade and haven’t owned a sax for at least as long. What I like about this over a sax is how durable, light weight, and easy it is to use and care for. It really is a very casual instrument, but one that can produce incredible sound in the right hands. The Venova has allowed me to easily fit music back into my life again without breaking the bank or being bothered by setup and breakdown time, maintenance, etc. Just pop open the case and play.Would I recommend this as a beginner learning instrument for an adult or child? Maybe for an adult, but definitely not for a child. Better off with a clarinet or alto sax or something a little easier to make a sound out of. I gave my wife and my daughter a quick lesson and neither could make the Venova do anything other than honk like a goose. But for an intermediate sax or clarinet player, for less than the cost of a decent mouth piece the Venova offers a lot of fun and a new challenge in a quality portable package.
Jason A Greenhalgh –
Such an awesome little insturment. I bought the soprano Venova because for the price it’s well worth it. I found it easy to learn a bit of a learning curve to keep in time but once you figure how u want it to be it can be a very fun insturment to play.
FiveNames –
First off, this is not a $2000-plus concert instrument. It’s meant to practice on and learn the basics of playing a reed instrument on a recorder setup. I have been playing various models of saxophone for almost 30 years and it has taken me a couple months of messing around with it for 15 minutes here and there to actually get my embouchure and fingerings consistent enough to play with a decently pleasant sound. I usually play with a #3 reed so the plastic reed that was included was ok. Actual reeds seem to produce better intonation. It’s not a saxophone, but it is entertaining and I don’t regret buying it. My 3 year old can also play a few consistent notes on it, so do not believe all the reviews by “music professionals” you read on here.