Walkstation

A walkstation is an electronic music device which provides musicians with the facilities of a music workstation in a portable package. The term was introduced as part of the marketing for the Yamaha QY10,^[1] presumably as a portmanteau of Walkman and workstation.^[2] Its usage is typically limited to the portable members of Yamaha's QY sequencer family.^[3]

The features of a walkstation are:

sound module
music sequencer
(usually) a small musical keyboard.
small size
battery power

The heyday of the walkstation lay between the time when creating such devices was viable and the time when general-purpose portable devices, such as laptops and mobile phones, were capable of offering comparable functionality.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Manufacturer	Device	Year	MIDI	Keyboard	Sequencer tracks	Accompaniment tracks	User accompaniment	Digital effects	Storage media
Yamaha	QY10	1990	Yes	1 octave	4	4	Yes	No	No
Yamaha	QY20^[4]	1992	Yes	2 octaves	4	4	Yes	No	No
Yamaha	QY8	1994	Yes	None	4	4	No	No	No
Yamaha	QY22	1995	GM	2 octaves	4	4	Yes	No	No
Yamaha	QY70	1997	GM/XG	2 octaves	16	8	Yes	Yes	No
Yamaha	QY100	2000	GM/XG	2 octaves	16	8	Yes	Yes	SmartMedia

Manufacturer	Device	Year	MIDI	Keyboard	Sequencer tracks	Accompaniment tracks	User accompaniment	Digital effects	Storage media
Philips	PMC-100	1986	No	2 octaves	1	5	No	No	Cassette tape
Boss	Dr 5	1993	Yes	Fretboard Style	0	4	Yes	No	No
Roland	PMA-5	1996	GM/GS	2 octaves	4	4	Yes	Yes	No

Walkstation

References

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