Since the dawn of time, bizarre natives and worshippers of strange Gods have hung terrifying icons around their necks – beads, shrunken heads, necklaces of bones ripped from the bodies of their enemies. Now, in pursuance of their bloody rites, the tribes of the west have found an even more potent talisman to wear about their bodies... baggy white T shirts with 'Relax' printed on them.

Yeah, I know, you all thought I was going to say 'Yamaha's KX1 remote keyboard for the DX synths' but that would have been too obvious. Besides, I've seen enough of those bloody T-shirts to last me a lifetime.

The KX1 does, however, dangle about your person. A three and a half octave, full sized keyboard, it allows you to play the synths at the back of the stage while you're out the front, battling with the guitarist for the attentions of the blonde in the front row.

Not a brand new idea. Originally there were custom built remotes such as George Duke's 'Dukey Stick', and later commercial versions such as Moog's Liberation and the outward bound keyboard for the Prophet 5. Both of the latter were made light enough to carry on a guitar strap by means of having just the keys and a few controls on board – the electronics, power supply, oscillators etc were back at the main synth section standing by the rest of your keyboard rack, and connected via a long cable, or radio transmitter.

More recently, as synth circuits have become ever more compact and construction techniques stronger and lighter, it's been possible to carry the entire synth around your neck via the Roland SH101 and the Korg Poly 800. You can also buy add-on 'arms' – stubby extrusions that contain modulation controls and take the position of a guitar neck, giving your left hand something to do. All this so you can get out under the spotlights.

One important difference about the KX1 is that its connections are made via MIDI so it could operate any modern MIDI synth – Jupiter 6, Poly 800, Siel, etc, etc, etc. However, since manufacturers have yet to agree on the finer points of the famous Musical Instrument Digital Interface system, then depending on which synth you connect, you may be able to determine the notes and some modulation facilities, but only a Yamaha DX7, 9 or 1 will make use of all the program changing switches arranged across the top of the KX1.

There are 32 memory selectors split into four banks of eight, and arranged as solid feeling push buttons above the keys. They switch only the DX's internal memories, so if you wanted to swap to a cartridge sound, you'd still have to wander back to the 'host' keyboard to do the job.

The KX1 is generally run on batteries – six penlight types – but there is a four pin Din connector for a DC supply if you so choose. The batteries are in a panel at the rear, easily removed by two knurled screws. No tools required, just your fingers.

The long and somewhat viciously pointed arm holds wheels for volume, modulation and portamento amount, not unlike those found on the small Yamaha CS01. They work in the opposite direction to normal performance wheels (maximum effect towards you, minimum effect away), so you can reach your left hand up under the neck to bend them. They don't spring back. Pity.

The best new feature is the pitch bend ribbon since it's a facility you can't find on any DX at present, even the mortgageable DX1. The ribbon is about three inches long; in the centre is a dead point, marked by a ridge. Push down with a finger and slide it over the silky surface towards the keyboard and the pitch of the notes will climb. In the opposite direction they'll fall. The maximum range is a tone either side of the dead spot. You don't have to touch the centre ridge to begin with. Anywhere you press the ribbon, the pitch will jump to the appropriate higher or lower level. It's great for expression you can't easily get on a mod wheel such as trills, mimics of a guitarist's hammer-on (even the same finger actions) or fast rising slides to end or begin a chord.

Pitch ribbons can (with clever use) promote a more human style of expression since a wobbling finger is less predictable than a rotating modulation wheel. Perhaps the KX1's could have been lighter to the touch, but that's a personal preference. Incidentally, it's different from the original Yamaha ribbon on the CS80 which functioned in a smarter way. You plonked your finger anywhere on the ribbon and nothing happened until you slid your pinky away from that point, then the pitch would change. In the heat of performance it saved you panicking about hitting the ribbon's centre dead on. You could still do trills by using two fingers.

Finally the KX1 arm has two push buttons to turn on the portamento and sustain. The sustain is only on while you're holding the switch down which does make it impossible to reach any of the other mod controls, unless you've got the digits of a gibbon.

On the main section of the brilliant red body, the inclusion of switches to shift the keyboard up or down an octave and convert it to monophonic is an excellent decision. These jobs are so essential during a performance I was always surprised that Yamaha hid them within the DX programming and didn't dedicate buttons to those tasks alone. Oh yeah, there's a socket for a breath controller as well, if you've got one, and the KX1 comes with a 15 meter MIDI connector cable.

What's it like to use? Well, I think you still have to be deficient in marbles to want to hang a keyboard around your neck, but the KX1 does at least lay everything out underneath your fingers in a convenient, reasonably balanced and uncramped manner. The keyboard is dynamic and second touch responsive, like the DXs, but to save on weight, it's being constructed to a lighter standard and doesn't feel as resilient as the genuine article. But if you wish to roam, the KX1 will slip your leash and do the job. There is a cheaper, less sophisticated version on the way called the KX5.

My major moan is this. Honest and inventive chaps that Yamaha are, how can a complete DX9 synth sell for £900 and the KX1 with a lighter keyboard, NO sound electronics and only two thirds the number of keys sell for £995?

Yamaha KX1 remote keyboard: £995