Yamaha SY77
Encyclopedia
Yamaha SY77 is a 16 voice multitimbral
music workstation first produced by Yamaha Corporation
in 1990. The SY77 is a (synthesizer
) capable of AFM (advanced frequency modulation) synthesis, AWM (advanced wave memory) ROM based sample synthesis, and Realtime Convolution and Modulation Synthesis (RC&M).
The AFM synthesis of the SY77 is effectively a superset of the 6 operator FM synthesis available on the Yamaha DX7 and DX7II series of synthesizers. With a few minor exceptions, it is capable of all of the sounds that can be produced by those earlier keyboards and more. Among the advantages of AFM synthesis over FM synthesis are a larger choice of algorithms and the flexible routing of feedback paths. Additionally, the RC&M synthesis it offers is a form of FM synthesis where samples in ROM are used as modulators for FM operators instead of elementary signals like sine and sawtooth waves.
The SY77 is equipped with a 61 key keyboard with velocity and aftertouch, has a large backlit LCD display, expansion slots, floppy-drive, on-board effects, and a 16,000 note sequencer. Programming is performed through a keypad on the front panel. It can generate rich, layered, multi-timbral sounds and there are large libraries of patches available for it.
When it was released in 1990, initial prices were close to $3000-$4000 USD. It was followed soon after by the SY99 and then discontinued sometime between 1995 and 1997. The SY77 and SY99 were replaced as the flagship Yamaha synthesizer workstations by the W7 and W5, respectively. However the SY77 and SY99 were the last Yamaha "flagship" workstations to be natively capable of full-fledged FM synthesis that had been introduced with the DX line. The EX series limited capabilities for FM and the Motif and Motif ES lines have an FM option available though expansion cards. Sound sets on floppy disks are available online with patches and presets ranging from classic synthesizers and ambient pads to percussion and organ sounds. Each floppy disk can hold over 400 patches.
Multitimbral
Monotimbral is usually used in reference to electronic synthesisers which can produce a single timbre at a given pitch upon pressing a single or multiple keys .An electronic musical instrument may be...
music workstation first produced by Yamaha Corporation
Yamaha
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
in 1990. The SY77 is a (synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
) capable of AFM (advanced frequency modulation) synthesis, AWM (advanced wave memory) ROM based sample synthesis, and Realtime Convolution and Modulation Synthesis (RC&M).
The AFM synthesis of the SY77 is effectively a superset of the 6 operator FM synthesis available on the Yamaha DX7 and DX7II series of synthesizers. With a few minor exceptions, it is capable of all of the sounds that can be produced by those earlier keyboards and more. Among the advantages of AFM synthesis over FM synthesis are a larger choice of algorithms and the flexible routing of feedback paths. Additionally, the RC&M synthesis it offers is a form of FM synthesis where samples in ROM are used as modulators for FM operators instead of elementary signals like sine and sawtooth waves.
The SY77 is equipped with a 61 key keyboard with velocity and aftertouch, has a large backlit LCD display, expansion slots, floppy-drive, on-board effects, and a 16,000 note sequencer. Programming is performed through a keypad on the front panel. It can generate rich, layered, multi-timbral sounds and there are large libraries of patches available for it.
When it was released in 1990, initial prices were close to $3000-$4000 USD. It was followed soon after by the SY99 and then discontinued sometime between 1995 and 1997. The SY77 and SY99 were replaced as the flagship Yamaha synthesizer workstations by the W7 and W5, respectively. However the SY77 and SY99 were the last Yamaha "flagship" workstations to be natively capable of full-fledged FM synthesis that had been introduced with the DX line. The EX series limited capabilities for FM and the Motif and Motif ES lines have an FM option available though expansion cards. Sound sets on floppy disks are available online with patches and presets ranging from classic synthesizers and ambient pads to percussion and organ sounds. Each floppy disk can hold over 400 patches.
Notable Users
- Wendy CarlosWendy CarlosWendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...
- Mike LindupMike LindupMike Lindup is best known as the keyboard player and falsetto voiced singer, who joined with Mark King and brothers Phil and Boon Gould to form the 1980s - 1990s British funk/rock/pop band, Level 42....
(Level 42Level 42Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...
) - 808 State808 State808 State are a British electronic music outfit, formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and their common state of mind...
- Eloy FritschEloy FritschEloy Fernando Fritsch is the keyboard player and main composer of Brazilian progressive rock band Apocalypse and as a solo artist he creates cosmic New Age music.-History:...
- Skinny PuppySkinny PuppySkinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
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- VangelisVangelisEvangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
- Chick CoreaChick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
- Front 242Front 242Front 242 is a pioneering Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. They are known for being the premier pioneer of electronic body music and as a major influence on the electronic and industrial music genres.-Formation:...
- Velvet Audio
- Spacehotel