Stephen Fortner Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 First post for me on the new forums! You'll be seeing a lot more of me around here now that brother Bryce â and all of us â have custody of this community. So, when I went to Synthplex in March I got to drop by Yamaha's offices in Buena Park, CA. There, Nate Tschetter had put together a "Synth Space," which is a functioning museum and petting zoo of classic Yamaha synthesizers. He showed me around, we got to play a few, and I shot a video. I already shared this on the MPN Facebook group and my personal FB page, but figured it should be here as well. It is of course Yamaha-centric but Nate isn't trying to sell us anything so it seems appropriate as a cool thing of interest. We go through the CS30, 50. 80; DX1 and DX5; the surprisingly warm-sounding GS2 (an early FM synth); and more. Enjoy! [video:youtube] Quote Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Tonewheel Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 As someone who just fulfilled a life-long dream of owning a CS series synth by buying a CS-60 and really enjoys his FS1R, it was great to see all the old synths! Thanks Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 that was fun. Thanks for posting, looking forward to more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 Such a rich list of synthesis and instruments. Would be so great for them to consider a Oasys/Kronos type instrument... and get some legit reissues out before Behringer or whoever does it. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad’Dib Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 This was cool Steven, thank you for sharing! I have seen a lot of Analog Yamaha synths for sale, from Japan, more so then the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrSynth Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Such a rich list of synthesis and instruments. Would be so great for them to consider a Oasys/Kronos type instrument... and get some legit reissues out before Behringer or whoever does it. IIRC Yamaha were first doing the multiple synthesis engine Oasys/Kronos thing -- the IMHO very underappreciated EX5. AWM Sample Playback, FDSP, VL physical modeling & virtual analog synthesis systems, versatile controls. Some unfortunate quirks, but really a hidden gem in their history. One thing really cool about how they've set up SynthSpace is all the gear there is hooked up and ready to go. I've been fortunate to noodle around there a couple of times. Next time I get to go down there I'm going to make sure I bring some long MIDI cables as the CS80 has a MIDI retrofit and plan to layer it up with the EX5 and SY99 to redefine "huge" Manny Quote People assume timbre is a strict progression of input to harmonics, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timbrally-wimbrally... stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRW Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 A few people have covered this 'space' in recent months. GS1 - what a trip! But man - I wish you would"ve done an hour long (or more, I wouldn"t mind) video of this thing! I"m a major Yamaha geek so it would be super dope to just see MORE of what"s in there, even the various rack synths and hardware sequencers, effects... You don"t get good demos of most of the stuff on YouTube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Such a rich list of synthesis and instruments. Would be so great for them to consider a Oasys/Kronos type instrument... and get some legit reissues out before Behringer or whoever does it. IIRC Yamaha were first doing the multiple synthesis engine Oasys/Kronos thing -- the IMHO very underappreciated EX5. AWM Sample Playback, FDSP, VL physical modeling & virtual analog synthesis systems, versatile controls. Some unfortunate quirks, but really a hidden gem in their history. One thing really cool about how they've set up SynthSpace is all the gear there is hooked up and ready to go. I've been fortunate to noodle around there a couple of times. Next time I get to go down there I'm going to make sure I bring some long MIDI cables as the CS80 has a MIDI retrofit and plan to layer it up with the EX5 and SY99 to redefine "huge" Manny I agree, the EX5 was the last time we saw such an instrument. One popped up on consignment near me a year or two ago. I was tempted but I feel it was ahead of its time. Such an instrument would really benefit from today"s computing power. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Thanks for sharing Stephen. Had a watch last night. I enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRW Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 I agree, the EX5 was the last time we saw such an instrument. One popped up on consignment near me a year or two ago. I was tempted but I feel it was ahead of its time. Such an instrument would really benefit from today"s computing power. Yeah, I think it suffered from performance issue from what I've read. I also had a chance to buy an EX5R for a relatively decent price, but passed. Also the AN section in it is monophonic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Excellent... Thanks! Quote When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 That's really cool. A year or two ago at NAMM, Yamaha had a number of these synths on display and they could be played as well! They had a CS80, DX1, GS2, one or more of the smaller CS synths, the silver and gold 76 note DX7IIFD...it was awesome. I'm always excited to spend time with rare synths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Mike Metlay Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Wonderful video. Thanks, Stephen! Quote Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1 clicky!: more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my book ~ my music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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