Yamaha TG 33 Vector Synth

via this auction "Rare vector synth with a unique gritty aliasing sound together a similar grainy reverb. At
the very foot of this page I have uploaded a Soundcloud demo of what it sounds - the TG 33 was recorded directly into an Akai z8 Sampler with no added effects.

With the advent of 'plugins' too many artists in the electronic field sound the same and so the search for unique, by-gone instruments continues. Here we have a TG 33 which was developed by the people left at Sequential Circuits who had joined Korg who were later takenover (briefly) by Yamaha. Dave Smith was behind the SY22/TG33 a sort of poor mans Sequential VS. The Sequential boys went on to develop the Wavestation for Korg however, that was a silky sounding synth that was very much of its era. The TG 33 on the other hand as this grainy, bitcrushed sound that is very of the moment - think Daft Punk Tron or Chiptune music.

It was released in 1990 (I was 10!)

What is good for? Metallic, droney strings and scraping sounds. Excellent for ambient sounds which would take ages to program on any other synth but with Vector you are mixing 2 synth engines ...its not just mixing

Features:
TG33 has two synthesis engines: AWM (12-bit PCM) and CWM (2-Operator FM). This hybrid architecture is called DASS. There are two layering modes: 1PCM+1FM (32 polyphonic) and 2PCM+2FM (16 polyphonic).
The Vector controls the mix balance and the detuning.

AWM section
TG33 has 128 12-bit PCM waveforms in 1MB ROM. There is no filter, as is the case with lower-end PCM synths at that time.
The LFO modulation is relatively fast. It can be used to imitate a kind of cross-modulation like Roland JV's FXM.

FM section
TG33 uses 2-Operator FM with 8 basic waveforms.
It can be only partially editable from the front panel. Users must choose one from 256 preset FM settings, and edit Amp Env, Brightness, LFO etc.
As the AWM section has no filter, timbre motion should be created with this FM section.

Using SysEx, all the hidden parameters can be edited (see below).
Vector

There are two Vectors; Level Vector and Detune Vector to control mix balance and the detuning.
They can be controlled in realtime with the Joystick/MIDI CC or 50-step sequence for each. The vector sequence stops in the release segment.

16 FX types including reverb, short delay and digital distortion are available. There is no modulating effect like chorus."

SpaceICE- Yamaha TG 33 Sample by rtype909