Note it's listed as a "Sampler Sequencer Synthesizer Music Rhythm Drum Machine". It's not a sampler. It's sample based. It was the precursor to the QY70 and QY100. The SU10 was the sampler in a similar form factor, minus the workstation sequencing, samples, and rhythm machine.
2022 marked the 30th birthday of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synths, samplers and hardware controllers. In this podcast, Novation Product Specialist Chris Calcutt looks back over three decades of innovation and explores the key products, technologies and partnerships behind a British music technology success story.
SHOW NOTES
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:26 - 30th Anniversary
01:02 - The First Product
03:24 - The Launchpad
06:58 - Automap
09:25 - Friendly Relations
13:08 - The BassStation
17:50 - Hands-On Control
19:07 - Analogue Sound Modelling
21:41 - The Resurgence Of Analogue
30:43 - From The Rack To The Desktop
34:33 - Moving Away From Computers
38:02 - The Focusrite Group
45:25 - 40 Years of MIDI
Novation - Biog
In 1992, Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson founded Novation Electronic Music Systems and created the MM10, a keyboard controller designed to be used with the Yamaha QY10 music workstation. The BassStation was launched in 1993 and was used by many top artists of the day. ASM (Analogue Sound Modelling) technology was introduced in 1995 and designer Chris Huggett joined the team full-time in 1998, with the popular Supernova synth being released that year.
30 years later, while still creating grooveboxes, controllers and synths, Novation is now part of The Focusrite Group, along with ADAM Audio, Focusrite and Sequential.
https://novationmusic.com/en/30-years...
Novation - Chris Calcutt
Chris Calcutt has been the Product Specialist at Novation for over a decade. Despite coming from a more traditional background of classical music composition and playing the trombone, Chris has always been heavily involved and passionate about music tech.
As a kid, Chris would play with synthesizers and a four-track recorder on the living room floor and has since gone on to work with Novation, collaborating closely with the product developers, designing and building new and innovative electronic instruments.
Chris is responsible for representing multiple brands under Novation's parent company, The Focusrite Group, working with their European distribution partners to deliver training, product presentations, and live performances both online and at in-store events.
Chris also produces and performs live as CALC and is an active member of the experimental electronic music scene in Brighton, UK.
About The People & Music Industry Podcast Channel
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"This is the MidiCon -- a controller keyboard that 'never went into production'. However, I am here in Melbourne, and I have one.
This turned into the MM10, the controller for the Yamaha QY10 and QY20.
The same chassis turned into the Bass Station.
A very rare controller keyboard pre-dated the MM10, which begat the BassStation.
The main CPU has custom markings!
nov10xx
novation
324U 3E v2.0"
If anyone has any additional information feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post.
One was up for sale back in October, 2021. That's the only other Novation MidiCon post featured on the site.
"It’s been 30 years of Novation and music made with bass, beats and synthesisers.
From early beginnings in 1992, Novation has been a pioneer in developing music technology, allowing artists to create decade-defining sounds. Starting as Novation Electronic Music Systems, we built a small but innovative device, the MM10, which let you control a MIDI sequencer, the Yamaha QY10, for the very first time from a keyboard.
Since then, our synths, MIDI controllers, grooveboxes and more have helped people create, play and perform at all stages of their music-making journey.
From all of us at team Novation – we want to wish a huge thank you to our whole community for keeping us inspired. We can't wait to hear what you make next, and we look forward to another 30 years.
"Crafted from old-school Novation gear and adapting Trance to a modern time, The Novation Legacy Soundpack looks back on the history of electronic music and the gear that helped shape it. Made with Bass Station, BS Rack, AFX Mode, K-Station, A-Station, Mininova, Peak and Summit.
"Novation looks back on three decades of bass, beats and synthesizers.
Since 1992, Novation’s synths, MIDI controllers, grooveboxes and more have helped people create, play and perform at all stages of their music-making journey.
In 1992, Novation developed the MM10, an innovative MIDI sequencer that controlled the Yamaha QY10 from a keyboard, revolutionising the way we make music as the first MIDI controller of its kind. Bass Station’s arrival in 1993 pushed them further into the spotlight as a standout synth of the ‘90s. Developed by none other than synth designer Chris Huggett, his expertise with analogue and digital synth design influenced many of their iconic synths including Supernova, Bass Station II, Summit and Peak.
Over the years, Novation’s instruments have brought new life to music-making, including the Launchpad range which changed the game for grid-based music production and DIY performance, Circuit’s much-loved intuitive approach to beatmaking and sampling, and the award-winning Launchkey range of MIDI controllers used by artists in many genres.
In 2022, they’re celebrating 30 years of music, pioneering music technology and people that made Novation what it is today.
With Novation, anything is possible Over the past three decades, countless artists have brought their musical ideas to life with Novation instruments. From October until Christmas, they’re bringing their community together to celebrate the made music with their instruments over the years with videos from artists across the globe, huge prizes up for grabs in their 30th anniversary competition and exclusive curated soundpack giveaways.
Giving back to the global community of fans Novation will be giving away their biggest prize bundle yet to encourage their worldwide music-making community to share the love for their instruments. One lucky winner can own a full studio’s worth of gear, as well as three years of upcoming products.
The prize bundle includes: 1. A suite of Novation products, including Circuit Rhythm, Circuit Tracks, FLkey Mini, Launchkey 37, Summit, Peak, Bass Station II, Launchpad Pro. 2. Three years of future Novation products. 3. A feature on the Novation website spotlighting their entry/music and a short interview with accompanying social media promotion. 4. A 1:1 Product Demo Session with a Novation product specialist. 5. A Novation Logo T-Shirt.
The giveaways continue with 30 exclusive soundpacks covering countless genres. All users can get their hands on samples made for the Circuit Rhythm, and perfect for all of the Launch range – regardless of what DAW they choose. Newsletter subscribers can also get their hands on the Novation Legacy Sample Pack – add moods, textures and unique sounds from the Bass Station, AFX Station, and plenty of classic instruments.
Novation is also going backstage with creators in their community to see just how they make their music. Learn how to make songs and build beats in Ableton, Logic, Cubase and FL Studio from long-time Novation users including Lex Luger, Trishes, Bad Snacks, Seids and Venus Theory.
Join Novation in celebrating their story so far and become a part of their future as they continue to encourage creativity and make music production a rewarding experience for all."
"QY is born out of an experiment to create a Synthwave track using only the Yamaha QY10 sound module as a sound source. The track was released earlier in 2022 on the album B.A.U., which you can find here:
The QY10 was released in 1990 and I therefore wanted the video to reflect that with film from the same time. The game video is from Outrun (1986), which has been cited as a Synthwave influence but it also fits well with the driving video."
In this video I run through the Yamaha QY10 sound set. Although it is a very basic device, I found it very useful for filler sounds and drums when I was doing music in the '90s. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to do an overview of the features. With an 8 track sequencer and the tiny "VHS" format, it could do surprising amount for it's time.
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If you'd like to support the channel, you can check out my tracks below:
"After a couple of videos trying to get some useful things out of a old Yamaha QY-10 here is a most detailed view of this limited machine but still with some good tricks inside."
"Sick with a cold, Miette keeps me company while I take a 1st test drive of my newly created iOS Midi Touch controller for the Moog Slim Phatty. I'm controlling the MSP arpeggiator and using it's MIDI output to play the drums on my circuit-bent Yamaha QY10. Also sloppily playing the tiny keyboard on the QY10. The audio from the QY10 is partially routed back to the Moog for processing. My bent megaphone toy offering some echo on the drums. The crappy Boss mixer & homemade stereo amp make the cats ears twitch."
via this auction Note the Novation MM10-X MIDI keyboard controller in the bottom pic. It looks like a BassStation, but it's not. It's Novation's first keyboard MIDI controller.
On the QY10: "8-Track 8-Song Sequencer with Backing Tracks The QY10 can record and store as many as 8 different "songs" containing up to 299 measures each. It has a total of 8 tracks: 4 Sequencer tracks and 4 Backing tracks, specifically set aside for chords, bass line, and rhythm accompaniment. The Backing tracks are useful, in that once a preset backing pattern has been chosen, chord changes can be made and the backing chords and bass line will be automatically harmonized to fit.
Programmable Panel A micro-keyboard with transpose keys on the front panel allows notes and chords to be entered without any additional equipment (such as a full-sized keyboard).
Real-Time of Step Recording The QY10's Real-Time recording feature allows direct recording, when a live performance feel is desired. A metronome function is provided to keep time. The Step Recording mode, allows music to be entered note by note, for precision, plus the capacity to program phrases that would be too fast or complex to actually play in Real-Time. Step Record mode also allows the programming of triplets, ties, slurs and other musical subtleties.
30 Voices The PCM tone generator technology gives the QY10 30 different voices and 26 different drum and percussion sounds. Any of these can be assigned to the Sequencer, chord and bass tracks to provide "texture" to the overall sound.
Backing Patterns The QY10 offers 76 basic Backing Patterns. The patterns, each including rhythm, bass, and 2 chord tracks, cover a wide variety of styles including jazz, funk, reggae, rock, new-age, salsa, country, pop, and more. However, in addition to the preset Backing Patterns, the QY10 allows the creation of custom Backing Patterns, which can be stored in any of 24 memory locations.
32-Note/28-Note Polyphony The QY10 Sequencer offers 32-Note Polyphony while the tone generator has 28-Note Polyphony. The Sequencer can drive up to 32 notes at once via the internal tone generator and external tone generator if used. The internal tone generator has 28-Note Polyphony so it can play up to 28 notes and 8 different voices at once.
Editing Custom Creations With the QY10, Customs Creations can be edited to taste, including the pitch of notes and their timing, insertion and deletion of notes and patterns, copying and moving measures, the "quantization" of tracks to tighten or loosen timing, and more.
MIDI Functions In addition to allowing input from an external MIDI keyboard or other MIDI instruments, the QY10 outputs all sequence playback in real time via the MIDI Out Connector so that external tone generators and rhythm machines can be driven. In addition, the QY10 also allows sequence data to be "bulk dumped" to other MIDI sequencers and keyboards with built-in sequencer functions.
Other Features The QY10 offers a built-in stereo headphone jack with volume control and a stereo line-out jack for direct connection to a stereo sound system."
