Pictured: Yamaha's first synth, the SY-1.
"Yamaha to Exhibit Rare Vintage Synthesizers From 40‐Year History at the 2015 NAMM Show
BUENA PARK, Calif. (January 6, 2015)—Yamaha today announced that it will exhibit around a dozen rare vintage synthesizers at the 2015 NAMM Show, the largest musical instrument trade show in North America, to be held January 22‐25, 2015 in Anaheim, California. This showcase, which celebrates Yamaha’s 40th anniversary of manufacturing synthesizers—a milestone reached this year— plans to include analog synthesizers like the SY‐2, CS30 and a special guest or two, the gorgeous GS1, the DX7, which was one of the most commercially successful synths of its day, and the rare VP1—a polyphonic physical modeling synthesizer. Some of the models will be playable. Yamaha introduced its first synthesizer, the SY‐1, in 1974 after decades of research and development and established a high technological benchmark when it released the CS80 polyphonic synthesizer in 1976. The company made musical history in 1983 when the DX7 debuted as the most commercially successful electronic keyboard of its time. This keyboard, which helped shape the sound of popular music in the 1980s, relied on frequency modulation—the leading‐edge technology of the time. By the end of the decade, Yamaha synths evolved from performance instruments to full‐fledged music workstations. The rise of music production synthesizers helped spur the home recording revolution by providing arrangers with a single tool to orchestrate almost any combination of musical instruments with ever‐more realistic tone generation. Yamaha helped develop the use of
sampled—or recorded—tones, along with physical modeling that went beyond sound by recreating instrument behavior as a mathematical model. Building on years of experience and distilling all of Yamaha’s technical innovations into one synth, the Motif series, introduced in 2001, evolved into an industry leader by offering great sound, computer integration and the ability to create sophisticated musical performances with ease. To celebrate the anniversary, Yamaha released the latest iteration of this series, the Motif XF, with a special edition white finish—the only Music Production Synthesizer on the market available in this color. The model offers an exclusive 40th Anniversary Premium Contents Pack that includes FL512M flash memory expansion, a USB drive with content from vintage Yamaha synthesizers and more than $1,000 in rebate offers on Yamaha products and third party soft synths, editors and sound libraries. Beyond hardware, Yamaha became an early adopter of digital technology. Earlier this year, the company launched www.yamahasynth.com, a new community for Yamaha synthesizer users. The site features a forum where members can interact with Yamaha’s product experts including the legendary Phil “Bad Mister” Clendeninn, Yamaha Synthesizer artists and other enthusiasts, along with resources to help all players get the most out of their instrument and download sounds directly into their synthesizers. 'Yamaha has long mastered the art of drawing on past technologies to improve on future synthesizer models,' said Nate Tschetter, marketing manager, Music Production, Yamaha Corporation of America. 'We continue to make high‐quality synthesizers for every stage of one’s musical career from the bedroom studio to the sold‐out stadium.' For more information, visit the Yamaha Booth at the 2015 NAMM Show in the Anaheim Marriott Hotel, Marquis Ballroom, January 22‐25, 2015, or http://4wrd.it/yamahasynth."
