Yamaha TX16W | The Sampler from Hell | That was Saved

Espen Kraft

"Yamaha released the TX16W in 1988 and it appeared to offer a lot, and it did. Unfortunately, the OS they put into it made using it quite arcane, tedious and annoying to the extreme. However....

The demo song can be downloaded here:
https://espenkraft.bandcamp.com/track...

.... a group of idealists decided they would make a new operating system for this sampler (as the OS i loaded into memory from a floppy disk when you start it up) and so they made what was to be known as the TYPHOON software. This makes using this machine easy, fun and it becomes very powerful.

The original OS is interesting as a case study in how to really annoy a customer and as such it can be fun in itself, if you're into those kinds of things.

Regardless of OS, the TX16W has a very fat and cinematic low end to its sound and it almost rivals the Roland JV-880 for that. Considering you can sample anything you want into it and preserve that bottom end, I find this sampler a real gem."

Yamaha FS1R Unleashed

Robert Skerjanc

"A small session controlling the FS1r Synthesizer live with a custom hardware controller."

Custom controller for the Yamaha FS1r. Almost looks like custome eurorack modules.

Curious how many of the FS1r parameters it controls. I once made an 80 page editor with Touch OSC with over 1000 parameters. It was ported to TB MIDI Stuff. There is also an editor for Patch Base here and free Edisyn 26 editor here. Without an editor it's like trying to paint a canvas through a keyhole.

NAMM2021: Yamaha Introduces YC73 and YC88 Stage Keyboards with YC OS v1.1

The YC61 (additional posts) was introduced back in NAMM 2020. The YC73, YC88, and OS v1.1 are new. Details follow.

"YC stage keyboards feature great sound, expressive touch and modern design. YC is powered by our proprietary Virtual Circuitry Modeling (VCM) organ engine which recreates individual component behavior to reproduce classic organ character and most important - sound. It all comes with acoustic/electric pianos, and iconic FM synth sounds that Yamaha made famous.

Three keyboard actions are available for different players: YC61 features 61 semi-weighted 'waterfall' keys for organ-focused players, YC73 has 73-key weighted and balanced keys for keyboardists, and YC88 uses an 88-key weighted triple-sensor action with synthetic ebony and ivory keytops for pianists."

Some key features include:
- Exclusive Yamaha Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM) to capture not only the sound of classic “drawbar” organs, but also their behavior down to the component level
- A distinctive rotary speaker effect
- Nine drawbars that shape the sound by controlling individual footages and essentials like percussion and vibrato/chorus enhance the tone
- The organ section also features FM synthesis, the now-famous synthesis method pioneered by Yamaha

In addition to the new YC73 and YC88, Yamaha has also introduced YC OS v1.1, the first OS update for its popular YC Series Stage Keyboards.

And the press release:

Yamaha YC73 and YC88 Stage Keyboards Put Classic Drawbar Organs and Vintage Keys in Packages for All Musicians

BUENA PARK, Calif. (January 14, 2021) — Yamaha will be showcasing the YC73 and YC88 Stage Keyboards during NAMM’s virtual Believe in Music week starting January 21, 2021. The YC73 and YC88 combine great-feeling new keyboard actions with the soulful sounds, drawbar control, and gig-ready ease of use of the YC61 (introduced in January 2020). The YC73 features 73 weighted, balanced keys and is ideal for keyboardists who divide their playing between organ, piano, electric piano, clavi, synth, and other staple keyboard sounds. The YC88 is meant for musicians who prioritize the touch and response of an acoustic piano, offering 88 weighted Natural Wood keys with triple-sensor action, synthetic ebony and ivory key tops. Both add options alongside the semi-weighted “waterfall” action of the YC61 — the key shape preferred by organ players.

The YC73 and YC88 employ exclusive Yamaha Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM) to capture not only the sound of classic “drawbar” organs, but their behavior down to the component level. VCM also reproduces the distinctive rotary speaker effect, which most keyboardists consider inseparable from the organ itself. In other words, the YC series does not merely take a digital snapshot of the world’s most imitated organ sound — it builds that sound from the ground up. This results in unprecedented authenticity.

In true vintage fashion, nine drawbars shape the sound by controlling individual footages, and essentials like percussion and vibrato/chorus enhance the tone. The player can also customize key click, “leakage,” rotary speaker speed changes, and more. The keyboard may be split between upper and lower organ registrations. In addition to VCM modeling organ, the organ section also features FM synthesis, the now-famous synthesis method pioneered by Yamaha.

Complementing the organ, two “Keys” sections utilize proprietary Yamaha “Advanced Wave Memory” which provides authentic acoustic and electric pianos, strings and brass, analog-style synth sounds, and much more. The Keys section features two dedicated effects processors along with configurable envelope and filter controls for real time manipulation and interaction. Like the Organ section, the Keys section also features FM synthesis for many classic sounds like DX7 electric pianos, leads, basses and more. The Keys section may also be split with the organ section across the keyboard or played from an external MIDI controller keyboard to either the Organ or Keys section.

“A staple of keyboard playing is access to classic keyboard sounds,” says Nate Tschetter, manager, Synthesizer Marketing, Yamaha Corporation of America. “Now more than ever, players want more control of those sounds to express themselves. The YC series gives them that control to easily make adjustments on the fly. And now with the introduction of YC73 and YC88, there are options to suit every player in every situation from the perfect ‘top keyboard’ in YC61 to the great ‘all around’ YC73 and finally our best stage piano action in YC88.”

Pricing and Availability

The Yamaha YC73 and YC88 Stage Keyboards will ship to retailers beginning January 21, 2021, at manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) of $2,999 and $3,499, respectively.

To see the Yamaha YC73 and YC88 Stage Keyboards on display during Believe in Music week, January 21-24, 2021, please register online at https://attend.believeinmusic.tv

For more information about the YC78 and YC88, visit http://yamaha.io/YC

Marianne by The Human League & Pink Floyd Another Brick In The Wall Synth Covers by Circuit3

Circuit 3

"A highlight from my December 2020 livestream show. One of my favourite Human League songs which appears on the Holiday '80 EP."

Two covers by supporting member, Circuit3.

Another Brick In The Wall by The Pink Floyd - Circuit3 Cover

"Here's a cover version I performed during my December 2020 livestream show. It's in the angriest of all keys...."

Oxi One Showcase Series

Playlist:

1. Oxi One Showcase Series #1

OXI ONE demo with Ableton Live showing the creation of a track from scratch. Melody, chords, drums, bass and some arpeggios on the top!

2. OXI One Showcase Series #2

OXI One - A new and inspiring way to create musical ideas and control all your studio gear.
Showcase with Ableton Live.

3. OXI One Showcase Series #3 - Modular Rig

Modular time! 🎛🔈
Take control of a full setup with the OXI One and its 8 cvs and 8 gates and one modulation cv input.

4. OXI One Showcase Series #4 - LFOs and CHORD triggering

If parameters lock per step wasn't enough you have one LFO per sequence assignable to more than 20 parameters which gives you even more ways of expressivity.

5. OXI One Showcase Series #5 - Modular & Chords

Performing and sequencing chords with a modular rig has never been so easy.
OXI One is here delivering some chords with 4 voices (4cvs and 4gates).
A bit of modulation is sent to the pitch of all them to make a more interesting sound. Chords are manually transposed and we play also with the Global Gate control to get different note lengths.

6. OXI One Showcase Series #6 - Sequencing 18 tracks in Ableton Live

Oxi One running 18 tracks in Ableton Live with. All modulation is done by MIDI sent by Oxi One in real time.

💡Sequencer 1 in Poly mode with a 8 bar chord progression. Poly mode allows up to 7 notes and 4cc’s per step.
💡Sequencer 2 in Mono mode playing an 8 bar (128 steps) baseline. Cutoff modulation with one CC.
💡Sequencer 3 in Multitrack mode triggering some samples and playing the lead melody. Multitrack mode provides 8 independent tracks with 128 steps and one CC per track.
💡Sequencer 4 in Multitrack mode playing drums.

7. OXI One Showcase Series #7 - CC & Motion Recording

With OXI One you have motion recording of up to 8 CCs per sequencer (there're 4!). This feature quickly enables you to give movement to any parameter on a hardware synth or VST via MIDI or modular synth via the 8 fully configurable CV outputs.

8. OXI One Showcase Series #8 - ARP Recording

Here's a new video showing Arp recording capabilities.

OXI One has one arpeggiator per sequencer which can be directly recorded into the pattern.

If you have a polyphonic synth you can record overdub, up to 7 notes per step. This is great to layer up your arpeggios or whatever you throw at MIDI in.

Arpeggiator, chord engine and MIDI filtering features can also be used from external gear from all available MIDI connections (USB, TRS and Bluetooth).

9. OXI One Showcase & Setup explanation #9 - Hybrid MIDI & Eurorack Setup

Techno Jam with OXI One, Eurorack and MIDI gear (KORG Volca Sample & Arturia Microfreak).

Setup and explanation of the OXI One configuration at the end of the video. Enjoy!

Note: The third Cv is also outputing a triggered envelope whose decay is set by the step gate and the amplitude by the step velocity.

P.d. No usb/power cord 🙂

10. OXI One Showcase #10 - Sequencing and modulating Pulsar-23

OXI One and Pulsar-23 are great companions. With Pulsar's MIDI learn capabilities you can control all sound engines plus a plethora of other functions though CC messages, cv and gate outputs.

11. OXI One Showcase #11 - Euclidean Generator & Multitrack sequencer

An euclidean sequencer with a whole set of randomization features, ratcheting, microtimings, independent time divisions and all kind of edition capabilities??

✅ YES❗️❗️

Now, OXI One has an Euclidean Generator and it's the perfect companion 👬 of the Multitrack MODE !!

One is the first MIDI sequencer and controller implementing modular interfaces (8 gates and 8 cvs), USB MIDI, Bluetooth MIDI and of course, standard MIDI.

12. OXI One Showcase #12 - Behringer K2 Paraphonic!

Demo with Behringer K2 (MS-20 Desktop replica). All modular formats now supported!

- V/Oct , Hz/V , 1.2V/Oct
- 5V/10V V-Triggers , S-Triggers

And all that with up to 8 voice of polyphony support...Plus LFOs, modulations, ADs envelopes, etc...

With all the MIDI to CV-Gates capabilities already inside 🙌🏻🙌🏻

13. OXI One Showcase #13 - OXI Pipe, eurorack, Volca Sample and OP-Z

Hi everyone, here's our first video showcasing the OXI Pipe in the production version of the OXI One. The OP-Z is connected by MIDI Bluetooth to the OXI One thanks to the Dual role support.

BugBrand Binary Block Voltage (BBV) - rough overview

BugBrand

"The BBV is a logic controlled preset/sequencer.



Here I show a little how you might approach controlling it..
The DDSR would also be good - indeed you could also use lfos (sync'd or not) or any other voltage source..
A quick & rough video - hence why you can't see the LEDs of the module very well for most of it..!"

via Bugbrand

"The Binary Block Voltage (BBV) is a logic controlled 8 stage preset selector/sequencer.

One of the eight voltage stages is selected based on the settings of the 3 logic control inputs, each of which can be set Logic Lo/0 (Mid), Hi/1 (Up), or controlled by an external signal (Down). As each logic input can be separately controlled, a variety of stage sequence variations can be created and moved between. Traditionally you might use various clock divisions to step through stages in a repeating fashion, different from sequential approaches, but comparators on each input (threshold c.+1V) mean any modular signal can be used as a control.

The three digits under each stage correspond to the 3-bit logic input or can be thought of as controlling (see extra image above):
A – toggles each pair of stages, with logic Lo/0 selecting left and logic Hi/1 selecting right
B – selects the top (logic Lo/0) or bottom (logic Hi/1) block of 4 stages
C – selects the left (logic Lo/0) or right (logic Hi/1) block of 4 stages

The output voltage can be switched for low (0 to +2V) or high ranges (0 to +10V)."

Noise Engineering December Staycation - Live Modular Jam Session

Noise Engineering

"Recorded on Dec 30 on staycation with a case of things I had wanted to revisit or hadn't ever played with... plus a helping hand from the NE demo case.

Sequencing:
Bastl Knit Rider on gates (and as master clock)
Noise Engineering Mimetic Digitalis on CV
Noise Engineering Integra Solum

Voices:
3x Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter
Noise Engineering Cursus Iteritas Percido
Noise Engineering Manis Iteritas (save the pangolins!)
Noise Engineering Cursus Iteritas

Filters:
Make Noise MMG
Qu-Bit Prism

FX:
Noise Engineering Desmodus Versio

Utility:
Winterbloom Big Honking Button
Noise Engineering Mullet, Extra Mullet
Noise Engineering Pons Asinorum
Noise Engineering Lapsus Os
Noise Engineering Sinclastic Empulatrix
Xaoc Batumi

Malekko Mix 4, Bastl ABC

Recorded on 1010music Bluebox

Assist: Cellador Famille Small Oat Saison, courtesy of submodular cases"

Moog Realistic MG-1 (1981) vs Cherry Audio MG-1 VST (2020)

harlemnightsmusic

"Comparing Cherry Audio's Surrealistic MG-1 Plus digital plugin to a vintage Realistic Moog MG1. One of the best analog emulating plugins that I have heard. Sounds were matched on the VST to the originals first by sight, then by ear as closely as possible."

Roland D-50 D50 Linear Synthesizer SN 801442

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via this auction

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Maxim MDS-500 (Japanese Simmons SDS8 clone) SN 009396

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Kory Westerhold

"Brief video for a Reverb listing showing the state of this very rare old Japanese Simmons SDS8 clone, the Maxim MDS-500. It’s obviously seen better days as I’ve had it in storage for quite some time, and is in need of a tune up/servicing. As you can hear, there is a hum/noise (ground?) coming from all the different outputs (1/4”, headphone and XLR) and some of the pots are scratchy as well—but as is, I suppose you could run it through a comb filter and filter out the noise and have a rad glitchy drum brain ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh, and the pan pots work but I’m an idiot and even though I had a few of the channels panned, I didn’t have L/R panned on my mixer, so everything is running through the center 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️"

via this auction

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