Thoughts on the Yamaha SY77?

hfinn · Post by **hfinn** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:38 pm

what do people think of them here? Anyone know of amy downloadable sounds for them for free online? What do you do with your SY77?

Post by **Jack Spider** » Mon May 12, 2008 9:37 pm

Hello hfinn, welcome to VSE forums. I've never played an SY77, but came close to buying one a couple of times.

Whilst deciding whether to pursue one, I found the following forum via Google and read postings from SY77 owners, to establish its abilities and any problems to look out for. By registering, you'll have access to the download section, which contains many sounds to download and use on your SY77.

http://www.yamahaforums.co.uk/modules.p ... wforum&f=5

If I had one, I'd be able to right many of the world's wrongs in song.

hfinn · Post by **hfinn** » Mon May 12, 2008 9:57 pm

Thanks for that link Jack!

Post by **nathanscribe** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:10 pm

Out of all the synths I've used as doorstops in the past, the SY-77 is the biggest.

solderguy · Post by **solderguy** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:31 pm

FIRST OFF - I'VE NEVER TRIED ONE MYSELF !!!!

But - I've been toying with the idea of picking up a TG77 recently (rack version) and reading up on it.... apparently there is no means for modulating the filter with both an EG and LFO at the same time, that plus the squinty LCD, makes me a bit less enthused about purchasing one. Also some problem about the LFO resetting at every keypress, no way to make it free-run.

SY99 might not have these issues ( ? )

Post by **braincandy** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:00 pm

Well, I've read a lot about them, which obviously makes me an expert. I've seen where they're very meticulous.

ill electro · Post by **ill electro** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:30 pm

The sy77 is a beast. Think semi-lofi motif. If your making techno or industrial this board will surely please. The factory patches suck balls of course but dont give up. There are some incrediable patches made by third party peeps which really show the pure power under the hood. Fm+awm(advanced wave memory) along with the efx eingine from the spx90 will allow you to go to town. With 3 assignable mod wheels it allows you to morph bettweens parts simialr to the wavestation

I ran the outs of the sy77 thru my DSI Evolver and got some sounds that you swear that there was Profit VS in my studio. The keys action is top notch and would make a great master controller. The synth also greets you ever time you turn it on. They go for pretty cheap these day. The display is the only downside of this hidden gem. If it goes out your SOL.

Post by **knolan** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:47 pm

Hi

I use the SY77, SY99 and TG77. To me, they are all absolutely excellent. They are not all things to all people, but they are very acoustic and very expressive. This is because they use an enhanced version of DX-FM synthesis called AFM, which offers many extra parameters that make all the difference. Furthermore, through a type of synthesis called RCM (Realtime Convolution and Modulation) extraordinary acoustic programs and performances can be achieved – that rival and in many circumstances surpass virtual acoustics. RCM convolves PCM samples with FM synthesised sounds, producing enhancements to the sample otherwise not achievable. And even though the SY77 is nearly 20 years old, many of its programs rival the very best current synthesizers.

As it happens, I’m putting together a series of mp3 demos for Korgforums (www.korgforums.com), where I have been discussing how the OASYS MOD-7 FM synthesizer (and incredibly powerful beast!) could do with the same type of programming that the SY series enjoyed over the years. While I’m still not finished putting together the 10 or so demos I intend posting there (time is always tight), I post here three of the mp3 intended for korgforums, which will hopefully be of benefit.

I felt that the best way to demo the SY 77 was to try to play a number of little pieces, since it’s all about playing the instrument. All pieces were played live to Adobe Audition with no editing – my playing (warts and all) is needed to give a genuine sense of the SY77 in a live scenario. I make no excuses for what you hear – but you are of course entitled to hate it!! I hope the various pieces demonstrate the SY77 however.

The first mp3 is called Remirez, named after a pure FM program for the SY77 of the name. On this mp3 you will find three little compositions of mine within the one mp3 file – the first piece is a little baroque style ‘cannon’ for want of a better term. The second is a little theme I once wrote for a theatre play, and the third is a kind of Spanish guitar improvisation (I know nothing about guitar or how to emulate it on keyboard). Never the less I hope you will agree that, with hearing varying dynamic response to key velocity and even ‘string finger scratching’, that this sound is very acoustic and very acoustically responsive. There are literally hundreds of programs available offering variations of this one program:

Remirez

The second mp3 demonstrates one aspect of RCM synthesis – here applied to a French horn. First you hear several notes of the actual program, which I hope you agree sounds quite good. Then you hear several notes of the actual SY77 French horn PCM sample on its own (pretty bad!). Next you hear several notes from the FM sound that will be convolved with the French horn (it sounds like a really cheap organ but when convolved with the sample produces the incredibly vibrant French horn program). You then hear several notes of the full RCM patch again, followed by a (terrible) rendition of a French horn from one of Dvorak’s symphonies (New world? Can’t remember - apologies Dvorak for my playing) and then you hear a demo of several parallel 5ths. Again I hope you agree that the RCM synthesis works very well. This is but one scenario for RCM, and there are many other sound design and more electronic possibilities:

French Horn

The third mp3 is actually of a piece I did over a decade ago on the SY77 only. I used some reverb from a Yamaha DMP7 mixer; other than that the piece was done purely on the SY77 on its internal sequencer. Actually, I lost the original MIDI file for this piece (stupidly wiped over it in the SY77), so what you here is a cassette tape copy, with noise removed with Adobe Audition. I did this piece over a few hour one evening and never returned to it so you will hear timing errors. But I’ve resurrected for the discussion over at korgforums and am actually quite proud of it and may try to recreate it in MIDI and use if in some project or other. Nevertheless, again I hope you will agree, that even if you do not like the music, the SY77 demonstrates is power, fullness of sound, capacity for great dynamics, given that this is all being played live on the instrument with no overdubbing:

Khafre

In fact if there is a way of conveying the strength of the SY range it is in its acoustic like dynamic capability. In as much as we can all ‘tell’ when something is played loud (even when listening back at low level) because of the dynamics of the instrument or performance, the SY range similarly provide totally convincing dynamic response to loud and soft playing; which give great authenticity to a performance – which is what we all seek!!

Into the barging, the SY77 and TG77 sell for next to nothing these days; and there are about 50,000 patches available for them over the web – check out ebay for a week or two and you will find many of them on sale for next to nothing. I have these archived, but will not be able to access that archive for a few months (computer out on loan), but will be delighted to eventually pass them your way – but you’ll probably find them before then.

Cheers,
Kevin.

hfinn · Post by **hfinn** » Tue May 13, 2008 12:17 am

It's funny, I can't get the stinking presets out of it, so I've just been REALLY editing the existing ones. I downloaded some sounds from the yamahaforums, but they are not standard syx or mid files. I'm using mac OSX and Sysex Librarian will not read the files. If anything this has taught me that I understand programming FM better than I thought I did.

I picked one of these up on saturday and am very torn on it. I LOVE the DX-7 and more so the FS1R, so I was intrigued by the SY77 since its a hybrid of sorts. It really seems a bit out of place in my analog studio. Here is something I did with it though...

Artic

Post by **knolan** » Tue May 13, 2008 8:53 am

That piece is excellent - very nice. Regarding the presets, I'd suggest waiting until you can get the many programs available for it. It'll take time to go through them for the best onces. Tere are many average presets, byt many that are excellent.

But as said, the SY77 is not for everyone. Its strength is not in emulating analogue sounds, but in offer acoustic-like solo instruments and fairly 'in your face' textures and motion-pads. so it may well nto suit you if analogue sounds is what you are after. Its not a typical S&S workstation - its all abotu AFM and RCM.

As said i litetally have no access to my sy series preset archive for several more months (sitting on a computer out on loan) but as and when I get it back I'll post them as a winzip onto my website and let you know.

Cheers,
Kevin.

rockmanrock · Post by **rockmanrock** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:01 pm

Really enjoyed the Khafre track Kevin, just when I thought I'd got over the last bout of GAS! The SY sounds excellent for soundtrack type stuff.

xpander · Post by **xpander** » Tue May 13, 2008 6:42 pm

the SY77 is a very complex synthesizer, don't expect any samples to really capture its capabilities. one of my all-time favorites!

ThirdFloor · Post by **ThirdFloor** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:34 pm

ill electro wrote: The display is the only downside of this hidden gem. If it goes out your SOL.

Actually, the comment about the display is not quite accurate, as I recently replaced the backlight on my SY77's display. The display itself is the same as the one used in the Korg Wavestation and the Kurzweil K2000. They're available, but you may pay almost as much for a new display as you paid for the synth itself.

The more common problem is that the display's backlight goes. This may not even bother most people. I found a replacement from a company called Telesis. It's actually a piece of "foil" that gets replaced within the display itself. I paid about US $30. It looks like a b***h to replace it yourself, so I took it to a local music tech, who performed the work for about $80. Rather expensive, since I only paid $280 for my SY, but I'm happy I did it.

AstroDan · Post by **AstroDan** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:03 am

The LFO resetting at every keypress, no way to make it free-run.

I actually kind of like that idea, if it were an option to choose between the two modes...

solderguy · Post by **solderguy** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:16 am

I like having the option of LFO "reset on keypress" as well as having the LFO free-run ( Ensoniq ESQ-1 and SQ-80 can do either ). With slow LFO rate the reset makes the LFO behave more like an envelope.

BTW nice demos guys!