Technics SY-1010

[billychanxtreem]

adorable little synth

[salvadory]

just bought an excellent condition one off ebay today for 267$ us- figured id own one of these for bragging rights and use on a few tracks

[salvadory]

if it was so rare and sounded pretty good why would you sell it? and does it run on batteries- i dont see a power cord or adapter

[AutomaticGainsay]

@salvadory It has standard (actually, switchable, as I recall) AC. I sold it to buy something I wanted more, of course!

[salvadory]

@AutomaticGainsay fair enough- by the way love your videos and as ive stated numerous times i cant get over your great analogs- i had an ms20 which i got for 150 used in seattle circa 1992(want it back)) but sold still have a moog opus 3 and an electro harmonix mini synth which i love and recently picked up the critter and guitari pocket piano which is amazing along with some roland gear and a monotron and stylophone for fun vintage tones

[Kidney05]

sounds like it has no high end... opening the filter just makes it louder or quieter

[Saibot216]

Hm... would you recommend one of these?

[qmulus1]

Sounds like a Korg Monotron to me.

[plasmaforce11]

would be nice if Technics was still making synths :P

[23565120]

Nice demo. Thanks.

[ColaberMilk]

@seifukusha I'd buy one

[Mikemaniax]

Didn't Minimoogs have an A-440 tuning oscillator as well?

[AutomaticGainsay]

@Mikemaniax Yes, they do!

[MeuronDB]

Watch this video with Googles new Transcribe audio function on. Its good for a quick laugh because it translates the synth.

[JeezoozeChrysler]

@MeuronDB LOL @ 0:58 "the apostle" AHAHAH

[REXER1977]

Flash gordon sounds!

[nudist1033]

@ 1:49 "if you want to".."or you can turn it off".

Can I rip it out and throw it in the garbage?

(8^)

[AutomaticGainsay]

@nudist1033 You can do that, too... but I don't encourage it!

[blauwolfenduro]

uiyuiyui never saw this machine before!

[massive4r7]

wow! i like your style of demo. you show a lot, still not to much and the vids not to long.

[AutomaticGainsay]

@massive4r7 Thank you, and thanks for watching!  I only wish I could replace this horribly compressed version with something prettier.

[Lachlant1984]

Wow, the sounds on this thing remind me of my Bleep Labs Thingamagoop 2 to an extent. Of course you can make some awesome music with this keyboard, but it's nt easy to make music for the masses with the Thingamagoop 2. Do you know what artists and musicians used this keyboard?

[seifukusha]

I just found 2 of these, one in very clean condition. The guy wants like 350 for one of them. Its really plasticy. Hmmm

[AutomaticGainsay]

Buy them immediately... if for no other reason than that people will pay more than that for them. They are plasticy, but they are also fun, light, portable, and people enjoy them. Buy them, and you can turn around and sell them for more on eBay. Heck, I would have bought one had you sent this message about a month ago. : )

[seifukusha]

Interesting to know. He said they probably wont sell because people there tend to like full synths. I should be able to get them 250-300 though. thanks for saying

[seifukusha]

@AutomaticGainsay I just went back to the store. I was wrong, theyre both NOS, just one has the Japanese manual on it. The other is sitting covered in dust in front of the window,..

[seifukusha]

@AutomaticGainsay Odd, I just found another today. He wants about $270 for it. Thats 3 near my house.

[AutomaticGainsay]

@seifukusha Well, for that price you should definitely buy it. Buy all of them, you'll corner the market! I might even buy one from you.

[seifukusha]

@AutomaticGainsay maybe I will, i doubt if anyone will buy them anyway.

[Yunneck]

You are a real vintageguy, nice watch!

I don't like the synth, it has only one wafeform :(

[kungmats]

I have one :)

Bought i Japan 78 or 79 by my father

[alexvegas]

It's such a nice straight forward synth, great demo too.

[RetroSoundsDA]

How did I not see this before?

Nice demo dude :)

[veryhotgirl]

cool

[metabog]

A single waveform?

[Microsloth]

Quite rare indeed... never heard of this one!

[stolendrugs]

great demostration and cool watch

[navygent]

I love your videos I'm just starting out with synths on the Roland Juno-G, but didn't understand the concept of digital (which the Juno-G is), and "analog warmth" until I saw your videos

Very cool stuff, thank you for sharing.

[AutomaticGainsay]

Thanks for watching!

[79expand]

I owned one of these for a while. Was light weight compact with nice sound. Never got a cv/gate conversion done... don't think it was possible ???

[AutomaticGainsay]

Well, as the SY is completely analog, I'd imagine it was possible. That would have been a cool conversion!

[skylerstupid]

how do you get your hands on all these rare synths? i wish i had your life man!

[AutomaticGainsay]

Trust me, you don't.

[datapark710]

Can I say I don't want your life but I'd like to raid your studio?

[AutomaticGainsay]

Ha ha, yes. : )

But don't. : )

[zurtur]

I like your voice tone :)

[AutomaticGainsay]

Hmm, that's about what I sold mine for, actually... but remember that it has a pretty limited oscillator section...

[WakemanFan90]

I like how you worked with the oscillators from 1:20-1:50.

Can you do that on a Roland SH-101?

[AutomaticGainsay]

Nope. The only other synth I can think of with a tuning oscillator is the Minimoog!

[eggnoggerino]

actually, the Roland System 100 has one too. ;)

[AutomaticGainsay]

Cool, thanks for the info!

[elextrixtechnixtree]

now that is fucking cool..

[elextrixtechnixtree]

thats amazing!! is there only its own sound bank or does it have the option to be a controller (midi) for say a ableton/reason bank? i guess my question is, obv from this video you can see that it has its own bank but can it be used as a midi controller too to control virtual instruments. please let me know. thats awesome tho!

[AutomaticGainsay]

There is no sound bank. No presets. No patch memory. No MIDI. Just 100% programmable analog.

[mooghammondb3]

Was this before Technics went into the home organ market?

[nvanzoeren]

Wow cool rare synth, i never saw thise one before, im impressed.

[eeeerrriin]

imagine all the wonders this beauty could create

[uneaseintheair]

Man, I want one of those! :\ What an awesome synthesizer. You really make them seem amazing, Marc. :D 5/5

[cold187e]

yea man, atari sounds xD

[t0nito]

Cool, sounds like an atari :D

[adidaswithfems]

wow 1979. thats the year i was born. yep had to be a technics. they are built to last. my turntables are 10 yrs old and still going.

[mmmrenkas]

nice watch man!

[kin8ace]

HAVE TO BE TECHNICS, AND FROM 1979 OHOH

[54spiritedwill54]

Wow, great sounding instrument that I'd never heard of.

[loopypoopydoopy]

omg thats nice, how old and how much is it?

[AutomaticGainsay]

It's from 1979, and they're a bit rare to be able to tell you their exact worth currently!

[mooghammondb3]

Cool stuff...a real gem.

[organfairy]

It seems like Technics concentrated on making organs back then. Some of the late 70's Technics organs had something they called a "Harmonizer" which was a pseudo-polyphonic synthesizer that used the organs tone generators instead of a VCO, a single set of VCA and VCF, an envelope generator with decay as the only parameter, and an LFO. It could certainly spice up the organ music but was no match for a "real" synthesizer.

[chinkogakusaizo]

It looks good and makes good noises but shame it doesn't have any cv/gate.Its like Jen SX1000 or Yamaha CS01 fun to have little synths but no external controls.

[AutomaticGainsay]

Yes, there were a number of things I wished it had... like portamento or multiple osc waves. But it's still pretty fun!

[VILLANDRIE]

old!

[grandmaos]

haha i can imagine someone breaking this out and being like my synth is out of tune and everyones just like ...?

[Splash1964]

Try that on a digital!

[subversive]

thanx for the video. never knew this synth existed!!!!!WOW!!!!!

[tifius]

wickid machine

[JAMESJW2006]

fucking hell some sounds could be still used in todays music sweet machine 4 saying its old

[y18rab]

fuck off

[AutomaticGainsay]

eloquent yet concise

[emonik]

how much would one of those cost?

[AutomaticGainsay]

That is a very good question. They're rare enough that it's difficult to tell. Their rarity adds to their cost, I suspect. I sold this one for about $400 as I remember.

[eepeni96]

Good demonstration, explanations are very useful.

[AutomaticGainsay]

Thanks!

[TB303CC]

The most valuable synth info I ever found on the web: your movies. The songs you use as intro's always make me feel melancholic for times when I wasn't even born :)

[AutomaticGainsay]

Wow... thank you very very much. : ) I still have several to make... I should get on them.

[ispliti]

nice timex

[AutomaticGainsay]

It was actually a Casio, and it finally died a month ago. I'm still in a period of mourning.

[Somnambulistiq]

Wow, I've never heard of this one. The pitch range is amazing though, for such a small machine.

[kingoku]

ohh :( how annoying to know, i liked it too.

[AutomaticGainsay]

It was the first I had ever seen, which is why I originally bought it. When I sold it, there had been another recently sold in Europe. Someone else told me they had one. So, I've known of 3, ever. I'm pretty sure they were largely released in Japan.

[kingoku]

cant find this on harmony central or vintage synth, is this an extremly rare synth?

[AutomaticGainsay]

Yes!

[frazzledphoey]

What does it use for oscillators? CEM chips?

[AutomaticGainsay]

I'm afraid I do not know, and can no longer check!

[Alex27782]

Wow, great sounding instrument that I'd never heard of.

[dutchfucker]

that tuning oscillator--how does one keep that in tune?

[AutomaticGainsay]

It's monophonic!

[TheMorMor]

I used to have one of those calculator watches back in like fourth grade or something :P they are really cool

[AutomaticGainsay]

Okay, I'm a geek. What can I say? : )

Everyone will be very sad to know that the battery in that watch is dying, and when it is dead, I will buy another watch. I might auction the thing on eBay due to its extreme antiquity. ; )

[sayspepe]

ill buy it

[thefumigator]

I like the synth a lot. I also like your watch clock :D

You may want to see my video out, a soft synth roundup for fun... the only one I released for now.

[AutomaticGainsay]

It was an adorable synth, and served me well. It was the perfect intersection between features and live simplicity. Also, VERY light.

Yes, a friend of mine recently told me that I've had that watch long enough that it has gone out and come back in as retro.

[disarmsox]

Yeah, great opening musix! I'd love to get hold of it :)

[AutomaticGainsay]

When the album is done, I'll post information on how to purchase it! Thanks for your interest, everyone!

[ojvilketliv]

great intro song! whos playing?

[AutomaticGainsay]

The music is the last minute or so of a song called "Everything" by Automatic Gainsay, who is essentially me! Thanks!

[mootbooxle]

Cool little synth! It's so cute!

But my favourite part was the opening song. Your opening songs sound so raw and vintage - like a demo soundsheet or something! Fantastic.

[AutomaticGainsay]

Thank you... that's what I'm shooting for!

[TeddyLeper]

Your song, "Beautiful" is really great. How about making a downloadable version, or a pay version available on MySpace?

[AutomaticGainsay]

Hell, I'll send it do you, if you like!

[KennethNishimoto]

XD I just love your videos, every single one of them make me jealous as hell though. (All I've got is a 30$ Yamaha and two pockets filled with holes XD) You're voice is just perfect for the job+I LOVE the hair XD

[AutomaticGainsay]

Well, thank you! There is more jealous on the way, I'm afraid. : )

[monosynthluv]

dude. where can i get some of your music! it sounds great

[ZonkOut]

It's limited function-wise, but sounds great!

[AutomaticGainsay]

But it's so tiny and cute! You have to love it! : )

[00watcher]

This is a really CUTE machine. It can do alot.

Keep doing this man. You own alot of interesting machines. You also open new doors to the past for all of us: The softsynth generation.