good stuff but something is bugging me here .the use of the word sequencer has been around since at least the early 70s and by the early 80s some keyboards had them built in, like the sequential circuits pro one and roland sh101 and they were called sequencers not recorders.
I own one of the newer ones from about 1987. No FM yet but a pretty extensive library plus all the sampling though I have been getting some digital hash on the sampling input. I thought it was a voice car because one was just replaced but I think its something to do with the sampling in put because I hear the hash only when I sample in and not when I play back. Nice machine though and amazingly fast in many ways. Cant wait to get it back to full power again.
I have leaflets for Syncalvia. I went to see some in shops in London and Madrid in my late teens and early 20s as a hobby - I couldn't buy one of course) They are: "The Synclavia 9600", "The Synclavia 6400", and the "CMX Autoconform Edit View" Screen. These were, I think, the more modern 76 key instruments, with the keyboard coming from the great Sequential Circuits Prophet T8". I think the 61s were not velocity sensitive but the 76s were. Still great sounding! Fun! Fairlight & Synclavier (EMU)
I didn't realize that Synclavier uses FM. I thought it was an additive and sampling instrument. Didn't Yamaha already have a patent for FM in 1982 from Stanford University?
@dvamateur New England Digital's implementation of FM was licensed by Yamaha. A 24 harmonic carrier is modulated by a sine wave modulator. It's 2 operator FM but with an additive carrier. There is no feedback in Synclavier FM.
Thanks for the demo. Even with the sound being captured by just the camera you can still hear the high quality of the instrument. The only thing that comes close to it is the DK Synergy.
Hi there great Vid i was going to ask As im thinking of Purchasing a Synclavier Yet Its Just the Keyboard Im wandering can it still Make Sounds or Do i Need to Buy the Mainframe like thing to ? Thanks
@eddievhfan1984 I can connect a terminal, but I'm not actually sure what it will get me on my version of the software and hardware. I know I don't have the sample to disk upgrade, much less the polyphonic sampling voice cards.
@shairaptor That sound was made by a C program running on a mainframe computer called an ASP. You could approximate something like it on a Synclavier, or indeed on any machine with portamento and lots of digital oscillators.
@shairaptor There is so much more that could be done to demonstrate this machine. I'm currently working on some software for the Commodore SFX Sound Expander, which is an FM sound module for the Commodore 64 home computer, but the principles of FM synthesis transfer across between the two machines. The other side of the Synclavier is the sequencing, which I hardly touched on at all in this video.
@rga24yt yes, (but maybe you have covered quite a bit about FM in the video?) the digital sampling department is nothing fancy nowadays (of course) except the 100 khz sample rate :) didn't the synclavier also have a monitor screen much like the fairlight system?
Maybe featuring and presenting more famous presets, like the already covered presets used by michael jackson. but there is also a quite popular synclavier orchestral setup (the reverse cymbal sound is often used even nowadays)!
@shairaptor This Synclavier II doesn't do sampling, that was a later upgrade and I've been told it won't fit inside the case this one's in. There is the option of connecting a serial terminal (monitor) to the back of the unit which I'd like to do, but I'm not sure what it will do at this stage!
@ratkify I see, thanks again for the info. Maybe you can test that. Or cover more of the FM synthesis. I'm happy to watch a new synclavier video from you. :)
@shairaptor Whoops, posted using the wrong account! Anyway, I'm doing some work on FM synthesis on the Commodore 64 right now, have a test program working with FM waveforms on the screen of an oscilloscope. You can modify most of the parameters in the YM3526 OPL chip. I think I'll do a video on that, and then many of the principles (all of them really except for Feedback) transfer across to the Synclavier II.
@ratkify Cool. I always wondered if the C64 can do other sounds other than from the SID chip and if there are any sound extensions and custom sound chips for the C64! Like in the Pitfall II cardridge for the Atari 2600, where they put a 4 channel soundchip into the cardridge. Stuff like that fascinates me! So I look forward to your video(s). Please gimme a shout as soon as you uploaded it/them! :)
@shairaptor The C64 has a few sound extensions, not as many as the MSX but of course the C64 has SID to begin with. There are quite a few extensions that add DACs and ADCs onto the user port or cartridge port so you can do (higher bit depth) sampled sound. The two extensions that really interest me are the Commodore SFX Sound Expander which adds a Yamaha YM3526 OPL sound chip onto the cartridge port and the Siel Sound Buggy which is an organ chipset based device which hangs off the user port.
@shairaptor Oh, and of course I forgot Magic Voice, which looks very much like a Sound Expander but adds a speech synthesis chip instead. There are two cartridge games you can play which have speech added to them when you have a Magic Voice installed.
@shairaptor There are cartridge games with extra hardware in them for accessing bigger ROM chips, but no games that enhance sound or graphics. Wizard of Wor and Gorf are the Magic Voice games.
Nice to finally know how the "Beat It" sound works! If you listen closely to the recording, it sounds like they used a 16 voice Synclavier, but they modified the decay or rlease time, so that the notes don't hang as long when they're let go. I could be wrong, though.
@LouisvilleTorn8o Each new note cuts off the last one immediately. That indicates to me an 8 voice instrument. The final note is allowed to release for a short while and then it is faded down on the mixing console.
@rga24yt The more I think about it, you're probably right. It sounds like they may have used reverb or delay, which gives the illusion of the note still hanging a little. There's definitely some sort of effect on the sound.
Awesome and very descriptive video, this mite sound a bit odd coming from a 'Hip Hop' producer i can imagine but i am genuinely interested in possibly purchasing a Synclavier and actually using it (not just leaving it around to gather dust like a museum display piece would).
@rga24yt There is one goin' on Ebay at the moment but it does looks very different to any Synclavier i have seen before, it has a black shiny casing would that be the Synclavier one? a limited edition Synclavier or a botched restoration performed on a damaged unit? I am looking to invest in/use and maintain a vintage sampler but knowledge on the Synclavier seems hard to come by. I may end up investing in an MPC300 as its of a similar price but its a machine i am familiar with from childhood.
@rga24yt yes it was from the United States, i have herd a few horror stories about extortionate costumes charges in regards to large musical instruments from the United States but I'm not shore exactly what the situation would be, didn't realise looking into purchasing a classic sampler would be such a minefield, i guess i just really need to do my research before i jump in.
That "Synclavier" listed on ebay is only the keyboard. You need the "brain" - housed in a large rack(s)
The video above shows the Synclavier II (FM Synthesizer, no sampling) but the VP/K is generally for the Synclavier with sampling voices (up to 100khz sampling). You're looking at nearer to $10,000 or more for that kind of system. They are still in use at post production studios worldwide.
Send me a message if you would like more information.
@ceetheproducer - The "black" Synclavier you speak of is very likely the VPK keyboard, which is newer and superior to he ORK keyboard seen here. Remember, owning the keyboard gets you NO sounds, and it's not MIDI either (though does have CV/Gate out). The sounds of the Synclavier are in the tower, and there are various tower types, from FM sounds like played here, to stereo sampling, to sample resynthesis, to full hard disk recording.
@ceetheproducer - Synclaviers can be found from time to time on Ebay. You can also try Synhouse in LA, or Demas, or 500sound, who refurb systems of all sorts.
If it's just cool sounds you're after without much effort, just buying NI's FM8 and Razor will get you all the more FM/Additive Synclavier-like sounds you'd want. And samplers like Kontakt can do much more than the Synclav. But the Synclav has a unique sound, Plus a powerful DAC amplifier, and a certain prestige no computer can match.
@ms20user The GS1 uses a simple 4 operator structure, two carrier-modulator pairs. I'm not sure if the early Yamaha FM implementations have feedback but one thing that separates the Synclavier from the later Yamaha FM implementations (DX7 onwards) is that the Synclavier has no feedback. Feedback allows you to do brass type sounds with only one operator.
@ms20user I have the GS1 schematics somewhere I think. I'll have a look at them and see what BBD circuit it used. You can probably buy the same circuit in many other Yamaha products.
@ms20user Yes it's a triple chorus using three MN3009 BBDs, three iG03290 clock generators and one YM633 symphonic ensemble controller to generate three phases each of two LFOs and sum them together. In other words it's a copy of the Solina chorus.
good stuff but something is bugging me here .the use of the word sequencer has been around since at least the early 70s and by the early 80s some keyboards had them built in, like the sequential circuits pro one and roland sh101 and they were called sequencers not recorders.
plastanautsynthpop 2 days ago
I own one of the newer ones from about 1987. No FM yet but a pretty extensive library plus all the sampling though I have been getting some digital hash on the sampling input. I thought it was a voice car because one was just replaced but I think its something to do with the sampling in put because I hear the hash only when I sample in and not when I play back. Nice machine though and amazingly fast in many ways. Cant wait to get it back to full power again.
GoemonLovesFujiko 3 weeks ago
I have leaflets for Syncalvia. I went to see some in shops in London and Madrid in my late teens and early 20s as a hobby - I couldn't buy one of course) They are: "The Synclavia 9600", "The Synclavia 6400", and the "CMX Autoconform Edit View" Screen. These were, I think, the more modern 76 key instruments, with the keyboard coming from the great Sequential Circuits Prophet T8". I think the 61s were not velocity sensitive but the 76s were. Still great sounding! Fun! Fairlight & Synclavier (EMU)
synthisist 4 weeks ago
I remember drooling over them in the 80s.
freethoughtmusic 1 month ago
WHERE CAN I GET ONE OF THESE? ANYBODY KNOW? THANKS!!
darwinbarnacle 1 month ago
I didn't realize that Synclavier uses FM. I thought it was an additive and sampling instrument. Didn't Yamaha already have a patent for FM in 1982 from Stanford University?
dvamateur 2 months ago
@dvamateur New England Digital's implementation of FM was licensed by Yamaha. A 24 harmonic carrier is modulated by a sine wave modulator. It's 2 operator FM but with an additive carrier. There is no feedback in Synclavier FM.
rga24yt 2 months ago
Thanks for the demo. Even with the sound being captured by just the camera you can still hear the high quality of the instrument. The only thing that comes close to it is the DK Synergy.
FOCtv 2 months ago
Hi there great Vid i was going to ask As im thinking of Purchasing a Synclavier Yet Its Just the Keyboard Im wandering can it still Make Sounds or Do i Need to Buy the Mainframe like thing to ? Thanks
TheMic609 2 months ago
@TheMic609 The keyboard is just a controller. All the sound generation circuitry is inside the rack unit.
rga24yt 2 months ago
Man I love your accent it sounds authentic ! LOL !
ThreeX 2 months ago
Anyone know where I can get the Synclavier sound libraries??? Not the ones from ILIO I mean the actual sounds. I want to use them in Kontakt
Edbrad 4 months ago
You can buy these on eBay
900GTi 4 months ago
Can you hook up a terminal to get access to sampling and resynthesis? Or do you not have the advanced voice cards?
eddievhfan1984 5 months ago
@eddievhfan1984 I can connect a terminal, but I'm not actually sure what it will get me on my version of the software and hardware. I know I don't have the sample to disk upgrade, much less the polyphonic sampling voice cards.
rga24yt 5 months ago
@rga24yt I figure at the very least, you can get text or GUI-based editing of patches and sequences, as well as the musical notation readout.
eddievhfan1984 5 months ago
how much did you pay for this?
loombaron 6 months ago
are you able to recreate a THX like sound with this machine, rga24yt?
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor That sound was made by a C program running on a mainframe computer called an ASP. You could approximate something like it on a Synclavier, or indeed on any machine with portamento and lots of digital oscillators.
rga24yt 6 months ago
@rga24yt thanks for the info!
shairaptor 6 months ago
Finally a good and indepth Synclavier demo video on Youtube, thanks for uploading!
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor There is so much more that could be done to demonstrate this machine. I'm currently working on some software for the Commodore SFX Sound Expander, which is an FM sound module for the Commodore 64 home computer, but the principles of FM synthesis transfer across between the two machines. The other side of the Synclavier is the sequencing, which I hardly touched on at all in this video.
rga24yt 6 months ago
@rga24yt so maybe you do a second synclavier video? :)
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor Yes, what would you like to see this time? More about FM programming?
rga24yt 6 months ago
@rga24yt yes, (but maybe you have covered quite a bit about FM in the video?) the digital sampling department is nothing fancy nowadays (of course) except the 100 khz sample rate :) didn't the synclavier also have a monitor screen much like the fairlight system?
Maybe featuring and presenting more famous presets, like the already covered presets used by michael jackson. but there is also a quite popular synclavier orchestral setup (the reverse cymbal sound is often used even nowadays)!
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor This Synclavier II doesn't do sampling, that was a later upgrade and I've been told it won't fit inside the case this one's in. There is the option of connecting a serial terminal (monitor) to the back of the unit which I'd like to do, but I'm not sure what it will do at this stage!
ratkify 6 months ago
@ratkify I see, thanks again for the info. Maybe you can test that. Or cover more of the FM synthesis. I'm happy to watch a new synclavier video from you. :)
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor Whoops, posted using the wrong account! Anyway, I'm doing some work on FM synthesis on the Commodore 64 right now, have a test program working with FM waveforms on the screen of an oscilloscope. You can modify most of the parameters in the YM3526 OPL chip. I think I'll do a video on that, and then many of the principles (all of them really except for Feedback) transfer across to the Synclavier II.
ratkify 6 months ago
@ratkify Cool. I always wondered if the C64 can do other sounds other than from the SID chip and if there are any sound extensions and custom sound chips for the C64! Like in the Pitfall II cardridge for the Atari 2600, where they put a 4 channel soundchip into the cardridge. Stuff like that fascinates me! So I look forward to your video(s). Please gimme a shout as soon as you uploaded it/them! :)
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor The C64 has a few sound extensions, not as many as the MSX but of course the C64 has SID to begin with. There are quite a few extensions that add DACs and ADCs onto the user port or cartridge port so you can do (higher bit depth) sampled sound. The two extensions that really interest me are the Commodore SFX Sound Expander which adds a Yamaha YM3526 OPL sound chip onto the cartridge port and the Siel Sound Buggy which is an organ chipset based device which hangs off the user port.
ratkify 6 months ago
@ratkify interesting stuff man! can't wait for new videos from you!
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor Oh, and of course I forgot Magic Voice, which looks very much like a Sound Expander but adds a speech synthesis chip instead. There are two cartridge games you can play which have speech added to them when you have a Magic Voice installed.
ratkify 6 months ago
@ratkify didn't know that. which are these two cardridge games?
and were there any cardridge based games with additional custom chips in them for sound or graphics? like super fx chip on starfox (super nintendo)?
shairaptor 6 months ago
@shairaptor There are cartridge games with extra hardware in them for accessing bigger ROM chips, but no games that enhance sound or graphics. Wizard of Wor and Gorf are the Magic Voice games.
ratkify 6 months ago
@ratkify cool, thanks again
shairaptor 6 months ago
Nice to finally know how the "Beat It" sound works! If you listen closely to the recording, it sounds like they used a 16 voice Synclavier, but they modified the decay or rlease time, so that the notes don't hang as long when they're let go. I could be wrong, though.
LouisvilleTorn8o 8 months ago
@LouisvilleTorn8o Each new note cuts off the last one immediately. That indicates to me an 8 voice instrument. The final note is allowed to release for a short while and then it is faded down on the mixing console.
rga24yt 8 months ago
@rga24yt The more I think about it, you're probably right. It sounds like they may have used reverb or delay, which gives the illusion of the note still hanging a little. There's definitely some sort of effect on the sound.
LouisvilleTorn8o 8 months ago
Awesome and very descriptive video, this mite sound a bit odd coming from a 'Hip Hop' producer i can imagine but i am genuinely interested in possibly purchasing a Synclavier and actually using it (not just leaving it around to gather dust like a museum display piece would).
ceetheproducer 9 months ago
@ceetheproducer The queue for this one currently includes Ed Banger Records producer Vicarious Bliss and Black Melody producer Richard X.
rga24yt 8 months ago
@rga24yt There is one goin' on Ebay at the moment but it does looks very different to any Synclavier i have seen before, it has a black shiny casing would that be the Synclavier one? a limited edition Synclavier or a botched restoration performed on a damaged unit? I am looking to invest in/use and maintain a vintage sampler but knowledge on the Synclavier seems hard to come by. I may end up investing in an MPC300 as its of a similar price but its a machine i am familiar with from childhood.
ceetheproducer 8 months ago
@ceetheproducer None on eBay UK right now but over on eBay US there is a VPK.
rga24yt 8 months ago
@rga24yt yes it was from the United States, i have herd a few horror stories about extortionate costumes charges in regards to large musical instruments from the United States but I'm not shore exactly what the situation would be, didn't realise looking into purchasing a classic sampler would be such a minefield, i guess i just really need to do my research before i jump in.
ceetheproducer 8 months ago
@ceetheproducer Just buy an Akai S950, S900 or S612.
rga24yt 8 months ago
@ceetheproducer
That "Synclavier" listed on ebay is only the keyboard. You need the "brain" - housed in a large rack(s)
The video above shows the Synclavier II (FM Synthesizer, no sampling) but the VP/K is generally for the Synclavier with sampling voices (up to 100khz sampling). You're looking at nearer to $10,000 or more for that kind of system. They are still in use at post production studios worldwide.
Send me a message if you would like more information.
backindauk 8 months ago
@ceetheproducer - The "black" Synclavier you speak of is very likely the VPK keyboard, which is newer and superior to he ORK keyboard seen here. Remember, owning the keyboard gets you NO sounds, and it's not MIDI either (though does have CV/Gate out). The sounds of the Synclavier are in the tower, and there are various tower types, from FM sounds like played here, to stereo sampling, to sample resynthesis, to full hard disk recording.
zenmachinefilms 8 months ago
@ceetheproducer - Synclaviers can be found from time to time on Ebay. You can also try Synhouse in LA, or Demas, or 500sound, who refurb systems of all sorts.
If it's just cool sounds you're after without much effort, just buying NI's FM8 and Razor will get you all the more FM/Additive Synclavier-like sounds you'd want. And samplers like Kontakt can do much more than the Synclav. But the Synclav has a unique sound, Plus a powerful DAC amplifier, and a certain prestige no computer can match.
zenmachinefilms 8 months ago
Emulator 2
DrMickeyLauer 9 months ago
@DrMickeyLauer What about the Emulator 2?
rga24yt 9 months ago
@rga24yt Sorry, that has been a cut'n'paste bug :)
DrMickeyLauer 8 months ago
RA!
matkinsonthebass 9 months ago
sounds nice, interesting vid. :)
ms20user 9 months ago
@ms20user Thanks. Interesting what you have done with the DX7 and TX816. Have you ever played a GS1?
rga24yt 9 months ago
Comment removed
ms20user 9 months ago
@rga24yt Hi, i never play a GS-1, but i know the Sound from Records etc...
It`s not a perfect emulation, but close to a specific GS 1 sound :)
iàm curious how to programming a FM sound on the NED :)
you`re right the NED sounds much warmer then DX.
greetz....
ms20user 9 months ago
@ms20user The GS1 uses a simple 4 operator structure, two carrier-modulator pairs. I'm not sure if the early Yamaha FM implementations have feedback but one thing that separates the Synclavier from the later Yamaha FM implementations (DX7 onwards) is that the Synclavier has no feedback. Feedback allows you to do brass type sounds with only one operator.
rga24yt 9 months ago
@rga24yt Yes i know, there is no Feedback path but the operators are crossmodulated.
the major goal from the GS 1 is the awesome ensemble effect. ( bbd )
this is what the GS 1 makes big :)
ms20user 9 months ago
@ms20user I have the GS1 schematics somewhere I think. I'll have a look at them and see what BBD circuit it used. You can probably buy the same circuit in many other Yamaha products.
rga24yt 9 months ago
@rga24yt this sounds interesting, maybe you can scan or copy it. :)
i read they use 3x MN3009 for the ensemble effect.
actually i orderd a nice sounding chorus. it use 3xTCA350 BBD`s known from the early string machines.
ms20user 9 months ago
@ms20user Yes it's a triple chorus using three MN3009 BBDs, three iG03290 clock generators and one YM633 symphonic ensemble controller to generate three phases each of two LFOs and sum them together. In other words it's a copy of the Solina chorus.
rga24yt 9 months ago
@rga24yt The Solina chorus sounds great :)
With a simple saw wave you can get a big sound, the Solina string sound :D
It would be intersting to see the shematic of this chorus.
ms20user 9 months ago
@ms20user Altogether the GS1 service manual is 12.4MB.
rga24yt 9 months ago
@rga24yt this is small.did you you use dropbox?
ms20user 9 months ago