One important reason to why the 80s (and a part of the 90s) sounded like it did, was the presets on synthesizers like the Yamaha DX7 and Roland D-50. Basically, as synthesizers became more and more difficult to program, musicians turned to presets instead of making their own sounds, like people did on the older analog synths.

The result was that a lot of the music in the 80s sounded pretty much alike. I’m not saying that it was bad music, since the 80s was awesome, but I guess everyone can agree that the DX7, for example, was a bit over-used.

But then came the 90s, and a reaction against the ”one button and a tiny LCD screen” trend. One of the best, earliest and probably BIGGEST example of this was the Roland JD-800, which was released in 1991. A huge synth with a huge amount of sliders. And later came the Yamaha CS-1x, Yamaha AN-1x, Roland JP-8000 etc. Everybody had knobs and sliders again, and the neo-tweaking could begin.

What I felt when knobs came back bigtime in the late 90s was ”I’m never gonna degrade myself by using a preset ever again”. So I, like the rest of the world, started making analog filter sweeps 24/7, and I loved it.

But in the last couple of years, I have started to like presets again, and when I buy an old synth from the 80’s or 90s, it is its presets I choose by. One of the things I like best is to listen to the tons of presets on the excellent www.synthmania.com, and then decide what synth I’m gonna go hunt for.

Actually, nowadays, I feel that it is a kind of an obligation to use presets as much as I can. That way, I feel that the synth ITSELF plays a bigger role in the music I make. And the Japanese engineer who programmed the preset, of course. When I’m using my Korg Wavestation for example, I never change a preset, even if it’s pretty easy to do it with editing software. 

20 years from now, when people listen to today’s electronica and its self-tweaked sounds, will they be able to hear what synth was used, or will they say ”probably some VA synth or one of those millions of VST synths those idiots used back then”?

Some presets the world will never forget (from the AWESOME synthmania.com)

E.Piano 1 (Yamaha DX7)

Digital Native Dance (Roland D-50)

Soundtrack (Roland D-50)

Organ2 (THE house-bass from Korg M1)

Pizza Hutt (The Roland JD-800 also had some famous presets, despite its sliders)

2 questions : Do you agree with me on this and whats your all time favourite synth presets?

In my last post I presented some demos of the Yamaha CS-70M in a tribute post. Now it's time for the big brother, the Yamaha CS-80, synthesizer of synthesizers. This legendary piece of gear is almost mythical. I'm not even sure that it exists!

Here are some great clips/demos of the Yamaha CS-80 in action. It's nice to see that a lot of people care about their CS-80s so this piece of music history is kept alive. And from what I've heard the CS-80 requires almost constant repairs and service.

Enjoy...

From CountLovE Yamaha CS80 using patches flute/ brass 2. Slight modulation added to VCOs. Signal chain: CS80--Eventide 2016 reverb--Siemens 295b EQ--Prism Sound Orpheus (Ihavesynth: some really nice detuned oscillators here...)

From Wutierson Test session with Sergio Koval playing his Yamaha CS-80 at Synthoma studio. The test is a chorus comparison with the CS-80 built-in chorus, a Digitech multieffect chorus, and the élkorus analog bbd chorus. Now the CS-80 can do a very nice strings, not only brasses!! More info about élkorus and synthoma in general, at www.synthoma.net

Pt 1 from Galaxiesmerge My Yamaha CS80 synthesizer. The string sounds on this are amazing. Look at Blade Runner that was scored with a CS80 keyboard by Vangelis. This is recorded using my home video camera and its built in microphone. 

Pt 2 from Galaxiesmerge Poly Pressure, Poly Velocity and expression pedal Arpeggio sequence. Fat thick Brass sounds. Deep sweeping Funky crazy sounds. Thanks to ingsoc_1979 for some comments and discussion - so the classic brass is for you! Next time I'll do PWM Strings. Very wide range of tonal modulation in this video.

3 Vangelis clips. It is impossible to have a post about the Yamaha CS-80 without mentioning Vangelis.

From analoghell Vangelis demonstrating a Yamaha CS80.

From Carellister Vangelis improvising on the famous Yamaha CS80...

From Mart138 A chance to pay tribute to this great Ridley Scott film on its 25th Anniversary using the main titles and end credits from Vangelis brilliant score.

A warning though. Placed in front of the wrong set of hands the Yamaha CS-80 can be a horrifying weapon of mass destruction. It should be handled with love, skill and never ever like this. Take note, this clip is not suited for younger musicians or sensitive adults.

From Tx816 Yamaha CS80 Demonstration by Mert Topel

Is there someone out there who likes my work and feels like sponsoring Ihavesynth.com by buying me a CS-80? Anyone :-) ?

This is the original theme from Dr Who produced Delia Derbyshire. Fantastic stuf, this was made in 1963.

Here is a clip from BBCs radiophonic workshop shows us how they created this famous soundtrack. Ron Grainer composed it and then BBC with Delia Derbyshire leading the way gave it the fantastic sounds. This was never credited to her at the time though. Seems like the sexist culture of the sixties that we see in Mad Men got in the way of her glory. So, better late than never - great work Delia!

The shape of things that hum is a series of short documentaries about electronic instruments with every episode focusing on a specific instrument. These videos have been around for a while and a lot of you have definitely seen them already. If you haven't, its a must see. A lot of classic vintage gear and some cool people talking about them (some, definitely not all of them). This was broadcasted in England back in 2001. I found these nuggets on Google Video and I thinks its the perfect time killer for the Christmas Holidays. Though the narrator is a bit boring...

OK, here goes. 6 clips, all of them 11 minutes long. It was seven clips, but the Yamaha DX7 episode is not available unfortunately.

Minimoog

Roland TB-808

Roland TB-303

Simmons

Vocoder

Fairlight

The Akai Sampler

Icelandic politician/comedian/journalist/environmentalist Omar Ragnarsson sings and plays a yamaha keyboard for gay pride. Quite an entertainer the icelandics have there. Good to know, its not only Bjork...

Sunshine and gay pride!

Fantastic dreamy piece of work. Perfect for a soft sathurday night.

Here comes more scary stuff . And like so many many many times before - it comes from Japan. The HRP-4C girlbot with Yamaha's Vocaloid voice synth software - is this the pop star of the future? Will it be the programmers competing in American Idolbot?

Found this on Gizmodo

How to make the perfect Blade Runner sound on a Yamaha CS-70m is a good thing to know. Great ice-breaker at parties!

Youtube via meastempo