My dad is half Japaese and bought this model in Japan when it was brand new. I thought it was so cool growing up, but his broke during a move about 10 years ago ;-; I purchased my own a couple years back, and still play it every day!
Tengo más de 20 años tocando teclados, comencé con los CASIO de juguete obviamente y ya he pasado por Yamaha, Korg y Roland, cada uno tiene características especiales pero por alguna razón que no me he detenido a analizar preferí Yamaha, ver este video y escuchar la riqueza de esos sonidos en el nostálgico blanco y negro de 1989 me hace comprender por qué razón elegí quedarme con Yamaha. Excelente video. Saludos a todos!!!
I owned 2 of these up until the late 90's (first one got nicked and the second I had to sell through hard financial times) and regardless of my inability to read/write music and/or play keyboard at the time, this *Legend* of technological excellence that exudes Analogue warmth with the leading edge of synthesis using high resolution samples with Complex 'Convolution' using multitudes of programmable Digital Sound Generators, like a DX7 with 3 -bollocks- testicles. It's one of these legendary pieces of kit that makes it so much easier to actually make music that sounded good - with only basic knowledge of use. I found it very user friendly and even *didn't mind* the extended waits while loading sound banks in its 3.5" floppy. */dreams of future projects/* It weighed so much that one could easily injure ones spine permanently if one tried to move it rapidly. I would gladly savour demonstrating the SY77 to anyone suggesting that typical age-old ignorant adage that its country of manufacture made/makes mass produced 'rubbish'. *Yamaha* Audio were - and still are, World leaders in Manufacturing & Developing Quality, Innovative, User-Friendly, Professional, High-End equipment; with robust simplicity and the best hard-wearing paint-job I'd ever had the pleasure of keeping clean, covering the arrays of quality multi-layered screen-printed and lacquered boards with early VLSI SMD's combined with high quality audiophile capacitors with tight tolerances, in the output stages. Even now in 2015 I aspire to owning one again when I can afford it, to use in conjunction with software based sampling/sequencing. Its keyboard was/is simply delightful. Lovely weighty keys with a great Piano-Feel to it, coupled with consistent velocity sensitivity that I just haven't experienced since in a keyboard/synth. If there was one thing I could ask for, that would make a massive difference with few additional overheads would be USB MIDI and Keyboard Programming port. I would guess that there could be increased controller change latency when using MIDI over USB (if anyone else has ever experienced this too?). It's something that I experienced even when using a dedicated '*Evolution MK-449C*' MIDI controller keyboard on a Decent spec PC (Quad Core/8Gig mem etc). The SY77 did have a card slot on the top but it was proprietary as far as I know, with obvious limitations of where to obtain them(?) I vaguely recall that they could be bought blank and then written-to, with patches and/or sequences, sounds & songs. Please excuse my digression but I still have fond memories of this *Legendary* Synthesizer :) There are bound to be disagreements of my views, but a bit like Stone Henge - or the Great Wall of China, this Synth IMO was one of the last few legendary Music Machines that was literally *Built To Last* - and at the pinnacle of World Leading Sound Synthesis. *Ahhh! the fond memories of a time before manufacturers wouldn't even dream of doing things like planned obsolescence and introducing 'weaknesses', all making for shorter lifespans. I worked for one of the largest TV manufacturers based in Europe in the 80's-90's (not naming names!) but *Every* set that was made, had a semi-random range of recurring 'Faults', that were literally lifespan shorteners known by the manufacturers - covertly introduced during manufacture, with the sole purpose of driving further sales levels. All of the technicians and maintenance staff were even kept in the dark with component and manufacturing-equipment faults but the few that were better equipped to think for themselves, knew exactly what these large manufacturing companies were doing. After my lengthy time with the said TV manufacturer, I worked as a repair engineer for a successful private company. From the early Naughties to 2010 I saw a pronounced change in the whole marketplace - the best way I could describe it is a changeover from "Built to Last" >to> "Disposable" that crippled any old part of tried-and-tested repair methods due to component price making faulty items very quickly become *Beyond Economical Repair* for many-a-unhappy customer. I certainly don't think that Yamaha ever took part in these particular shenanigans - but then again, neither China or Japan helped Adolf in WWII - unlike *Certain* countries, allowing German SS with invaluable launch-locations nearer to the UK (In the later lifespan of the V2 Rocket).
Thanks :) I remember making this comment but I'd forgotten how _lengthy_ it was! I did digress somewhat but I was compelled to share aspects of my existence whilst recalling a time when things *were* once _built to last_ I thank you too +KUPHSER for taking the time to read my ramblings, blessings to you and yours
Hope you see, feel and *hear* the quality of this fine machine when it arrives! :) It's bloody heavy mind you, so you might want to do some stretching exercises beforehand!
I agree with most of what you say. To me personally, the SY77 is still a dream synthesizer. I've been doing some music on it recently, and I am quite overwhelmed what this instrument can produce. So, it's not only jaw dropping to look at, but jaw dropping when it comes to the sound as well. I have many original Yamaha diskettes with demo sequences, and amazing sound programming examples. And I am not even talking AFM, I am talking about the sounds using the AWM2 engine. I find it amazing what one can do with those internal samples with an intelligent doze of programming. Anyway, there are couple things on which I disagree with you. Firstly, I would not equip the SY77 with USB. You can store 400 sounds on a 720K diskette. There's really no need for USB. Also, replacing the original floppy drive with USB contraption emulation, I'd find that quite an atrocity on the instrument aesthetics. Second thing, I very much like the credit card sized memory cards. They are fantastic. What's wrong with proprietary format? High quality is a problem? No problem for me. Also they pop-up quite often on eBay, and I managed to grab nearly all of those cards. If you're patient and watch closely the eBay auctions, you'll get the cards. And it's not really THAT proprietary of the format those cards. For instance, Roland memory cards were interchangeable with Atari Portfolio. That's hardly proprietary to me. Anyway, the SY77 is a joy to use, pleasure to look at, keyboard and front panel are pleasure to touch, what's not to like? SY77 is perfection to me.
@@nestorpascual1739 Dunno if you ended up buying it back then, but I have an SY55 and yes it is the same piano preset and sample. Infact many of the sounds on the 77 are on the 55. Also if you add a TG55 it has a mode on the SY55 to combine the two for double polyphony.
Another great demo video, with the SY77. I briefly owned one, but swapped to get the module version, TG77. I used it a lot back in the late 90's to early 2000's with its drum section, AWM pianos, and analog wave forms with resonant filters. It was a beast when released. Technologically, SY/TG77 is way better than the original Yamaha DX7 MK1, with on-board effects, 16 bit PCM waveforms, resonant filters, customisable algorithms, 16 operator waveforms, multiple feedbacks, 7 LFOs, Pitch EGs for each operator, 22 Bit DA converters (for TG77).......... But something really special about the DX7 MK1...........
I have a question about the SY77 samples in ROM. I understand these samples are a copyrighted material, and rightfully it should be copyrighted. Someone posted all internal SY77 ROM on soundcloud for free download. Oh well, if he doesn't make money out of it, it should be fine. But say I'd like to make some music with the SY77 internal samples and sell the music. Would that be legal? I mean, I have a lot of original Yamaha disks with great sounds. But I didn't create those amazing sounds. It would make me feel quite guilty to make music with those sounds and sell it. So, am I making a big deal out of nothing, or is my guild very well justified?
That's a very interesting question. If what you are saying is correct, then all those romplers and hybrid synths are going to be in the same situation.
Power DX7 Yes, each instrument which has samples in it is likely to have its samples copyrighted and belonging to say Roland Corporation, or whoever manufactured the synthesizer. For instance, there was a case when someone released a D-50 softsynth. It was using D-50's PCM samples, and Eric Persing objected the use of the samples, and the softsynth maker removed their product from the market. You can probably sample FM sounds all you want, because sine wave is not copyrighted. Ditto for D-50 square wave based subtractive sounds, or any analog synth for that matter. But when the samples are far more than just a sine or square, then things are getting unethical. It's for some reason okay to use those samples in musical phrases, as it has been the case with the D-50 on multitude of albums from the late '80s. It's okay to sample D-50 patches as well. But the D-50 internal ROM samples are a property of Roland Corporation. In case of Yamaha SY77, as I said, there are so many excellent patches on disks released under Yamaha Corporation that use internal samples, and use them masterfully, to quite mind blowing effect. The question remains though, are these free to use commercially? I mean, people spend great amount effort to create all these sounds. I paid for the disks on eBay, these are original disks with either Yamaha stickers on them, or Sound Source Unlimited, or whichever company created the libraries. Are these okay to use commercially? I am having serious doubts here.
I've never thought of sampled waveforms in hybrid synths and romplers can be copyrighted. It kind of makes sense, when you talk about the raw sampled waveforms in ROM of a hybrid synth, in this case the D-50. I'm grad that I've learnt to push my DX7 further and further to get awesome sounds that I really like. There is no sampled waveforms in the DX7, and everything starts from a sine wave, so as you said, you can't copyright a sine wave, and that's good to know that!!!!!! The same thing can apply to modern MIDI/Audio software, like Logic Pro X. It comes with a lot of sampled drums, loops etc. Using them in music is OK, but trying to sell them as sampled drums and loops, then I think you will have a problem, that's how I see this (not sure if I'm correct here...).
SY77 is the grand daddy of Motifs and Montages from the User Experience Design PoV and its followed till date .. After the DX7 kind of forced minimalism, this set the template for workstation design was adapted by all including their contemporaries and competitors.
first song that came to mind when sat down with my sy77 was TOTO's Africa and i was suprised how quickly i was able to nail the chorus. thats how exact this machine can be with the eighties
SY77 was considerably more expensive than the M1 or U20. @tx816 did not mention the D-50 - which, despite being arguably the first ROMpler, was groundbreaking (at least while trying it out in the store). I don't think the SY77 sold very well, but in terms of programming it's VERY deep, which maybe gives it a bit more longevity among synth aficionados than things like Proteus, M1, 01/Whatever
I didn't know this about the price, I was earning about £70 per week working in a music shop and making backing tracks on the side with a Boss DS330 and Roland R5. The SY77 was out of my budget range and so paid no attention! It is a monster and so were the other synths you mention. With the gear available nowadays, we've never had it so good! It was more attainable to build a bank of used modules, I later got the U220, some U110's, a D110 and R8m by 1993/4. The M1 still feels luxurious almost 35 years later!
Beautiful instrument. It's such a shame that Yamaha dropped FM from the next model, the W5/W7 which were only AWM. Well, W5/W7 sank in value, whereas SY77/99 are still holding up. Goes to show that corporate decisions are not always popular with the customer needs.
Good point about the layout of the percussion voices along the keyboard, corresponding to the score convention. I had not realise that for all the Yamaha keyboards I've owned.
Picked up one of these off Craigslist and it’s fun playing around with it. Of course things have changed a bit in synth workstations. For 3 grand now it’s insane what you get. But for $200 I can’t complain haha
I recently got one sy77 in fantastic condition. This is a monster in case programming. It can without problems play the original sounds from dx7 and among this it has some nice presets with multipads and effects. Maybe it did not sold good but now I know, why everybody who tried it out fall in love with this synth.
It was about $3,000 back in 1990, meaning, it was very expensive. This doesn't mean it was any bad. Totally the opposite, it was fantastic, and it is fantastic to this day. Congratulations on fantastic condition of your unit. So is mine :)
James Reeno They ruin the instruments aesthetics. Although I must say, that back in 1995, the original Nord Lead was temping and sounded fantastic, and didn't look all that bad. Maybe because the rather tasteful offset of the knobs to the left of the instrument. Yamaha and Roland got caught off guard with this, and they released things like the CS1x, AN1x and JP-8000. I actually had CS1x for quite some time, but what I really wanted was the AN1x, which hasn't happened, it was too expensive for what it was. JP-8000 was even more expensive. I think the knobs on the instruments I just mentioned were okay. But on the S30/S80/EX5, they were out of place. Yamaha realized the mistake it seems, as they removed the ugly (and rather faulty) knobs by the time S90ES was out. If one really need some patch twiddling with one-control-to-parameter, I'd go with sliders. JD-800 is far more desirable than JP-8000. But once again, on the instrument of the type like the SY77 or SY99, the sticking out knobs would ruin the otherwise sleek looks of those instruments.
I recall trying one of those in a Bath city centre music shop (in the UK) while on a course at University of Bath in 1990. I had a pal who said he though the keyboard action was the best he had tried on a synth.
To the people that call this boring, you must be a little kid. These sounds ruled the 90's. So, unless you were around then to appreciate them, you wouldn't understand.
What a massive, pure, alive sound!! This machine sounds more better than a lot of modern flagship workstations. Strange things... Why the sound from the modern synths too degrade nowadays...
I believe there are too many sounds on modern keyboards, back in 80s you generally got less than 100 sounds, usually a lot less. But today there are thousands of sounds, so not as much care taken with each sound.
@@lundswedenbig importance comes also from the quality of the electronic components them self (China 'cheap' VS Japanese quality : ic - capacitor - transitors...etc)
Best digital synth ever (imo) and I've owned quite a few of the 'classics'. I prefer to use it in AFM mode and don't really use it as a 'rompler'. Very versatile, great depth and sound. (check one of my videos for use of SY77 in a full song outside of it's typical assumed sounds - no presets!)
I bought one of these a few weeks ago. But now I'm kind overwhelmed by the options and capabilities. The AWM sampled sounds don't necessarily hold up today, but there's so much that can be done with the AFM synth that you can't do on the traditional DX7, DX9 type FM synth. But not too many people are working on AFM sounds compared to regular FM synth; so it's hard to find decent patches and tutorials on how to work with it. My other complaint is that the screen is really hard to read, and my eyes are pretty good. It would probably worth doing screen upgrade.
It was the biggest and best competitor to the Korg 01w Workstation (Remember the "Spaceman" by Babylon Zoo which was used for Levi Jeans ad?. Mine was great and I owned it in the early 90's but my TV blew up so I had to weigh up what the missus and I needed most - a TV or my Keyboard....TV won but I wish I could have found a way to keep the thing. I did a great rip off of "Children" by Robert Miles and had it playing in my car and my friends didn't realise it was my version until I told them. They told me to "fu** off! NO WAY!" but it was that good a keyboard!
I don't know about that. As much as you or I love this machine, I don't hear a whole lot of rumbling from anyone about how great the SY77 was. The Korg M1 is still pretty popular nowadays and sought after classic like the Roland D50 and Korg Wavestation. Even with todays more sophisticated workstations, I still see studio producers holding on to these legendary instruments.
Always loved this keyboard, but never bought one. Used to play them at stores. Seemed like the pitch bend wheel had a really good feel to it and a very linear bend effect. Some keyboard's pitch wheels are not very linear, you move them some and they don't change the pitch much, then all of a sudden, as you continue to move them, the pitch changes a lot. That's kind of frustrating. This one is great! Also when you split the keyboard between stand up bass and piano it sounds great!
These ARE the shit. I work at a music store and we just sold ours a couple weeks ago. It's like a time machine that only takes you to the 90s. Its sounds so dreamy. MSP5's are great monitors too. That's also what I played it through.
Hola TtopRecords. Este comentario sobre los monitores MSP5 versus los que usa aqui musictrackjp en su video demo del SY77 que son Yamaha tal vez? viniendo de una persona que trabaja en un music store, me hizo pensar en pedirte una recomendacion, ya que hace poco compre un teclado y aunque tambien compre una interface audio beringher para conectar a los monitores Edifier que los compre mucho antes para salida de audio x bluetooh de la computadora. Bien la cosa es que el sonido no es tan bueno como se escucha en demos del teclado en los videos en youtube. Entonces eso se debera a falta de calidad de estos monitores Edifier y deberia invertir en unos monitores mejores, siempre pensando en una opcion mas economica posible dado que mi situacion economica no es justamente comoda. Un saludo
it's hard to find those rompler sound quality on today keyboards, especialy with the Roland D-50 and this Yamaha, i have try an Equinox keyboard in the 90's and it was awesome, i miss those day.
I'm saying that the FM synthesis used in the DX series did not lend itself to naturally punchy or snappy attacks, which Yamaha tacitly acknowledged with the SY series by creating a machine that combined FM sounds with sampled attack transients. I said NOTHING about the quality of either instrument--I answered the question asked which was "would the DX7 be able to recreate the patch being played on the SY77," and I gave my reasons for why I doubted it.
I have a TG77, which is the rack version of this (identical, except for no floppy drive and keyboard). It's still a great sounding instrument, especially the FM electric pianos. But the polyphony is only 16 notes, and that's a real limitation at times. Still, definitely worth what I paid for it, and I plan to keep it.
Im just curious. Why is it a problem that it only has 16 note polyphony? You only have 10 fingers so why would that be an issue? Im only asking because I intended on getting the TG.
VSTi emulation required. There are many DX7 emulation, but not really the same parameters. impossible to manually adapt one patch to each other. Must make some VSTi emulation, with sys ex import.
When it was released, it lost the market share war to the Korg M1 and Roland U20/D70 family romplers. It's sophistication, huge programming power and dynamic playability was not taken into much consideration. It was considered as a DX7 "plus" only. People were into "sax" samples and bright pcm drums then. What a pity! After two decades now, the SY77 is more appreciated than its debut days and it's rompler rivals are duped away from stuidos loog time ago by now.
The TG77 surpasses the TX802 in almost every way. Mind that you will not be able to use DX7 patches on the TG77 without converting them with a DX2SY converter.
Can anyone tell if the presets have their original effects when you are in multi timbral mode. I want to use it as an multi timbral source for my AKAI MPC where I'm sequencing. But I need to be able to have at least 4-5 presets with the original effects (as in patch mode) when i am in multi timbral mode. Many synth disable the effects on multi timbral mode (like the Triton I use now) and they sound really wack. Thanks!
@PornobrillenAli yep - better effects, sample memory etc.. go check on vintage synth explorer it has all the details you need. Personally I prefer the SY77 the extra 99's features don't make it worth the space it takes up for me. '77 is already quite large
@SpacehotelMusic Thanks for the answer. I saw that there is also the SY99. Is there any difference between the SY77 and Sy99 except for the number of keys?
Hi. Help please. We in Russia do not have instructions in Russian on SY77. How to do split keyboards to be able to include two tebra at the same time? If you can make a video, please. Thanks)))
Around 3:15 there's a great patch. For me, nothing seems to sound quite like FM. With this synth, I guess it's hard to know if you are listening to FM or not, as I think it has some sample playback capability. Can it use sampled waveforms as source for operators?
![YAMAHA SY99 Demo&Review [English Captions]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/csHut1_F4eI/mqdefault.jpg)
![YAMAHA SY99 Demo&Review [English Captions]](/img/tr.png)
![YAMAHA EX5 Demo & Review [English Captions]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RYaj74agaIo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Nostalgia 1989: Yamaha SY77 [demo]](/img/n.gif)
This guy makes sequencing with keyboards look so easy. He hits everything perfect on the 1st take.
you'd want this guy in a recording session
Impressed? Then watch what this guy can do with a workstation in 89 czcams.com/video/umyYtqfNi9w/video.html
Sequencing on the '77 is easy. It was and is a great unit.
My dad is half Japaese and bought this model in Japan when it was brand new. I thought it was so cool growing up, but his broke during a move about 10 years ago ;-; I purchased my own a couple years back, and still play it every day!
may I be your "new Dad`"
元所有者として忠告。このシンセはCPU能力が不足しています。だからレイヤートーンのレイテンシーがひどいです。当然シーケンサも処理能力不足で16マルチなんかまったく実用にならないです。あとEGのパラメタが64段階しかなく、緻密な設定ができないのが地味に困ります。PCM波形の質も悪く音抜けが良くないです。音質はSY99で改善されます。MONTAGEは21世紀におけるSY77のリベンジ機だと思います。
氏家さんはいつも楽しそうに演奏し語られるので、シンセを触る面白さが一層伝わってきます。
何だろう、
「ギターでもベースでもドラムでもない、俺はシンセを選んで良かった!!」
と思わせてくれるんですよね。
Tengo más de 20 años tocando teclados, comencé con los CASIO de juguete obviamente y ya he pasado por Yamaha, Korg y Roland, cada uno tiene características especiales pero por alguna razón que no me he detenido a analizar preferí Yamaha, ver este video y escuchar la riqueza de esos sonidos en el nostálgico blanco y negro de 1989 me hace comprender por qué razón elegí quedarme con Yamaha. Excelente video. Saludos a todos!!!
I owned 2 of these up until the late 90's (first one got nicked and the second I had to sell through hard financial times) and regardless of my inability to read/write music and/or play keyboard at the time, this *Legend* of technological excellence that exudes Analogue warmth with the leading edge of synthesis using high resolution samples with Complex 'Convolution' using multitudes of programmable Digital Sound Generators, like a DX7 with 3 -bollocks- testicles. It's one of these legendary pieces of kit that makes it so much easier to actually make music that sounded good - with only basic knowledge of use. I found it very user friendly and even *didn't mind* the extended waits while loading sound banks in its 3.5" floppy. */dreams of future projects/*
It weighed so much that one could easily injure ones spine permanently if one tried to move it rapidly.
I would gladly savour demonstrating the SY77 to anyone suggesting that typical age-old ignorant adage that its country of manufacture made/makes mass produced 'rubbish'. *Yamaha* Audio were - and still are, World leaders in Manufacturing & Developing Quality, Innovative, User-Friendly, Professional, High-End equipment; with robust simplicity and the best hard-wearing paint-job I'd ever had the pleasure of keeping clean, covering the arrays of quality multi-layered screen-printed and lacquered boards with early VLSI SMD's combined with high quality audiophile capacitors with tight tolerances, in the output stages.
Even now in 2015 I aspire to owning one again when I can afford it, to use in conjunction with software based sampling/sequencing.
Its keyboard was/is simply delightful. Lovely weighty keys with a great Piano-Feel to it, coupled with consistent velocity sensitivity that I just haven't experienced since in a keyboard/synth.
If there was one thing I could ask for, that would make a massive difference with few additional overheads would be USB MIDI and Keyboard Programming port.
I would guess that there could be increased controller change latency when using MIDI over USB (if anyone else has ever experienced this too?). It's something that I experienced even when using a dedicated '*Evolution MK-449C*' MIDI controller keyboard on a Decent spec PC (Quad Core/8Gig mem etc).
The SY77 did have a card slot on the top but it was proprietary as far as I know, with obvious limitations of where to obtain them(?) I vaguely recall that they could be bought blank and then written-to, with patches and/or sequences, sounds & songs. Please excuse my digression but I still have fond memories of this *Legendary* Synthesizer :)
There are bound to be disagreements of my views, but a bit like Stone Henge - or the Great Wall of China, this Synth IMO was one of the last few legendary Music Machines that was literally *Built To Last* - and at the pinnacle of World Leading Sound Synthesis.
*Ahhh! the fond memories of a time before manufacturers wouldn't even dream of doing things like planned obsolescence and introducing 'weaknesses', all making for shorter lifespans. I worked for one of the largest TV manufacturers based in Europe in the 80's-90's (not naming names!) but *Every* set that was made, had a semi-random range of recurring 'Faults', that were literally lifespan shorteners known by the manufacturers - covertly introduced during manufacture, with the sole purpose of driving further sales levels. All of the technicians and maintenance staff were even kept in the dark with component and manufacturing-equipment faults but the few that were better equipped to think for themselves, knew exactly what these large manufacturing companies were doing. After my lengthy time with the said TV manufacturer, I worked as a repair engineer for a successful private company. From the early Naughties to 2010 I saw a pronounced change in the whole marketplace - the best way I could describe it is a changeover from "Built to Last" >to> "Disposable" that crippled any old part of tried-and-tested repair methods due to component price making faulty items very quickly become *Beyond Economical Repair* for many-a-unhappy customer. I certainly don't think that Yamaha ever took part in these particular shenanigans - but then again, neither China or Japan helped Adolf in WWII
- unlike *Certain* countries, allowing German SS with invaluable launch-locations nearer to the UK (In the later lifespan of the V2 Rocket).
This comment couldnt be any more closer to the truth.
You're a beautiful human, I love you.
Safe travels my friend.
Thanks :)
I remember making this comment but I'd forgotten how _lengthy_ it was!
I did digress somewhat but I was compelled to share aspects of my existence whilst recalling a time when things *were* once _built to last_
I thank you too +KUPHSER for taking the time to read my ramblings, blessings to you and yours
Hope you see, feel and *hear* the quality of this fine machine when it arrives! :)
It's bloody heavy mind you, so you might want to do some stretching exercises beforehand!
jayc2469
haha no problem, i love these kind of comments they bring a genuine smile to my face, its all pure honesty. ill keep you posted on my sy77!!
I agree with most of what you say. To me personally, the SY77 is still a dream synthesizer. I've been doing some music on it recently, and I am quite overwhelmed what this instrument can produce. So, it's not only jaw dropping to look at, but jaw dropping when it comes to the sound as well. I have many original Yamaha diskettes with demo sequences, and amazing sound programming examples. And I am not even talking AFM, I am talking about the sounds using the AWM2 engine. I find it amazing what one can do with those internal samples with an intelligent doze of programming. Anyway, there are couple things on which I disagree with you. Firstly, I would not equip the SY77 with USB. You can store 400 sounds on a 720K diskette. There's really no need for USB. Also, replacing the original floppy drive with USB contraption emulation, I'd find that quite an atrocity on the instrument aesthetics. Second thing, I very much like the credit card sized memory cards. They are fantastic. What's wrong with proprietary format? High quality is a problem? No problem for me. Also they pop-up quite often on eBay, and I managed to grab nearly all of those cards. If you're patient and watch closely the eBay auctions, you'll get the cards. And it's not really THAT proprietary of the format those cards. For instance, Roland memory cards were interchangeable with Atari Portfolio. That's hardly proprietary to me. Anyway, the SY77 is a joy to use, pleasure to look at, keyboard and front panel are pleasure to touch, what's not to like? SY77 is perfection to me.
I had a play on one of these around 32 years ago and the SY77 still turns me on. It also looks right! I like the ashtray on the left hand side.
Had one when it got released.. absolutely loved it. Weighed a ton.
Dude, I wish I understood Japanese! You consistently have the best keyboard demos on youtube...
Marvio Botticelli there are subtitles available!
English sub-title is available now !
hello sir. im buying a sy 55 today. is the piano sound same with the sy 77? thanks alot
Awesome Demo!
Thank you for the subtitles
@@nestorpascual1739 Dunno if you ended up buying it back then, but I have an SY55 and yes it is the same piano preset and sample. Infact many of the sounds on the 77 are on the 55. Also if you add a TG55 it has a mode on the SY55 to combine the two for double polyphony.
This guy is now my favourite musician
先日、親戚からSY77を貰いました。
リアルタイム世代では無いのですが、大変気に入ってます。
かっちゃんの大ファンです。
いつ見ても迫真！のデモですね！
氏家さんの、SY77 SOUND COLLAGE シリーズのMIDIデータ凄かった。 昔、感動ました。
Another great demo video, with the SY77. I briefly owned one, but swapped to get the module version, TG77. I used it a lot back in the late 90's to early 2000's with its drum section, AWM pianos, and analog wave forms with resonant filters. It was a beast when released. Technologically, SY/TG77 is way better than the original Yamaha DX7 MK1, with on-board effects, 16 bit PCM waveforms, resonant filters, customisable algorithms, 16 operator waveforms, multiple feedbacks, 7 LFOs, Pitch EGs for each operator, 22 Bit DA converters (for TG77).......... But something really special about the DX7 MK1...........
I have a question about the SY77 samples in ROM. I understand these samples are a copyrighted material, and rightfully it should be copyrighted. Someone posted all internal SY77 ROM on soundcloud for free download. Oh well, if he doesn't make money out of it, it should be fine. But say I'd like to make some music with the SY77 internal samples and sell the music. Would that be legal? I mean, I have a lot of original Yamaha disks with great sounds. But I didn't create those amazing sounds. It would make me feel quite guilty to make music with those sounds and sell it. So, am I making a big deal out of nothing, or is my guild very well justified?
That's a very interesting question. If what you are saying is correct, then all those romplers and hybrid synths are going to be in the same situation.
Power DX7 Yes, each instrument which has samples in it is likely to have its samples copyrighted and belonging to say Roland Corporation, or whoever manufactured the synthesizer. For instance, there was a case when someone released a D-50 softsynth. It was using D-50's PCM samples, and Eric Persing objected the use of the samples, and the softsynth maker removed their product from the market. You can probably sample FM sounds all you want, because sine wave is not copyrighted. Ditto for D-50 square wave based subtractive sounds, or any analog synth for that matter. But when the samples are far more than just a sine or square, then things are getting unethical. It's for some reason okay to use those samples in musical phrases, as it has been the case with the D-50 on multitude of albums from the late '80s. It's okay to sample D-50 patches as well. But the D-50 internal ROM samples are a property of Roland Corporation. In case of Yamaha SY77, as I said, there are so many excellent patches on disks released under Yamaha Corporation that use internal samples, and use them masterfully, to quite mind blowing effect. The question remains though, are these free to use commercially? I mean, people spend great amount effort to create all these sounds. I paid for the disks on eBay, these are original disks with either Yamaha stickers on them, or Sound Source Unlimited, or whichever company created the libraries. Are these okay to use commercially? I am having serious doubts here.
I've never thought of sampled waveforms in hybrid synths and romplers can be copyrighted. It kind of makes sense, when you talk about the raw sampled waveforms in ROM of a hybrid synth, in this case the D-50. I'm grad that I've learnt to push my DX7 further and further to get awesome sounds that I really like. There is no sampled waveforms in the DX7, and everything starts from a sine wave, so as you said, you can't copyright a sine wave, and that's good to know that!!!!!! The same thing can apply to modern MIDI/Audio software, like Logic Pro X. It comes with a lot of sampled drums, loops etc. Using them in music is OK, but trying to sell them as sampled drums and loops, then I think you will have a problem, that's how I see this (not sure if I'm correct here...).
+Power DX7 Yes, you are correct. Maybe I am unnecessarily paranoid here. I don't know.
SY77 is the grand daddy of Motifs and Montages from the User Experience Design PoV and its followed till date .. After the DX7 kind of forced minimalism, this set the template for workstation design was adapted by all including their contemporaries and competitors.
Every sound is a Corporate Anthem! Which is why I love it!
I had one (and the 22, 85 and the TG500) and now i am looking to buy this beast again. I only have vst synths but a real instrument would be nice.
This guy always has the best demos!
This synth sounds so cool! I hope to have it someday.
first song that came to mind when sat down with my sy77 was TOTO's Africa and i was suprised how quickly i was able to nail the chorus. thats how exact this machine can be with the eighties
SY77 was considerably more expensive than the M1 or U20. @tx816 did not mention the D-50 - which, despite being arguably the first ROMpler, was groundbreaking (at least while trying it out in the store). I don't think the SY77 sold very well, but in terms of programming it's VERY deep, which maybe gives it a bit more longevity among synth aficionados than things like Proteus, M1, 01/Whatever
I didn't know this about the price, I was earning about £70 per week working in a music shop and making backing tracks on the side with a Boss DS330 and Roland R5. The SY77 was out of my budget range and so paid no attention! It is a monster and so were the other synths you mention. With the gear available nowadays, we've never had it so good! It was more attainable to build a bank of used modules, I later got the U220, some U110's, a D110 and R8m by 1993/4. The M1 still feels luxurious almost 35 years later!
I did an entire album with it alone back in the day. I was always amazed at how overlooked it was at the time.
Beautiful instrument. It's such a shame that Yamaha dropped FM from the next model, the W5/W7 which were only AWM. Well, W5/W7 sank in value, whereas SY77/99 are still holding up. Goes to show that corporate decisions are not always popular with the customer needs.
This guy is a great demonstrator!!!
Good point about the layout of the percussion voices along the keyboard, corresponding to the score convention. I had not realise that for all the Yamaha keyboards I've owned.
Picked up one of these off Craigslist and it’s fun playing around with it. Of course things have changed a bit in synth workstations. For 3 grand now it’s insane what you get. But for $200 I can’t complain haha
I agree with you. Just bought one also from Craigslist this past weekend for $100. Definitely can't complain.
Excellent demonstration of the SY77 possibilities. Thank you very much for this video.
I recently got one sy77 in fantastic condition. This is a monster in case programming. It can without problems play the original sounds from dx7 and among this it has some nice presets with multipads and effects. Maybe it did not sold good but now I know, why everybody who tried it out fall in love with this synth.
It was about $3,000 back in 1990, meaning, it was very expensive. This doesn't mean it was any bad. Totally the opposite, it was fantastic, and it is fantastic to this day. Congratulations on fantastic condition of your unit. So is mine :)
James Reeno
They ruin the instruments aesthetics. Although I must say, that back in 1995, the original Nord Lead was temping and sounded fantastic, and didn't look all that bad. Maybe because the rather tasteful offset of the knobs to the left of the instrument. Yamaha and Roland got caught off guard with this, and they released things like the CS1x, AN1x and JP-8000. I actually had CS1x for quite some time, but what I really wanted was the AN1x, which hasn't happened, it was too expensive for what it was. JP-8000 was even more expensive. I think the knobs on the instruments I just mentioned were okay. But on the S30/S80/EX5, they were out of place. Yamaha realized the mistake it seems, as they removed the ugly (and rather faulty) knobs by the time S90ES was out. If one really need some patch twiddling with one-control-to-parameter, I'd go with sliders. JD-800 is far more desirable than JP-8000. But once again, on the instrument of the type like the SY77 or SY99, the sticking out knobs would ruin the otherwise sleek looks of those instruments.
I have 10 of these and a ton of music from 90 to 97 still to finish. They are a delight to work on
Weird flex, but ok
No knobs.
I recall trying one of those in a Bath city centre music shop (in the UK) while on a course at University of Bath in 1990. I had a pal who said he though the keyboard action was the best he had tried on a synth.
To the people that call this boring, you must be a little kid. These sounds ruled the 90's. So, unless you were around then to appreciate them, you wouldn't understand.
What a massive, pure, alive sound!! This machine sounds more better than a lot of modern flagship workstations. Strange things... Why the sound from the modern synths too degrade nowadays...
I believe there are too many sounds on modern keyboards, back in 80s you generally got less than 100 sounds, usually a lot less. But today there are thousands of sounds, so not as much care taken with each sound.
@@lundswedenbig importance comes also from the quality of the electronic components them self (China 'cheap' VS Japanese quality : ic - capacitor - transitors...etc)
I love his demos although I don't have a clue bout what he says but his great playing says it all. Fun and funny. Thk you.👏
There are English subtitles ;)
Best digital synth ever (imo) and I've owned quite a few of the 'classics'. I prefer to use it in AFM mode and don't really use it as a 'rompler'. Very versatile, great depth and sound. (check one of my videos for use of SY77 in a full song outside of it's typical assumed sounds - no presets!)
I bought one of these a few weeks ago. But now I'm kind overwhelmed by the options and capabilities. The AWM sampled sounds don't necessarily hold up today, but there's so much that can be done with the AFM synth that you can't do on the traditional DX7, DX9 type FM synth. But not too many people are working on AFM sounds compared to regular FM synth; so it's hard to find decent patches and tutorials on how to work with it. My other complaint is that the screen is really hard to read, and my eyes are pretty good. It would probably worth doing screen upgrade.
I wish I could speak Japanese, what a great language!
Just bought a 77 about an hour ago. Can't wait for it to arrive! Great demo too!
Many thanks to the Japanese for great musical instruments.
AND THE ITALIANS FOR THE PIZZA !!!
And tape players..and cd players..amps..
Hey, the Japanese make excellent cars too! I especially like their sports cars.
wow, i had this synthesizer, almost 16 years ago, still sounds good!
It was the biggest and best competitor to the Korg 01w Workstation (Remember the "Spaceman" by Babylon Zoo which was used for Levi Jeans ad?. Mine was great and I owned it in the early 90's but my TV blew up so I had to weigh up what the missus and I needed most - a TV or my Keyboard....TV won but I wish I could have found a way to keep the thing. I did a great rip off of "Children" by Robert Miles and had it playing in my car and my friends didn't realise it was my version until I told them. They told me to "fu** off! NO WAY!" but it was that good a keyboard!
I don't know about that. As much as you or I love this machine, I don't hear a whole lot of rumbling from anyone about how great the SY77 was. The Korg M1 is still pretty popular nowadays and sought after classic like the Roland D50 and Korg Wavestation. Even with todays more sophisticated workstations, I still see studio producers holding on to these legendary instruments.
Always loved this keyboard, but never bought one. Used to play them at stores. Seemed like the pitch bend wheel had a really good feel to it and a very linear bend effect. Some keyboard's pitch wheels are not very linear, you move them some and they don't change the pitch much, then all of a sudden, as you continue to move them, the pitch changes a lot. That's kind of frustrating. This one is great! Also when you split the keyboard between stand up bass and piano it sounds great!
Great synth SY77/TG77 ...
agree
These ARE the shit. I work at a music store and we just sold ours a couple weeks ago. It's like a time machine that only takes you to the 90s. Its sounds so dreamy. MSP5's are great monitors too. That's also what I played it through.
Hola TtopRecords. Este comentario sobre los monitores MSP5 versus los que usa aqui musictrackjp en su video demo del SY77 que son Yamaha tal vez? viniendo de una persona que trabaja en un music store, me hizo pensar en pedirte una recomendacion, ya que hace poco compre un teclado y aunque tambien compre una interface audio beringher para conectar a los monitores Edifier que los compre mucho antes para salida de audio x bluetooh de la computadora. Bien la cosa es que
el sonido no es tan bueno como se escucha en demos del teclado en los videos en youtube. Entonces eso se debera a falta de calidad de estos monitores Edifier y deberia invertir en unos monitores mejores, siempre pensando en una opcion mas economica posible dado que mi situacion economica no es justamente comoda. Un saludo
amazing sounds for 1990 keyboard. It was very very expensive....
katsunori-san, we meet again...
Yamaha SY-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah!!!! lol
=)) It`s just the "7" on Japanese is read as "nana", But with "77" it sounds a bit funny.
Lol
ヤマハSY７だ７は名機ですよね
SY-77とSY-９９は持ってます。良い音源が揃ってます。
中村雅英 どちらが良いですか？
I love it! Great review, great sounds.
hello sir. is sy 55 same piano sounds with the sy 77?
it's hard to find those rompler sound quality on today keyboards, especialy with the Roland D-50 and this Yamaha, i have try an Equinox keyboard in the 90's and it was awesome, i miss those day.
Toward the end of the video the guy just lays down a track like it's nothing, when I wish I possessed half of his ear for making music. Crazy.
greater beast of yamaha fm awm instrument!!
I think the external speakers play a part as well. Would be nice to know something about them.
氏家先生のこの動画を見て私も欲しかったんですが、ついに先日、ハードオフで超格安で入手できました！(^ｰ^) Voice P1-D01 Tutti Orch (full Orchestra)の音色が4AWM Poly のサウンドで、分厚い音が出て、豪華ですね。
the same engine without the sequencer and the floppy drive. Awesome machine.
I bought a dx7iid and sussed it out way quicker than i expected, now i have a sy77 on the way!!! Ill never sell the dx tho it'll always be my baby
Wow someone just gave me one of these! I am very happy!
Bought one. It is in a bad shape, but it still plays. I am going to buy some replacement keys and clean it.
Fantastic Demo and synthesizer, I have one.
I'm saying that the FM synthesis used in the DX series did not lend itself to naturally punchy or snappy attacks, which Yamaha tacitly acknowledged with the SY series by creating a machine that combined FM sounds with sampled attack transients. I said NOTHING about the quality of either instrument--I answered the question asked which was "would the DX7 be able to recreate the patch being played on the SY77," and I gave my reasons for why I doubted it.
I have a TG77, which is the rack version of this (identical, except for no floppy drive and keyboard). It's still a great sounding instrument, especially the FM electric pianos. But the polyphony is only 16 notes, and that's a real limitation at times. Still, definitely worth what I paid for it, and I plan to keep it.
Im just curious. Why is it a problem that it only has 16 note polyphony? You only have 10 fingers so why would that be an issue? Im only asking because I intended on getting the TG.
You are a genius Katsu!
I really like your videos. Even in a foreign language
There are English subtitles ;)
Claro que si,
estamos de acuerdo.
Mas claro que el agua.
VSTi emulation required.
There are many DX7 emulation, but not really the same parameters. impossible to manually adapt one patch to each other. Must make some VSTi emulation, with sys ex import.
Sequencer did not recorded pitch band data or synth engine did not recognized them from sequencer.
Love these demo's!👍
I WAS ABOUT TO BUY ONE OF THESE SYNTHS 10 YEARS AGOS FOR 300 AMERICAN DOLLARS IN URUGUAY I ENDED UP BUYING A PLAYSTATION 2 ...
When it was released, it lost the market share war to the Korg M1 and Roland U20/D70 family romplers. It's sophistication, huge programming power and dynamic playability was not taken into much consideration. It was considered as a DX7 "plus" only. People were into "sax" samples and bright pcm drums then. What a pity! After two decades now, the SY77 is more appreciated than its debut days and it's rompler rivals are duped away from stuidos loog time ago by now.
The TG77 surpasses the TX802 in almost every way. Mind that you will not be able to use DX7 patches on the TG77 without converting them with a DX2SY converter.
@SpacehotelMusic
Thanks for your feedback , just find one in mint condition!
This man rocks!!
Can anyone tell if the presets have their original effects when you are in
multi timbral mode. I want to use it as an multi timbral source for my
AKAI MPC where I'm sequencing. But I need to be able to have at least
4-5 presets with the original effects (as in patch mode) when i am in
multi timbral mode. Many synth disable the effects on multi timbral mode
(like the Triton I use now) and they sound really wack. Thanks!
No ,the presets DOESN'T have their original effects when you are in
multi timbral mode.
I have a SY77. Great synth ! :-)
@PornobrillenAli yep - better effects, sample memory etc.. go check on vintage synth explorer it has all the details you need. Personally I prefer the SY77 the extra 99's features don't make it worth the space it takes up for me. '77 is already quite large
I have one too, in my collection.Very nice piano. Nice synth. love your demo's. Keep up the good work.LOL .
katsunori, dude, you teach me so much
Listen to my song "Chase" which is entirely programmed on my SY77 (except the drum loop)
I have a Rolsnd XP50 but the piano on the SY77 is so close to a real piano, its scary.
damn. i need to get that instrument someday
Super Yamaha : SY - 77 ; new Model ;
Sintetizadores Digitais ; Recursos new ;
Efectos ; Tons ; Ritmos ; Arpeggios ;
New Controller ; Harmonia ; Sequência ; Etc ; SY - 77 : Yamaha .
I wish that this guy would start to produce deep house and Detroit techno
Thank you for this great review. Merci beaucoup.
I own one and its fantastic!
No doubt this is a classic synth but waaaay to huge
It's not bigger than a Fantom, Motif, Triton, Montage...
Sounds like it's FM module itself, i would say its doable on DX7
does anyone know if there's a limit to how long a song can be which you record on the sequencer of the sy77?
Lembra muito o motif no visual
@SpacehotelMusic
Thanks, I'll do so.
@SpacehotelMusic
Thanks for the answer.
I saw that there is also the SY99.
Is there any difference between the SY77 and Sy99 except for the number of keys?
Hit maker.
Hi. Help please. We in Russia do not have instructions in Russian on SY77. How to do split keyboards to be able to include two tebra at the same time? If you can make a video, please. Thanks)))
There is English documentation available. No one in Russia can speak English?
Katsunori sama!!!
Aún está vigente !!!!!!!!
Katsunori-san rocks!
I Just bought one..! amazing sound!
素晴らしい！ありがとう!！^_^
Around 3:15 there's a great patch. For me, nothing seems to sound quite like FM. With this synth, I guess it's hard to know if you are listening to FM or not, as I think it has some sample playback capability. Can it use sampled waveforms as source for operators?
Just bought a TG77 a day ago.
@SpacehotelMusic
I'm thinking about buying a TX 802, but do you think it is a better choice a TG 77? Does it have the same FM engine?