Overview & Demo | Yamaha YS200 Digital FM Synthesizer
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- A vintage digital synth that has some advantages over the famous Yamaha DX7, the Yamaha YS200 was a workstation with a funky design and fairly advanced features for its time period. Let's take a look.
Here are a few sites to explore for more info:
Very cool editor: home.kpn.nl/m.t...
Everything you could want to know about 4 operator synths (including the YS200): nuxmicromedia.c...
PDF copy of the manual from ManualsLib.com:
www.manualslib...
Forget Wikipedia, Vox Day's Planetary Knowledge Core is much better: infogalactic.c...
Straight from the Music Magazine Archive: www.muzines.co...
Demos from DeepSonic are a great example of what the YS200 can do: www.deepsonic.c...
Thank you Howling Pixel for laying out the stats: howlingpixel.c...
If you enjoy this content and find it helpful please help keep me up late at night making more content like this: www.buymeacoff...
Flashback to 1989: I purchased an YS100 together with a friend to start our synth pop star career. That never worked out. 🙂 Yet, I still have the synth here, it continues to work properly and besides the fact that it only has 4 operators, still produces cool sounds! Some of them I created myself back in the 90ies and still love to play.
Extremely underrated synth. In the RIGHT hands this can do some stunning work. My friend has done covers of BILLIE JEAN, CROCKETTS THEME. And RHYTHM IS A DANCER on this. That sounded amazing. It's a wolf in sheeps clothing it really is. The bass and drum sounds this can do will stun alot of people I'm telling you.
Agreed. The YS200 raised the bar in a way that wasn't immediately understood back in '88. Today, however, its unique brand of brilliance makes an impact that is appreciated by a new generation of musicians (and some who missed it the first time around in our youth).
Thanks for participating in the conversation!
I had one of these, back in the late 80s and I absolutely loved it! I loved the unique look of it. I forgot the model number. But, I never forgot it's distinctive look. It was stolen. BUT...I just found one and bought it! Can't wait to dive back into it. And, I bought a BC1 (breath controller) for it, too.
Never tried the BC, but always wanted to get one. Let us know what you think about the BC integration.
@@vintageMIDI The BC1 I bought isn't working. I hope it isn't damaged. The guy I bought it from said it worked fine. But, he had a DX11. I'm gonna take it to a music store and see if there's a keyboard I can try it with. The YS200 definitely has a breath control input and I used one, when I had the keyboard before. Kinda disappointing.
Hi. Thanks for the vid.
I count myself as being extremely fortunate that I'm a bit of a hoarder; (or at least I do now). While clearing out some of the junk in my garage, I rediscovered some old synths that I had archived and forgotten about. Among these were an old Minimoog and a Moog Prodigy and also; more relevant to this topic, I found my old Yamaha YS200 and my TQ5, and also a couple of old Korg M1's, neither of which work but it's probably only a battery issue.
I can remember teaming up the YS and the TQ via a midi lead and slightly detuning the TQ to create some particularly meaty synth sounds for a live setting. back in the day.
I might make a vid and post it using the same setup as then.
Your vid has rekindled my interest. Thanks very much.
Thanks for the kind words. Glad the YS video got you inspired, Tim!
If you demo your YS/TQ setup, I would really like to hear how they sound detuned against each other. Cool idea for maximizing those FM gems.
My hoarding tendencies keep me from junking/selling even piles of parts that I think I may need one day to repair my favorite synths (but they're ALL my favorite synths).
If you'd like to see more videos about the YS200, let me know here in the comments. Thanks!
more more more!
@@vforvillain77 Glad you enjoyed the YS200 overview; more YS200 vids on the way in May! Thanks for the feedback.
@@vintageMIDI
Show people how to edit sounds please. Like the STRINGS. Which are one of the best sounds the YS200 does. Better than the DX7 ever could in my opinion...
The YS200 ist a synth with a unique sound character - and I LOVE its design...
I really wanted that machine in 88.
As a student it was twice my monthlly income. Today I will get one!
Thankfully classics like this are reasonable on the used market and make the 30+ year worth the wait! :)
3:17 The B200, YS200, DS55 and TQ5 were all part of Yamaha's "EOS" line of entry level FM-based workstations. EOS = Electronic Operating System.
Cool. Thanks for letting us know!
cool! I knew it had something to do with OS!
I have the TQ-5 Love it and still use it in 2020! Replaced the battery twice! CR2032 Lithium :)
I use a Casio VZ-1 synth as the controller.. Also have a Korg P-03 Symphony sound module. Plus a DR-5 Drum machine...
You've got a sweet setup with the TQ and VZ for sure, 5arge. I'll have to look into the Korg P-03 module and DR-5, as I'm not familiar them. Appreciate the info; always interested to hear what people are making music with these days. Feel free to share a link if you have demos of your music online that highlight your favorite gear.
This sounds pretty good. I can see it being not so much a competitor but an addition to the Dx7ers at that time. Having this and a dx7 i believe would have complemented
There were so many good synths to choose from in the '80s; the DX & YS series were some of the most fun and flexible during that decade from Yamaha.
... actually, the only reason i knew the YS200 existed was because Gillian Gilbert used one during New Order's Technique Tour in 1989. you can see her playing it here: czcams.com/video/E2jOsqn6jIU/video.html
saw your video by just randomly browsing. thanks for posting!
I remember so many bands in the 80s just meshed with gear that meant something to THEM; sponsorship deals meant little compared to the MUSIC back then. Today is much different. Thanks for linking to Big World Café video and for the thumbs up!
Isnt this synth also a multi-timbral synth? I don't think that was mentioned anywhere in this video. The DX7 was not multi-timbral and that gives the YS200 a bit of and advantage over the DX imo.
Cool demo! You mentioned the editing being more accessible than on the DX7. I'd love to see you playing around with the parameters of some presets or even creating your own patches.
Thanks, _ musique. "Creating patches on the YS200" has been added to the video production list. Yamaha made it relatively easy to make patches from scratch or to alter existing sounds with only a two-line display (compared to the DX7).
@@vintageMIDI Great, looking forward to it!
mine makes a short beep when I hit power is that normal for this machine?
Everything elce works fine.
I have not heard such a beep on my ys200; perhaps there is some info in the service manual that could indicate what it means:
www.synthxl.com/offwp/ys_100_200_yamaha_service_manual.pdf
1:25 It's a synth Yngwie would play 😁
Totally agree!
Can the Sysex sounds be found and are they compatible with dx7
I'd try this website: nuxmicromedia.com/4ophq/cgi-bin/dx4op.cgi?mode=patch
Those SysEx files can be loaded into the synth with a sequencer DAW or hardware
or an app like
MIDI-OX
www.midiox.com/
or
SysEx Librarian www.snoize.com/SysExLibrarian/
Wether or not all sounds can be loaded into all FM Yammy's I can't say for sure. My guess is that the DX7 may not be able to utilize 4-operator patches since the DX7 is a 6-operator FM synth.
Let us know what your experience is if you attempt the SysEx transfer.
do you recommend for beginners?????????/
beginners enjoy this
My don’t have sound
Sorry to hear, Jimmy.
Have you tried headphones? It could be the output jacks if the screen is functioning properly
I own a tq5 the module version and the sound is very rich and deep from this Yamy's . Everybody want a tx81z and dx7 but they forget a dx7dx9dx21dx27 are only sinus operators the later four operators (dx11,v50,sy100,sy200 etc ) operators are sinus and fixed waveforms (saw , square etc )this mean they are more flexible and cheap. People are famous name addict's .
You are absolutely correct. The TQ/YS synths are highly UNDERRATED, possibly because of how they are styled & plastic housings. Sound-wise, they are quite powerful and have an 'it' quality usually only observed of more esoteric digital synths and, of course, analog oscillators, filters, &
circuitry.
@@vintageMIDI Yes i agree with you . I use my tq 5 a lot for weird percussion sounds triggered with a cheap Yamaha dd5 and hell wat a noise is comming out this thing looool . Most people buying just a name .
@@vintageMIDI and we forgot the ds55 and dx100 ;)
@@uvoikimovundutrauerblume3302 I thought the dx100 was the same guts as the dx27s and the dx9