Hi SY99 users,

I'm very happy to announce that my Yamaha SY-77 soundbank 'Pads & Textures' is now available for the SY-99.

As you know, the SY99 has a different and much improved effects section which means that some Sy77 presets imported into Sy99 will not sound as intended.
I don't actually own an SY99 and so have never been able to conduct a conversion process to make sure that SY77 presets sound the same in SY99, and so this sound bank has never been officially promoted as compatible with SY99.

However, thanks to Jim Alfredson who bought the original SY77 sound bank and has converted it to SY99, I am able to offer a tweaked Sy99 version.

Here's Jim's email excerpt that explains the story (quoted with permission):

"Raphael,
Here is a gift for you. I recently purchased an SY99 and loaded your soundbank for the SY77 into it. As you know, the effects section of the SY99 is quite different from the SY77. About half or more of the patches in your bank did not sound the same on the SY99, due entirely to the effects. I took the time to tweak the effects on those voices until I got them as close as I could to the originals. I'm attaching a sysex file of the tweaked SY99 bank. Now you can offer this bank to SY99 users with the knowledge that it will translate.

I did this because I have been very inspired by your soundset. It has gotten me back into synthesis..."

Massive thanks to Jim for the hard work and time spent on this.

As of today, this sound bank is available for the mighty SY99.

The price is 25 euro. Still the same as for the SY-77.

You can buy this sound bank, hear demos of each preset on my website here.

Thank you for reading.
Happy music making !
Raphael S. aka 'himalaya'

Himalaya-san, I listened to your demos, impressive stuff. I have had my eyes on a TG77 for a while now, and just wondering about your opinions about this synth as an "in-depth" programmer. One big question is if LFOs (and loopable envelopes, I believe) can be synced to Midi?

If you have time, any opinions would be interesting!

REgards,

Anders

Oh
I own a Sy99 since 17 years but use it today only as a masterkeyboard. Interesting that their are always people who program sounds for this baby.

Are their only the built-in waveforms used for AWM or have this patches also custom waveforms?

Hi Anders,

Unfortunately the LFOs and loopable envelopes can not be synchronised to midi, and so they float on their merry way like a hippy from festival to festival.
Still, let this not stop you from getting a TG77 if you are after FM. The whole SY/TG family is worth investigating. Perhaps, the FS1R would be the only other alternative option.

Any other opinions ? The SY is a beast and there are features I wish were widely available in soft synths, like per oscillator key scaling, which really isn't as common as I would expect it to be. One clever bit of sound design comes from SY internal sequencer (which the TG hasn't got) which allows to record all your sound parameter editing and play it back ! It's a seriously cool feature on a HD synth and I have used it on many occasions to capture happy accidents which I would then sample. This partly overcomes the fact, that you can't automate the Frequency Modulation 'Course' parameter, which when swept up/down gives brilliant harmonics.

I also wish I had a good PC editor for it, as I'm hesitant to use my Sy due to the state of all buttons, which are beginning to feel a bit worn out (even after having been serviced many years ago).

It would be much easier to set up those loopable envelopes with a good editor too. Doing this on the SY/TG is awkward as you have to jump to two pages to access the Level and Rate slopes. It's not difficult to do, since all you do is press two buttons below the LCD screen and move the cursor to the appropriate envelope parameter, but the constant flipping back and forth is tiring.

Soundwise, I still think there's something about Yamaha's FM that makes it worthwhile to keep the beast. I tried to emulate a favourite electric FM piano on one VSTi FM synth and failed miserably. Just feeding one modulator into a carrier gave completely different sound on both. Mind you I haven't used NI's FM7/8 and don't really know how well these perform.

SY's sample + FM can give some original sounds too. Care is needed, as it can yield some noisy and harsh sounds, but if used in the right way it can either beef up an FM sound with more harmonics on the 'attack' portion of the sound ( via velocity, for example) or add some interesting textures to pads, leads, etc. Check this out: http://www.electric-himalaya.com/demos/sy77/pads/RcmAfmPcm%2 02.mp3

That 'shimmering' high frequency sound is done with feeding a sample into an FM algorithm. This particular patch is very complex and uses four oscillators (two sample and two FM).

Long live FM !

Greetings long standing SY user ! I'm one of the original SY veterans too.

Sy's keyboard is indeed great. Top quality throughout.
The SY can't use custom waveforms (not counting Yamaha Sample Data Cards) so all you hear uses internal samples. However, there are only a few purely sample based presets. Most use a combination of the two, sample + FM, with majority being purely FM.

Thats true. But the floppy drive is only average quality, my doesn't work anymore and I would need a replacement drive. The buttons are also not good working, so programming is not much fun. But its always a good masterkeyboard
A solution would be to use the old Sounddiver (it has a SY99 module) and I remember a program "SY Manager".

That infamous disk drive has become the stuff of legends.
You might want to see how others have repaired theirs, often with home made solutions.
Check this Yamaha SY user forum.

Thanks for the editor tip off. I know there is that MidiQuest editor, but it's rather expensive (about $250). I just found the SY Manager you mentioned and it is $20, much more reasonable. This might just spur me to collect all my other sounds from hundreds of floppies and perhaps release another SY sound bank.


Just googling Sounddiver but it appears to be Mac only ?

Very nice sounds. Got rid of my sy85 about ten years ago.I always regret selling it.

+1

SY85 was my fav

Rob

But, but...

SY85 is not an SY77 ( or SY99, TG77).

The SY85 is sample based only, whereas, the SY77 and its offspring are FM + sample. The FM side is a much improved version of DX7. So, if you did sell your Sy85, just as well, get a second hand Sy77 instead !

Yes, many have problems after the years with this floppy drive But "Yamaha Parts" sells replacement drives for the SY99 (160€).

Seems that the SY manager is also updated.
Unfortunately nobody has an idea or a tool to convert the SY disk-all format to something more usable. The only chance is to have a working floppy drive with a SY99

Sounddiver is also for Windows. I use a OEM version for my Access Virus. But its not longer supported by Apple since they acquired Emagic. I have no idea if actually someone sells Sounddiver.

Midiquest is a bit expensive and buggy.

I think SY Manager could do the trick. I like what I see in MidiQuast but you say it's buggy, so this and the price takes it off the shopping list. Thanks for the heads up.



Yeah. I like that. It kind of goes against the flow of all things 'current'.
There's obviously not much financial gain from selling sound banks for hardware synths that are probably self-disintegrating in people's studios. lol
But there's something poetic about it.

Your bank is really amazing. I am going to buy tg-77 and i think i will order this bank. Keep up the good work!

Sound Diver is no longer on sale, unfortunately, because it has, by far, the most complete and well implemented editor for the SY series, fully supporting the SY99, includng sample dump. It was available on version for both Mac and Windows, and it was one of the many questionable decisions from Apple after buying Emagic.

Hey,
I've been on holiday and I have missed your post. Thank you for the compliment.

I'm convinced you will not regret buying a TG77 as long as you like using hardware. Just make sure the LCD screen is still ok ( it can be replaced, however). Good luck!