1990s
Rap goes gangsta. Rock goes indie. Hip hop goes global. From East Coast to West Coast they don’t agree on much. But their new sound would be inspired by another wave of Yamaha Synth innovations. And end up all over the world.
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EX5
EX5. The great Yamaha Synths of the 90s, together at last.
The Yamaha EX5 was essentially several groundbreaking synths in one. This powerful workstation featured the AWM2 tone generator from SY99, the VA physical modeling tone generator from VL1, the AN virtual analog tone generator from AN1x and the totally new FDSP (Formulated Digital Sound Processing) tone generator. All with more control than ever. -
SY99
SY99. A NEXT GENERATION TONE GENERATOR.
The arrival of sampled sounds leads to more Yamaha Synth innovation. SY99 lets artists use RCM (Realtime Convolution Modulation) to combine digital sampling (AWM or Advanced Wave Memory) and AFM (Advanced Frequency Modulation) tone generators to make unique and interesting sounds. This new AWM2 (Advanced Wave Memory2) tone generator was a major milestone used to this day in the Yamaha MONTAGE. Not to mention a breakthrough in AC (Acronym Creation.) -
VL1
VL1. BREATHTAKING NEW TECHNOLOGY.
VL1 introduces the VA (Virtual Acoustic) tone generator – the world’s first to use physical modeling. This reproduced not only the sounds but the behavior of reed, brass and stringed instruments while letting artists create otherworld, never heard before synth sounds with a mouthpiece. A show-stopping innovation in 1994. -
VP1
VP1. NEW SOUNDS. NEW POSSIBILITIES.
F/VA (Free Oscillation/Virtual Acoustic) tone generator allowed musicians to model different variations in the striking, plucking and bowing of percussion and strings to create instruments that didn’t even exist. It could make some pretty weird sounds. -
AN1X
AN1X. THE ANALOG SYNTH GOES DIGITAL.
Yamaha uses analog physical modeling to create the first AN virtual analog synth – a digital keyboard that simulates the unique characteristics of an analog synth.
