Welcome to Yamaha Synth!

When the VL Technology hit the market some twenty-one years ago, Yamaha introduced the world to a technology (Virtual Acoustic - Lead) that utilized the first Physical Modeling (high speed number crunching) engine to mathematically recreate the acoustic processes in generating a musical tone in a pipe (or bowed string). Synthesizers unlike acoustic instruments do come in and go out of vogue. You can hardly name a synth that lasts 20 years.

We agree that VL technology was very special. And those who "know", know just how magical and individual the sounds could be. It was the nature of the times... Most wind players were initially threatened by the technology (not sure if you remember). We would hear the very ludicrous remark that it was designed to put horn players out of business or was something to compete with. As you know, nothing could have been farther from the truth... And how silly that sounds now, but it was real back in 1993-4 when many wind players first encountered the technology. The VL70-m and WX Wind MIDI Controller was a very steady product combination throughout its lengthy life-cycle. Most keyboard players couldn't get beyond the "L" (Lead) nature of the instrument. An accurate physical model of a column of air in motion or a bowed string will create a single note (monophonic). In order to get accurate acoustic behavior, the technology requires an understanding of the need to be gloriously monophonic! The comment we got from most keyboard players were that they were waiting for a polyphonic VL (sic). (actually when a "polyphonic horn" is invented, Yamaha will probably be the first company to model it). So it was destined to be a niche product... It was a "heady" product. And it has a very loyal following.

In its history, the technology was placed in a high-end dedicated version (VL1), a mid-level dedicated version (VL7), in rack mount (VL1-m) and an affordable rack model (VL70-m), in hardware plug-in modules (PLG150-VL) for several series of synth products and for computer, and was offered as one of several technologies in a multiple technology synthesizer workstation (EX5). The tech was around for an amazing 20 year run... The VL70-m being the last of them, was discontinued last year, it had an unprecedented long run... I can think of very few modules/controller combination that lasted as long, from 1996-2013 (can you?)

Was it ahead of its time? Undoubtedly.
Could it have benefitted from wider exposure? (like imagine if there was an internet back when it was first introduced). Undoubtedly.
Will its time come again? Hopefully.

Wind players unite... You will want to participate in Athan Billias' Future Yamaha Synths forum here on this site... He has extended the "ear" of Yamaha 's Product Planning to players like yourself... Now is the time to speak up and be heard! Let him know what you're doing with the technology and what you'd like to see.

The WX5, third generation Wind MIDI Controller, is still a current product.

Bad Mister says that the WX5 is still a current product. No! Not in Australia and Europe. I speculate that it is only current in the USA because there is unsold inventory. I do not believe that it is in current production - and why should it be? Anything which might be essentially dependant on the standard MIDI cable connection: the WX5, the VL70-m, every other tone generator such as the MU series, the UX64/256; and the related stuff: the XG Format and the PLG cards - all have been destined for the "Obsolete / Discontinued" bin since 2008 when the MMA publicly announced that it was two years into a project to develop a new high definition MIDI specification.

The HD MIDI project has been very protracted; the MMA is still revising the specification and testing prototype implementations. I speculate that Yamaha did not want to invest in production of obsolete product but in bringing MIDI 2.0 product to the market in a timely manner they may have been caught out by the long delay in finalising the specification.

I stopped blowing wind into pipes made of wood or metal a decade ago; so, I am totally dependent on my WX5 and VL70-m combo, especially the WX5.

I do not think Yamaha will abandon the WX-VL system and, given the increase in CPU, GPU and DSP power since they were designed, I imagine that the replacement system will be awesome. But, just in case they do stop loving us, and in answer to your question "What will I do if my instruments fail ?", my solution has been to buy insurance: I recently added 2 WX5s to my original 2 (performance and spare) units; and in addition to my 2 VL70-ms I have several PLG-VL cards, and MU100 and MU128 hosts to support them, which I know how to set up to get VL70-m equivalent performance. Although the WX5 is discontinued here, Yamaha Australia have provided excellent service in sourcing items from Japan for my newly established stock of critical spare WX5 parts.

I think Alain has a very valid question, one that I keep asking myself. Why on earth didn't Yamaha's amazing VL technology not take the music world by storm, the way the DX-7 did? And I'm not even a wind player, I'm a straight synth player. I have the PLG VL board in my Motif. I find the presets totally playable and inspiring, with no breath controller.

The VL-1 should have taken the world by storm. It should have sold like hotcakes. The technology was FAR more amazing than the DX's FM techology. So what really happened, Yamaha? What went so right with the DX line that didn't with the VL's? The only plausible explanation I have found so far is that in 1983, synths were king. There was a lot of attention on them, and the exciting directions synthesizers would take in the future. And of course the DX blew everyone away at the time.

In 1994 things were looking very different in the popular music arena. Samplers and ROMplers had unfortunately enjoyed years of popularity (a crime...) And in EDM, where synths were still king, there was no place for expressive physical modeling lead instruments.

Any other ideas? Was Yamaha just way too ahead of the times?

Any other ideas?

Keyboards players (mainly piano players originally) do not understand anything with the lack of polyphony! So in one word: Polyphony. The most heard (silly) comment was "I'll wait till they come out with a polyphonic VL(sic)" _ Of course there will not be one, because there is no polyphony in a model of a column of air in motion (a single pipe supports one note) or a single bowed string in motion supports one note. And much of the unique behaviors are a result of being gloriously monaural.

"By storm" is not always measured in the numbers sold, those who got it, (like yourself) "know" it was innovative. There are simply not a whole STORM of people who got it. Physical Modeling had to start somewhere. I guess you could say that the first modular MOOG did not take the world "by storm" either. "Storm" definitely was the DX7 which easily sold more than a quarter of a million units!!!! (it came at a time when the Rhodes was heavy and cumbersome, and FM did that tone well enough for the piano players looking to lighten the load. It more than doubled the polyphony of the typical synthesizer at the time (huge!! Polyphony). Also it was among the first keyboards with M-one-D-one!!! 🙂

Even the MINIMOOG (1971) did not take the world "by storm" - there were approximately 13,000 MiniMoogs made in its entire 13 year history... that kind of "storm" would put most companies out of business now-a-days. Yikes!!!

Just my opinion - having lived through the entire history of synthesizer - What makes something popular seems to have to do with getting what MOST people need. Of course, Yamaha is often way too ahead of the times. I joined the company 27 years ago and they were on their third or fourth computer at the time _ I can recall musicians saying no one would ever use a computer to record music!!! Ha! I remember one retailer telling me "Did I really think that a computer would be able to replace reel-to-reel tapes and multi-track cassettes?" 🙂

Thanks for your reply. Since you mentioned the Minimoog... that's what I'm talking about. Forget that I used the term "by storm". The Minimoog was seen in every major keyboard player's rig. Keyboard players do understand mono/lead synths. There are tons of mono synths being sold these days. I'm a bit surprised at the quote about "waiting until the VL is poly".

There should have been a VL in every major keyboard player's rig in the 1990s and 2000s, period. Yamaha's VL technology should have had a huge impact on the synthesis field of the 1990s and 2000s. Today there should be an inexpensive ($600) physical modeling lead synth in every keyboard player's setup. The expressiveness and sound was and still is that amazing.

What happened, or didn't happen? Can we convince Yamaha to create a $600 standalone physical modeling lead synth and put all its marketing behind it? If Arturia can make a big splash with something like the MiniBrute, surely Yamaha can make an even bigger one?

There should have been a VL in every major keyboard player's rig in the 1990s and 2000s, period. Yamaha's VL technology should have had a huge impact on the synthesis field of the 1990s and 2000s. Today there should be an inexpensive ($600) physical modeling lead synth in every keyboard player's setup. The expressiveness and sound was and still is that amazing.

There's a great expression I find appropriate here: "You're preaching to the choir!" 🙂

They'll have to pry my VL1 and VL1m out of my cold, dead hands.

Rare is the VL fan more rabid than Bad Mister, Ave and myself. We were 3/4ths of the first "VL Quartet" that performed at AES in 1994(?)

The first second we all plugged in and started playing we were pretty much limited to "wow" and deity-invoking superlatives; it was deep.

Thanks for letting us wax nostalgic!

Well, it looks like I'm in good company here! 😀

You don't happen to have a recording of the VL Quartet do you?

And please, wax on... I would love to hear more stories.

The one I like to tell involves the original VL1 Preset Trumpet Voice. Okay in the VL Quartet only one of us (Ave) had any experience playing a "lip reed" instrument (see there I go talking the Virtual Acoustic tech) - Technically speaking, all wind instruments are "reeds"; there are the single reeds, that everyone knows like sax and clarinet; there are double reeds like bassoon and oboe; flutes/piccolos and piped instruments with an open whole are "jet reeds" and finally, brass horns are "lip reeds")... the Oscillator (sound source) in any instruments is the thing that vibrates. In a flute the 'jet' of air blown across that open whole causes the vibration; In brass instruments it is the lips that are the oscillator.

Any way, only Avery had any real experience playing an actual horn, as his first instrument was originally the trombone. We figured that we would do some brass quartet pieces... and as we were getting started at the first rehearsal, it was clear that Avery simply had a better Trumpet Voice than any of us, because he just sounded so much better than the rest of us playing trumpet - right out of the shoot. I remember crowding around his VL to see which Preset Voice he was playing and to everyone's astonishment - it was the same Preset Trumpet we all had.

I remember Avery giving me my first "horn" lesson, he started talking about blowing these "pear shaped" notes and how to control the breath output properly. It was in that moment we all realized that on a very organic level, the VL was a real instrument where practicing would be not only be necessary to improve your tone and performance, it would be rewarded with better sonic results. Playing a sample is playing a sample, blowing a note on the VL was somehow much more than just playing a sample. And there was actual proof!!!

It's hard to tell anyone who has never really played it (like trying to tell some how good ice cream is going to taste)... you have to be there!

By the way, you can win bar bets with this one: The Didgeridoo, is in the "brass" family! (it's a "lip reed") 🙂

Don't know about the VL Quartet but you can hear the VL Big Band here:
http://robosax.com/vlbigband/

Enjoy!

One correction: Flintstones Arr. Nate Tschetter

Wow this is FANTASTIC Avery. Thanks for posting the link. My favorite so far is 18 Hours in New York. Unbelievable. The players are so good. How did you guys get Steve Gadd?? Must have been a thrill to put together such an historic event.

Steve is a long time Yamaha drum artist.

Sorry for preaching to the choir again but I'm (obviously) annoyed at Yamaha for sitting on the VL technology without making it a standout feature in today's flagship keyboards like the Motif XF or the Tyros 5. Maybe Yamaha was 20 years ahead of its time. It can still profit from it now!

Yamaha compartmentalizes or silo's its technology, which doesn't seem to be in their best interest. Completely isolated departments. SA2 on the T5, XA on the Motif... are they doing it for profit? Why not combine/synergize the silos? I don't buy the "designed for different target markets" argument - I think there are tons of players from all different backgrounds, who would love to see both SA2 and VL featured as an integral part of their keyboard. And a combination of SA2 and VL would be a dream.

Just sitting on VL for 20 years. imagine what the VL technology would be today if engineers had been working on it for the last 20 years!

If there ever was a case for an application of wireless midi, the WX5 - VL70m combo would be the poster child for this technology. A couple years ago, I had the WX Midi-In connector on the front of the VL70m replaced when it was damaged. Recently, another player tripped over my midi cable when I was performing and it yanked my VL70m onto the ground (it survived).

As others here have commented, the VL physical modeling technology is incredible. Wherever I play, people are really curious about the instrument and amazed that I am able to switch from woodwind to brass to string instruments to fill in for all sorts of parts for solos or backgrounds. I'm puzzled that why - over a 20 year run - the VL70m was not better promoted or upgraded. From a wind player's point of view, so many of the sounds in the VL70m were useless and were poorly organized. Yamaha could license sounds from Patchman Music as a starter.

The memory, processing speed and display technology required for physical modeling is now a fraction of what it cost back in 1996. If a new VL unit came out that was designed for gigging with a WX5, I would be the first to buy it. As it stands now, the WX5's are still available (I have 2 in case one fails) but own only one VL70 m. I've had the VL70m in for repair twice and both times I was unable to perform for a couple months. I see that used VL70m's are currently being offered at the list price of what a new VL70m sold for when they were discontinued. If anyone from Yamaha is listening, this is an incredible opportunity to innovate with both the wind controller and VL sound module. While there are a zillion choices for keyboard players, there are no comparable options to replace the WX-5/VL70m combo for wind instrumentalists. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE resume support for us electronic wind instrumentalists!