The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

I was lucky enough this weekend to get the chance to venture into London. It doesn't happen often, what with me living here in deepest, darkest, Dorset!
Whilst i was there, i took the opportunity to visit the large Turnkey (pro audio distributors here in the UK) showroom where i had it on good authority that there would be a number of synths available on the shop floor to demo and play on.

I've had my eye on the Korg MS2000 and the Microkorg for some time now and relished the chance to have a quick fiddle.

Having heard the "analogue modelling" on the Korg Legacy Poly 6, i was expecting to be blown away by these units.

Well, i must say that the experience has made me re-examine my AN200 because to my ears, those Korg units didn't sound quite as nice as my little box!

Okay, they had a nifty little arpeggiator and a built in vocoder, but i've put my MC303 between master keyboard and the PC for a more versatile arp and i suppose i can use software for the vocoder.

As i own a handful of analogues, i can hear the difference between the real thing and the modelled counterparts (it's something that's hard to explain, a subtle "background sound" that the digital versions just haven't quite got) but just how good is the yamaha AN series?

I've tried to emulate this "background sound" by using one of the LFO's that isn't being used for modulation duties, to softly vary the pitch of the VCO's. Something along the lines of +1 for VCO 1, and -1 for VCO 2, with the slowest LFO speed. This is on top of any other modulation i may have going on.

I was really interested in the aliasing discussion recently and have found the VCO edge tip to be very useful !!

Oh, and one more thing. Does anybody have any clues on how i could emulate the bright brass sound (CS-80 wasn't it??) Vangelis used on the opening theme tune to Blade Runner? It sends shivers down my spine each time i hear it!!

Thanks again for an informative and interesting group!!



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mark Daborn wrote:

> As i own a handful of analogues, i can hear the difference between the real thing and the modelled counterparts (it's something that's hard to explain, a subtle "background sound" that the digital versions just haven't quite got) but just how good is the yamaha AN series?

Quite a few people think that the AN1x/AN200/PLG150AN is the best 
analogue modelling synthesiser around.

> Oh, and one more thing. Does anybody have any clues on how i could emulate the bright brass sound (CS-80 wasn't it??) Vangelis used on the opening theme tune to Blade Runner? It sends shivers down my spine each time i hear it!!

Have a very fast attack. The AN1x can't do that.

- Peter

I think my Ion sounds a bit more RA, but the AN comes in a very close 
second(it can emulate a P5 better than the Ion). The 4 free EGs on 
the AN can be used instead of an LFO to introduce a more 
random "analog drift" effect. I like a very slight random modulation 
of filter freq, as well as osc 
pitch...                                                              
                                                                      
                                                                      
--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Daborn" <darkest.yugo@n...> 
wrote:
 
>... As i own a handful of analogues, i can hear the difference 
between the real thing and the modelled counterparts (it's something 
that's hard to explain, a subtle "background sound" that the digital 
versions just haven't quite got) but just how good is the yamaha AN 
series?
> I've tried to emulate this "background sound" by using one of the 
LFO's that isn't being used for modulation duties, to softly vary the 
pitch of the VCO's. Something along the lines of +1 for VCO 1, and -1 
for VCO 2, with the slowest LFO speed. This is on top of any other 
modulation i may have going on...

On 22 May 2005 at 9:58, Mark Daborn wrote:

> I've had my eye on the Korg MS2000 and the Microkorg for some time now
> and relished the chance to have a quick fiddle.
> 
> Having heard the "analogue modelling" on the Korg Legacy Poly 6, i was
> expecting to be blown away by these units.
> 
> Well, i must say that the experience has made me re-examine my AN200
> because to my ears, those Korg units didn't sound quite as nice as my
> little box!

I'm having both AN200 and microKorg and if I had to chose I'd prefere the sound 
and engine of the AN200. The AN200 filters sound more powerfull and I find the 
engine to be more flexible...

> As i own a handful of analogues, i can hear the difference between the
> real thing and the modelled counterparts (it's something that's hard
> to explain, a subtle "background sound" that the digital versions just
> haven't quite got) but just how good is the yamaha AN series?

On analog synths one waveform don't look and sound like another, so at least to 
me they sound a bit more alive than their "emulated counterparts", even without 
modulation. 
 
> I've tried to emulate this "background sound" by using one of the
> LFO's that isn't being used for modulation duties, to softly vary the
> pitch of the VCO's. Something along the lines of +1 for VCO 1, and -1
> for VCO 2, with the slowest LFO speed. This is on top of any other
> modulation i may have going on.
 
> I was really interested in the aliasing discussion recently and have
> found the VCO edge tip to be very useful !!

It sure is usefull to emulate the CS-80, that probably sounds rather soft. I only 
know the emulation, never used a real one...
 
> Oh, and one more thing. Does anybody have any clues on how i could
> emulate the bright brass sound (CS-80 wasn't it??) Vangelis used on
> the opening theme tune to Blade Runner? It sends shivers down my spine
> each time i hear it!!

Sounds like a combination of high and lowpass to me, since (if I'm not mistaken) 
the CS-80 has 2 filters per VCO, I think this idea is not that far off...
I might try this with the AN200 if I find the time to...

...Summa


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