FS1R improv with the wonderful Skerjanc controller
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ธ.ค. 2024
- More or less random noodling with the Yamaha FS1R using the hw controller designed and handbuilt by Robert Skerjanc. The Blokas Midihub (small grey box) helping things out. Just playing with the formants, FM and the nonvoiced operators at the part level. Audio could be better.
Welcome to the unleashed FM world, open Sesame! Looking forward in seeing more videos from you.
So happy I'm getting a FS1R, should never have sold the one I had before, great stuff!
Selling my FS1R for about $350 is one of my all time regrets. The UI is horrible, but the FM is magical. That controller looks amazing!
Wow what an incredible controller.. lets you through the keyhole :)
I hope to be on the order list for 3rd batch ✨🙏 thx for the video
Houston NASA Control Center
I honestly don't get all the hype over this module.
Well I guess being a fan of 80s music helps. Ever heard "Danger Zone"? The DX7 defined the pop synth style and appears on probably 80% of records from that decade. Even Tom Petty wrote a lyric about it. A handful of the unedited factory bass and piano patches appear on half the top 100 hits in 1986! And pure synth artists like Howard Jones, Jan Hammer and Jean-Michel Jarre made it the star performer of many of their works; their signature styles (Hammer's in particular) would not exist (as we know it anyway) without the DX7. If not for Yamaha (and NED of course), Miami Vice could potentially have been a really boring series...
The FS1r takes the DX7 FM engine and improves it by adding more (and more capable) operators, new algorithms, stereo, effects, filters, and formant filters, none of which were yet available from Yamaha outside of their 4-op synths like the V50 or incredibly expensive studio rigs like the TX816 that most of us simply won't ever own.
It's difficult to program, but it also comes with about 1000 sounds loaded into it, and not only does it play DX7 patches, but it has a few hundred of those in ROM too. You don't need to program it. But if you do, there are tons of software editors out there... and also crazy gadgets up to and including this spaceship console looking thing. Aside from that, I think the biggest problem with FM is that while it blows away pretty much everything else for certain instruments, like electric pianos, bells, and bass lines, FM is not really suitable for a workstation synth. It's a powerful spice and you don't want it on every channel of your mix. It's best as a solo instrument or paired with other types of synthesizers.
Everyone is making boutique FM modules today. I own an FS1r and still I kind of want an opsix just because of how cool it looks. But an opsix is no FS1r. Also, the FS1r came out in the 90s. If you have a laptop today, you really don't need one of these. They're just super awesome to have.
I hope this little bit of hype wasn't unwelcome and sheds some light on things. Cheers!
@@stickyfox Actually I'm an 80s eurodisco freak. I know the FM synths of the era well and I know their sound. E-piano, great basses, magnificent pads sometimes. And It was not only DX7, also modules like TX802, an excellent module that I still own I think, but just don't use. I know what FS1R module does. It's not really 80s instrument. I'm just saying it sounds boring imho, and as any FM synth of the time and later it's difficult to program, this was why it was a flop and Yamaha has given it up.
Yes, there is a lot of presets, but are there any really good ones? I mean do they sound inspiring, making You to carve them into something ever more exciting? Personally, I can think of only several I heard on some demo. And given modern VSTis like FM8 by NI, or even Sytrus from FL Studio, where U have control over everything in real time and the presets are mindblowing, this piece of equipment belongs in a museum or in enthusiast collection, but not musician.
Congrats on owning an FS1R, but I think the love U have for this module, just like my love for TX802 is irrational in nowadays world. Regards :)
@@AmbiguousMotion Another thing I didn't mention about the FS1r is the control matrix, which is something you really have to use to appreciate. There are four knobs on the front panel, and (iirc) eight inputs that can be routed to voice parameters like FM depth or filter cutoff. IMO these are another important part of the expressiveness and range of the instrument.
One of my very few and poorly-made videos is a playthru of a bunch of its sounds, if you're interested.
@@stickyfox I've listened to Your preset rundown and it sounds GREAT Imho (both parts). Much, much better than the vid that we comment. Performance, stacking sounds is always the key. Although I still think there is nothing in there I couldn't do with modern VSTis that would justify using that module except maybe the ease of use the already great preset sounds in some situations. Also I noticed You made Your demo 11 years ago. Yes, at that time I don't think there were any VSTis that could compete with it. FS1R would be the obvious choice.
@@AmbiguousMotion Thanks so much! I agree... digital tech has come a long way. When I got that module my computer was a lot slower... a 40 MHz with 16M of RAM :D