The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Just watched the Symphonic Yes DVD.

It's the tour they played with the European festival orchestra (when 
Rick Wakeman was on um, sabbatical). Tom Brislin was the keyboardist 
and plays an An1X on the DVD. So that's two Yes keyboardists who have 
used the An1X (not including Jon who has also played one). 

The An1X was not the main analog synth however. Most of Rick's lines 
were played on Andromeda. A number of Patrick Moraz'z parts were 
played on the An1X which sounded rather good. (Keyboards a bit too 
soft in the mix though.) In general Andromeda was used for smoother 
parts, and the AN1X for spikey, biting parts. (A Korg CX3 was the B3 
emulator and a Yamaha S80 played everything else.) 

Brislin is fantastic keyboardist tackling the parts with ease. One 
issue I have with him is a mistake I make myself.

For a number of moogy parts, he made the identical sound, then jazzed 
it up with vibrato/filter modulation on aftertouch. This allows you 
to be more expressive, but it's funny how it takes the beef out of 
the sound. Sound design tip ... KISS.

I wouldn't recommend the DVD except for Yes fans. Everything was 
played slowly and ponderously to allow the string players to keep up. 
Still it's two thumbs up for our beloved AN1X.

Best,

Jerry