The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

I also like the Redsound Darkstar, they are going to be offerring ROM
chips which you
can swap, one is going to turn it into a vocoder, and the other one
is
going to be a mono
synth with "acid filters" ;P (sounds jummy). I also like the synth as
it is now... Check the
mp3's if you're curious... :)
It goes for $399 (not 399 pounds like the website says.. I've done
some inquiries, and
some places in the US sell them for $399. someone from AH (analogue
heaven mailinglist
sells them at his shop, and he contacted me about it, asking me if i
wanted one i could buy
it from him, and yes, he's a very legit person) :)

Now for a url: http://www.redsound.com/redsound/darkstar/index.htm
Have fun! :)



Elson Trinidad schreef:

I'm thinking of getting a Korg MS2000 to complete my VA
pallette...the
Korg's strengths are bass and quirky wierd synth effects, and it's
got a
vocoder too! The Yamaha excels in pads, strings and leads.

Elson

- 30 -
: . elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
: . elson@... : www.westworld.com/~elson
: . groove to the futurethnic beats of e:trinity at
www.e-trinity.org and
www.mp3.com.etrinity

im definetely getting the Korg MS2000, the only thing that REALLY sucks about
it is, it's only 4 notes polyphony, and no aftertouch! which i think is
pretty absurd, but still, it's an increadibly sounding/amazing
synth...especially for the price :-)

ash

Hi Ash,

hmmm, just 4 notes on the "MS2000" only - pretty strange, isn't it? I think the retro-styling makes up for it (well, sort of) - assuming you've got the room. How does the "R"ackmount version compare? Is it of true rack-width, or does it require special extension rack-ears (in similar fashion to the baby Novation Nova).

Also, with regards to "Aftertouch",

What do you apply it to? I've never used it for any of my AN1x patches and have only found it awkward when playing other sounds from other modules. In particular, when it was controlling pitch (by default), but also when set-up to tweak a filter for example. I find it difficult when trying to play the keyboard normally - and then only hit the keys that little bit harder to activate the aftertouch mode when I want to.

Is it the keyboard-feel that adds to this problem? I was at a shop pressing keys on a Waldorph synth and noticed a definate 'click' as the aftertouch is activated. Is this better?

When I was first shopping around, I thought "Aftertouch" GREAT! But in practice i'm finding it to be more trouble than it's worth.

Have you got any ideas or tips?

Many thanks,

Phil

From: angelphkt@...
Reply-To: AN1x-list@egroups.com
Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 22:28:06 EDT
To: AN1x-list@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [AN1x-list] re: Do-All-Be-Everything-Module-Thingy

im definetely getting the Korg MS2000, the only thing that REALLY sucks about
it is, it's only 4 notes polyphony, and no aftertouch! which i think is
pretty absurd, but still, it's an increadibly sounding/amazing
synth...especially for the price :-)

ash

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yah, i found it increadibly wierd that it is only 4 notes polyphony and it
really pisses me off :-(....i'm not really into racks, but i think you might
have to have an extension on it, i can't remmeber, but i think it was about
3/4 the size of a rack...but then again, it maybe full size....

aftertouch just makes your stuff sounds more realistic sometimes.....it's
like having the texture of weighted keys....it's usually pretty much standard
on most synths that you don't buy from your local convenient store...

i tend to use the aftertouch for mostly my ambient shit....and noize
stuff.....but the classical guys also dig it too, i guess its just a matter
of if you like it or not....i guess it can be a pain in the ass, but more
often times i dont think it is.....


adios,
ash

oops, i didnt mean to send that too the whole list *oops* that was my faux
paus!

ash
http://members.aol.com/teknomindphkt

Hi there again Ash,


Originally posted by Ash:
"...aftertouch just makes your stuff sounds more realistic sometimes.....it's
like having the texture of weighted keys....it's usually pretty much standard
on most synths that you don't buy from your local convenient store...

i tend to use the aftertouch for mostly my ambient shit....and noize
stuff.....but the classical guys also dig it too, i guess its just a matter
of if you like it or not....i guess it can be a pain in the ass, but more
often times i dont think it is....."

Cool, what sort of parameters are you modulating via the 'aftertouch'?

I can see that it could be used effectively as a trigger for some 'vibrato' when you want to introduce that sort of effect to the notes you are playing - particularly with string patches.

I know that it certainly takes a little practice to get the feel of it as once you're activating the 'aftertouch', it only seems to take a slight bit more pressure to run through it's range - sort of hard to keep something like say, a filter sweep under control, that's being triggered via aftertouch.

What are some other applications have you (or, anyone else on this list) discovered for 'Aftertouch' - ie. what are you using it to control?

Thanks again for your interest,

Phil

Hey there, I don't think there's too much problem getting side-tracked talking about other gear. It makes for good discussion. The list's pretty quiet anyway so a bit of off-topic stuff is great. We're certainly only looking for accompaniments to our AN1x's, and not replacements.

(There's only SO much I can talk about my AN1x... Let me see... well, it's blue - and Oh, and it's got these funny black and white buttons along the front that get in my way causing me to bump them everytime I'm trying to access the funny knobs across the top!) :p !!!

Cheers,

Phil ;-D !!!

From: angelphkt@...
Reply-To: AN1x-list@egroups.com
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2000 01:10:43 EDT
To: AN1x-list@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [AN1x-list] re: Do-All-Be-Everything... AND Aftertouch

oops, i didnt mean to send that too the whole list *oops* that was my faux
paus!

ash
http://members.aol.com/teknomindphkt

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>Cool, what sort of parameters are you modulating via the 'aftertouch'?

Have you ever tried an interval, 5th, minor 2nd, octave? (You've got to use
the DCO to get it done.) Volume? Close/open filter? Effect depth?

Effect parameters... use it all the time on aftertouch on my 01/W. The 01
does have a better response from the keyboard than the AN. As I've posted
to the list before, the AN's aftertouch is too sensitive, kicking in way too
early with a merely light pressure. And Yamaha failed to put a sensitivity
adjustment in the software. I vow that the first time I have to open mine
up for anything, I'll find the circuit and come up with a mod for this.
(The Roland JX analogs had a slider for aftertouch sensitivity. This was a
good old analog "bring it out on a pot" idea.)

Ed

--- In AN1x-list@egroups.com, angelphkt@a... wrote:

> im definetely getting the Korg MS2000, the only thing that REALLY

sucks about

> it is, it's only 4 notes polyphony, and no aftertouch! which i

think is

> pretty absurd, but still, it's an increadibly sounding/amazing
> synth...especially for the price :-)

Nah, i wish the price would be $700 in Germany for it. You pay almost
$1200 for the keyboard version here, which is a ridiculous price for
such a cheap little plastic-thingy. Thank you Korg, i am not buying
it for THAT price.

Oiginally posted by: "Edwards, Ed" <ed.edwards@...>

"...As I've posted to the list before, the AN's aftertouch is too sensitive, kicking in way too early with a merely light pressure."

That's just it! - it's what's probably unfairly turned me off the feature in general.

Thanks,

Phil

Phil wrote:

>
> Hi Ash,
>
> hmmm, just 4 notes on the "MS2000" only - pretty strange, isn't it? I
> think the retro-styling makes up for it (well, sort of) - assuming
> you've got the room. How does the "R"ackmount version compare? Is it
> of true rack-width, or does it require special extension rack-ears (in
> similar fashion to the baby Novation Nova).

It is a standard 19" affair with Rack Ears molded to the chassis, i.e.,
it CAN be used as a table top unit
like the Nova but it's not strictly a table top unit. At least with a
table topunit it's much easier to get at the knobs then having to
s-t-r-e-t-c-h over other gear to your rack ;-) ha haha

>
> Also, with regards to "Aftertouch",
>
> What do you apply it to? I've never used it for any of my AN1x patches
> and have only found it awkward when playing other sounds from other
> modules. In particular, when it was controlling pitch (by default),
> but also when set-up to tweak a filter for example. I find it
> difficult when trying to play the keyboard normally - and then only
> hit the keys that little bit harder to activate the aftertouch mode
> when I want to.

Try routing AT to control the mix level, or balance, of OSC1 and OSC2.
Tune OSC2 a few octaves higher than OSC1 and adjust the fine tuning to
taste - then use AT to adjust the balance, i.e., make OSC2 louder, this
will introduce a series of overtones into your sound in a dynamic
fashion. This is one of my favorite programming tips.

You could also route AT to the depth control of a Rotary Speaker effect
and speed up (or slow down) the mod depth/rate with AT. Lots of voices
benefit from AT routed to LFO Mod Depth as an alternative to the Mod
Wheel.


Another cool

>
> Is it the keyboard-feel that adds to this problem? I was at a shop
> pressing keys on a Waldorph synth and noticed a definate 'click' as
> the aftertouch is activated. Is this better?

It's simply a matter of taste. I prefer the over sensitive AT action of
the AN1x to that of some keyboards which require you to lean into them
for the AT to trigger. I simply scale the depth amount of the mod
source back to make the effect less drastic. Another alternative is to
'scale' (or even filter) the AT MIDI CC after it has been recorded to
your Sequencer. A third alternative is use a hardware MIDI filter to
reduce the value amount of the AT MIDI CC on it's way to a slave MIDI
Module. Of course with the AN1x, you have that lovely Ribbon Controller
so you can skip the AT altogether and use the RC instead!

>
> When I was first shopping around, I thought "Aftertouch" GREAT! But in
> practice i'm finding it to be more trouble than it's worth.

It's absolutely worth it in my opinion! Omitting AT from a modern
keyboard is unforgivable (a BIG reason why I chose the AN1x over the
Nord or JP8K). Again, this is a matter of what suits your playing
style. Personally, I'm disappointed that *polyphonic
AT* was never widely adopted by any manufacturer other than Ensoniq.
Guess the cost of producing a reliable poly-AT keyboard was too much of
a deterrent :-(

>

FWIW - there is an Electribe forum here at eGroups. I peaked in on them
today and they too are having the MS2000 discussion :-) I'm still
hoping to pick up an ER1 myself by years end...

regards,
Jon

--
http://www.jdlx-musique.com/

Featuring support for the Ensoniq ASR-X Pro Sampler and Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer

Originally from: jondl <jondl@...>

"...Try routing AT to control the mix level, or balance, of OSC1 and OSC2.
Tune OSC2 a few octaves higher than OSC1 and adjust the fine tuning to
taste - then use AT to adjust the balance, i.e., make OSC2 louder, this
will introduce a series of overtones into your sound in a dynamic

fashion. This is one of my favorite programming tips."



This sounds great! I've a gig this Saturday where I'll be, *guess what*, *shock horror* actually playing the keyboard live! Having a string pad develop some serious raw, warm overtones right when I want them to could be a wicked effect.!

Many thanks for sharing, Jon!

Phil!