Yamaha SY-77

Some of the presets are very useful especially some of the organic acoustic sounds with some very expressive programming. There are definitely those that are dated though. When i bought the unit it came with loads of disks that were great as examples of the different approaches you can make with this synth.
I'm pretty clever when it comes to editing a patch. I've never tried to use the computer to edit this synth because i've never had to. Everything is really well layed out and the screen is large enough and very easy to read. The architecture of the editing is pretty straight forward with being able to turn elements on and off. I've had a lot of experience with yamaha synths and I find their interfaces really mesh with my personality. Before I purchased the SY-77, I had solely used softsynths and I find that I really enjoy being able to make patches without a computer screen glaring in my face.
The manual is pretty good. Although the other literature on this synth is far more elucidating.

I find the polyphony to be limited (especially with voices of 4 layers). I've never tried to max out the midi multitimbrality. I think this synth, due to the era it was constructed in, is really about using it in a professional setting (ie a studio with a multitrack recorder etc) or in a live performance. It's lovely to perform on thanks to THE MOST IDEAL SYNTH KEYBOARD FEEL EVER! The aftertouch response is just beautiful and the keys feel great. I've never been into weighted keys so the action on this board is perfect for me. I find it very inspiring.
The built in effects are pretty easy to use and have a lot of routing options with the two sets of outputs available which is a pretty useful feature. A lot of the reverbs are pretty fake sounding. With some tweaking you could get some passible sounds.
I've never really fiddled too much with the SY-77's midi but the implementation is pretty extensive and the sequencer can control external synths aswell. The additional modulation wheel is a nice touch and you can even build a very cheap fader or knob to control the breath input to have even more control.

This is where this synth excels. You can program it very extensively to make some very expressive sounds. Interms of hardware synths, this is one of the deepest around. The FM capabilities are the most powerful (next to the FS/1r which i would also like to own). The pcm waveforms are pretty good and have a dark quality to them which is great. You can get some realistic sounds by layering the pcm with a more expressive FM componant underneath. I was making some stunning pads right away. I think this synth is suited for all styles of music. Off the bat, I think it's great for soundtrack work. I use it for Drum and Bass style sounds. I can make really nice atmospherics. Great melodic leads. Very dense "reese" bass sounds. With very little tweaking these sounds become alive and dynamic.
I've made very convincing 303's and used the onboard pattern sequencer to make acid-lines and had a ball tweaking the parameters with the mod wheels. I've made some vangelis-esque leads and string sounds. I've even made some crazy effects that don't sound anything like anything you've heard before. ;oP
I've never tried to use the drum sounds. But some are very usefully to add character to an FM sound with the RCM. The filter is a must but not as powerful as I wanted it to be. there are 2 filters (one is switchable from LP to HP) so you can bridge the 2 filters together to get a bandpass. I would love it to have a bandpass option right off the bat. It would also be cool if you can arrange the filters in a serial or parallel way. The resonance curve is very digital for me but atleast you can drive to self-oscillation-A BIT TOO EASILY.
There is some noise and grit to the sound of the oscillators. The sinewaves aren't the cleanest (possibly because of the sample rate of the DAC) but I like that. There is a character there.

It seems like it's built like a tank. I got this synth because interested in getting into live performances. Very solid.

no dealings with yamaha. I found they have some older websites online that do support the SY series. There are a lot of online communities (yahoo, even some academic sites) that discuss this synth at great detail.

I would definitely get it again or maybe upgrade to the SY99 (the sampler option and better effects intrigue me). Very worth what I paid for it as I also got a beautiful keyboard bag with it. I've been making music for over half my life and I've had some other gear. I've always enjoyed yamaha and I've always liked FM-Synthesis. Having an FM-synth with a Rompler is such a bonus. Being able to modulate them together is DDDDDDAAAAAAARRRRRRRRKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!
My favorite softsynth is Native Instruments FM7 and this is the only piece of hardware (other than maybe the fs/1r or the nord modular) that can make reproduce the sounds I do on FM7. That was one of the main reasons I bought it. The fact that it has other features is icing on the cake.
It's inspired me in ways I didn't imagine when I first was looking into getting it. I had solely used computers to make music for too long and this synth has openned me up to hardware again for which I'm grateful.

Damn am I glad I learned how to synth on this thing! Once you learn how to synth here, nothing is intimidating, and rarely is anything else impressive. Easy to use? not really, but justified in it's complexity. The presets are ok, but the synth power is jaw dropping.

Some of the ROM cards that you can get are really nice, especially for the drums and percussion sounds. Otherwise, ITS A SYNTH, that means make your own damn sounds. 32 voice polyphony is ok but it has come up as a problem.

BEST SYNTH IVE EVER TOUCHED. I make tekno/ tek house, but whenever I use this board the tunes end up more musical, open ended and creative. I have made a few ambient tracks using only this synth. Cinematic, other worldly... the sounds are unique and so expressive. There are patches I have saved that I've been developing for years! YEARS! This is a board where you can truly define your personal unique sound. I'm not a very good keyboard player, but I find the keys very expressive.

I rarely take it out cus' they're to hard to replace. I replaced the disk drive for about $70 a few years back. I've had the board for twelve years now, and that was my only problem.

I met a Yamaha rep and he gave me a ton of sounds! Thanks Rob!

I didnt use it much for a couple of years while getting into software, but now it's patched in again. This was my first piece of gear, I bought from a friend in 93'and the best I've owned. I am really curious about using an SY99 now that I have learned that it incorporates sample manipulation. There is really no match for this synth in my opinion. You can compare it to the Trinity or one of it's contemporaries, but there's no synth like an FM, and this is the most powerful one I know of. The sequencer is easy to use and effective, but when I really get going, I run out of sequencer memory. The 32 voice polyphony can also get in the way when you are getting complex BUT, a soft sequencer and or recorder solves those little problems. BTW the sound will definetly knock you out way before the polyphony is tested.

Here's the bad news: the first time you want to edit your own sounds from scratch, about a 1000 parameters to edit (!), you aren't laughing.
The manual is rather usefull, but for they don't tell you too much about FM synthese! So you have to find out by yourself how it works by experimenting with different parametervalues. But Oh My God, when you've succeeded (to take) this barrier...
Get a software editor, that will help, but watch out! It still will be complicated!

The features aren't shocking in quantity and quality. The panning engine is very usefull but for using effect's you'd better look for a good external hardware or software effectmodule.
Some flanger and chorus effect's are handy, and just a touch of the reverb may spice the sound a little.
I doesn't use the internal sequencer, found it too difficult and not intuitive. I manely use a software seq. which works fine.
MIDI implementation is standard, I wish it had more realtime controllers!
Polyphony isn't very rich, but hey! This beauty is aprox. 15 years old!

But here things change... In a positive manner of course.
This could by (one of!) the most tweakable, digital synths made.
It sounds so unimaginably unique!
OK, a Korg Karma or a Clavia Nord Modular is also very special, but in their own way. For a sounddesigner (like me) or a musician (also) it's a must have, despite his (or her) age...

Never let me alone.
If I had to use it on an live gig, I'd first look for another SY77, I simply can't miss it.
Only the diskdrive broke, yeah that's true.

Never had to deal with them, because it's that reliable

I think I've made myself clear about this synth! Explore the FM synthese theory, and you'll have a very powerfull engine.
Just tweaking the sounds can be very inspiring.
As mentioned, my only complaint is the lack of realtime controllers.

Nobody/ nothing is perfect!

Well, enough said about it, just buy one if you can find.

Lovely layout and once you learn your way arround this classic you'll realize how great this synth is.

Although the SY77 lack the features and memory of modern workstations, what it does, it does well. The 16 track sequencer is basic but very useful. The effects are quite noisy by todays standards but at a lo-fi edgy quality to the sounds.

Has there ever been a more expressive synth to hit the world? I don't think so, and I have played all the classics from the Minimoog to the Triton. How the SY77 isn't rated as an ALLTIME CLASSIC is beyond me.I guess its timing because as ground breaking as the DX7 was when it came in 1983. It doesn't touch the sonic power and expresiveness of the SY77, which makes FM sound magical. Especially for orchestral, new age and sound-track compostion. I have owned this synth for 13 years and it still amazes me. I own a triton and Motif 6 too. But I find myself drawn to the SY77 most of the time, and the reason is its so damn expressive. The weight of the bass sounds it can produce is awesome. And then it can produce the sweetest most moving strings and pads you've ever heard. And it produces those wonderful electric piano sounds that made the DX7 so famous. A Triton can do that, no modern synth can.

Except for the disk-drive on the SY77, Its built to last and is a great work-horse. I have gigged mine and used it in several studios for the last 13 years and its still going strong.

I have never sort company help so can't comment on that. And I have never had to get it repaired damn reliable.

If my SY77 was stolen or did or lost I would seek to buy one straight away. Its now part of my soul.

Not sure of the software version, probably whatever came installed straight out of the box. Presets range from excellent to passable, but there really aren't any terrible patches. Editing patches can be done easily after a little messing around, and does a good job of explaining what exactly is happening while you're editing. The manual, like every other Yamaha owner will tell you, might as well be in Klingon. They need to consult actual musicians when writing these things, and not just engineers.

The 32-note polyphony is good, but begins to rear its ugly head when multiple pads or other multi-layered patches are used in a composition. The keyboard action, while unweighted, is excellent (see below for more on that). This baby will accept low-density, 3.5" floppies, as well as two slots for some kind of native Yamaha patch card, one for instruments and the other for drum kits. MIDI? Sorry, haven't used it on this board yet. The onboard sequencer is a dream, easy to use and very extensive. I was putting together full compositions by day three.

The patches, well, where to begin? It's Yamaha! The SY77 is still a workhorse, and it shows in the quality of the sounds. Pads are abundant (we are talking about 1991, remember), and some are quite simply breathtaking. Excellent, EXCELLENT DX7 recreations. That famous DX Piano sound will never and should never die! Strings are wonderful, very textured, as are woodwinds and brass. Organs are a little more on the "synthy" side here, no real spot-on B3 Leslie patches (which is impossible on any synth, IMHO). The drum kits are a little quiet at first, but with a little editing can become quite formidable. The acoustic basses provide a solid low-end, and the DX basses have that punchiness to them. My only real complaint, and the reason for a score of '9' rather than a '10', is the acoustic piano. Editing can help, but it still won't fool anyone. But hey, this is a 80's/90's keyboard! Pads rule!!

Built like a rock, and not too heavy. I've taken this board around the block a couple of times, and its gotten its share of dings and scratches, but it just shrugs them off. I had to replace the disk drive, which was easy, and the LED is starting to fade, but for a board that's over 10 years old, that's okay by me. This was once my primary board, and it cut through mixes beautifully. I would replace it in a heartbeat if I ever lost it.

As I mentioned above, I had to replace the disk drive on the SY77. I went to Yamaha, who wanted $350 for a drive and cable. I jumped on eBay, and found a guy who was selling them for $15. DO NOT go to Yamaha for replacement parts on older synths. You'll pay for the name, which in this case, was not a good thing.

Overall, this board has withstood the test of time. In its heyday, it was a warrior among synths, and even today is still widely used. Yamaha struck gold when they produced the SY77. GO GET ONE. I have been playing synths for almost 10 years (I'm only 23, so cut me some slack), and I am still surprised by the depth of this board. More polyphony would have been nice, but for 1991, 32 was enough, and still is in most cases, at least for me. Put on a good pair of headphones, and spend a rainy evening with this thing.

The presets are of excellent quality.Programming is easy using the SY'S display,its easier to use a software editor.My unit is purchased second hand,no English manual provided

The keyoard feel is very good.The effects are good,and easy to use.
Can accept cards,and floppy disks for sequences and patches storage.
The on board sequencer seems little complicated compared to software .

Its best use is for natural sounding patches !
Try the "Clarinet" or "Sitar" for realism and expresiveness.
The effects are of good quality in general.
When playing the responsiveness is excellent.

Its a very reliable instrument.I would take it to a gig !!!

I fixed the unit once my self.Its easy [for me at last !] to open it.
They tried ,but they just did NOT knew enough about ...by the year 2001 they did not remember too much about it !

Overall the SY77 is easy to manage by comparison the the sophistication
of current synth-workstations.

It does require quite a while to learn to program FM synthesis
and RCM (a convolution of the SY77 samples with FM which is
_still_ hugely powerful). The difficult learning curve is worth it
because SY synthesis is still staggeringly powerful and unique

For it's time (~1990) all it's features were astounding.
Some of the samples are weak and effects OK, but all dwindle
into insignificance because of FM and RCM synthesis. through
RCM even the weak samples become better than even the best samples
on the market in 2002 - this is because RCM injects actual FM acoustics
into the samples. Try out the french horn sample - poor on it's own
yet _almost_ as expressive 9and controllable in realtime through the
breadth controller) as an actual horn. Same applies for all
wind and plucked or hammered instruments (and competes completely
with virtual acoustics on many occasions).

See above

Rock Solid - no mechanical problems in 12 years.
(a bit of MIDI timing delay if the sequencer is
pushed fast with 16 tracks bu that's the processor capability).

Excellent - Yamaha Kemble in london and Yamaha-Danfay in
Ireland were fantastic with answering queries, providing
free-bees and sound-patches.

I have both an SY77 and an SY99. I do documentary, theatre and film
music, along with some new age CD's on general release.

I couldn't work without these instruments, and highly recommend them
to anyone interested in getting the very best from synthesis.

There are about 20,000 patches free on the web at various sites, making
these instruments versitile beyond descovery in one human lifetime.

Pretty easy to figure out the front panel. Lots of buttons, lots of feedback via LEDs. The display is the largest an FM synth ever had. I've also owned a DX7-II and an FS1R and this is the easiest to edit of the three. Tweaks are very fast once you get used to the layout. In-depth editing...well, it's still FM. The display gives you graphic envelope editing, you can turn operators and parts on/off via front panel buttons, and the on-screen menus are numerous, but it's still a powerful and deep digital synth, with the complexity and learning curve that implies. If you are unfamilar with FM programming (as I was), get one of Howard Massey's FM programming tutorials. They're out of print but well worth the hunt.

The other reviews cover this pretty well, so I'll just add a few observations. 1. The keyboard action is an excellent light/unweighted type w/ useable channel aftertouch (i.e. you don't have to mash the keys to activate it). 2. The extra mod wheel is handy but very few patches use it. 3. There are two stereo outs, but if you only plug one in you get a mix of the two outs there. This means you can use the volume sliders on the front for a real-time mix of the two sounds. Handy for performance. 4. Some of the effects overload the outputs, but some patch tweaking will fix this. 5. Has inputs for sustain, volume, continuous foot controller, foot switch, and breath.

Unbeleivable organ and keyboard sounds. The sound is not quite as crisp as a trinity or motif but the responsiveness more than compensates. Excellent pads and analogue emulations. Great strings. Horns and guitars are weaker but that's true of every keyboard I've ever tried- you just can't play a guitar sound accurately on a keyboard IMHO. If you're doing electronic music this shouldn't be your only board-no good drums, the leads don't slice like an analogue, and the sequencer is no match for Cubase/Logic/Sonar, but as a controller and source of pads/keyboards/strings/Wicked FM bass, it's killer.

It's an older board, but it's all digital and seems very reliable. The keyboard holds up better than Roland's or Korg's of this age. Yamaha built their pro gear very well. It's heavy. If you see one for sale and the case is cracked, it was abused. The display does dims over time. I use an overhead lamp and point it at the display, which is much cheaper than replacing the backlight. )It's not just the price of the backlight itself, it's the difficulity of getting to it to fix it- you have to take about six circuit boards out of the way). The disk drives also go bad, but if you use an external sequencer and ed/lib software, it's irrelevant.

Some final comments here. If you have one of these and it's confusing you- Download the SY Manager software and use it to convert and load some of the billions of DX patches out there. Add filters, effects, mabye a wave layer, and tell me it doesn't sound amazing. And you didn't even have to learn FM programming! Next, screw around with the waveforms in the editor. Think of FM as a waveform generation system- a way to create complex waveforms in realtime. Get familar with how waveforms sound as you increase the modulation amounts, add additional modulators etc. (They get brighter and noisier, among other things).
Get one of Howard Massey's books...before long, you'll see how powerful FM is, and how undeserved its reputation for inscrutability is. Even if yo don't go that far, this is an incredible SYNTH, just for loading presets. Get one.

I don't know what version of software I am using, but I don't think there was ever a factory upgrade, was there? I bought this thing back in the early 90's, and generally it has stood the test of time.

Navigating around the synth is quite easy and intuitive I find. Voice editing goes from moderate for AWM, to extremely difficult for AFM sounds. I find the FM sounds hard to edit not because of the layout, but because of the theoretical nature of FM itself. In my opinion, good sounds are found using FM only by trial and error, and there are hundreds of configurations that produce useless garbage. I believe this is just a consequence of FM itself, and finding an easier way to program it would require lots of research. There is a patch editor for this keyboard which I have yet to try.

The presets sounds lousy to pretty darn impressive. Some of the sounds are just plain useless, while others have some amazing expressiveness and usability. For more details, see the Expressiveness/Sounds section below.

The manual is pretty basic and does not go much further beyond the screens and button presses.

Features are pretty good, even now! The sequencer is fairly complete and usable, but I have maxed out the number of notes many times. I find you get a bit of lag in the sequencer as well if you have too many notes. Getting note cut-offs is one thing, but sequencer lag is a little hard to deal with. The editing features are quite extensive, as are controller assignment capabilities. MIDI features are pretty good, but nothing special.

The polyphony is 32 notes which is fine for performance but sucks for sequencing. The kicker with the polyphony is that it is split among synthesis types. You get 16 notes for AWM and 16 for AFM. If you have a voice with 4 AWM elements, then one note on the keyboard takes away 4 notes of polyphony, so you only get 4 notes of polyphony for that particular voice, this is a drawback. The keyboard action is standard FS keyboard, which is found in most synths past and present, I have no complaints. The keys are velocity sensitive with after-touch, nothing out of the ordinary.

Built-in effects are quite usable, but at the sametime kind of bland. The reverbs are dated, I probably thought they were pretty good 10 years ago, but working in the industry has shown me they are old. The palette of effects is quite complete for a modern synth, but is missing more modern additions such as rotary speaker emulators and modelling effects, oh well.

You can add more sounds using cards, which adds both more presets, AND more waveforms. This is a good thing because there are only 112 internal waveforms, and the internal drums are HORRIBLE. Fortunately Yamaha released lots of drum card sets which have much better drum samples. The disk drive is a great feature, you can save sounds and sequences, even entire preset banks --- cool! One complaint here, maybe because of the state of the industry when this thing was released; the song file format is NOT standard MIDI. Then again, this synth came out before general MIDI was created, so what can you expect.

This is where there are some good and bad. The drums are the worst as I already said, I am sure there are better drums in some CONSUMER sound cards, and this is a PROFESSIONAL synth. The drums you get on the highly over-prices card sets are much better, I generally only use those. The piano was pretty good for its time, but is dated now. I still use it, but I get tired of listening to it. E. Pianos are pretty awesome thanks to the beauty of FM synthesis, which provides some great ones, especially the Doogie Howser classic. In fact, the FM sounds are pretty amazing all around, if you can figure out how to program them. Those FM sounds that I have, which include many DX emulations are great. The acoustic wind instruments are pretty good, saxes, clarinets and flutes still amaze me (I still love the sax with after-touch triggered vibrato). Guitars are not so good, but show me a keyboard that has some good ones. Basses are ok, synth basses are better again thanks to FM. In general the sounds are quite good because of the incredible flexibility of FM. The very limited AWM section is not bad, but easily maxed out due to only 112 waveforms, thank goodness you can add more using the data cards.

To summarize, I think this synth works well for most music types, if you have adequate expansion sounds. You could forget about dance music unless you have the House and Latin card set. The analog sounds that FM can produce though are good for this day and age of phat sounding analog mixes. The effects are good as I previously mentioned. What makes this synth truly unique is the employment of two synthesis techniques, wave-table and FM, and the ability to insert a wave-form into the FM section (I believe this is called RCM: Real-time Convolution and Modulation)

Pretty good, and still goind strong after 12+ years. I have only two issues.

1. The disk drive stopped working recently, but after talking with some other enthusiasts on the internet, I have fixed it. All it was was a worn out belt drive between the drive motor and the disk drive, which was replaced by an elastic band. The drive now works great. This was pretty easy to fix, but there were about 30+ screws to removed to get to it.

2. This is a more recent problem as well. If I leave my synth on for a while, the screen will go blank. I can still use the synth, but I have no visual feedback. The problem is fixed by power cycling the unit. Not sure if I can fix this, anyone know?

Never dealt with them.

I think this synth is timeless. FM will never die, and only a select few will really be able to program it. I have had it for 12+ years and it is still a gig hauler/project studio piece. Major drawbacks are the crappy drums, limited sequencer notes, difficulty of programming FM, and limited polyphony with certain voices. Strengths are the power and expressiveness of FM, some amazing sounds and a wide range of them, expansion capabilities with the disk drive and card slots, and the rock solid construction that Yamaha is known for. Would I buy it again ... no, but I would by a Yamaha again. I have my eyes on a Motif7!

Update : This thing really rocks! If you use an outboard PC editor it is much easier to create patches, and ease of use certainly jumps in leaps and bounds.

Using outboard editing software you can quite easilt get at all the hidden features of the synth. Given that editing is menu-driven on the synth, you could probably say all features are hidden :)

I have now been able to get some crazy and amazing analog emulations on this synth. The external editor definitely make a huge difference to the quality and variety of sounds. The SY77 is capable of some really tearing analog emulations.

Like a work-horse, except for the shoddy disk drive.

I would rate this synth, especially at current 2nd hand rates, as exceptional.

Ian
Analoguesque Sound Designs
http://www.analoguesque.com