Our friend Saruman listens to a new jam by Héctor Genis on the Yamaha SK50D and Roland TR-707, with the Strymon Timeline pedal melding it all together.
It’s quite remarkable how still Saruman is. He is clearly relaxed and in a comfy place sitting and listening to the music.
Sora from thedigitalpurrgatory recently had kittens! Mazel Tov! Here we see her nursing her kittens atop the “kitten” of the Yamaha DX series, the DX100.
We don’t get a lot of “CatSynth pics” of Sam Sam. But she does like this cozy little corner of the studio, especially after the recent reorganization of the studio. The rack next to her has our vintage Yamaha FM modules, the TX81Z and TX802 (with the latter turned on), along with a cassette deck that comes in handy every once in a while.
Scout sits behind a Yamaha SY35 synthesizer. We also see a small modular system – we’ll leave the identification of the individual modules as an exercise for the reader.
The SY35 is an interesting synth among Yamaha’s SY series in that it allows one to move between FM synthesis and AWM (sampling) synthesis via the joystick, a bit like the “vector synthesis” found in the Prophet VS.
Murdoch and Daisy-Mae enjoy sitting in a bright spot atop a Yamaha Clavinova digital piano. The issue of Sound on Sound sitting on the music holder features the UDO Super Gemini.
Jasper shares his latest composition on the Yamaha DX7ii classic FM synthesizer. We also see an Ensoniq ESQ1 on the lower shelf. Submitted by Samuel Mills.
Little more avant garde than I was looking for, dude. Let’s take it from the top.
Beautiful Lilly sits atop a Yamaha DX21 synthesizer. Behind her, we espy a Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator. (The reel-to-reel tape recorder is nice as well.)
The DX21 was a 4-operator FM synth in Yamaha’s DX line. Not quite as powerful as the 6-operator instruments like the DX7, or the later 4-operator synths like the TX81Z, but nonetheless fully capable of complex FM synthesis. It also featured multiple layers and keyboard splits, which separated it from the other 4-operator instruments at the time like the DX27 and DX100. (Yes, there were a lot of DXs in the 1980s.)
We just saw Saruman with his Yamaha SK50D, CS30, and DX7. Now we can here them being played. While Héctor Genis plays a classic synth-pop jam with lush cords, Saruman bounces around and supervises, as a cat does.