Bad Gear - Yamaha SY-22 - The Soundtrack Machine

[@tristancaver4836]

Lmao!. That "Moby" is aging better than I imagined.

[@AudioPilz]

That's the vegan lifestyle;)

[@EmergingPatterns]

I was about to post it

[@BliterTV]

@@AudioPilz And he used the sound "Sad Angel" from SY22 to made the angel voice in the track "GO" :-)

[@e-conrecords4665]

I never knew moby was such a brute!

[@lundsweden]

@@AudioPilz If chocolate and chips are vegan, I'm in!

[@dickstryker]

Dude. The SY-22 was radical AF in it's time. That live vectoring was really unique and hella powerful. Had that nasty 12 bit grit. Run it through a multi fx pedal and you were The Zone, brutha. My dirt bag industrial freinds and I loved the dang thing.

[@AudioPilz]

True on all accounts!

[@ShakaCthulu]

Too true. No coinkydink that Skinny Puppy & yelworC used TF out of it.

[@maxmatson1578]

Rivet heads for life! 👍 BrAp oN!!!✋✌️

[@craigie13]

The way you're going you'll be going through my whole studio. My SY22 was my first ever full size keyboard. Still love it.

[@AudioPilz]

It's nothing personal;) There should be Bad Gear in every studio!

[@craigie13]

Personal? Oh no, it's a badge of honour. In fact I'm making stickers to put on my gear "as reviewed by...." plus I'm well matched, I'm a bad musician.

[@SirRigbyBaconKaiser]

You get use to it. I'm just waiting for Audipilz making a shout-out of owners of these a bad gear.

[@QuincasMoreira]

Mine too!

[@mrclaytron]

@@craigie13 I love the stickers idea. I’d pretty much have “As reviewed on Bad Gear” stickers on almost everything in my studio haha. That’s gotta add substantial value to each!

[@TrazomGV]

Well, whoever lived in these years when this synth was released must understand that enormous joy and excitement these machines produced in every young musician who was raising along with the technological development of keyboards. Musical trends strongly followed those novelties, pop-groups introduced many iconic instruments almost immediately in their brand new songs and young keyboardist like me watched very carefully what gear they use in videospots and live tv-shows. I owned Yamaha DX21, replaced it with Kawai K4 (very good synth), Yamaha V50 and additionaly I purchased SY77 that I posess even today. The main point is that almost every keyboard of middle class price, so to put it, can be very useful in hands of creative player who has time enough to dig and explore capacities of sound synthesis. Clever musical thinking in line with elementary production skills can make unbelievably a lot using nonexpensive equipment, low entry keyboards and cheap second-hand digital multitrackers, all you need is time for organizing the job and a bit of planning making music.

[@AudioPilz]

That sums it up nicely!

[@drsamurai009]

I have the TG-33 and it pulls off a very good Solina String machine sound with it's samples, detuning motion and effects. Definitely more than the sum of it's parts. Being Multi-timbral is a big bonus. I wish more modern synths would include this option. With a Seaboard, I can pull of some great individual note poly pitch bends playing the same patch over several Multi slots. Very expressive.

[@AudioPilz]

Certainly nice with a Roli!

[@fortyeth]

I used to be a volunteer Youth Services Worker and our department held travelling music workshops for 12-24 year olds around the county I live in. We had an SY-22, along with an Alpha Juno 1 and a Kawai K1 that we took on the road and the SY-22 was the most popular keyboard with the kids because it attracted their attention with the joystick and got them interested in learning more. It could in the day perform well and was surprisingly rugged on tour (sometimes kids got over excited using it!)

[@AudioPilz]

That's the ultimate test for every piece of gear;)

[@hinzster]

The synth I learned on in the 80s (after school workshop) had a joystick AND a matrix. Beat that! On the other hand it didn't have a keyboard, so you had to work a bit for "that sound". Melodies? What's that? Yes, it was the Synthi-A :)

[@juno6]

The K1 also have a joystick

[@fortyeth]

@@juno6 Hi there, yes but for some reason the kids just liked the SY-22 more. I think it was just more tactile and quick to use for them.

[@EgoShredder]

The Kawai K1 is such a brilliant synth. A programmer guy in Europe had time on his hands during lockdown last year, and created a plugin and made a blog on how he did it; he desoldered the chip from his K1m to read the sample data from it to his PC. He later released his Nils' K1v VST plugin July 2020 and is still updating it now. Absolutely fantastic job and just about perfect simulation.

[@AlexBallMusic]

If you're into joysticks, the Korg Sigma had _two_ back in 1979. Pioneers. 😜 On a serious note- The SY22 is interesting because Yamaha acquired Sequential, asked them what they'd build and then let them go and built it without them. Quite an odd one.

[@AudioPilz]

Nice! Is it bad?😂😂😂

[@AlexBallMusic]

@@AudioPilz Sigma is ace, which immediately wipes it from your radar. 😆

[@TheTerracide]

For what i understand the Yamaha SY22 is built without any help of the old devteam of Sequential. I talked to someone from the old sequential team and he said they first saw it when it was released. But also the Wavestation was not how they wanted to build it at all. They first tried the sequential chips, then Yamaha chips before going for the Korg chips. They wanted to make it so the user could load it's own samples he called it a "re-synthesizer". "The idea of wave sequencing was that instead of using a huge sample you can take slices of it, and Crossfade between those slices as the note progresses. You could also add modulation to change the Crossfade points. During the note this gives you the accuracy of the sampler with the flexibility of the Synthesizer." But the memory was too expensive and Korg decided it could not be done coz they needed a certain selling price to become successful. Funny coz you could say that the WaveRex add-on for the Wavestation is actually closer to the original design!

[@Mechanicoid]

Lofi samples, FM sounds, Dune and Lawnmower Man clips? It's like you're reading my mind!

[@AudioPilz]

Happy to hear that, thanks!

[@keykrazy]

"If you grew up playing this [shows image of Atari 2600 console] you need to schedule a colonoscopy." Thank you for keeping Safety First, AudioPilz! ;-) (No kidding: i've just scheduled my first physical exam in a few years and came back here to comment. As silly as this is, i really do appreciate that reminder as i'd been putting it off for a while.)

[@AudioPilz]

Frequent health checkups are important! Thanks for watching!

[@secretelitemusic]

@@AudioPilz "These are not the samples you were hoping for"

[@Roboprogs]

@@secretelitemusic what does this patch called “BROWNOTE” do?

[@cooptrol]

My first synth!!!!!!!! 💕❤💕❤💕❤ I was so happy in the 90s playing with this joystick, didnt even know what FM was.. And I am a Skinny Puppy fan and never knew they used one!! Would have never sold it!!

[@AudioPilz]

Cool! Nice first synth!

[@RasMix1]

Dwayne used one with a sy77 and a k2000 in his rig with an akai s900.

[@lagooncity39]

A thing that gets overlooked a lot with the SY-22/TG-33 is that the joystick defaults to the same CC numbers as a Wavestation, so you can pair it with a Wavestation SR and control them both at the same time with a single joystick, plus use it to program vectors in the SR. So the SR fills in a lot of the shortcomings in the SY/TG's multi mode and the SY/TG helps make up for the SR not having a joystick. EDIT: Also the joystick works in multi mode on the TG-33, but only for one patch at a time.

[@AudioPilz]

Good to know, thanks!

[@AutPen38]

But can you play Doom on it?

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I had this little goldnugget back in 2009 and till this day i think it has one of the most impressive church organ sounds. It also felt a bit like it wanted to be a digital version of the CS80 and there was even a preset on board which i often used that had this CS80 kind of swelling brass Vangelis sound. Playing with the vector stick and making pads become alive and in motion, was really fun. This thing made me wanna get a Roland D50 and when i got it i sadly had to part from my SY22 for space reasons but i still look back at it very fondly :) It also had an amazingly playable keyboard. I liked the keyboard on the SY22 a bit more than the keys on the D50.

[@AudioPilz]

True, the church organ should have been in the show

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

@@AudioPilz LOL maybe some other time. If you still have it around, record some of it for a later video when it comes to comparing such sounds from Romplers of that time :)

[@MikeeHollMartz]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from your videos, is that pretty much every crappy keyboard can sound amazing with some effects. 🤘🏻🎹

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, that's what engineers have been doing for decades now;)

[@dreamingone615]

Had the 33. It sat in a mix in its own space nicely. It could do some really dark stuff if misused creatively. And thank you to all the saints that make free midi editors for the elderly boards.

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, the editor is really nice!

[@designhappens8157]

1990 Korg Wavestation ad: "A synthesizer that will make waves beyond the year 2000"...How true!

[@AudioPilz]

Absolutely! Prophetic!

[@gasolineandwine]

Found myself, quite literally, lol'ing with this one a few times. Also, I honestly loved the tones and textures this synth delivered. Really ballsy bass tones too.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! Yeah, it's not as thin as many people say

[@alphabeets]

This may be your best video yet! Very funny and entertaining. And those pesky English “v” sounds are sounding GREAT!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@johnnythreshold]

Am in the uni library (just went back to school) and I FULLY forgot it was friday until the notification. No even watched yet and am jazzed :). thanks as always man!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!!!

[@rachelar]

From 2.23, "the stuff that 80s soundtrack film students dreams were made of" is exactly me in 92.That sound... Echoing on, like a Sylvian ambient intro/extro blew my mind and had me serenading my then love interest over the top. Like the dream it sounded, it couldn't last....

[@AudioPilz]

That's worthy of at least two short films ❤️❤️❤️

[@airsickgrove]

You mentioned my favorite band from my generation Skinny Puppy... Dwayne R. Goettel was a huge fan of the SY 77 & Kurzweil k2000!

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, Skinny Puppy really took advantage of the evil side of the SY

[@HatredPrime]

And Yelworc too.

[@georgegeez8708]

Hey The Kurzweil K2000 is still a great keyboard to me. I used it alot in the early 2000s when a friend of mine let me borrow it. I liked it so much that I bought a K2500s 3 years ago for $190 US. Now that I love. I just got a SY77 for $100 mint. Couldn't let that one pass by.

[@airsickgrove]

@@georgegeez8708 no hate here, never had one but a guy I know had one... its a very sweet synth from its era.

[@georgegeez8708]

@@airsickgrove Yes it is. Great keyboard all around. If you find one for cheap, hop on it.

[@michaelgonzalez9621]

This has become my favorite show of all time!!! Thank you for all that you do!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@peterj.9713]

The SY22 was my first Synthesizer in 1990/91 after Yamaha pss780 and Kawai MS20 Portable Keyboards. I liked it very much and used it later in combination with my Wavestation a/d . Thank you for showing ,I find more and more gear I had in the 90s when watching your Videos :o)

[@squishmusic]

I also upgraded from a PSSX80 keys to the SY22.

[@peterj.9713]

Hey cool :)

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for watching! 90s synths forever!

[@peterj.9713]

Not only 90s synths ,but yes ...greetings

[@EgoShredder]

Bad gear? Hardly! The SY range is legendary and for good reasons. Sure the SY22 was the entry level model, but it was great value for money at the time. I went with the SY55 because the SY77 flagship was too expensive for me as a 20 year old in 1991. Still got it along with all the wave expansion cards etc, and added a TG55 to double the polyphony and card slots.

[@AudioPilz]

You know the drill, one man's Bad Gear...;)

[@EgoShredder]

@@AudioPilz Yep!

[@Jack-fs2im]

I had sy22 for 20yrs played daily and made four albums on it.Fantastic bring it back

[@godsofentropy]

Wow! I must say that I came here because of the topic (SY22 was one of the first synths I touched), but stayed because of this kicking ass editing! You rock! That was AWESOME :)

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@NateHorn]

"The SY22 has a joystick therefore is ticking ALL the boxes" YES

[@AudioPilz]

I think we can all agree on that;)

[@KooriGraywolf]

Oohh I thought it said "and is there for", either way a great joke built on classic Bad Gear catchphrases

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

Florian, I really appreciate how you are always able to stay just barely on the right side of obnoxiously snarky! There's an art to that! 👍👍👍😎

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!!!

[@CaptainAlbatross]

This beauty was smiling at me in my local music store for YEARS. Never had the money, never did any research whatsoever and kiddy-me always thought that this must be the ultimate synthesizer. Joystick, vector-synthesis, awesomeness. Now i'm a bit happier about not buying it then. Not that it sounds bad at all, but totally not what mini-me had in mind that it would be :) The finale-jam could easily be the themetune to some sciencefiction-show from the 80's. Pure grit!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!! You can still get one today, they're quite affordable;)

[@CaptainAlbatross]

@@AudioPilz I barely have room for my midikeyboard ;) I once had an entire room with an awesome desk full of 19" synths, some synths with keys, some drumboxes and FX. Now that room is filled with pink unicorns, cuddly toys, a rainbow-lamp and a 6-year old girl asleep right now. I miss synths once in a while, especially after watching your show evert friday, but still: best trade i ever did ;)

[@rachelar]

@@CaptainAlbatross sounds like the usual story, except Chris Payne's studio overrun by cats

[@tobinfox]

Epic episode! I bought an sy22 last winter and this episode breaks it down so well lol It's a fun piece of gear but definitely has its shortcomings. But compared to some of the other gear out there, the sy22 is still very usable, especially in a production setting.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! True, absolutely ready for production in 2021!

[@We.Are.Lockhart]

Yamaha SY22, Kawai K1 and Roland D-10 are the trinity of underrated budget digital synthesizers.

[@squishmusic]

I sold my SY22. But a few months later somehow ended up with a K1. :)

[@AudioPilz]

The unholy trinity;)

[@djlocodoc]

Great episode! I did so much damage with a TG33 and an Ensoniq EPS in the 90's. Was my go to for many years. You nailed the blends on those jams! That vector knob was so handy back then especially when we couldn't afford the Korg. Well done as always and the jams were awesome. Have great weekend!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!! Have a nice one too!

[@MrSmithUK]

I bought one new in 1990, @ £800! The keyboard playability is WAY better than 90% of the competition. Roland could learn a lot from Yamaha. It was a decent basic digital synth. The random patch generator is a great feature. The joystick just made it more fun. Together with a 1040ST & an S900, it was an essential part of my setup. I eventually replaced it with an SY77, but still have fond memories of the ’22. I’d buy one just for the nostalgia

[@squishmusic]

blimey that was pricey! I got mine in 92 for 300£ :o yep randomator patch function (y). i have that on my PreenFM2 synth. cool feature

[@AudioPilz]

Classic 90s setup!

[@lukeimontv7086]

Despite all this “bad gear,” you always manage to create some really amazing music with it. That should be a good point of reference to other people/artists out there who think that they always need to have the newest and best pieces of gear in order to make cool and interesting music. It all boils down to creativity and finding the strengths in each piece of gear and using those, in the end. For example, I still love my Roland MC-303 and 505. Not only do they still work great as a “sketch pad” due to their 8-part sequencers, but they also have built-in arpeggiators and feature some really nice sounding classic drum samples that are still highly usable today. I bet if someone were to compare the kick and snare samples of the 808 and 909 on those units to the newer TR-08 and TR-09 releases that they would actually sound pretty darn close.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! I really LOVE the 808 kick on the MC-303. Super crunchy!

[@lukeimontv7086]

@@AudioPilz Most definitely

[@onlychld6121]

“Weird Glitch” 👏👌 Also the pad/atmosphere at around 2:37 is pure 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@vbarr67]

I used to own a SY-35 and I totally agree with your review ! Being lightweight and with decent keybed, it was great for taking to band rehearsals. The FM part is indeed a bit limited (I ended up selling it it for a SY-77) and the "no vector, no filters" indeed make it sound a bit dull, the 16 polyphony is quicky eaten when using 2FM/2AWM mode, but the SY-22/35 does have something unique to offer. Great video !

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!!

[@urfavoritehumanbean879]

For that used price, this one is a no brainer for retro stuff, and you can definitely crank out some modern tunes with the right effects on top. Shame about the lack of proper FM action!

[@AudioPilz]

The editor can be quite helpful for the FM stuff!

[@patrickg.259]

Yes I agree. Bought one a year ago just because of the price and paired up in the DAW of your choice running through Waldorf 2 pole Filter Plugin and Valhalla Reverb it is a great SciFi machine. Totally recommended plus it also has a random patch function and the joystick sends Midi CC

[@this_connor_guy]

Man, if I didn't already miss my SY35 and SY22. About to jump on Reverb and make a purchase! Using a photo of yourself for Moby gave me a good laugh.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Muad'dib!!! LOL Selling this thing for over 600 bucks is almost something like humor :D Back then i paid ca 200 euros for mine and that was a good price. Would never really pay more than that. Too bad the Editor wasn't around for it back then. I only saw commercial programmers so i really only did some painful preset construction on the Synth itself but mostly relied on the preset library. The breathy flute & voice sounds are really oozing late 80s and early 90s mojo :)

[@AudioPilz]

You can still get them for under 200!

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

@@AudioPilz Yeah it really makes me consider getting one again because i really liked it. if only i had the space for another fullsize keyboard ;_; And i am not a fan of expanders but always prefer instruments with keys.

[@80iesDude45]

I have three SY-22 in the studio (one broke). Just because they are cheap and, they vector motion pads sound good. I love the drums, they are perfect 80ies ;-)

[@nkogliaz]

I love the SY35, I recently got one that is basically brand new with the original box with no damage including the Yamaha Manual and all the original packing inserts and foam (It was originally sold in Canada and imported to the US), an oldschool Edirol USB to Midi adapter, the original PSU and some 5 DIN Metal ended midi cables, and I payed $150US for it! I've always been a fan of the vector synths and I've search for almost 20 years to find one in pristine condition, I think it should be on the list of synths from the 90's that you have to own at least once (if not have in your collection permanently), once you get into programming this thing (and recording vector movements), it really shines, and the Windows editor for it is absolutely awesome and works great, cheers!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! Nice find!!!

[@Gekneveld]

My SY35 is one of my earliest pieces of studio gear. I will never part of it. For some reason, it always cuts nicely through each mix. Great synth. The new editor is great.

[@foxholeartist]

I mean, Yamaha only made soundtrack machines and bikes. Epic stuff. And man- your music in last few episodes is amazing

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!

[@skyra1der]

This was my 1st real synth back in the early 90s and I loved it!

[@AudioPilz]

Nice!

[@mikeo7221]

I think you liked it! I think it sounded pretty good. My fave synth of that time is the 01W/FD... it's still legitimately good-sounding. Would love to see you try one out sometime.

[@AudioPilz]

Great suggestion, thanks!

[@caleblaughlin8351]

Dude! Nice work pulling out the “Beyond the Mind’s Eye” visuals from the late 80’s early 90’s. That’s commitment. Well done.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!! Love early CGI!

[@chubbichicken]

Not to mention that Jan Hammer soundtrack!!

[@Crabby303]

Love the very topical intro! I have a TG33 for years now, love it - there's a sysex editor called SY-Edit that lets you access all of the FM parameters, so you can actually squeeze a lot out of the 2 ops. I run the TG33 through a DSI Evolver and it sounds amazing with the filter and delay :) Nice vid yet again, thanks!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! That editor is super nice!

[@MatthewChristianMurray]

ANYTHING sounds better run through a proper filter! ;)

[@tmilker]

There's also a patch editor for the TG33 on the iPad which is pretty nice.

[@linghan3260]

You deserve way more views and subs!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you! Working on it!

[@JobimSynthMusic]

The vector movement recording with the lo fi fm and pcm makes this a unique synth. nothing else does that as far as I know. but it's a big keyboard for what it does for 2021. the module version TG33 is the one to get.

[@AudioPilz]

Agreed! Would love to have a 33

[@rachelar]

I ve got the TG33. Fun Fact, it's gone quiet. They all have a fault in the capacitors. Micro korg also has this issue and I own that too. Ditto Juno 106 oscillators. "Why do the birds stop singing and why do great synths have a part that fails?" 🎼

[@rachelar]

@1.14. Moby. 😂 Still laughing about this.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Not sure if the Korg Wavestate lets you record vectorstick movements. Would be awesome if it does.

[@shanedownes]

@@rachelar I just got a second hand TG33 yesterday, and this is the first thing I noticed after plugging it in. do you have any links explaining the issue in further detail? or do I just need to replace all of the electrolytic caps?

[@leeroyfunk]

regular friday viewer here, always love it but this week's episode was immeasurably better for not cutting into the advert immediately at the end of the main demo track. keep up the excellent work, and many thanks for all the vids

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for the heads up, sometimes YT goes rogue with the ad placement

[@nicosuj]

Do the Kawai K1, I have a K1r and can say is an aquired taste, and the lack of filters is quite annoying. Still have some lovers.

[@AudioPilz]

That one is on top of my list! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@marknhopgood]

I still have my k1r Haven't booted it up for 20 years. There was 1 sound I loved on it

[@DragonGrafx-16]

K1 has the best choir preset on any synth ever... also the preset Arrangement as used on LFO - LFO

[@nicosuj]

@@DragonGrafx-16 don't get me wrong, I love my K1r, is way more usable that it seems, but I can't deny that is bad gear material too.

[@DigitalDesires87]

Thanks to this video I'm making a multi hour roadtrip across Germany today to buy a SY 99. Used to have the SY 22 but I had a girl visiting who spilled wine over it. Always wanted a SY 99, but I haven't thought about it for a long time. This video reignited my desire. It's my birthday next week and you gotta give yourself a nice present at least once a year.

[@AudioPilz]

Happy birthday!!!

[@DigitalDesires87]

@@AudioPilz Thanks, mate! Appreciate it!

[@soepil]

"Where a man is a man and the children dance to the pipes of Pan ..." or, maybe, the SY-22. Thanks for another great video.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks!!!

[@kimonseimenis2895]

I bought this for 120 euros. The buttons were not working too much, but I repaired them with a pencil on the sensors (it's easy to open and clean). If you download the Midiforge SY35 you can start programming it and unlock the other 2 FM operators, which brings you to 4, which gives you the power of any FM synth of the time (SY77-99, which sell for more than triple the price). 4+2 Samples = 6 !!! The Keyboard is one of the best that I have ever played, it's real quality - a great use for MIDI. Finally, with the vector and the random patch generator you can produce sounds never heard before. Really. I would strongly suggest anyone to get this synth, for any kind of dark music especially. I'm recording black metal with this and an SH-101 as bass. It's great fun. By the way, while on a search to buy the synth through the ad I became a fan of your channel, which is also amazing. thanks !

[@AudioPilz]

Nice, thank you so much!

[@Yuzuki1337]

Finally a synthesizer I can play GTA with!

[@AudioPilz]

More like surveillance camera control;)

[@microcontrolledbot]

Dude, your compositions with this keyboard were awesome. Perhaps it's a feeling of nostalgia but I loved what you produced for this video with the SY-22.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@tomskley8864]

What a nice surprise this week! Lovely thing I actually thought about buying this week 🤯🤯🤯 I really love these Synths wich seems kind of “basic digital”, but all have some special functions. But the most important thing for “Bad Gear” Synths: a special name for how they work (vector-, linear-, control- or performance-synthesiser). Niceeeee! Little idea for another Bad Gear Friday: Kawai K4 (it has more haters than users I think) (whisper: and it’s cheap)

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! Kawai Ks are moving up my list, thanks for the suggestion!

[@summerlaverdure]

no never no bad gear, BEAUTIFUL GEAR!! you proved it with your excellent jams! awesome video, thank you for making it!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for watching!

[@shaft9000]

AudioPLz 2021: " The presets still have _some_ virtue." 17-yr old me pleading with the keyboard player, ~1989: " *wHy* woN't it fooKing *MINI* - MOoooooG !!??!!"

[@AudioPilz]

My 17-yr old me would have said much more rude stuff;)

[@JJohnkkttran]

Awesome episode! Been really curious about this thing since I started listening to Moby as a teenager. Looks like the joystick is a cool feature, and the strings are rad. Can tell from this vid however that that's probably all he used it for as well

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! AFAIK he used it for strings and pads predominantly

[@t3hjnz]

How much blacker could that t-shirt be? NONE MORE BLACK. Also: a brilliant video as always, but this one made me laugh out loud more than usual. Well done and thanks for always making Fridays better!

[@AudioPilz]

Black No. 1 ;) Thanks!

[@Stadsjaap]

*Wantablack 😉

[@t3hjnz]

@@Stadsjaap you win. 🤣

[@OIP_1]

oh one of my first synths, i sold it recently but it's a lot of fun, especially for ominous soundtrack / dark ambient kinda sounds. one somewhat hidden feature of the multitimbrality is you can keep a key down, and change patch, and the held key will keep playing the 'old' patch while any new key will play the 'new' one

[@AudioPilz]

True! Great feature!

[@klaassiersma4892]

I kind of like it to be honest, i nearly bought one back in the day. A few years later i got a Roland jp8000 and kind of forgot about other synth's for a few years. But i think it's a nice bit of kit.

[@AudioPilz]

A JP8K is certainly a nice piece of kit!!!

[@rars0n]

I gotta say, The Lawnmower Man's CGI visuals are like my favorite kind of computer-generated graphics. I just love the low-poly flat-shaded, yet extremely colorful design. I recognize some of that other footage too, from one of those old videos that combined (relatively early) 3D computer graphics with music, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. I must also complement you on your subtle use of the joystick! That's how it's supposed to be used! I'm sure when many people get an instrument like this, the temptation is to wildly swing it between parts and that's just not where the good stuff is. The good stuff is in the slow, subtle change of the timbre. Restraint is almost always better! One last thing: the best thing that you can say about having no filter onboard, is that at least you can plug it into one of the many filters you already own!

[@JavaJack59]

"Mind's Eye" series. Kinda makes me want to dust off the old DVDs.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@stefan1024]

Love my SY22, the random function is so much fun! As far as I know you have more FM editing options when using software/sysex, but I never actually tried that.

[@AudioPilz]

The editor for this thing is super nice!

[@davyydsummers]

I cut my teeth on this keyboard. It is the first thing I ever bought on credit; and I paid it off by working at Subway. I paired it with an Alesis QS8, and had a lot of fun making song arrangements. My dark secret is that sometimes my public performances included the keybed turned off and everything was coming from the sequences, but I acted like I was playing. This was a fun video to watch. Thanks for taking the time and uploading it.

[@AudioPilz]

Wow, QS! I'm really interested in these!

[@tonyjbyrne]

The SY22 was my first synth and was the limit of what I could afford back in the day. I sold it to buy a Korg X5, which in retrospect wasn't really an upgrade. The SY22 was built like a tank in comparison and had aftertouch, which the the X5 didn't. Feeling nostalgic for it now.

[@tonyjbyrne]

Also worth mentioning it had an upgrade a couple of years later in the form of the SY35 which, if the internet is to be believed, used 16 bit AWM samples over the SY22's 12 bit AWM and had more presets. I lost a lot of my early tracks made with my SY22 to time, but Soundcloud has one cringeworthy example still.

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, it's a solit keyboard!

[@crnkmnky]

My first experience with a real keyboard was the X5D’s at my high school. The first proper keyboard that I’ve bought is the SY-22.

[@s.fleming2441]

all i can say is that after seeing this and digging out the sy22, this thing is instanly inspiring, even stock SuperPadz and Arpegi8, its magical

[@AudioPilz]

Agreed! Great stuff!

[@philconeron867]

Ha, my first synth I bought thinking, along with my Atari ST and Cubase I would be banging out those house tunes. Didn’t go as well as I hoped.

[@AudioPilz]

Wow, nice setup!!!

[@inthefade]

The scenes from Lawnmower Man... Wow I had forgotten about that movie! Fantastic video, as usual. Nice to see some truly horrible gear on this series again, and yet I somehow still want some samples of this beauty.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!! Any suggestions for REALLY Bad Gear?

[@chriswareham]

Big fan of the SY series, having owned the 22, 85, 77 and 99. Still own the last two, since the 85 is basically the AWM portion of the 77 and 99. I liked the 22, although I thought the joystick was a bit of a gimmick, probably the best introduction to FM synthesis given the cut down nature of that portion of it.

[@AudioPilz]

Nice SY anthology!

[@freestate6200]

Well, the 85 sounds completely different to the 77 or 99. Rounder, warmer, deeper. Not the same samples.

[@chriswareham]

@@freestate6200 The 85 had a lot more sampled waveforms than the 77 if I recall correctly, and you could load your own. Once I had the 99, I could also load my own samples which I do a lot for drum sounds. I only really use AWM2 as a "virtual analogue" by starting with the simple waveforms, so having an 85 and 99 was a bit redundant. The 85 had much better presets than the 77 or 99 though.

[@marcbrasse747]

I've been studying it on internet during the last few weeks. The user manual makes clear it is 2 operator in practice, although Yamaha might have reconfigured a 4 operator chip to do the number crunching for both FM partials at once. Since 2 operator FM normally consist of one audible operator being modulated by the other this also explains the perceived lack of programmable parameters. If I am correct both operators can also be fully programmed from the internal user interface. The lack of filters can indeed be seen as a disadvantage but this thing is still much more flexible then the original DX7. Those who have ever tried to internally detune a DX 7 sound will know exactly what I mean. Furthermore that very same lack of filters gives adds a lot of directness to the sound. As far as I am concerned preset 7.4 VCO SYNC alone is already enough reason to want to own one. It reminds me very much of the penetrating sound of the legendary GX1. One could base a whole set of thunderous analog sounds on this single combination of waveforms alone. Then there are things like the Fairlight type sighs and those great strings. A very underrated instrument indeed, although one will only get the best from it if one dives deep enough.

[@AudioPilz]

I assume you're right here

[@binarysoldier]

Is AudioPilz actually Moby?

[@AudioPilz]

Is Moby actually Audiopilz?

[@binarysoldier]

@@AudioPilz ( ﾟoﾟ)

[@lundsweden]

Has anyone seen Moby and Audiopilz in the same place at the sane time?! Thought not- PROOF!

[@funkmachine6420]

Cool vid as always. My mate had an sy35 a few years ago, always quite liked it. The tune at the end was awesome btw!

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!!

[@kentaccordionist]

I had a Pss 790 which had the vector joystick and 5 octaves of mini keys, although not velocity sensitive. . No fm though just awm, but it had an 8 track 8 song sequencer onboard. Along with midi in out and through. But all in all for under 200 pounds new it was a great unit.

[@AudioPilz]

This channel is seriously under-PSSed. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@kentaccordionist]

@@AudioPilz most of the PSS range were aimed at children. Although they also did a few that has a built in FM synthesiser, but I think they were only 2 operators. But the 790 could also bulk dump sysex, so you could store the contents of the sequencer to a hardware sequencer or computer, I used the Atari STFM for that purpose. You could also use the pitch bend wheel on all the drum sounds, and set it to reverse so bending down raises the pitch and vice versa.

[@LittleRichard1988]

​@@kentaccordionist The PSS-790 was my first serious keyboard, my other main keyboard back then was a Casio CT-700. I also recorded song covers by connecting my keyboards to a 4 track cassette recorder. Using the pitch bend wheel on the drums was one way to get tighter hiphop drums typical of 90s dance music. Or if I took it to after school club I could make people laugh by making the gimmicky 1 2 3 4 voice sound like Pinky and Perky.

[@georgegeez8708]

It's funny you did a video on this keyboard. I just bought 2 months ago the SY22 along with a Korg Microkorg for $190 US both in mint condition. Basically a 2 for 1 deal. I like the sounds on it and I'll end up using them. But mainly it will be used as a good controller keyboard. Two weeks later I found and bought an SY77 mint for $100 US. I can't complain. I think within a month I got some pretty good deals on synths. Thanks for your video.

[@AudioPilz]

Nice shopping spree;) thanks for watching!

[@JeuneLysOfficiel]

The SY-22 is really a great workstation, unique !

[@AudioPilz]

Agreed!

[@Jack-fs2im]

loved and missed

[@jeffbroders9336]

I still have one of these, but I couldn't get it to sound as good as you do. I remember I had to do a lot of menu diving to program it because there was no good computer editor for it when it came out. I spent hours and hours staring at that little screen just so I could smash a piano and a trumpet together! Thanks for the video!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! Yeah, the UI is an acquired taste...

[@matthewpreston1396]

I had to learn synthesis at university on the SY77. The horror....had NO clue what I was doing. Assignment 1: Create a full Latin percussion kit!

[@AudioPilz]

Wow, that's torture!!!

[@matthewpreston1396]

@@AudioPilz yeah. It was the very first degree in popular music (and sound recording) in the UK , and I started the second year it had been running...and they were DESPERATE to prove that it was a serious course, and not just kids mucking about in bands ...so they went completely over the top with the amount of work they set us. After I left they had to completely reassess it and cut down on the workload as it was insane. “There you go, here’s a King Crimson track. Please score it out in full, by ear”. Overall I loved it though, as I’d been spending my year off after failing to get into art college working at an insurance company working out pensions every day. Awful! I hated synthesis for ages as a result of that SY77 experience...which is ironic, as now I run one of the main Eurorack modular synth shops in the UK. I didn’t let that SY77 horror beat me...

[@georgefromgreece4119]

@@matthewpreston1396 I wish I had studied music (production) on that high level...

[@kenfusion]

Not a bad looking unit at all . Great show again. The music video was epic . Your composition gave this keyboard every opportunity to shine .

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!!

[@deantiquisetnovis]

I love my SY22! Use it a lot on my songs. And as far as I know it was developed with the help of Dave Smith after his company Sequencial Circuits became bust. It effectively was the successor to the Prophet VS.

[@squishmusic]

You know well sir. :)

[@AudioPilz]

True that!

[@samanthajanesmith9591]

Only just come across this video! I have one of these that I am repairing at the moment. Not sure if anyone has answered the question but it is a 4 operator FM synth. Each of the 2 elements has a modulator/carrier (which can be changed to two carriers) which are accessible through the source forge editor. It also has some other tricks but it needs the editor.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for the heads up!!!

[@yuvalrosen]

Your videos make the internet a better place! Do you do all the animation yourself (if so - what software do you use)? Also, I'd love to see the Roland EF-303 on this channel sometime 😈

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks! EF-303 is moving up my list! Yeah, it's all done by me, myself and I (and some FCPX;)

[@2.7petabytes]

Nice!!! I like the Skinny Puppy shout out! One of my favorite bands! Thanks for the entertaining review. I always had a weird feeling about this synth

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for watching!

[@80iesDude45]

Love my underrated «Doogie Howser» SY-22 ;-)

[@AudioPilz]

😀😀😀

[@t0xcn253]

The only thing smoother than those transitions is your silky sonorous narration. No really this is god-tier, especially the final jam put it so far over the top we might briefly have left orbit.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!!

[@inthefade]

"Let's take a dive into 1990s preset hell." So factual 😂 and dry.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!! We've all gone down that path;)

[@TheNaboen]

Brilliant! I had one of this when i came to market. I really loved it.

[@AudioPilz]

Nice!!!

[@user-rv8wb1nl1b]

its a Dave Smith synth , vector . I have the 35 and the 85 somewhere . . . .. i can't imagine the 22 is that bad , not for bad gear ? surely

[@AudioPilz]

It certainly gets a lot of hate on the internet

[@stefan1024]

@@AudioPilz Hate on the internet? I'm shocked. ShOcKEd!

[@counivers]

Didn't know about the editor! Thank you Pilz!

[@AudioPilz]

Always a pleasure!

[@h2o1969]

The Moby was great. I had to rewind. I'm so in with the hairspray hard core.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you!!!

[@rockpopmando1]

I had a TG-33 - it had 2 extra outputs and double amount of polyphonie. .. still 12 Bit. ... I sold it for 200€ because I needed the money back in 2001 or 2002 - never seen it again on ebay for that price. The SY-35 - is a TG33 in a keyboard-case but with 16 Bit resolution and some better Wave-samples. As not explained, the Joystick could be used to mix the 2 or 4 voices or to detune them which was useful ( - sometimes ) to get a fatter sound.

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for the feedback. Detune was underrepresented in this episode

[@VoodooGMusic]

Jam 1 sounds like something straight from early 2000s indi RPG maker games like Vampires Dawn. ... I wouldn't mind a full complete version of that.

[@AudioPilz]

There's a longer jam on Patreon (shameless plug;)

[@strelokknoize]

I knew about the SY99/85/77 but I've never heard about the SY22. Your show is education in music history. Thanks!

[@AudioPilz]

Thanks for watching!

[@strelokknoize]

@@AudioPilz My fridays wouldn't be complete w/o Bad Gear.

[@Autistic_Artist]

Ok now things are getting really weird I discovered this channel because a friend offered me the rhythm wolf cheep about a year ago and I discovered your channel looking it up and thus began this weird story of realizing that since buying the Roland mc-307 in the year 2000. In the past year I watched over and over again things in my rig found it’s way on your show then it gets even weirder! I decided to buy a brand new synth and settled on the korg monologue and I shit you not after I get it lo and behold it appears here. Then someone who seen me perform live back in 2010 with my vocalist contacted me that because of seeing us decided to collect gear and is making music now! This blew me away and the day he came over to show me his rig the episode of the Roland tr-8 came out and he had it! Then a old friend informed me that the local pawn shop had another Monologue that I got pretty cheep. On my birthday the guy that started me on my gear journey came over and we reconnected. Seeing that I lacked an audio interface he comes back with a tr-8 and traded it for one of the monologues! Now today it got even weirder as my vocalist who relationship had ended over a decade ago with the guy who started me on my gear journey messaged me that her boyfriend found a synth in a clean out job that they were selling and they would give it to me cheep because money was tight. It’s no surprise now that when I looked it up I find it here on bad gear! I am not sure how I feel about all this but it kinda gets even weirder. When I first met this guy back in the late 90s when I shook his hand I had a weird vivid vision of all these boxes and knobs and lights and such and my hands are doing things and a big beefy arm comes into view and tweaks some knobs and raises his fist in the air and I look out into a big glowing mass of color and I came out of it and I’m shaking hands with this scrawny 17 year old. I was so taken aback by the experience that I told everyone there what happened and as expected people laughed. We become instant friends and I started to search for the little boxes that I seen in the vision and the first one was the Roland 307. Ten years go by and I’m in a dj booth on top of a green school bus at a festival when he shows up with gear and the weird vision played out exactly like I seen all those years ago he turned to me and not even surprised by it because I was teased for years about having that vision and said it took ten years and it actually happened. In the past few years I got into acrylic paint pours and made what I saw in the vision when I looked up. Yeah my relationship with bad gear isn’t something that is normal. For some reason I don’t think this relationship with bad gear is going to be ending any time soon. 😳

[@AudioPilz]

Bad Gear is forever!!!

[@AlineKiler123321]

Nice to see you back on track you made my day again love your stuff from talk to performance your moby pic was fun. Keep it on bro.

[@AudioPilz]

Thank you so much!

[@saricubra2867]

SY99 and SY77 are the real beasts without plugin versions.

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah!!!

[@kuhpfau]

Hilarious episode, almost forgot about that Knight Rider bit at 8:58 :)

[@AudioPilz]

I'd like to have an Atari in my car too;) Thanks!

[@GerenM63]

I had the SY35, back when they were new. It's actually a synth I wouldn't mind having again. Programming was horrible and limited, but it did have a definite "charm" about it.

[@AudioPilz]

Yeah, you can still feel the Dave Smith heritage in this one

[@quietandpeacefulman]

I still have and use my SY85 and am very fond of it. Possible to get some really interesting and wide ranging sounds from the basic sample-based waveforms but things get really interesting after you load it up with samples. Yes I have a Mac running virtualised Windows 98 just to run the tiny sample conversion application before copying to floppy but it’s all part of the charm heh

[@stickyfox]

@@quietandpeacefulman Have you sen the rereleased SYEMB06 cards?

[@quietandpeacefulman]

@@stickyfox yes! I pimped my SY85 up during lockdown. I have 2 of those non-volatile RAM cards giving 1Mb sample storage. I also installed 16mb RAM and swapped in a direct drive floppy after my baby daughter put lots of plasticine and coins into the old one heh

[@stickyfox]

​@@quietandpeacefulman That's awesome! Yeah, if you have NV wave memory in that thing it's still a killer board. The filters and effects are incredible, and those 8 faders make decent drawbars too. I've always kept an eye on Yamaha since getting mine in 94, but nothing they've released since has really been that radically cool. Mine needs to be cleaned and lubed up; most of the keys are a tiny bit sticky after all this time. I also had a SY35 back then, which was also a great synth with an unusually good keybed. I would have gotten the 22 but there was a rumor a successor was on the way.

[@Jack-fs2im]

I had one and used it everyday for 20yrs ,It had great piano but you could control the envelope of the sound,not on modern boards.Lovec it bring it back

[@AudioPilz]

Classic!!!

[@Jack-fs2im]

@@AudioPilz poor mans M1 which is the biggest selling keyboard of all time.nice vid tho.oh such memories

[@localhost4460]

God I hope the new Dune is as good as everyone says it is...

[@AudioPilz]

I worship the original and I found it really nice!

[@tristancaver4836]

Dude, it's going to be his masterpiece. Not that Blade Runner wasn't one. I agree, Lynch's Dune was really good as well, but I'm a sucker for Lynch. :/

[@ervinpoljak8332]

I prefer rhe Dude and a white russian :)))) watched Bond yesterday. It sucked. Saw the Dune trailer....wanna see it :)

[@stephanemignot100]

It's empty and soulless, no vision or point of view, Denis Villeneuve is a crook anyway... Perfect combo with Hans "no melody two fingers" Zimmer! ^

[@shnixbot]

I work with DJ Dune about 2-3 days per week. He is as good as ppl say! ;-)

[@JavaJack59]

I have one on long term loan from a church bandmate, although I only use it as controller for Reason. In headphones, there's a fair amount of background noise that varies depending on what preset you have chosen. Not sure if that comes through the main outs or not. And alas, the aftertouch is global rather than per-key.

[@AudioPilz]

I've heard about noise issues but mine was surprisingly clean

[@krzysztofwaclawski9002]

I have the same issue as yours!

[@mycosys]

0:30 it absolutely wasnt the 80s when manufacturers started adding joysticks to their keyboards - at the VERY latest it was 1971 for the EMS Synthi and the Moog Mini Model D with optional 959 X-Y controller, it was likely earlier.

[@AudioPilz]

True! Thanks for posting!

[@jimmy_jamesjams_a_lot4171]

Ooooohhhhh!!! If only Coolio and MC Hammer would come together and make a melancholy rap track, your pattern at 5:51 is just the ticket!

[@AudioPilz]

I'll take that as a compliment;) Thanks!