Yamaha CS-20M: A gorgeous analog synth from 1979 + FREE SAMPLES!

[@CEVSE100]

I'm a simple man, I see David Hilowitz upload, I click, listen, learn & get inspired then head to make music afterwards. Bye youtube for now.

[@ingraban98]

Same here 🙂

[@EvanderTorres]

Bye

[@Jellolotl7468]

Same I just go to my Casio SK-1

[@jeremymetzger7969]

yeah always inspires me to get my ass off youtube and create

[@yourcitysleeps]

One of David's videos is why I dove headfirst back into music over the past year. I was going to sell all my gear and give up, but David changed my mind. So it's his fault 😎

[@prodthayerperiod]

the section with the presets is really touching, a very sweet way to remember the original owner, rip

[@tuisku444]

so cool to see you here :)

[@room34]

Oh wow… as soon as I heard this synth producing its "normal" sounds, I immediately recognized it. Back in college in the '90s, a friend and I used to record free improvisations on my 4-track cassette recorder. One time we snuck into his college's electronic music studio and made use of their gear, including a synth that sounded just like this. I dug out our old notes and sure enough, it was a sibling: the Yamaha 40M.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

At our school we had an EMS VCS3, a Roland System 100m and a 8 track tape. That was fun. I still have the recordings somewhere. On DAT 😒 I now have my own 8 track and new synths 😊

[@DominikMerscheid]

My plants would certainly grow listening to this track!

[@MathHammer]

What an amazing treasure to find presets programmed by your friend's late father still functional. The synth is wonderful, too. Uncovering and being able to listen to something programmed and stored by a person who has passed away is incredible. Thank you for sharing this and the sample set.

[@rachelar]

A final gift

[@peraltarockets]

This hit a bunch of sweet spots for me: debugging, maintenance, and electronic music. Thanks.

[@MiltRadford]

I'm now curious how many little know composers of academic or experimental music have websites featuring their works. The world needs more composers like Clayton Larson.

[@BrianNatonski-wt3mv]

I would HIGHLY recommend Louis Barren (or Baron?) who made the groundbreaking synth soundtrack for the 1950's sci-fi epic "Forbidden Planet", also Wendy Carlos, the classical music synth pioneer whose work was featured in "The Shining", "A clockwork orange" and the eponymous album "Switched on Bach". Great stuff from when synths cost $25,000😊

[@razoraz]

There's a documentary called "Rise of the Synths". Another is "Sisters with Transistors". Both are available on the Hoopla app which you may be able to access via your local library. There's also another about Suzanne Ciani who started in the 70's and worked for Buchla and still produces music today but I can't remember the name of it.

[@leftthechatsound]

The quirks of these old synths are endlessly entertaining 🎹

[@prodthayerperiod]

so lovely!

[@Skankphone]

@@prodthayerperiod hello

[@reedsutter8485]

I wish I had one of those. Oh wait, I do! All these years later, still my favorite synth. I love hearing what you do with it.

[@galgris]

Amazing synth. Built like a piano, with love and attention to details. I got one this summer, from an old friend of the family. You just lose yourself in turning those knobs, feeling the warmth and depth in that sound.

[@DonPiruflo]

Please, never stop making this content, this is one of my favourite KZbin channels ever

[@MusicalWizardryMarcoIannello]

Absolutely love this machine! Smooth leads and truly phat resonant basses!

[@ssstewart1]

You are an absolute gift to the music scene. True dedication. You do things no one else can or would.

[@LukeLockwood]

Man this channel just continues to be a hidden gem.

[@safetinspector2]

What a fascinating device! Ever since stumbling on and enjoying the Korg DS10 analog ms10 emulator in the Nintendo DS, I’ve been fascinated by this period of “portable” analog synthesizers. Thank you for this video. ❤

[@rhamlyn100]

Beautiful sounding synth.

[@LoveOneAnotherHeSaid]

Invented to back Horror movies. Loved your natural reaction ... to have FUN. Your tone when you say "for something from the 70s .." however cost you points. You inherit the work of so many people who were gifted and determined.

[@1969mew]

Love that final composition! And the synth, of course!

[@ossisuomalainen]

Just want to say that i love your style of making videos. If im having a rough day they always cheer me up. Downloaded your decent sampler earlier today and have been having a blast messing with it

[@ninjaowl9881]

Same here. My life is pretty stressful, and his melencholy tone/style of videos bring me peace and rest. My favorite channel on KZbin

[@nicojar]

David, thank you for your videos! I started learning music (piano + music theory, I want to compose) a bit short from two years ago, and your vids have added even more enthusiasm to my my little midlife endeavour. ❤

[@8BitPandaStrike]

Wow! What an amazing find. I love the sounds that come out of that beautiful machine. Great video and RIP to the creator, Clayton Larson.

[@therealmattmann]

Mesmerizing as always. I'm inspired to fix some issues with a couple of my vintage synths. Thanks, David!

[@user-mx6ho2mo8g]

Awesome synth! I have the CS15D, (the little brother) I love these woodpanels and the soft and beautiful sound of these! Also my mod wheel has some issues sometimes. Thanks a lot for the insight!

[@oldmanthompson]

Wow that thing sounds beautiful.

[@heartlights]

Great work, Auggie.

[@Palooka37]

Just wanna say i think you totally undersold that decent sampler pack for this synth, it's incredible. Thank you.

[@michaelheck6919]

Thanks David for this beautiful work....Even a Soundbuilder is included! That's great fun to play with! 🙂

[@bobrv8]

Trip down memory lane for me David. My first synth in 1980 was the CS30L which had the 8 note sequencer you were looking for. As ever with you such great content.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Charming demo. Beautiful instrument. Nice one for fixing it (albeit temporarily) too. I'm sure you know it, but check out the CS-70m if you've not seen it. The daddy of this specific range.

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

Thanks! I was thinking about your videos the whole time I was working on this. :) I don't know the CS-70m. I will definitely check it out

[@DanielHolter]

What a lovely and thoughtful tribute to a friend and fellow composer... kudos, much respect! ❤

[@andycordy5190]

Gorgeous. Thank you, David.

[@finleymurdock4050]

I am so happy I came across this channel.

[@Lorenzo_Strozzi]

dude. splendid track and inspiring story behind this beautiful piece of hardware.

[@guitfidle]

Oh wow, what a cool synth!

[@danp420]

Thank you for all you do and all the free things you give us

[@the3dotsguy...610]

Thank you for your content. This is One of my favorite music related channel on youtube❤

[@1dkappe]

Another stupendous episode.

[@InFamousProductions]

great video bro, that synth sounds fantastic. and it's great to have a piece of the owner live on after passing to the next journey. and your song you composed is lovely.

[@luke_woodruff]

Thank you for another amazing video!

[@jackroberts124]

I was just given a Roland sh-2. It rocks so hard. This is an amazing keyboard that you have

[@tomh6569]

Absolutely love your videos! Your presentation is so relaxing and enjoyable and the instruments you find are such an important part of the fabric of music production. Please keep them coming. Just one suggestion for you for your future repairs, when possible during soldering, you should have it disconnected from the circuit board. The transfer of heat to a component on the board could fry something else and that would not be good on an instrument this old. Thanks again for a wonderful video.

[@xradical89x]

inspiring as always!

[@lordflatworm]

This is an incredible find.

[@330f]

You make videos for the soul

[@RJ_Eckie]

That thing sounds really nice! And what a lovely tune 🙏🏻

[@georgenelson9038]

2:47 is beautiful. Very BOC!

[@SamLibman]

This is the first video of yours I’ve seen. It just happened to pop up, haha. Immediately subscribed! Keep it up!

[@Shadas]

Totally increadible videos❤

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

thank you!

[@paulvogel6303]

Awesome

[@BassicallyKiyash]

Return of the king

[@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777]

It's a good synth that you could find for under $500 like many lower numbers in the CS series. I got mine given to me as well from an old fella who played it in a Portuguese polka group.

[@AidinZolghadr]

The only channel I Like the video before it even starts loading.

[@meneerjansen00]

What a beauty.

[@scillyautomatic]

I just found a Packard Pump organ at a thrift store and it made me think of you. Then that made me think that maybe I could do the same as you do - I could restore any broken parts and sample all the notes with all the combinations of stops... then I came to my sense. Needless to say, the organ is still at the thrift store!

[@ProfessorHumblesDelusions]

Cool. You’re so methodical. ❤

[@BrianNatonski-wt3mv]

I keep hearing the Brian May composed FLASH GORDON soundtrack in this synth and wouldn't be surprised if it was in the studio when the film score was recorded.😊

[@JulGer1]

I also immediately thought Flash Gordon! This can't be a confidence.

[@BrianNatonski-wt3mv]

@JulGer1 yeah synths have a signature sound you can identify, I can easily pick out a DX7, OB-8, SH-101, Juno-60, that Yamaha has it too!

[@philmarsh5593]

Very very underrated. I have one and there's not a lot of love out there for this for some reason. It does quirky sounds better than the other monos I have. The patch memory thing is limited - you can't tweak a patch much once it's saved, as many of the controls turn off when you select a patch - there are performance controls that you can mess with but you can't write a patch, then edit that and create another patch easily (giving it memories meant some limitations in the internal architecture, I guess). I guess this was meant to be a replacement for the CS15 mono but that is far more flexible - The M series of synths (20M/40M/70M) were not looked on favourably at the time in the press (here in the UK at least) and seen as a back step after the earlier range. The 20-M is crazy big for a mono synth too, as you found out! :-)

[@tolfred]

Great demo, I used to own this synth long ago but sold it due to it's size. You got some great sounds out of it! It sounds very old and nice, but it's very heavy and bulky and those side panels are ugly with imitated wood

[@princepaul5557]

Interesting synth.

[@fzaatar]

This is great! After playing with all the presets that you made, I loaded the last one that lets you create a new preset and made something really spooky. Not sure if it’s any good for music, but it could be for some scary scene.

[@IsaacRossMusic1]

This is amazing! I hope you'll get your hands on a 70s crumar or korg string synth someday haha. You're so generous for making these large sample libraries, thanks so much :)

[@reedsutter8485]

You’re thinking like I do. For 25 years, I have paired a CS-20m and a Crumar Performer. Such different synths. So very complementary.

[@IsaacRossMusic1]

​@@reedsutter8485 Definitely. I really dig 70s synths because they come from a time where many didn't really know what to do with them, which made for some pretty interesting music!

[@reedsutter8485]

@ Great point. Today, many of us are inclined to follow the same well-worn paths toward a classic sound and a classic use for a given synth, but when they were new no one had established what you were “supposed to do” with them. They just sparked creativity. Let’s still do that!

[@Bloom-Band-b5u]

Dude Love your Stuff!

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

thanks!

[@Bloom-Band-b5u]

@ OMG HE COMMENTED BACK AHHHHH

[@mafhper]

That's why I leave notifications on!

[@fredmassinger4855]

Very cool ! Merci beaucoup !

[@texanfournow]

Very cool. Not quite a GX-1, but it has its own charm.

[@joegrint6280]

The sound reminds me a bit of my old Wasp that I sequenced using its associated Spider sequencer

[@EmilSnabb]

Great video and awesome music! Some serious Minecraft vibes here!

[@muskatmusic3927]

7:45 And here I caught a flashback from "Into Deep Blue" by Stratovarius

[@GornGornStudios]

thank you synth man

[@PacoRobbins]

This has a very Minecraft-esque sound and I love it.

[@JayKaufman]

You can add MIDI to these via the MIDI2CV board and a good synthesizer tech. Mine has been MIDIed and allows me to even send MIDI CC to the filter! :)

[@tipnring48]

I was craving more when your video ended. Any chance you will post the raw footage of the hour you spent experimenting and exploring? In the 8 mins of your video I was transported back to my 13 year old self and hypnotized by those sounds!

[@enilenis]

I always hunt for Vangelis sounds. The closest I was able to get (since I don't have a Korg MS-20) was by combining cheaper Korg's, like NS5R with Strymon Mobius, Timeline and BigSky effects pedals. I love vintage, but I never liked the large footprint of modular analog machines. Plus, the beauty of FX pedals is that they're good for both, guitars and keyboards, unlike many synths that lack input functionality...

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

Oh, the Big Sky is so wonderful for that kind of sound. It's true about the footprint. This thing is absolutely massive, and to think that it's essentially the smallest of this Yamaha range.

[@michaelnewmanphotography]

The music around 7:20 and after sounds like the music in the video game Fez

[@tolfred]

it's got a feature that is not very common on synths: you can blend in a sine tone for more bass paralell to the filter, if I remember correctly

[@mikaelschloenzig9590]

My first synth owned and loved since the 80:s ,and guess by ear and experience ,the "presets" aren´t programmed......... the synth sounds like that when battery has run out of power and it has "reset" itself randomly ,it gets into a certain strange genre and can even make sounds that´s not really tweakable with the knobs ,that is a kind of weird and cool artifact,and yes you can do the Vangelis fat bladerunner lead sound with it, and just add a creamy big reverb.

[@worse-than-gnomes]

Some of those stored presets remind me of the intro to “Bread and Circus” by PUSCIFER.

[@comradestannis]

Subscribed and here for it.

[@kiannaderi8374]

Thanks

[@LunyaTheGay]

This music reminds me so of celeste

[@kaitlyn__L]

“At this point I forget I’m recording, and just play with the envelopes and filters” phew, glad I’m not the only one 😅 I finally recorded some videos I’d been meaning to do for months about some of my patches, but I’m sure there’s 5-10 minute sections where I just lose track of time and play without speaking!

[@TheRealVicthor]

Nice video

[@treetopjones737]

Wow, memory for presets in a 1979 synth - Seq. Circuits pro-1 was a nice mono synth, but there was no memory for saving patches. $600. new in the early 80's. It had a step sequencer.

[@makerbotplanet]

Hey, I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but the CS-20M actually has an 8 step sequencer built into it, it's one of the earliest onboard sequencers. You missed it!

[@makerbotplanet]

Also: there are two slightly different colored knobs - white and yellow. For the presets, only one set of those is actually written to the memory, and the others are intended to be manually configured every time - which means that you weren't entirely hearing somebody else's presets, just part of them, and they were always meant to be dialed in at each session

[@corradomartinello]

One day it will be possibile to have a mono sound with portamento/glide on decent sempler? Congrats and thank you for all of your work man!

[@twjamjam]

David Hilowitz my beloved!!!

[@IsaacH-z1g]

Eurorack update please?

[@SisterRose]

I like that you just ended up making Celeste music

[@GAMERBOY311-k9z]

Please do a video about the Omnichord

[@Shaderdiceblock]

Okay that’s going on my grail synth list

[@victorhugotoledocofre1366]

I was in the middle of watching your previous upload and I got bitch-slapped by KZbin with a "This video is no longer available". Wow, that was fast! Not even my gf went that far!! 🤣🤣

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

Sorry, it's my fault :) I published the wrong version :(

[@victorhugotoledocofre1366]

@@DavidHilowitzMusic That's OK, Dave. What a beautiful, majestic piece of equipment, btw. Great content as usual! 👍

[@WeZte]

Awesome! some of the sounds remind me of Mother Earth's Plantasia, by Mort Garson :)

[@prospectnyc]

Any wave files available? The format in the download doesn't work very well. It looks to be a preset for a plugin instead of samples.

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

I think this is the blog post you want: www.decentsamples.com/2024/01/24/q-is-it-possible-to-extract-the-samples-contained-within-decent-sampler-instruments/

[@friedem0n2004]

the last part sounds like Tomita, which is great

[@neilloughran4437]

Juicy and fat synth... simple but does what it does and sounds great. I really like the synths Yamaha was putting out around this era.

[@cheychc]

fun video!!!!!!!!!

[@twiff3rino28]

Japanese circuit boards from this era always had that look.

[@ErickPonceMusic]

Hello, I wanted to ask for advice for new artists I just finished my first album and I don’t know what to do.

[@studiosandwich]

nice