The Dream Machine: How Yamaha's GX-1 Got Its Nickname

[@remy7541]

“- Emerson broke his first gx-1” Yep, that’s about right

[@harrybrown776]

Jamie when knife edge started it was all over for that gx-1

[@ShawnBarnesbass]

Not quite. What actually happened is an out of control tractor from a neighboring farm crashed into his studio (a converted barn) and dragged the GX-1 along with other pieces of his studio equipment for several yards before it was stopped. It was very lucky for him that he wasn't in the studio at the time!

[@2degucitas]

@@ShawnBarnesbass That's a crazy story.

[@42mantua]

​@@harrybrown776😂😂😂

[@MFitz12]

Actually, the GX-1 was a production model, the flagship of Yamaha's Electone electronic organ line and that is the market it was primarily aimed at, the professional organ market. Permanent installations in sports arenas, churches and the like. That is why the instrument came with its own custom set of speakers (not shown in the video). At some point someone in the Yamaha marketing department figured out they might be able to sell a few of these to really rich rock musicians, and they did.

[@MFitz12]

Actual production figures are far more than 10. I think the most reliable numbers are between 50 and 130.

[@SuperSy99]

Gx1 is not electone organ.its a polysynth will eat cs80 for breakfast

[@MFitz12]

@@SuperSy99 - Says Electone on it. CS-80 uses the same voice circuit. CS-80 has a velocity and pressure sensitive keyboard though, GX-1 has an organ keyboard for the two primary manuals and mono pressure only on the solo keyboard. GX-1 can store more presets.

[@RadicalCaveman]

@@MFitz12 The Solo keyboard actually has three forms of touch sensitivity, including wiggling the keys sideways. One thing that caused underestimates of production figures in the West is that most of them stayed in Japan -- hardly surprising, given how hard it is to transport something so huge and delicate.

[@neonvoid]

much better than the electone series though. the electone series was primarily an FM synth organ, it didn’t even had midi. although it was the best FM could possibly do.

[@fuelvolts]

"Yeah-ma-ha"

[@esroberto1]

James Helgason Yeah, until he learns to pronounce Yamaha, fuck his videos.

[@fanbeer8390]

Are you people for real?

[@Dampzombieslayer]

“Lad Zeppelin”

[@rickc2102]

sweet potato ma ha

[@responsibleparty]

That's what bugged me too. Should be Yaw-ma-ha.

[@carouselambra4427]

In Through the Out Door is my favorite Zeppelin album because of Jones's great synth tones and playing on that album. This thing was a trailblazer, and the warmth that comes out of it is killer.

[@Miler97487]

For how big and how rare the GX-1 is, it's amazing the number of musicians that got their hands on one. The video mentioned some and who were very important, but I can also add on Rick van der Linden of Ekseption and Trace, and Jürgen Fritz of Triumvirat. Rick recorded basically a GX-1 demonstration album in 1977 called GX-1 (what else!) and Jürgen used one on Triumvirat's Pompeii. I guess since Emerson was a big idol for Fritz that he decided to follow in his footsteps and purchase a GX-1. I'm not surprised to see those guys not mentioned given they're not a so recognized to the public in general. Much more recently Mattias Olsson of the prog rock band Änglagård acquired one and featured in his Roth Händle Studios. I believe his once belonged to Benny Andersson, which is hardly a surprise given both are Swedish.

[@alexkemnitz3975]

Ben Miler Benny still owns his and is still in his studio, I haven't done much research but I believe once Polar Studios was closed and taken down they moved the GX-1 to a different location before it went back with Benny. Someone else extensively repaired it during that time.

[@ExperimentIV]

Benny’s has been fully restored and is now at Riksmixningsverket, Benny’s studio

[@Claude_van]

Fun fact: The Soviets built a replica of it. They called it Gorky Synthesizer. It took them 5 years of reverse engineering until they produced a kind of modernized version which was easier programmable. Sadly this was only the private project of some Russian Air Force general. One machine ended up in Eastern Berlin after the wall came down and was sold in 1993 by a soldier who thought it was just an old organ. It still survives somewhere in Europe I heard from a friend of a friend. Probably the only machine of that kind.

[@edljnehan2811]

Between the freaking Soviets and the idiot Chinese well excuse me they're both idiots however why don't we Americans just go ahead and send them the plans ahead of time because they're going to find a way to steal them anyway just like they do all of our military equipment. At least the Chinese have a little brains on the ball and can reverse engineer some things but the Russians can't even do that. The Russians are still trying to figure out how to flush a modern-day toilet😅😅

[@promark5317]

That was a fun fact indeed.

[@evetsnitram8866]

I had a temp job at Yamaha back in 1981 and ventured into the keyboard tech repair room a few times and saw this beast set up and didn't realize what I was looking at. I was more into their guitars at the time. Well anyway I was up close and personal with one of the ten made.

[@willfomes406]

Incredible

[@perhir01]

Fun fact: In a tour of RMVstudio, which houses the ABBA GX-1, the studio technician claim that GX-1 used by Led Zeppelin on their last album was actually Benny's, and they still have the Kashmir string sound saved on a memory card in the studio.

[@alejandrofabianlopez3985]

Don't think so. The strings in Kashmir were produced by a Mellotron, and the GX1 was not produced by the time of that recording. Also Benny Andersson always claimed that he bought his gx1 after listening to Paul's

[@mikaelsjodin1963]

Half true. It is Benny´s GX-1 standing in the RMV studio. Led Zeppelin recorded in Polar Studio in 1978, so that GX-1 might have been there back then. Kashmir was released in 1975.

[@7thDIMENSIONOFMUSIC]

​@@alejandrofabianlopez3985 Led Zeppelin used the GX1 in concerts. You can check out Led Zeppelin's performance at Knebworth in 1979. It's incredible how faithfully the GX1 reproduced the sounds of the mellontron. So it really does have the parameters of Kashmir in memory.

[@7thDIMENSIONOFMUSIC]

​@@mikaelsjodin1963 Led Zeppelin used the GX1 in concerts. You can check out Led Zeppelin's performance at Knebworth in 1979. It's incredible how faithfully the GX1 reproduced the sounds of the mellontron. So it really does have the parameters of Kashmir in memory.

[@scottalain4173]

Polyphonic, you're the real Dream Machine.

[@kalegonzalez3475]

The gx is POLYPHONIC. I see...

[@mathewmosses]

Both those pieces from 'All of my love' and 'Lay all your love on me' are always in my head and I used to hum it.. Such a valuable info guys! Thank you so much! Hugs!!! :)

[@shankaravarma118]

Was waiting for the aphex shout out

[@markelder5893]

me too haha

[@jeremyrivers7724]

I was hoping they would mention Richard as well

[@ChrisDragotta]

minguspucha Richard s GX must have been modified to accept midi in.

[@yekker2245]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaphexxxxxxxx

[@Ohmloud]

Prick!😉

[@arees6653]

The guitar effects on ‘Fanfare For The Common Man ‘ were in produced by Greg Lake’s Alembic 8 string bass .

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

It was called the "Dream Machine" not just because it had three keyboards that allowed you to layer sounds on top of one another, but the nickname also came from the fact it was so heavy to lug around (especially with its available accessories) and thus too pricey (at $60 grand in 1976!) for most musicians to think of buying. Consequently, only less than 100 were known to have been made. If anyone finds a GX-1 today, expect to pay over $300,000 for one in good shape.

[@Win0bot]

I bought the Tuss album by Richard D James back when his label was still insisting it was someone else, but because he used that synth and he was one of the few people to own one people knew it was him. Now that record is worth like $300, so Id like to thank the dream machine for that one.

[@bunnymaid]

Yes, the Zimmer one was ELP's one. My friend was drooling on it. If you need a GX-1 repair, he's the one you need ^^!

[@PKG12341]

Polyphonic has done it again! I learned something. Thank you

[@thomasboehnlein5205]

Paul K. Gill Polyphonic's ability to teach is why I keep coming back to watch his videos and why I support him through Patreon.

[@lajeanette33]

I can't imagine how much work you must put in vidéos. Thx you for doing it!!!

[@geoffk777]

Cherry Audio has recenty introduced the GX-80 softsynth. This is a CS-80 clone that also includes many GX-1 extra features. So if you're dying to own one, than $50 will get you a pretty usable version of it. That's what 50 years of technology can do.

[@Pepijn_a.k.a._Akikaze]

Great video! It's hard to estimate how many were made given the fact that individual instruments changed owners more than once. There is a GX-1 in Yamaha's museum in Hamamatsu, I heard there is one in Tokyo too. Gordon Reid ownes one and I happen to know what he paid for it. I can tell you it was much less than 60 grand. The Shah of Persia had one (or was that an HX-1?), Cat Stevens used one but I don't know if he was the owner. You forgot to tell that it had a rhythm box. A very decent one. Listen to it on Rick van der Linden's GX-1.

[@MikeKiker]

My guitarist used to own a Yamaha SK-50. It was a fun keyboard to play. You could definitely get GX-1 type sounds on the SK series keyboards because they share similar circuitry, that is if you're looking that sound but with a far cheaper alternative. We definitely didn't find much use for it in what we did musically. Otherwise we would've kept it, but it's certainly a super versatile polysynth.

[@Vishnu-xn4vx]

Dude, your videos are pure gold 💗

[@percyvolnar8010]

What Aphex Twin did with the GX-1 was SICK!

[@Sophtas]

A stunning synth that absolutely deserved to go with this amazing artist, the combination of the two producing surreal gems!

[@gregm9230]

If you want to get your hands on one, get the Arturia version of the CS-80. You'll love it! Of all the Arturia virtual synths, their CS-80 is my favorite.

[@MrPopololo22]

Would've liked to know how it works and why it is so unique in a more detailed way, instead of just you telling us who used it. But that's just my opinion, keep up the good work :)

[@audioartisan]

Here's the manual: www.synthfool.com/docs/Yamaha/Yamaha%20GX-1%20Owners%20Manual.pdf

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

"Emerson broke his GX-1..." That's apparently a bit of an understatement. According to Wikipedia, it got ran over by an "out of control" tractor. I'd really like to know the story behind that.

[@brianglock3099]

ProgHead777 Think the story goes, as KE said in a Keyboard Magazine interview, a tractor trailer was driving by near his home where he had a studio in his barn, the tractor went out of control crashing into the barn dragging the GX 1. Forget if this was before the Emerson Lake and a Powell tour the mid 80s. He was at sone point around then approached by John Paul Jones if He wanted to by his GX . I think it may have been that one that did the Emerson Lake and Powell tour . After the tour it was pretty much unplayable. Late 80s early 90s Zimmer bought one of the Gx1s and had Yamaha fully restore it.

[@adam872]

It will always be about Fanfare for the Common Man and Keith for me. What a titanic sound he made with that thing. The other guys are awesome too, of course, as is the music they made with it.

[@MhCamillo]

It's incredible the high quality of your videos! Congratulations, it's awesome to see this kind of stuff on youtube these days!

[@cycling_with_kenz]

haha.... he said YAMaha.....

[@GangiFilms]

i say YAH-MA-HA

[@gallzatron4046]

Yeah ma, uhuh

[@rickc2102]

Silly git doesn't know it's not a yam, but a sweet potato.

[@elsongs]

YEM-a-ha.

[@gowithgroove]

Yeah, kinda makes you wonder if he knows what he's talking about....

[@trulyinfamous]

The thing you have to realize is that the GX-1 was incredibly advanced for the time of its creation.

[@michaelbauers8800]

This isn't Russia, I don't have to do anything except die and pay taxes ;)

[@SPAZZOID100]

Michael Bauers Russia has better healthcare than the USA.

[@josemv25]

I think he did realize this...which is why he made the video

[@dumpygoodness4086]

@@michaelbauers8800 russia gave women the right to vote before the USSA did. gay rights too. irony: the Communist revolution was inspired by....the American Revolution!

[@michaelbauers8800]

@@dumpygoodness4086 Interesting

[@Davimre]

The synth is even more influential than the video notes, since it contained not only a CS-80 but an early version as well of the DX7.

[@BlackTomorrowMusic]

You're thinking of the GS-1, not the GX-1.

[@mezzafinook]

david reinecke youre wrong on both accounts bucko

[@michaelmitchell8218]

What can you say Yamaha make great synths. There was so many good synths made in the 70s and 80s by Yamaha,Roland,pro one, emax,wasp etc. They was the best time for synths.

[@ZerekanNephilim]

I absolutely love your channel man! So well written and produced. It's entertaining and educational. Love it. How do you feel about modern metal/metalcore/screamo type stuff? My favorite band of all time is Underoath and I truly believe that Aaron Gillespie is an individual worth talking about!

[@Nic33rd]

Damn, this was a great video. Solid work, Mr. P.

[@organfairy]

"One of the most important synthesizers ever made"........well, yes and no: It was technologically important in the sense that it paved the way for other polyphonic synthesizers but it was too expensive and too rare to be of artistic importance. Even though Emerson, Wonder, and Anderson used it frequently it is still only a very small fraction of the 1970s synth scene.

[@dumpygoodness4086]

@Neb6 plus, it NEVER reached fruition: no one I know of fully used the crazy shit the GX1 can do! they all just scratched the surface.

[@graysonhenson4090]

One of my favorite new channels. Keep it up man!

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

It was also called the "dream machine" because of just how expensive the beast is!

[@cheaplaffsarefree]

Name like that, you'd have to expect Gary Wright to have one.

[@jukeboxman94]

damn this channel is sooo good

[@Luca-jx4fl]

I recommend doing a video essay on The Velvet Underground

[@MFitz12]

Yes Hans Zimmer did buy Keith Emerson's rebuilt GX-1. He doesn't have it anymore. Did a bunch of samples then sold it.

[@KurtRichterCISSP]

Great video. While I grinned at your pronunciation of Yamaha, I'm not having a conniption like some people. I guess they are finally discovering that different regions of the world have different dialects and accents. It's a very eye-opening day for them! Keep this good stuff coming! Thanks!

[@MetaphysicalMusicMaven]

So that's how they got that 🎺sound on All of my Love! Great channel btw.

[@anugrahgopinath6333]

Love your video essays man! Thanks for all the effort!

[@braulio0609]

Awesome video, as usual!!! Greetings from Brazil!!!

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

It was really a development on from the equally legendary EX-42 electronic organ. You’ll find some vids demonstrating that here on KZbin (e.g. Miguel Kertsman’s channel). What was a “synth” and what was an “organ”? Yamaha, being the consummate maker of musical instruments that they were, blurred the boundaries ...

[@domrobinson2763]

You deserve so many more subs man :) great channel, keep it up!

[@mason8971]

Your channel is goiing to blow up

[@DowntownDigitalUK]

Keep making these!!

[@raybel322]

Nice video keep it up👍

[@zlol_ssbm]

I don't even like Aphex Twin, but I'd be damned if I said that dude wasn't creative as hell with everything he did

[@nemo2e4]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/anynaZ6NoNiCo8U

[@zlol_ssbm]

nemo2e4 you got me. I like Aphex Twin now lol

[@linkszwo]

cool video ! it was all new information for me. never heard of that thing before.

[@f_ogs]

Was hoping you'd mention RDJ, great vid :)

[@jimmybuffet4970]

“Yeah-MaHa!” “Vye-braato.”

[@WorkLeftTV]

What is that percussive sound in the right channel that can be heard in the entire video?

[@b00i00d]

Love that Stevie Wonder story that opens this video! :)

[@jamesk.bishop105]

John Paul Jones used the GX-1 at Knebworth, but on the 1980 Tour Over Europe, he used two Fairlights. Jonesy sold his GX-1 to Keith Emerson.

[@edljnehan2811]

John Paul Jones gave it to Keith Emerson in trade for Keith Emerson's autograph😮

[@kinggeedra2796]

Keep it up man this some good ass content

[@fjfrancois]

Dude thank you so much for this awesome video .

[@PerChristianFrankplads]

Jesus, now I actually NEED to experiment much more with my Cherry Audio GX-80 virtual synthesizer...

[@franciscomiranda9537]

Nice video! Do one on Zombies Odissey and Oracle!!

[@cuecabrava]

EXcellent ... thanx for the class.

[@SaccoBelmonte]

h yes, the album "The secret life of plants" is full of those GX1 strings. Lovely.

[@tvoommen4688]

In 1980s I have noticed the name 'Electone GX' on certain album's description; now only I realize that it meant Yamaha GX-1.....

[@cobolsaurus]

It belongs to the Electone line of Yamaha electronic organs...

[@jorgeegrojjorge]

Incredible video 😎

[@ericajohnson7535]

Just listened to ELP's Fanfare for the Common Man.. And that keyboard instrument sounds so "warm", so "real". I don't know... like it was an actual musical instrument of some kind. Nothing that came after it to this day has the same musicality, breathiness, ooomf. I don't know how else to describe it.

[@Claude_van]

It was probably Yamaha‘s philosophy of that time to produce an organic sounding instrument. Everything is built for this purpose. The controls, the PWM modulation, the filters.

[@shikamarunara8920]

i got goosebumps at abba ...i love your videos please make more

[@doron986]

Amazing lesson 👏 bravo

[@stevearcher3978]

Great, informative video

[@rothschildianum]

Yemeha! What a pronunciation!

[@Nickpaflas]

Love your vids. So much Canadian goodness Yeahmaha

[@sumatoborukiSaru]

A friend of mine had a GX-1, he bought it at a garage sale. (No joke!) Somehow the Yamaha store here acquired one & it was 'supposed' to eventually be sent back to Japan, but never made the return trip. My friend bought it & sat on it for 20+ years. Eventually decided to offload it & ended up in negotiations with a relatively unknown synth-nut named Pete Townsend!! Sadly, Pete found another one closer to home & didn't buy my friend's unit, but it was eventually sold to an anonymous U.S. collector.

[@audiodood]

Is this true

[@marcodebrabander5751]

ABBA's Benny Anderson is one of its most famous users between 1979 and 82 (and later outside ABBA)

[@mohabexpert123]

Quick note, In Through The Out Door was not Zeppelin's Final Album, as it was released in '79. Coda was released in '82, 2 years after Bonham's Passing. It was released due to the large amount of bootleg recordings, Jimmy Page said "Coda was released, basically, because there was so much bootleg stuff out. We thought, "Well, if there's that much interest, then we may as well put the rest of our studio stuff out."

[@chrisjackson1244]

The way you pronounced Yamaha makes me think of Fargo. "Go Bears"

[@manonthemoog]

Where can I find that B&W graphic shown in the video (at 6:54 and other places) that names all the different controls?

[@KeithMarloWatchAndPlayOnline]

There was a replication of this synth in Las Vegas at Madame Tussauds inside Venation Casino. It was maybe 2007 and The Stevie Wonder wax figure was displayed sitting on the synth.

[@socalltd]

Actually, Stevie bought two GX-1's in the mid 70's and one of them is at the Vegas display.

[@dpjellema]

Great video man! The retro visual effect when songs played was a bit too prominent though

[@johankarlborg2829]

Thank you for a great video! Next time though? It's YA-MA-HA, not JEM-aha!

[@carouselambra4427]

I know, it sounds like the guy's getting spooked by veggies the whole time when he keeps saying it "Yam, Aha!"

[@danielcox3152]

Used in ABBA Me and I too

[@ryangorgoni7602]

mad props for the aphex twin reference

[@DarkFutureConsolidated]

Richard has recently given his GX1 to Colin Fraser, the guy who created the CIRKLON sequencer. Nice gift. Goes to show how much he fucking loves his CIRKLON...

[@Sophtas]

Wow, how generous of him, beautifull story!

[@TickleSalty]

Keith Emerson dubbed the GX-1 the roadies nightmare as it weighed over 600 lbs and was stressful to move.

[@edljnehan2811]

Just being a roadie for Emerson Lake and Palmer had to be super stressful especially since Keith Emerson is a perfectionist and all of their huge equipment had to be placed and hooked up perfectly. Also don't forget about Carl Palmer's 1 ton stainless steel drum kit😮😢😢😮.........😅😅😅

[@mycosys]

Impressive you managed to make that without saying the word Electone or mentioning that its an organ lol

[@gigel008]

Hey, great video! I would love to see a video on Vangelis or Jean Michel Jarre one day.

[@DungeonStudio]

Was it also one of the first programmable synths? The buttons up top looks like they can recall saved voices? That would be a HUGE asset for touring musicians of the day!

[@SPAZZOID100]

Nope. Just presets.

[@TheMakersRage]

We need a vid on the SP 1200 Boom Bap drum machine.

[@mycosys]

One thing you got wrong (cant blame you cos its truly obscure) - several dozen of these were made and they were prominent in Yamaha's recording facilities in Japan. However only a handful were ever exported. Weirdly several to Australia.

[@chenwenhua2269]

Japan's children's organ group JOC used this many times in their compositions during the 70s.

[@gcoudert]

Re. Abba, ‘The Day Before You Came’ would have been a better example as, aside from the drums, the track is 100% GX-1.

[@atarkus8]

Nope. It's got minimoog base.

[@TicoTorres]

i heard that the drums also are synth made, could this be true? Benny said it was the last abba song recorded and the band was gone so it was only them left :)

[@jrvr9559]

I think the beat was mostly provided by a Linn Drum Machine and maybe some extra snare.

[@sauce_aux]

The tuss is my absolute favorite

[@DLHerrod]

Greg Phillinganes brought me here! Shout out to the Quest Love Supreme Podcast!!

[@RogerBarraud]

+Polyphonic What's that screenshot at 02:35 represent?

[@BertGrink]

HOLY MOLY!!! "The GX-1 console weighs 300 kg. The pedalboard and stand add 87 kg, and each of its tube-powered speakers, four of which can be connected to the GX-1, weighs 141 kg (Which together equals a total of 951 kg, or 2096 lb). " from wikipedia.

[@remingtonsloan8331]

I look forward to your video on The Doors.

[@johnsimun6533]

How does these suggestions pop up, but you had me at all the keys, switches, buttons, and knobs.

[@marcscordato4385]

He would go to collaborate with Ray Kurzwiel in developing the first Kurzwiel keyboard the first attempt at sampling

[@jtn191]

First attempt at sampling would probably be tape machines like the Mellotron

[@watchaddicts1213]

check out Soul Train episode, featuring Joe Vannelli, playing GX- 1 , backing up his brother…Gino.

[@CPorter]

Can you do a video about atomic platters? I feel its a genre of music everyone should know about.

[@testohtoby]

wasn't during the early stages of "Village Ghetto Land" that Stevie got away with his "London Orchestra" ?

[@promark5317]

Carousalambra is great song to hear the dream machine in all its glory. Im gonna crawl, In the Evening, it's all over ITTOD