Yamaha SK20 - Sigur Rós Organ, String Machine & Synthesizer

[@ummagumma7826]

Sigur Ros is watching this before gigs to remember how to play

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

🤣🤣 ... but they better shouldn’t, I’m hitting the echolot sound (noise into filter with extremely high resonance) at really wrong timing at least twice in the vid ☺

[@ummagumma7826]

@@TheGuacamoleXplosion yeah I wasn’t going to say anything. Jk sounded mint. Really natural sounding

[@DestroyER82]

Lovely demonstration of lovely instrument. Couple points from more deep dive perspective. Its actually not a transistor organ or synth, its much more interesting from 70s standpoint. Probably most accurate description would be calling it a DCO synth. There is a master high frequency oscilator (classic VCO, vibrato is modulating its frequency) for each section (so there is one oscilator for all voices per section, SK-30 / 50D doubles that up), that is fed into pretty amazing Yamaha 70's IC (originating from their highend organs), that digitally divides the frequency (similairy like Juno or Korg Poly 800 etc..) into correct notes and sends them out. This IC is also responsible for the decay/sustain/attack parameters and also - it is limited to 7 notes of polyphony. Thats why you have full control of sustain / attack without "voice stealing" (unlike most of other stringers/organs) for both organ and synth and only the limitations are single VCAs for percussive organ tones and single VCF (btw its the same one as in CS synths) for synth. I also like the brillance faders - simple active bandpass filters to shape the sound exactly to needs. All the best!

[@aangtonio5570]

AFAIK, the organ section is the digital one, featuring some kind of FM synthesis (like the DX7). Yet all the signal processing is so amazing in the SK20 the perceptible aliasing is virtually zero. Quite ironic, since most digital synths from the 80's onwards (including some well-acclaimed VA synths) alias as if there were no tomorrow!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

Quoting an old response I gave below: Thanks! I have heard the theory about the SK organ sections being FM, too, but have also read statements that this is a false rumour; from a person claiming they sent direct requests about this to Yamaha and got the answer: No, the organ section is analogue.There is a detailed technical article from 1981: www.muzines.co.uk/articles/yamaha-symphonic-ensemble-sk20/2575 - sounds like there is quite some digital control elements, but the sound generation is done by Yamaha's Pulse Analogue Synthesis System (Pass).

[@DestroyER82]

@@TheGuacamoleXplosion Yeah absolutely. I was repairing and servicing SK-15 recently and its same thing again. VCO master oscilator and highly sofisticated divider chip utilising CMOS technology.. That FM nonsense is mostly comming from "vintage synth explorer site" that is full of wrong informations about many instruments unfortunatelly.

[@arowuo]

Impressive recreation of Svefn-G-Englar! Well done! (Jarre too!)

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks! I was surprised myself how close I could get to Jónsi’s cello-bow-on-electric-guitar style with the e-bow. Would love to learn using an actual bow at some time ...

[@magnusrubinkjessen5338]

@@TheGuacamoleXplosion Wich pedals did you use? Very nice job!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

@@magnusrubinkjessen5338 on Svefn, it’s the ProStage Remote Wah acting as input buffer / clean boost into the M5 on reverb (I think the chamber algo) into the Kingsley Minstrel tube overdrive into Sonuus Voluum (not doing much here; I think mainly noise gate) into Strymon Timeline on delay. Probably some extra reverb (Valhalla) added in Cubase. You can see the actual pedal board settings at 01:18, but since there's quite some MIDI control going on and the footage is rather dark, that doesn’t tell too much 😄

[@reedsutter8485]

One of the better synth spotlights I’ve seen! This is a great demo. Fun to watch and highlights the best parts of this keyboard in a great way. FWIW, I’m the proud owner of an Sk50d. Wonderful old boards!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx! 😊

[@staticvloid]

Thanks for making and sharing this! Excellent taste all around, high quality production and very nice musical choices! Especially Air, holy shat!!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks! Yep, the Air intro is the part in here that I’m most proud of

[@bradleylinemihler]

Best demo of this classic

[@aangtonio5570]

Your video (and audio) is top-notch. And no talking! Good job, sir! About the synth itself, the sound is incredible and, according to some reviews, it has one of the best keybeds ever. Yet, I've read some reviews warning about maintenance issues (from scratchy faders to hard-to-find critical parts, and it needs to be serviced quite often). How has your experience been with the SK20?

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

Thanks! I bought the SK20 2nd hand two years ago; it did have some problems: One or two of the switches were not working, some faders were scratchy, the middle C sometimes played and sometimes didn't. Mr. Kristkeitz, the repair guy, did an amazing job servicing the synth, and charged less than 200 € for it. He split the internal parts of the keybed and swapped them, so that the most played keys (those in the middle) and the rarely played very high and low notes swapped places. This way, the lifespan would be extended. The SK20 has played with no problems ever since, except the jumpiness of the filter frequency fader, which you can also see in the vid.

[@robertpugh8422]

Excellent demo! Thank you for helping to ensure these wonderful old machines won't get forgotten (hopefully). Now, I must get my SK20 down from the attic...

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks

[@kafkawilde4604]

I'll buy it

[@sergiodiaz808]

I knew it was going to be AIR! Nice video!!

[@chrystianpaquet1843]

WOW. Absolutely prestine rendition and great performance. Congrats

[@klinkske]

Amazing video. I m going to watch it again for the first cover. That guitar sound is amazing. Wish i could do that

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks 😊

[@54LZ]

Lovely playing. This inspired me for making music myself again. Thank you

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

that’s great, always good to have more music in the world ☺

[@ilfreddonero]

Mr Aldebert brought me here. I don't regret the voyage

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

merci bien, Monsieur Les tote Katzen!

[@izzzzzz6]

This is a great video. It's make me think more about the SK30 i'm looking at. The only thing is that it is a bit big!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks! And: True, it's really big. I sometimes wish I had an SK15 instead; one octave less than the SK20, and almost the same functionality (except no splitting/layering, and a bit less flexibility in the organ section) ... and the SK30 is even larger than the SK 20 😀

[@4estral]

This is one of the best videos I've seen on a stringer. You did a great job of showcasing the potential of these underrated machines that have been in the background of so many hits for decades. BTW, did any of the SKs accept CV input?

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

Thanks! My SK20 only has expression pedal inputs for volume of the synth and organ sections; SK30 and SK50D however apparently had CV ins. You can see it in this pic of a SK30 backside: www.amazona.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/yamaha-sk30-b.jpg ... the corresponding article (www.amazona.de/blue-box-yamaha-sk30-sk20-sk15-ensemble-synthesizer/ - German) says: “But remember, such inputs are not a MIDI replacement! If the trigger input is used, e.g. by a sequencer, the internal ADSR generator is bypassed, i.e. it no longer has any influence on the filter.”

[@JamesGiannoni]

Excellent playing and musicality across the board! Also thumbs up on the editing; really well put together.

[@nordic2112]

You put a remarkable amount of work into this vid. Thank you 🙂

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx ☺it was also a lot of fun

[@The.Foolosopher]

This is amazing.

[@eeajikofficial]

what .. that ebow skill. insane ..

[@phero2]

This is so good, thank you

[@stumeek6825]

Love the sk20 beautiful sounding machine, i have 2 one dead and one restored, will never part with them !! Great demos many thanks ⚡️⚡️

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

cool, always good to have spare parts 🎹

[@fvxgtr]

Really cool 🔥🪭

[@JohnLunney]

Great covers, especially the last one :)

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx! 😊

[@West1Think]

I thoroughly enjoyed that thanks

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

glad you liked it ☺

[@spagspider]

Fantastic video and great playing. Wonderful demos of the sounds. As a tech nerd, I must chime in that the organ is actually FM synthesized like the DX7, not transistorized, and the string section architecture is pretty far from a solina. The old string machines were closely related to combo organs, the SK20 is honestly much more of a synth internally than anything else. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is the sound and what one does with it, and you have amply proved that the SK20 is a force to be reckoned with. Well done!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

Thanks! I have heard the theory about the SK organ sections being FM, too, but have also read statements that this is a false rumour, from a person claiming they sent direct requests about this to Yamaha and got the answer: No, the organ section is analogue.There is a detailed technical article from 1981: www.muzines.co.uk/articles/yamaha-symphonic-ensemble-sk20/2575 - sounds like there is quite some digital control elements, but the sound generation is done by Yamaha's Pulse Analogue Synthesis System (Pass). And yep, I would agree that the SK20 is much closer to a synth than a Solina, having limited voices with dedicated oscillator circuitry and individual amp EGs/VCAs - rather than full polyphony/paraphony based on octave dividers, but all runing through a single EG/VCA.

[@universalvibe72]

Absolutely amazing ❤

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks a lot ☺

[@Robert_Babicz]

really good, a joy to watch and listen

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx! Your music is also really cool, just watched the Fusion liveset

[@Robert_Babicz]

[@BobHoskins-nv8bt]

Honestly you're amazing! 👏👏👏

[@NicolasMelis]

sounds great!

[@infpaaron]

Amazing video!! :)

[@bobo62]

I found your channel by searching for Analog Rytm videos that weren't awful techno or bleep blop music. Loved it for that, now you are doing synth covers of Sigur Ros....you're taste in gear and music is wonderful. Do you have a band or make your own music?

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thanks ☺ I’ve been playing in various bands from 1985 to 2017; recently, it has been only reunions of two of my bands from the 1990/2000s; but I also play duo live gigs with Canadian singer-songwriter Karyn Ellis (I also play electric guitar on a few songs on her upcoming album, like kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIq0gKuJmrytqKc), and in the Covid-years, I produced an EP with my daughter Rahel, kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYvWhKFjoJh5ntU

[@Michael-xr5yx]

Svefn sounded great!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx ... I saw Sigur Rós live on stage at least four times from 2003 to 2023, that inspired me a lot

[@bcbudrecords]

Cheers !

[@brunoromiti7708]

awesome!

[@synthebo]

😮😮😮😮😮😮wow!! Awesome!! 🤩🤩🤩👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@terrypmusic]

Nice..

[@SweasyP]

Love this vid! I also have the sk20 (based in Aachen - hey neighbor:D) but what I really love is your enlargement of the sound. Does your Volfram do the magic? It sounds so rich! I have myself the ucx II - do I really need a preamp/comp to get somewhere near your sound?

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx ☺The Volfram does add some nice analog grit. Also, in most parts of the vid, the SK20 runs through the Meris LVX, adding some digital FX (with analog dry path), like phaser + reverb on Oxygène, chorus + reverb on some of the solo demo parts etc ... you could probably also get there using plugins, the Volfram is based on the Urei 1176 / 1178, lots of emulations are available, quality varies

[@SweasyP]

Thanks a lot for your response! I will dig into it ;)

[@edenhunter9904]

great vid. how's the noise floor , reliability and parts for these units?😃

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

Noise floor is low enough for my purposes. I bought the SK20 2nd hand, it had a few issues (not uncommon for a 43 years old electronic device), like two of the switches didn’t work properly, and the middle C key often failed to produce sound. Mr. Kristkeitz, a repair guy here in Cologne/Germany, cleaned the synth and fixed the issues for me at a very reasonable price. Yamaha had their own ICs, I guess many of the parts would be hard to source. Mr. Kristkeitz internally swapped parts of the keyboard, so that the more-often played middle keys, that were been a bit worn-out, and the outer keys swapped positions; he told me this would extend the overall lifetime of the keyboard, and so far, it works perfectly.

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

PS: Used the SK-20 recently as backing for a guitar pedal demo, kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6iVm6KGmL2Gg6M

[@edenhunter9904]

@@TheGuacamoleXplosion thanks bud 🙂

[@installgentoo8561]

What is that guitar pick thing in the beginning with the light on

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

it’s an eBow; a device that will make a guitar string vibrate by creating an electromagnetic field. Jónsi of Sigur Rós uses an actual Cello bow to play this guitar part (as he does on most Sigur Rós tracks). I neither have an actual bow, nor any skills to operate it, so the eBow had to do the job 😀

[@jasonward2681]

What kind of bass is that in the Joy Division cover? So cool!

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

thx! The bass was build by friends of mine in Greece, their company is called DeDelevee: dedelevee.weebly.com/

[@The.Foolosopher]

What all do I need to get a set up like yours?

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

There are quite some SK-20s on the 2nd hand market ... they seem cheaper in Europe than in the US. I paid like 700 € for mine, plus 185 € for service; and there are more in this price range available. The SK-15 is a bit smaller, 1 octave less on the keyboard, and can do almost the same as the SK-20, except layering/splitting. Keep in mind that none of those have MIDI, you can only play them manually. You will probably want to add delay, reverb, chorus and/or phaser to the sound; you don’t need the expensive Meris LVX that I used here, something like a Zoom CDR70 and an EHX small stone phaser would do, too. Or you could use FX in a DAW. The Elektron Analog RYTM is great as a drum machine, sequencer, synth and overall groovebox. Rather expensive, though. The Digitakt could do most of what I did in this video, too; except the analog synth parts (like bass and main melody on Oxygene). There’s a lot of other interesting devices that are cheaper than the RYTM, like the various Novation Circuit devices, Roland MC101, MC 707, TR8s, MPC One, Yamaha SeqTrak ... Novation Peak is a very flexible poly synth, with digital oscillators and analog filters/VCAs. The Arturia Minifreak can cover quite a lot of what the Peak does (and some that the Peak cannot), costs less than half, and comes with a keyboard. I use the Samson S-Patch plus patchbay to manage my cabling, but you can get the same results without a patchbay, just with a bit more cable mess 🙂 Then, there’s the IGS Volfram Limiter ... the RYTM has a built-in compressor, but I always loved the sound of the Urei 1176, so I wanted a more 1176-style stereo compressor, and the IGS delivers. But a good digital 1176 emulation like the Softube VST will come very close and cost way less. For audio interfaces, I’m a big RME fan. I’ve used several of their interfaces over the past two decades, they are fast (low latency), have stable drivers, sound good, have a good software integration/mixer. The Fireface UC has 4 line inputs, 2 line/instrument inputs and 2 line/mic inputs; which is enough for my needs (except when I record an acoustic drumset with additional musicians playing along).

[@happyend1084]

I wonder if it will be possible to achieve the sound of Pink Floyd on this instrument.

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

Rick Wright used quite a lot of different instruments; on DSOTM, it's Farfisa and Hammond organs, EMS synths (also played by Waters and Gilmour), and of course pianos and e-pianos. On WYWH, Mini Moog and Solina String Machine were added to the arsenal. On The Wall, there's a lot of Prophet V. On AMLOR and Division Bell, all kinds of analog and digital synths were used. With the SK20 string section, you can get rather close to PF Solina sounds. The organ section sounds rather different than both a Farfisa and a Hammond ... you could probably get close enough to Rick's Hammond sound when playing the SK20 through an actual Leslie unit. You may get close to some The Wall Prophet V sounds with the SK20 synth section ... but not to all, since the SK20 is only paraphonic (1 filter for all voices), so it cannot do stuff like the beginning of "One of my Turns", which requires a real polyphonic synth.

[@tonimeloni2110]

Hello!how much will u pay for this Yamaha?thanks❤

[@TheGuacamoleXplosion]

I don’t fully understand your question ... do you mean how much I did pay? About 700 Euros, plus 185 Euros for repair/maintenance. If you actually mean “will” - well, I already have one SK-20, no need to buy a second one 🙃

[@tonimeloni2110]

@@TheGuacamoleXplosion yeah, there is one for sale un 750 euros so was interested in knowing the price...Thanks for your answer and the nice video 🔥

[@paluka82]

Boop!