The Yamaha TX81Z is a rack-mounted frequency modulation music synthesizer, which was released in 1986. Unlike previous FM synthesizers of the era, the TX81Z was the first to employ a range of oscillator waveforms other than just sine waves, giving it its unique, grating timbre. The TX81Z has better digital-to-analog converters than many of its keyboard cousins, and has a reputation for producing more powerful bass sounds than similar vintage Yamaha synthesizers, such as the DX11.

PropertyValue
dbpprop:abstract
  • The Yamaha TX81Z is a rack-mounted frequency modulation music synthesizer, which was released in 1986. Unlike previous FM synthesizers of the era, the TX81Z was the first to employ a range of oscillator waveforms other than just sine waves, giving it its unique, grating timbre. The TX81Z has better digital-to-analog converters than many of its keyboard cousins, and has a reputation for producing more powerful bass sounds than similar vintage Yamaha synthesizers, such as the DX11. The unit is multitimbral, and has 128 ROM slots and 32 RAM slots. The RAM slots were rarely utilized due to the quality of the original patches and the difficulty of programming new sounds with the limited front-panel interface. Among the presets is the famous LatelyBass, one of the most popular presets in synthesizer history. Producer Babyface at one point had two units in his studio, both of which he kept set to the preset, one detuned from the other. This expanded version of the preset became a part of his signature sound. Some say the prevalence of the TX81Z's presets was also because of the difficulty in creating new patches. Creating new sounds from the unit's front panel is possible, but numerous nested parameters must be navigated by way of 11 buttons and a backlit 16 character, 2-line LCD. However, several personal computer-based editing applications have been developed since its release. The TX81Z was released as a low-cost FM machine and has always been relatively inexpensive compared to most other FM synthesizers. For this reason, it became popular with many producers on a tight budget, and is still used by part-time house and acid house producers. Units are still fairly common and can often be found at pawn shops, second-hand music retailers, and internet auction websites. The TX81Z is backwards-compatible with sound patches developed for Yamaha's DX21, DX27, DX100, and FB01 synthesizers. It is also very similar to the DX11 synthesizer, which is essentially a TX81Z with a velocity and pressure-sensing keyboard, and a pitch envelope.
  • De Yamaha TX81Z is een rack-synthesizer, dat wil zeggen een synthesizer zonder klavier. De TX81Z werd in 1986 door Yamaha uitgebracht. Het is een frequentie-modulatiesynthesizer. In tegenstelling tot andere FM-synthesizers uit dezelfde tijd gebruikte de TX81Z niet alleen sinusgolfvormen. Deze eigenschap gaf het een uniek, raspend geluid. De TX81Z is multitimbraal en heeft 128 ROM- en 32 RAM-patches. Het was lastig om geluiden te programmeren voor de TX81Z en de kwaliteit van de door Yamaha meegeleverde patches was dusdanig dat de behoefte aan andere geluiden niet groot was. De patches zijn compatibel met die van de DX21, DX27 en DX100. De TX81Z was uitgerust met een tweeregelig, verlicht LCD-display.
dbpprop:aftertouch
  • yes
dbpprop:breathControl
  • yes
dbpprop:dates
  • 1986-01-01 00:00:00 (xsd:date)
dbpprop:description
  • The many faces of the TX81Z
dbpprop:extControl
dbpprop:filename
  • tx81z.ogg
dbpprop:format
dbpprop:fx
  • Pseudo-reverb for each voice
dbpprop:hasPhotoCollection
dbpprop:lfo
  • 2 in performance as well as dedicated vibrato(multitimbral) mode 1 in single voice mode assignable to pitch or amplitude
dbpprop:memory
  • 128 factory patches 32 user patches 24 user performances
dbpprop:oscillator
  • 4 operators per voice 8 waveforms
dbpprop:polyphony
  • 8 (xsd:integer)
dbpprop:reference
dbpprop:streetPrice
  • USD 25-100
dbpprop:synthManufacturer
dbpprop:synthName
  • TX81Z
dbpprop:synthesisType
dbpprop:timbrality
  • 8 (xsd:integer)
dbpprop:title
  • TX 81Z examples
dbpprop:velocity
  • yes
dbpprop:wikiPageUsesTemplate
dbpprop:wordnet_type
rdf:type
rdfs:comment
  • The Yamaha TX81Z is a rack-mounted frequency modulation music synthesizer, which was released in 1986. Unlike previous FM synthesizers of the era, the TX81Z was the first to employ a range of oscillator waveforms other than just sine waves, giving it its unique, grating timbre. The TX81Z has better digital-to-analog converters than many of its keyboard cousins, and has a reputation for producing more powerful bass sounds than similar vintage Yamaha synthesizers, such as the DX11.
  • De Yamaha TX81Z is een rack-synthesizer, dat wil zeggen een synthesizer zonder klavier. De TX81Z werd in 1986 door Yamaha uitgebracht. Het is een frequentie-modulatiesynthesizer. In tegenstelling tot andere FM-synthesizers uit dezelfde tijd gebruikte de TX81Z niet alleen sinusgolfvormen. Deze eigenschap gaf het een uniek, raspend geluid. De TX81Z is multitimbraal en heeft 128 ROM- en 32 RAM-patches.
rdfs:label
  • Yamaha TX81Z
  • Yamaha TX81Z
owl:sameAs
skos:subject
foaf:page
is dbpprop:redirect of
is owl:sameAs of