Yamaha TX81Z FM Tone Generator

The Yamaha TX81Z is a one-unit rackmount 4-operator 4-part multitimbral 8-note polyphonic 12-bit FM synthesizer produced in 1987. It has been described as a keyless DX11, but has greater capabilities due to the introduction of additional oscillator waveform types.

Sound (4) or (8) if programmed by an expert

At first, especially upon hearing the stock patches, this unit sounds like a children’s toy. It excels at all of the sounds that FM synthesis excels at – bells, basses, electric pianos, and anything associated with “cheesy 1980s music”. Despite the fact that some would contend it sounds like a Nintendo (for better or worse), the stock sounds do not do an adequate job of exposing this unit’s capabilities and really give little or no indication of what it truly excels at – CHAOS and NOISE.

If used for chaos, noise, weirdly-modulated sound effects, or freaky aftertouch-based sound warping this unit has amazing potential. The downside is that unleashing this powerful weirdness requires knowledge of FM programming, or a good patch randomizer program.

The TX81Z is not the type of synth that can create convincing recreations of acoustic instruments, although the sound designers at Yamaha certainly tried. Presets that are absolutely awful include “Grand Piano”, “AtackBrass”, “Flute”, “Oboe”, “Trumpet81Z”, “Guitar #1″, and “Old Banjo”.

There are also quite a few irritating noises, the most heinous of which are “Birds”, “Helicopter”, “Flight Sim”, “MalibuNite”, and “AlarmCall”. It’s obvious that some of these are a part of the ROM because the machine could create them, not because they were at all useful. Even so, some of them may be good starting points for creating strange effects.

Presets that sound good to my ears include “Fuzz Piano”, “DoubleBass”, “HeavyMetal”, “SpcMidiot”, and “Brthbells”.

If used for chaos, noise, weirdly-modulated sound effects, or freaky aftertouch-based sound warping this unit has amazing potential.

Versatility (5)

It’s only as versatile as the programmer is skilled. It has its limitations with only 4 operators and minimal features, but the broad range of electronic sounds that it is capable of creating make it pretty good for the price and size. You won’t even come close to producing orchestral and realistic sounds, even though the stock patches contain some cheesy imitations of violins and flutes. Stick to non-acoustic instruments.

Playability (5)

How playable is a rack unit, really? This thing will respond well enough to a good controller, but your toy Casio keyboard will be perfectly adequate if it has a MIDI out. It supports aftertouch, and an aftertouch-enabled controller will give you some additional modulation options.

Control (5)

You really do have control over a vast array of parameters in this machine. The real trick is actually understanding what they do. The microtonal scale tuning option is nice for those looking to get some uncommon sounds or produce non-western music, and its note alternation is a neat feature. There are no knobs, sliders, joysticks, buttons, dials, switches, or anything other than the dozen front-panel buttons, so forget about any realtime tweaking. This is strictly a set-and-forget machine.

Features (4)

Although it had a decent feature set for 1987, this unit is quite lame by today’s standards. It has just enough features to make it useful. One feature of note is the ability to “stack” two TX81Zs and have them handle alternate MIDI notes.

Simplicity (3)

If you want simplicity, go elsewhere. It’s simple compared to an FS1R. Front panel editing is a nuisance but not altogether unbearable, but there so many parameters to fiddle with that it becomes a hassle at times. Editing this machine from your computer makes total sense. For the PC I highly recommend an old program called Yamedit which allows you to randomize patches and get a quick start on coaxing some of that beautiful NOISE and CHAOS from this machine, although Yamedit is quite old and may not run on all machines. The points it does get from simplicity are from the small number of buttons on the panel — you’ll have to wait until you’re inside the menus to start your confusion.

Reliability (9)

It has no moving parts, is solid metal, and has fairly durable buttons. Most of these are still functional after 20 years and will probably last 20 more. Just don’t drive a truck over it.

Class (2)

What’s classy about it? Approximately nothing. It’s black and doesn’t have a bunch of bright and annoying blinking lights. It’s as sexy as a brick. It gets one point for the programmable greeting message.

It has its limitations with only 4 operators and minimal features, but the broad range of electronic sounds that it is capable of creating make it pretty good for the price and size.

I would recommend this unit to a beginner interested in getting into FM synthesis. It’s generally inexpensive and a good set of training wheels for working your way up to an FS1R. Be careful, though, your head my explode in trying to understand the thing. Don’t feel too bad when you realize there’s no possible way you’re going to understand FM programming. Just mash the buttons until you hear something you like and you’ll do OK.

The fairly low rating on this synthesizer might scare some people away, but for those interested in creating digital noises, aggressive leads, lo-fi digital sounds, and rumbling basses it really can be a goldmine. It is ideally suited to industrial music, but also has its place in electronica in general.

Review by;
Xangis

Pro AudioUnit and VST plugins