Like a lot of people, my familiarity with MIDI started with a PC sound card in the '90s. The particular card in question (an Ensoniq AudioPCI) wasn't actually that bad, as General MIDI devices go (though its OPL2/3 emulation was laughably atrocious,) but it wasn't anything amazing, either. And when we upgraded to a computer running a later version of Windows with software synthesis and that wretched Roland patch set (the one they don't even want to let you switch away from anymore!) I pretty much gave up on it altogether. After all, I had discovered tracker music, where the quality of the samples was limited only by what you could shamelessly scavenge from other people's MODs, and chiptunes on various old-school sound generators; what use did I have for the cheesiest, chintziest format of all time, General MIDI?
My view on the subject started to change when I discovered GXSCC, a very neat little program that renders MIDI tunes in MSX/Konami SCC-style sounds (minus the polyphony limits.) As I started to run various tunes through it, I began to realize that many of them were actually quite nice; it wasn't the MIDI format that made it awful, it was the absolutely horrible MIDI module built into Windows that was the problem. With this knowledge, I dug up my old MIDI hoard from the Ensoniq days and started collecting anything good I ran across on the Internet.
Still, it remained largely a curiosity for me. In an archaeological sense, I'm fascinated by the sound of MIDI music from its heyday in the early to mid-'90s, when shareware authors and hobbyist composers alike were distributing their wares on BBSes and the fledgling Internet; a lot of it is its own intriguing little genre, probably shaped by people finding which combinations of those 128 quasi-standard instruments sounded good on the more common MIDI modules/sound cards of the day and working out what kind of music could be done well with them. It's fascinating stuff - but it didn't mean I had any use for it in my own musical endeavors. By this time, I was up to VSTs and Buzz machines for my works, and I was too fond of classic progressive rock sounds like the electric organ, Moog, and Mellotron to want to venture very far from that.
That changed when I started looking into the Roland MT-32 out of curiosity; I knew it had been quite popular back in the day, thanks to broad support in PC/home-computer games from companies like LucasArts and Sierra, but I wasn't really sure what made it so great. (As a huge fan of the OPL2/3 FM chips in old PC sound cards, it was difficult for me to understand why you would ever want anything else.) I started looking up some demo recordings, and I was quite amazed by just how good it was; while the contemporary OPL chips are (in my opinion) vastly underappreciated and capable of achieving more impressive sounds in the hands of someone who really knows how to push them (at least in certain styles,) the sad fact is that very few people really used the OPL chips to anything even approaching their full potential (least of all the people who put together the standard OPL MIDI patch sets,) whereas even run-of-the-mill, untweaked music sounds great on an MT-32. I started to fall in love with the little box, decades after its heyday.
So I bought one. They're pretty readily available and surprisingly inexpensive, and since I'm a Windows XP die-hard, it was a breeze for me to get it hooked up to my PC and turn off the wretched Sound Canvas patch set Windows ships with. And that started the ball rolling, and I started looking into other MIDI modules, and I started buying some of them...yeah. Now I've got a few, and there's no reason to assume that I won't have more in the future. Ye gods, what have I done? But...there's so many fascinating sounds, and so few people to appreciate them...
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| Roland LA | Patchable | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| Up to 32 | Up to 8 | 128 preset, 64 user |
My first MIDI module, and a justified classic. Roland's Linear Arithmetic model combines subtractive synthesis in the style of classic analog synths with digital samples for attack phases and loops and gets a very nicely balanced sound out of it, with a lot of analog character but some good hard-hitting digital noises as well. The patch set in ROM isn't General MIDI-compliant, and while a lot of the sounds are very nice there are some underwhelming ones, but the MT-32 can rearrange its patch set and replace up to 64 of its patches with user-created ones, so there's plenty of room to work. Unfortunately Roland's supplied GM-compatibility bank is not very good, so you really want to use only songs created specifically for MT-32; that's where you'll get the really good stuff, anyway. (Hmm...I should make a better GM set...well, once I get the hang of patch editing, anyway.)
Yamaha FB-01 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 4-operator FM | Patchable | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 8 | Up to 8 | 240 preset, 96 user |
A contemporary of the MT-32 also aimed at the home/budget market, the FB-01 is an eight-part multitimbral FM synth that uses the same voice architecture as the Sega Genesis's YM2151 chip. It's more limited than the MT-32, since it has only 8 voices, only three-position stereo, no dedicated percussion section, and its multitimbral mode is super-clunky by comparison (polyphony has to be manually divvied up across the parts; as far as I know, Yamaha didn't add dynamic voice allocation to their multitimbral synths until the V50.) It also shares a limitation in that there's no onboard patch editing; you have to use a computer editor. Still, it's got that classic FM sound, and it's supported by a number of classic PC games (the FB-01 formed the guts of IBM's ill-fated Music Feature Card.) A nice complement to the MT-32!
Roland SC-55k | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| ROMpler | Yes | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 28 | Up to 16 | 354 preset |
By all rights, I ought to hate this thing - the Sound Canvas line is the source of that horrible, horrible GM.DLS soundfont that gives MIDI a bad name, and the pioneer of the General MIDI standard that, while providing a more or less dependable set of default sounds that MIDI musicians can rely on, also provided incentive for MIDI musicians to never bother making their music sound the best it can on any other synthesizer. Yet for all that, the actual Sound Canvas modules have a certain cheesy '90s charm to them that I just can't stay mad at. Sure, the sounds aren't really good, even for a '90s ROMpler (the Korg 05/RW is an order of magnitude better,) and some of them are outright terrible (the GM tradition of horrible, anemic guitar sounds started right here!) And sure, there's no editing facilities at all, not even in the limited fashion of other ROMplers like the E-mu Proteus line. But as a device for playing old shareware MIDIs, well, it's The Original; what can you say?
And in all fairness, the Sound Canvas modules actually do sound significantly better than their infamous software descendant. Maybe it has something to do with taking a sample set that rated as "adequate, but not great" in 4MB of compressed ROM and then chopping it down to barely more than 3MB uncompressed. Maybe the on-board effects (something Roland's always been good at) help to smooth out the rough spots and liven up the dull patches. In any case, while the SC-55k isn't exactly knocking my socks off, it's certainly not actively torturous to listen to like its better-known spawn.
Yamaha TX7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 6-operator FM | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 16 | Monotimbral | 32 user |
The Yamaha TX7 was one of the first MIDI modules I owned - I'd wanted a DX7 for years, but I didn't want to pay the going rate for one, so I nabbed the module version on the cheap. Some time after that, I picked up a full-fledged DX7 off Craigslist for a modest price, and sold off the TX7 since I no longer needed it. Some time after that, I nabbed a DX7-IIFD on the cheap, and sold off my DX7 since I no longer needed it - or did I? I didn't want to keep two full-sized keyboards around to fulfill the same exact role, and the DX7-II is just a much better performance instrument with a lot of nice features - but the Mk.1 DX7 just sounds better. Paradoxically, putting a higher-quality DAC in the DX7-II cleaned up the low-level noise of the original, resulting it what should be a better sound, but removing that noise took away a certain grit and warmth that the original had. The DX7-II sounds great in its own way, but I didn't want to give up the classic sound of the original. Luckily, the TX7 has the exact same guts in a much smaller package, so I didn't have to - I picked another up on the cheap (they're ridiculously inexpensive considering how much DX7s fetch,) and now I have both sounds available without having to keep two functionally-overlapping keyboards on hand. The TX7 may be old, noisy, monotimbral, and a bit clunky, but with That Sound at those prices, it's one of the better-kept secrets in vintage synths.
Korg 03R/W | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| Korg AI²
(2-osc. ROMpler) | Yes | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| Up to 32 | Up to 16 | 229 preset/user, 100 combination |
I got this in trade for some keyboard stands I didn't feel like shipping cross-country when I moved to California - it'd just come in at the Duluth Music-Go-Round, and I really liked the last Korg ROMpler I owned. The 03/RW is basically a cut-down 01/RW. It's not as varied and versatile as the 05/RW I used to have, but it does slightly less slightly better, I think. Good stuff.
Ensoniq Mirage DMS-8 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 2-osc. sampled | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Memory |
| 8 | Duotimbral | 128KB |
I have mixed feelings on sampled instruments. On the one hand, crank and synth-fan that I am, I think that, as compared to synthesizers, they're way overused, aren't very dynamic, encourage lazy preset-ism, and have led electronic instruments into a vast wasteland of copycat homogeneity. On the other hand, I remember that the Mellotron (which, after all, is just an analog sampling keyboard) is proof of the existence of God, and having cut my composing teeth in Modplug Tracker swiping samples from all the old Amiga music I listened to, I know perfectly well that sampling can give some truly jaw-dropping results and can be a perfectly healthy part of a balanced sonic breakfast.
Anyway, when I spotted this in Music-Go-Round, I had already been bitten by the sampling bug after listening to some Amiga MODs, but I was on the outs with my Korg DSS-1, which would've been a very fine instrument were it not for the fact that it took roughly a year to load a set of samples from the floppy drive. So I grabbed the Mirage in trade for my Mk.1 DX7. By modern standards it's laughably primitive, having only 128KB of sample RAM, 8-bit sampling at a maximum of 32KHz, a bizarre system of fixed upper and lower keyboard halves that get only 64KB apiece, monophonic output, and a paltry 440KB floppy drive. But man, The Sound. Like Ensoniq's other early products, the Mirage is based on the DOC wavetable chip also seen in the Apple IIGS, but runs the output through lovely analog filters and amplifiers for a sound that has both lo-fi digital grit and analog warmth - an amazing combination! And it doesn't hurt that the floppy drive is roughly eight billion times faster than the DSS-1's, either. The Mirage might have always been the poor man's Emulator II, but it's a very fine poor man's Emulator II.
Keyboard Synths Korg MS-20 Mini | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 2-osc. subtractive | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| Monophonic | Monotimbral | None |
| Demo track | "Armageddon Practice" | |
A compact but complete and fully analog recreation of Korg's classic monosynth. The MS-20 was a budget synthesizer at the time, but offered an amazing degree of configurability thanks to its semi-modular patch bay and onboard signal processor, and professional-quality sound thanks to two highly characteristic filters (plus another two in the signal processor!) Consequently it was hugely popular (I'm told the best-selling monosynth of all time) and after having considerable success with their Monotron line of pocket analog synths, Korg decided to re-launch it for their 50th anniversary. Needless to say, I couldn't pass it up - especially not at a mere $600! It's a fascinating little beast with a very distinctive sound - it just throws itself into weird, funky voices. And it's nice to have a 100% pure-analogue synth to compare all my digitally-controlled analog polys to - the modulations are so smooth compared to my Oberheim. It's a much different animal that will never sate my desire for a Moog, but it's an invaluable part of my setup.
Roland Super JX-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 2-osc. subtractive | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| Up to 12 | Up to 2 | 50 preset, 50 user, 64 combination |
| Demo track | "Radish Sabre" | |
From the fellow I bought my Oberheim from. The basic architecture is simpler (no ultra-customizable modulation, or extra LFOs or envelopes with which to modulate,) but it has a very nice sound and several of its own novelties, including basic FM synthesis (the Matrix-6 can do this, but not very well) and a built-in chorus effect. Most notably, it's more or less two JX-8Ps put together, so it can run six voices each of two entirely separate timbres in various combinations, including layered (another thing the Matrix-6 is capable of, but not very good at,) for some extremely impressive sounds. I was also lucky enough to get it with the PG-800 programmer, which makes for a lot easier editing and more live tweaking options. The MIDI implementation is seriously flawed, but luckily there's a third-party mod to correct the worst offenses. The JX-10 was Roland's last new analog synthesizer; other than the MIDI issues, they certainly went out on a high note with this monster.
Roland Jupiter-6 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 2-osc. subtractive | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 6 | 2-part | 48 voice, 32 performance |
I've wanted a VCO-based polyphonic synthesizer for a long time, but the Prophet 600 didn't really do it for me. So when a good deal on a Jupiter-6 came along, I grabbed it. It's in very good shape and was recently serviced, so all it really needed was a readjustment of the tuning/scaling (I don't think the climate agreed with it at first.) The Jupiter-6 isn't as legendary as its big brother, the Jupiter-8, and having had a chance to play both, I can't deny that there's good reason for that. Nevertheless, the JP6 is a very solid, versatile synthesizer with a lovely organic sound, and it does have a couple tricks up its sleeve that the JP8 doesn't. And, of course, it's got MIDI built in, and it goes for a whole lot less - and that counts for a lot, in my book.
Roland D-50 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| Roland LA | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| Up to 16 | Up to 2 | 64 user |
Another keyboard from the guy I bought my Oberheim from, the D-50 is one of the all-time classic digital synthesizers. Looking at creating their first digital synth, Roland's engineers figured that the most important part of a sound for realism is the attack phase, so rather than spring for a big ROM filled with full instrument samples, they assembled a collection of nice attack samples and a few other useful sounds and relied on analog-style subtractive synthesis to fill in for the rest. Not only did it work, the combination of good sample choices and the then-novel "sample + synthesis" approach created an incredibly distinctive sound that was matched by Eric Persing's creative and highly memorable factory presets. Just an amazing machine - the presets alone would make it worth owning, but there's so much additional potential. It's difficult to say for sure, but it might even be a more versatile synth than the DX7 - it can do warm, icy, gritty, or lush without breaking a sweat, and the onboard effects can do anything from a subtle chorus to spacious reverb. Glorious.
Ensoniq SQ-80 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 3-osc. subtractive | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 8 | 8-part | 40 internal, 80 cartridge |
After getting a feel for hybrid digital/analog synthesis with the Korg DW-8000, I found that I liked it quite a bit, but wished it had more variety - the DW-8000 has 16 waveforms available, but a number of them are pretty similar, at least under any significant amount of filtering. Luckily, the other major hybrid synthesizer, the Ensoniq SQ-80, has a broader selection - 54 looped waveforms, 11 attack transients, and a full set of drum samples - along with other neat features like oscillator sync, ring mod, and extensive modulation options that the DW-8000 lacks. The sound is terrific - classic Curtis filters working on gritty digital waveforms gives this fascinating sound that lies somewhere between '80s synthpop, Amiga MOD music, and '90s neo-psychedelia, and the amount of performance control is truly impressive for an '80s synthesizer - velocity, polyphonic aftertouch, mod wheel, CV pedal, and MIDI CCs, all freely usable within its mod matrix! And on top of all that, the SQ-80 is also 8-part multitimbral with an onboard sequencer - I've been wanting to try sequencing straight from a keyboard for a while now, and the SQ-80's sequencer, while bare-bones, is refreshingly straightforward and free of malarkey.
Yamaha DX7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 6-operator FM | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 16 | Monotimbral | 320 user |
The famous original-model Yamaha DX7 keyboard, as heard on every '80s pop ballad ever, and as a result unjustly hated. I used to have the TX7 module version, but I just never used it; having it in a keyboard is so much more hands-on and immediate. As compared to the TX81Z/V50 I used to have, it lacks any waveforms but sine for the operators, and has only one LFO, but having six operators instead of four (or two, on the OPL/OPLL/OPL2 chips) gives a lot more flexibility in creating complex, multi-component sounds. This one's got the Grey Matter E! upgrade, for a whole lot more patch memory, more modern MIDI, and some nifty features to thicken up the sound. The DX7's MIDI implementation is a bit primitive and non-standard, but you just can't go wrong with classic FM. (There's a reason this thing is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history!)
And I guarantee this baby is never going to be used for sappy '80s ballad-pop.
Yamaha V50 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 4-operator FM | Patchable | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| 16 | 9-part | 100 voice, 100 performance |
I had one of these for a while, but sold it when I felt that I wasn't using enough to justify keeping both it and my DX7. I've been regretting that pretty much ever since. So when one popped up on Craigslist for sale or trade, I took the opportunity to unload an in-need-of-repair Moog Opus-3 that I hadn't been using and grabbed it.
The V50 is basically two TX81Zs, an 8-track sequencer, a cheaptastic drum machine, and a simple DSP effects unit in a single keyboard. The four-operator FM synthesizers have always been a bit lackluster compared to the DX7, but the TX81Z/V50 aren't quite as cut-down as the others, and they make up some more of the difference with multiple waveforms for the operators, which introduces a whole range of timbres the sine-only synthesizers can't easily pull off. The eight-part multitimbral capability (plus drums) is excellent as well, and a significant improvement over the TX81Z's implementation, as you can actually set it to dynamically allocate notes instead of having to statically assign them on a per-channel basis. As an all-in-one workstation synthesizer, it's a nice complement to my SQ-80. I'm definitely glad to have one again.
Yamaha PSR-48 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis model | General MIDI | |
| 2-op FM + PCM | No | |
| Polyphony | Timbrality | Patches |
| Up to 8 | Up to 16 (?) | 100 preset |
This keyboard and I have a history. I used to play one all the time at my aunt and uncle's house, and the demo song was the main inspiration for "Remnant of the Universal Veil." I wanted to find one again for years but couldn't remember the make or model, and not six months after I finally nailed it down, one turned up on my local Craigslist for $9! It's a bit battered but surprisingly functional for its age (and for a budget keyboard.) It's amazingly cheesy, using lo-fi PCM samples and simplistic FM (not unlike the Yamaha TG33 vector synthesizer, but much cheaper,) but it nails that corny early-'90s consumer keyboard sound and actually has some cool sounds in with all the cheese. I am happy beyond words to finally be able to hear this thing again :)