The Yamaha CS-80 is an
analog synthesizer
An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically.
The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...
released in 1977. It supports true 8-voice
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...
, with two independent synthesizer layers per voice each with its own set of front panel controls, in addition to a number of hardwired preset voice settings and four parameter settings stores based on banks of subminiature
potentiometer
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.
The measuring instrum ...
s (rather than the digital programmable presets the
Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with f ...
would sport soon after).
It has exceptionally complete performer expression features, such as a layered keyboard that was both velocity-sensitive (like a piano's) and pressure-sensitive ("
after-touch") but unlike most modern keyboards the aftertouch could be applied to individual voices rather than in common, and a
ribbon controller
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...
allowing for polyphonic
pitch-bends and
glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the ...
s.
Production of the instrument ceased in 1980. Vying with the
Sequential Circuits
Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer; it became a market leader and industry standard, used ...
Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with f ...
and
Oberheim OB-X
The Oberheim OB-X was the first of Oberheim's OB-series polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizers.
First commercially available in June 1979, the OB-X was introduced to compete with the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, which had been success ...
polysynths for the title, the CS-80 is often described as the pre-eminent polyphonic analog synthesizer,
[
][
] and, together with the monophonic
Moog modular synthesizer, commands amongst the highest prices of any synthesizer.
[
]
Software and hardware emulations
There are plug-in instrument software emulations of the CS-80 for usage in digital audio workstation
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integr ...
, music sequencer
A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Co ...
, and other software which supports the plug-in formats that these instruments were implemented and released in: the "CS-80 V" from Arturia[
] which was released in 2003, the "ME80" from memorymoon which was released in 2009, and the GX-80, which is a CS-80 emulation combined with its predecessor the GX-1, from Cherry Audio which was released in 2022.[
]
There are no known hardware clones of the entire CS-80. At the 2014 NAMM Show, Studio Electronics premiered their new Boomstar SE80 synthesizer which includes a cloned filter section of the CS-80.
At the 2018 NAMM Show, Black Corporation showed Deckard's Dream, a rackmount synthesizer with CS-80 inspired architecture and features and supports polyphonic aftertouch via compatible third party external keyboards.
In 2019, Yamaha introduced the Reface CS, a 37 key mini synth, based on the CS-80.
Vangelis
The Greek composer Vangelis used the Yamaha CS-80 extensively. He described it as "the most important synthesizer in my career — and for me the best analogue synthesizer design there has ever been ... It needs a lot of practice if you want to be able to play it properly, but that’s because it’s the only synthesizer I could describe as being a real instrument, mainly because of the keyboard — the way it’s built and what you can do with it."Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ...
'' soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...
by Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...
, in which CS-80 is featured prominently, as well as the composer's soundtrack for the film ''Chariots of Fire
''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...
'', and the bassline of Peter Howell's interpretation of the 1980 theme tune to the BBC science fiction show ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
''.
See also
*Yamaha GX-1
The Yamaha GX-1, first released as Electone GX-707, is an analog polyphonic synthesizer organ developed by Yamaha as a test bed for later consumer synths and Electone series organs for stage and home use. The GX-1 has four synthesizer "ranks" or ...
, a polyphonic synthesizer released in 1973
* CS-15
* CS-60
References
Bibliography
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External links
Detailed info page
VintageSynth.com Article
{{Yamaha
CS-80
Polyphonic synthesizers
Analog synthesizers