The Yamaha FS1R is a sound synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1998 to 2000. Based on Formant synthesis, it also has FM synthesis capabilities similar to the DX range. Its editing involves 2,000+ parameters in any one 'performance', prompting the creation of a number of third party freeware

Freeware

Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...

 programming applications. The synth was discontinued after 2 years, probably in part due to its complexity (particularly the formant sequencing), poor front-panel controls, brief manual and limited polyphony.

Formant sequencing

The FS1R uses the "formant sequence", this being a series (128 or 512) of "frames" that define the level and frequency of each of up to 8 'voiced' (pitched) and 8 'unvoiced' (un-pitched) formant generators over time. The number of frames limits the typical length of a sequence to a few seconds, though this length and pitch can be varied in real-time with few or no artefacts. Applying a formant sequence to a sound allows a complex, evolving sound to be programmed in a relatively short time. 90 formant sequences were supplied with the FS1R.

Problems and shortcomings

A 4 part synth with 32 voices was viewed as inadequate by 1998's standards although the FS1R was designed not as an all-in-one workstation for producing entire songs but as a way to add original, complex tones that could not be produced by other synthesis methods. A very powerful unit like no other in production, at a bargain price for the possibilities contained within, it was bedevilled by poor documentation and offered no way of accessing its most innovative feature.

Software developed by Yamaha to convert samples to formant sequences was well known but not released for general use. Eventually, a programmer (Wouter van Nifterick, see FS1R utilities below) produced a freeware alternative and users could finally access all the unit's power, a number of years after its initial release. Rumours abounded of a 'FS2R' successor, with a USB port to connect to a Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 PC/Macintosh

Macintosh

The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...

 equipped with suitable editing software, but no such machine was forthcoming.

Notable users

• Autechre
  Autechre
  Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are one of the most prominent acts signed to Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music and through which all Autechre albums...
  
  
• Covenant
  Covenant (band)
  Covenant is a band from Sweden whose music comprises a mixture between electropop and electronic dance music. The band is composed of Eskil Simonsson, Daniel Myer and Joakim Montelius...
  
  
• Enigma
  Enigma (musical project)
  Enigma is an electronic musical project founded in Germany by Michael Cretu, David Fairstein and Frank Peterson in 1990. The Romanian-born Cretu conceived the Enigma project while working in Germany, but has based his recording studio A.R.T. Studios in Ibiza, Spain, since the early 1990s until May...
  
  
• Plaid
  Plaid (band)
  Plaid is a London-based British electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They are former members of The Black Dog and used many other names, such as Atypic and Balil , before settling on Plaid...
  
  
• Squarepusher
  Squarepusher
  Squarepusher is the performing pseudonym of Tom Jenkinson, an English electronic music artist signed to Warp Records. He specialises in the electronic music genres of drum and bass and acid, with a significant jazz and musique concrète influence....
  
  
• .snd
  .snd
  snd are Mark Fell and Mat Steel, a pair of Sheffield DJs and musicians whose work has been described as glitch. Naming their project after the extension often used for computer sound files, Fell and Steel are both expert programmers who disdain the usual electronics route of audio software or...
  
  

External links

• FS1R review by Sound On Sound magazine
• FS1R utilities, including a formant sequence editor. Also a short explanation of formant sequences.
• FS1R utilities, including a FS1R voice editor.
• FS1R mailing list at ampfea.org
• MIDI editor software for the FS1R.
• Simplified description of the FS1R architecture.