Tagged As: Xg Synth
Question:
I am planning on buying the new Yamaha CS1x-synth, but ahve a few questions. I've been looking at the shareware XG-synth editor XG-edit. I don't uderstand some things about it. As far as I know, most synths let you use the waveforms from the ROM as the basic building-blocks of the patches. In XG-edit I did'nt see any of the waveforms. How can I create my own sounds from scratch? Or istn't that possible with any XG-synth? Is it sort of an advanced keyboard, where you can modify the presets only? I hope not....
Answer:
That's exactly what it is. It's essentially an XG Module with a keyboard. XG is an extension of General MIDI (GM) which is based around a preset (if very large) instrument family, with lots of editable parameters. If you want a traditional synth I'd recommend you look elsewhere (although there's precious little available for the price). Personally I reckon it's a sensible marketing move by Yamaha. After all, if we're brutally honest we have to admit that, since the end of the knobtwiddletastic analogue era, synth players have tended more and more to stick to the presets - editor-literate technophiles like us are the exception rather than the rule. Therefore a synth based on a GM (or in Yamaha's case XG) module is highly likely to be a big seller if it can get past the not a real synth snobbery barrier (I'm sure some people will look down on the CS1m because it's only a preset machine, go out buy a real synth and then never get round to editing a single parameter). The sounds are, IMHO, probably better than you'd get on a programmable synth in that price range and (assuming it's full XG spec) you can still edit just about everything except the basic sample. I've got some seriously wierd sounds on my MU-80 module (which probably has the same sound engine as the CS1m) by screwing around with the parameters. And, yes, I do have a real synth as well, and I do program it (using a computer editor).
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