Yamaha TG77 is the

rack-mounted A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...

equivalent of

Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...

's SY77 synthesizer workstation. It, too, is a 16-voice

multitimbral Monotimbral (from the root prefix ''mono'' meaning one, and ''timbre'' meaning a specific tone of a sound independent of its pitch) is usually used in reference to electronic synthesizers which can produce a single timbre at a given pitch when pre ...

music (

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

) utilizing Yamaha's Advanced

Frequency Modulation Frequency modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and Run-length limited#FM: .280. ...

; Advanced Wave Memory; and the combination of these two systems, either by layering together or by modulating an AFM voice by an AWM wave, a synergy termed Realtime Convolution and Modulation Synthesis (RCM). The unit came into production in 1989, simultaneously with the SY77. The 77 series (and its successor, the SY99) feature various filters, which digitally model those of analog equipment and include the popular feature of self-oscillation from the latter. Each of up to four Elements within a Voice can have its own filter, which can be controlled by a dedicated envelope generator. The TG77 is equipped with two sets of stereo outputs, like the SY77, and is enhanced compared to the latter by having eight individual outputs, which are assignable to individual internal instruments. Like the SY77, the TG77 has a large LCD display, and programming takes place through a keypad on the front panel. The SY/TG series can generate rich, layered, multitimbral sounds. It is capable of the characteristic timbres of

DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 19 ...

-style FM synthesis but can also expand upon this greatly with various new FM features (hence the A in AFM) and the addition of sampled waveforms (AWM). There are large libraries of patches and expansion cards available for the SY/TG series that enable the user to expand the tonal capabilities of the unit.

References

SY77 Specs

Sounds of the 80s article
{{Yamaha TG77 Digital synthesizers Polyphonic synthesizers Sound modules