Does anyone own these Yamaha music computers and/or make music with one??? I think Alex Mauer used to have one of them.... I've been looking into them more and more these days, and they always have caught my interest.
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philly
as usual i dont recommend using this particular yamaha product - any specific questions about it?
it would be a decent machine if someone would write a good tracker for it... it has one of my fav soundchips (YM2151 OPM)... but unfortunately the SOFTWARE for it is not good enough to push it into the realm of capcom cps-1 or sharp x86000 capabilities - using the yamaha software, you can only use 4 different instruments at once... maximum... that means... bass drum... snare drum... and 2 others (if you want drums that is) - thats the worst part - it has a built in square wave PSG (AY/YM chip the same as a normal MSX computer)... and unfortunately none of the yamaha software accesses this chip
instead of the CX5m i DO recommend an MSX computer w/ the built in yamaha OPL-L (vrc7/sms fm) - i believe the models which contain this are caled MSX2+ or MSX Turbo-R (i had the turbo at one point) - w/ a good tracker like "oracle" you can access the square wave channels and FM channels at the same time (!!!)
also the yamaha FB01 synth module contains the OPP chip... which is an OPM chip w/ out the noise generator but it has MIDI built into the chip - this unit allows you to get the full 8 voice multi-timbral action without any drawbacks - i used it on both "blast" albums - go for one of those options
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Tokyo, Japan
Yah, The FB01 really seems to be a darling little box, I am off to try the second hand stores again now.
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Tokyo, Japan
Beware doesnt deserve an FB01.
Although actually useful information shocker. I have a feeling Note! used one of these machines?
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^_^ FB01s are the tits. Best bang for your buck hands down. Cheapest possible way to get those classic Yamaha FM sounds. And some of the presets are ACTUALLY usable!!!
PS: @ Lazerbeat: You're just bitter. :-P
Last edited by Beware (Jan 17, 2010 9:18 am)
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Sweden
The CX5 was used extensively on this album: http://www.soundshock.se/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=234, and later on, the SFG sound module was used in an MSX2 to produce this: http://www.soundshock.se/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=172. I have Pulse 1 for reupload, if anyone wants to have a listen (and can suggest a nice place to upload it to).
Besides being a cool concept and looking very Darth Vadery, I don't find the CX5 that interesting. You can certainly get most other MSX computers cheaper (and with more RAM) and use them together with an FM-PAC (more distinct lo-fi FM sound, grea software support) or a Moonsound cartridge (shitload of FM channels + shitload of wave table channels + effect DSP).
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philly
boomlinde what software was the cx5 music here made w/?
EDIT:
i just read the description... from the looks of things the cx5 was probably only used as a sequencer... so... thats completely boring my friend - anyhow i think the sharp x68000 seems far more interesting than the cx5m (same fm chip)... and perhaps we can translate some MDX documentation and use it - what do ya say?
Last edited by alex_mauer (Jan 17, 2010 3:27 pm)
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Brooklon
I've had a hard time using my CX5M. Since carts are a bit hard to come by and I haven't really gotten my act together to get/build an SD cart, my only option has been to control it externally - and the preset sounds aren't anything to write home.
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Sweden
alex:
There is definitely some 4-op FM going on in the tracks, so I'm pretty the sound capabilities were used. The backing seems to be provided by the CX5 (or its sound module) and the drum machines, while leads and some pads sound like DX7 and some analog synthesizer.
I'd love to try to decipher MDX documents, though. I wonder what the X68000s go for in Japan.
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philly
boomlinde:
ah... perhaps you are correct... anyhow... it appears XPMCK may at some point support MDX output... if so... then this is probably the easiest way to do it (without learning japanese etc)
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Tokyo, Japan
boomlinde wrote:
I'd love to try to decipher MDX documents, though. I wonder what the X68000s go for in Japan.
x68000s have become something of a collectors item in Japan, the vintage computerstores have been picked over many times. I have only ever seen one I a store once and it wasn't on sale, just a display model. They are also pretty heavy so shipping one may well be almost as much as the machine if not more. I think they were pretty much the machines to have for arcade ports, capcom used them as dev machines I think? And as alex mentioned, the chip is very very similar to the fb01.
g0org.biz has alot of interesting x68k stuff if you dig around a bit, it's a Japanese site but the music isneady to find
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lolusa
I got a cx5m recently. just been missing a din to video cable that needs to be built...
I also hope this isn't a pre-emptive bummer, I've been reading a lot about it and there's this third party sequencer that looks promising. otherwise, I'll just process it through a ton of delay and just control it with the keyboard.
Any other tips, suggestions? hopefully advice that doesn't end in "get another msx".
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I have a CX5MII (the one with slightly improved MIDI support etc)...I love using it as an old school FM synth (I also have a DX7, but fuck it I can't deny that I enjoy editing patches on a TV screen), for backing tracks or little parts in songs. Since I never really planned to use it as a standalone music station (and I luckily got it cheap) I have to say that Yamaha's music sequencer software is rather archaic though.
If you want a machine that you can make complete FM chiptunes with, then the Yamaha CX5M - with the software available - is not the best option. I've heard some amazing tracks made with the Moonsound cart Linde mentions. If you want some accessible FM synth operation (potentially MIDI controllable with later models), then a CX5M with the voicing cartridge is great fun...but this is a chipmusic forum, so why would anyone want that?
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San Francisco
i was just looking into buying one of these guys.