TG33
Dynamic Vector Synthesis tone generator
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The Yamaha TG33 is a 32-voice programmable synthesizer module featuring AWM and FM synthesis under vector control. Many automatic vector ("dynamic vector") patches are offered in the presets, but the vector control joystick on this module allows real time manipulation of vector level and detune, allowing the user a high degree of expression. There are two preset banks of sounds, plus an Internal and a Multi bank, and the option of adding RAM cards for even more patch storage.
The
TG33 is a fairly compact synth, and can be set up as a desktop
module, or mounted in a rack with the included rack ears.
On the MIDI side, in, out and thru are offered. There are
two sets of stereo outputs to add your own effects on mix-down,
but the unit also includes 16 types of digital effects on board. |
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The TG33 was manufactured following the Korg Wavestation's success.
At the time Yamaha had acquired Korg and evidently the R&D teams were
working on similar projects. All
of a sudden, vectoring was the sound in vogue, and while the Wavestation
was the "professional" instrument to aspire to, the TG33 was a much more
affordable option. The first synth to offer vector synthesis was the
Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, recently emulated by Arturia with their
Prophet V (Prophet-5 and VS in the same package). On the TG33,
it's easy to create your own vectors starting from the provided patches,
and then saving your creations to the internal or card memory banks. The ROM on board is very similar to the Yamaha SY/TG55 series, probably based on the same base set of samples, with a few updates (the drums in particular sound a bit better and more modern than on the 55 series). There are many of the same AWM samples categories found on the 55 (and 77?) series, but several other categories have been added, such as OSC, SEQ and Tran - all very adapt for wave-sequencing/vectoring. The TG33 can be considered the rack version of the SY22: a few parameters are missing but the cards that were produced for the 22 will work in the 33 as well. |
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Let's listen to the on-board factory Yamaha TG33 demo song:
- a funky, fusion song that represents well the AWM sound engine of the TG33, but doesn't offer many examples of the vector-synthesis capabilities of this machine.
Let's have a listen to the factory presets for that:
Stream all mp3 examples below (preset bank 1)
| Preset bank 1 | |
| Patch name with audio demo | My comments |
| 11 SP-Pro33 | Majestic and brassy evolving pad |
| 12 SP-Echo | Beautiful staccato sound, with the release deliciously a bit out of tune |
| 13 SP-BelSt | Divine bell-string combination, typical Yamaha sound |
| 14 SP-Full | Full synthesizer good for dance |
| 15 SP-Ice | Incredible vector-based sound, with glaciers moving, expanding and evolving. |
| 16 SP-Dandy | Happy synth sound |
| 17 SP-Arkle | Nice motion synth + choir |
| 18 SP-BrVec | Stupendous vector sound, with analog brass and sparkly synth! |
| 21 SP-Matrx | Beautiful evolving synth - maybe inspired by the Oberheim Matrix series |
| 22 SP-Gut | Nice airy guitar |
| 23 SP-Omni | Superb analog strings - probably inspired by the ARP Omni |
| 24 SP-Oiled | Usable synth |
| 25 SP-Ace | Cool wavy synth, vector-based |
| 26 SP-Quire | Great-sounding cross between Tomita style synth and a choir |
| 27 SP-Digit | Classic '80s fusion synth |
| 28 SP-Swell | Powerful and brassy analog synth |
| 31 SC-Groov | Other classic comp dance synth |
| 32 SC-Airy | Nice sampled choir with fast attack |
| 33 SC-Solid | Very good for accompaniment |
| 34 SC-Sweep | Ok |
| 35 SC-Drops | Nicely '80s |
| 36 SC-Euro | Solid synth + string patch |
| 37 SC-Decay | Reminds me of certain sounds used by German band Propaganda in the '80s. |
| 38 SC-Steel | Interesting synth |
| 41 SC-Rude | Raw synth |
| 42 SC-Bellz | Interesting and expressive bell synth. |
| 43 SC-Pluck | Nice reverberated synth |
| 44 SC-Glass | Cross between glass harmonica and calliope |
| 45 SC-Wood | Synth with woody attack |
| 46 SC-Wire | Excellent moody, dark synthesizer |
| 47 SC-Cave | Great for movie scoring |
| 48 SC-Wispa | Eclectic. |
| 51 SC-Sync | A bit weak but okay |
| 52 SL-VCO | Analog synth solo |
| 53 SL-Chic | More analog solo |
| 54 SL-Mini | Super classic Minimoog solo sound |
| 55 SL-Wisul | Whistle sound, like Lyle Mays |
| 56 SL-Blues | Very nice harmonica lead |
| 57 SL-Cosmo | Punchy and cute electro solo |
| 58 SL-Super | Nice twirly synth |
| 61 ME-Vecta | Quintessential vector patch |
| 62 ME-NuAge | Fantastic vector-based new age synth |
| 63 PC-Hit+ | Techno meets vector |
| 64 ME-Glace | Dramatic moving texture |
| 65 ME-Astro | Superb sci-fi synth |
| 66 ME-Vger | Classic Fairlight-type syn vox |
| 67 ME-Hitch | Meditative and beautiful |
| 68 ME-Indus | Very interesting vector synth with plenty of surprises |
| 71 SE- Mount | Beautiful nature sound fx |
| 72 SE-5.PM | Stuck in traffic |
| 73 SE-FlyBy | The bumble bee. |
| 74 SE-Fear | Incredible special sound effect, perfect for sci-fi or horror movies. |
| 75 SE-Wolvs | Watch those sheep |
| 76 SE-Hades | Great eerie patch |
| 77 SE-Neuro | Cool special fx |
| 78 Se-Angel | Beautiful, calm, relaxing synth pad |
| 81 SQ-MrSeq | Typical '80s sequencer short synth |
| 82 SQ-It | The famous Popcorn sound |
| 83 SQ-Id | Beautiful staccato synth |
| 84 SQ-Wrapa | Very cool sound FX |
| 85 SQ-TG809 | Analog drums inspired by the classic Roland TR-808 and 909 |
| 86 SQ-Devol | Outstanding, far-out ensemble |
| 87 DR-Kit | Punchy kit, plus a few vocal sample surprises. |
| 88 DR-EFX | Filtered, effected drum kit |
Stream all mp3 examples below (preset bank 2)
| Preset bank 2 | |
| Patch name with audio demo | My comments |
| 11 EP-Arlad | Classic L.A. style piano |
| 12 AP-Piano | Nicely percussive rock piano |
| 13 EP-Malet | Nice mallet sound |
| 14 AP-ApStr | Standard acoustic piano + strings |
| 15 EP-DX6op | Impression of a classic DX7 and similar 6 operator FM synth |
| 16 EP-Pin | High piano |
| 17 EP-NewDX | Variation on the classic FM piano |
| 18 EP-Fosta | Typical (mega producer) David Foster style electric piano sound, very popular in the '80s and early '90s |
| 21 OR-Gospl | Very cool Hammond with Leslie typically used for gospel music |
| 22 OR-Rock | "All out" drawbar organ |
| 23 OR-Pipe | Realistic and powerful church organ |
| 24 OR-Perc | typical jazz organ |
| 25 KY-Squez | Nice accordion sound |
| 26 KY-Hrpsi | Classical harpsichord |
| 27 KY-Celst | Good celesta patch |
| 28 KY-Clavi | Standard Clavinet |
| 31 BA-Slap | Nice bass frequencies |
| 32 BA-Atack | Groovy synth bass |
| 33 BA-Seq | Standard '80s sequencer mono bass |
| 34 BA-Trad | Nice Moog synth bass |
| 35 BA-Pick | Nice picked electric bass |
| 36 BA-Syn | Fat synth bass |
| 37 BA-Rezz | Resonant filter synth bass |
| 38 BA-Unisn | Synth bass in unison |
| 41 BA-Fingr | Nice jazzy electric bass patch |
| 42 BA-Frtls | Beautiful, warm-sounding fretless |
| 43 BA-Wood | Good |
| 44 PL-Foksy | Ok acoustic guitar |
| 45 PL-12Str | Ok 12-string guitar |
| 46 PL-Mute | Nice muted electric |
| 47 PL-Nylon | Flamenco |
| 48 PL-Dist | Good example of the distortion effect |
| 51 BR-Power | 80s synth |
| 52 BR-Fanfr | Great brass! |
| 53 BR-Class | Easy listening brass |
| 54 BR-Reeds | Good for Latin music |
| 55 BR-Chill | Cool brass ensemble |
| 56 BR-Zeus | Nice synth brass, very '80s. |
| 57 BR-Moot | Happy and funny brass/reed ensemble |
| 58 BR-Anlog | Superb analog synth |
| 61 BR-FrHrn | Charming french horn patch |
| 62 BR-Trmpt | Ok trumpet |
| 63 BR-Tromb | Nice trombone |
| 64 WN-Sax | Another excellent sax for Latin music |
| 65 WN-Pan | Typical pan flute sound that all ROMplers had in the early 90s. |
| 66 WN-Oboe | Realistic |
| 67 WN-Clart | Nice clarinet, a bit synthy. |
| 68 WN-Flute | Good classical flute |
| 71 ST-Arco | Dramatic, beautiful strings |
| 72 ST-Chmbr | Beautiful, expressive and melancholic strings |
| 73 ST-Full | Nice, fat string ensemble |
| 74 ST-Pizza | The typical pizzicato string sound from the 1960s |
| 75 ST-CelSt | Nice orchestral patch |
| 76 ST-Exel | Oustanding, beautiful string ensemble |
| 77 ST-Synth | Cool string polysynth |
| 78 ST-Eroid | Another cool Fairlight-y patch |
| 81 CH-Modrn | Nice moving choir |
| 82 CH-Duwop | Nice doo-wop vox patch |
| 83 CH-Itopy | The classic Itopia sound found all over the SY/TG series |
| 84 CH-Astiz | Good choir + fx |
| 85 PC-Marim | Cool and realistic marimba |
| 86 PC-Vibes | Superb, jazzy vibraphone |
| 87 PC-Bells | Nice and moody bells |
| 88 PC-Clang | Very good ethnic patch |
| Year of release: | 19__ |
| Polyphony: | 32 |
| Sound generation method: | AWM, FM, vector control |
| Preset memories | 2x64 preset, 64 internal, multi, card |
| MIDI: | in, out, thru |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | cards |
| Sequencer | no |
| Arpeggiator | no |
| Effects | yes |
available at www.yamaha.com
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |
Yamaha TG33 review with audio demo