| Unfortunately, the SY1 earned
itself a fairly dreadul reputation almost overnight when it featured
on disco tracks with tasteless and gimmicky 'beeyooo beeyooo' sounds
and of course, as soon as one of these records became a hit, so
an endless stream of other, similarly tacky records followed.
Which is a shame really because it's actually quite a
capable percussion synth.
Each channel has an oscillator that can produce different
basic waveforms which can be shaped with its own simple enevleope
generator. Oscillator pitch can be swept with the SWEEP control
either positively (i.e. start high and drop in pitch - the source
of the dreaded 'beeyoo' sound!) or negatively (the pitch rises through
the sweep). However, each channel also has an LFO with variable
speed and depth and a choice of square and sawtooth waveforms. There's
also a noise generator and a sample/hold function and so, with some
adventurous programming, a very wide range of sounds is possible.
I have been given a donation of some outrageous Syncussion
samples from a regular donor who would prefer to remain anonymous.
He says of the unit:
"Big suprise - this thing is very far from the naff
piece of crap I first thought it was! Every sound gets a really
punchy transient and some sounds are decidedly chunky. Enjoy."
Indeed - there are some very unique sounds in the collection
that cover the gamut from electronic drums to sci-fi sound effects
that could have come straight from archives of the BBC's old Radiophonic
Workshop! And yes - the 'beeyoo beeyoo' toms are in there too!
Many thanks to 'Mr X' for this unusual contribution.
The Syncussion he used is the property of Wernick Musical
Instruments, makers of all manner of interesting electronic percussion
(www.wernick.net).
Worth a visit if you're looking for something a little out of the
ordinary! |
