Yamaha will never dust off the VL-1 and VP-1, it lost way too much money. I hope you like samples and FM and virtual analogs because Yamaha has been doing nothing but that for the last 25 years... and I bet they're going to do another 25 years of samples, FM and virtual analogs.
@Xrex O VL-1 as a VST plugin would make sense I guess. It's the right kind of crowd (professionals doing soundtrack who need a solo and good sounding legatos, vibratos, crescendos etc and are ready to use a breath controller) and you can have a GUI with a lot of pages to deal with the complexity. VP-1 imho has massive over-design problems - it's true that you don't have the "4 DSPs" problem anymore, but it's kinda too complex to edit, the complexity of the control/modulation makes it difficult to package it as simply an alternative sound generator inside a rompler (unlike FM) and the sound might not be versatile enough to stand out as its own thing.
I remember listening to the first demos of these instruments and was blown away. The authenticity was mind blowing but even more mind blowing were the demos where you morphed from a truly authentic reed instrument to a string instrument and a drum like sound. THAT is something only a physical modelling synth could do. But boy ... the price tag. And normal mortals were not even allowed close to these instruments. By invitation only (at least in Germany) Back then, the only way to realize the computational power for physical modelling was by means of dedicated signal processing chips. There was also an attempt at a dedicated PC card that had these chips - similar to a graphics card. And of course, because it was novelty and far away from what PCs were able to do, they asked the high prices. I think that why it failed. But shortly after, the marked changed drastically due to the increased power of PCs and the birth of software synths. I think they suddenly got so busy just staying in business with hardware, that they abandoned these cool concepts and instead tried to run a safe ship. Today, this can easily be achieved with any of the modern CPU's in real time. Or you borrow a bit graphics card power. So in my opinion, they should go ahead and re-release them as software synths. No need to pack it in yet another keyboard, since there are such good MIDI controllers, stage pianos etc that give you the touch and breath input.
Physical modeling was deeply developed for years by Yamaha and then nobody bought it because it sounded too different. Hopefully now at the end of analog fatigue, the market will be ready for Yamaha to dust off the old R&D.
Yeah the only digital synth hardware I own is a VL-70m, which I use all the time for its one of a kind sounds. I’d love to have a VL-1 but I’d love even more for Yamaha to make something with the powerful hardware we have now 20 years later.
@@scottcupp8129 Actually, it literally touches the surface, but it does have the depth of if you use a editor for pc for the VL engine of the EX5, that unlocks the hidden parameters of that synth ( VL wizard is one editor thats great)
I believe the price and the fact that only invited people were allowed to touch the VP-1 was the reason it never lifted of. I think it had the price of a luxury car and that is why they would not stand around. And unfortunately, those invited guests must not have been keen enough. The rest of us probably was. The sound was mind blowing. A fluid transition from breathing sounds to percussive melodies and the fun instruments that emerged during that morph. Boy would I have loved to buy one - but student, not in the profession of making music. No way back then. So I don't think the sound was an issue ...
@@AbWischBar The VL-70m was affordable. I have one. Still has a sound that physical modeling plugins don’t. It was marketed and designed for wind controller players though.
It's time to bring back this tech before it disintegrates, since it's so rare. A lot of us would love new VP (and VL) hardware. Maybe someone's already requested it on your IdeaScale site.. I hope some interesting synth products are in the pipeline based on the suggestions there :)
Actually we've located 9 existing VP1's! And there may be a couple more out there in hiding, serial numbers indicate at least 12 were produced. And the VP1 has 32 vlsi DSP chips and 32 more vlsi processors, for a total of 64. The VL1 uses 4 of the DSP chips.
Actually that would be really cool. While there were criticisms leveled at them at first the refaces have proven to be quite popular over time. Would be nice to see Yamaha bring out some more. With todays DSP I'm sure they could fit the VL-1 and VP-1 into a reface assuming the chips in the current ones are powerful enough.
Current synths that do this kind of thing would be the Waldorf Quantum and of course Symbolic Sound’s Kyma. There are a few Eurorack modules too, and I think someone else also mentioned the microfreak
At the time, the horsepower under the hood of this thing was unbelievable. I remember lots of articles about this synth. I didn't know it was so limited in production.
A real shame that more didn’t come from the VL/VP instruments but they were just not of their time - expensive out-there synthesisers at a time everyone wanted more-more-more voices of cheaper, ever more “realistic” samples. Ideal for a reissue !!
I'll never get why Yamaha and Korg didn't do more with their amazing physical modeling engines. I understand that the hardware implementation was expensive and unsatisfactory, but computer specs quickly improved and they had the algorithms. One major factor must have been that the mid-late 90s was the dark era for anything but samplers, and then came the analog emulation wave with digital synthesis just being "out of style" for a decade. At least Korg finally brought polyphonic physical modeling to the masses with the Kronos, still waiting for Yamaha to bring back theirs.
It's always been a dream of mine to collect digital synthesizers from the 90's and late 80's. There's something about them that just sounded utterly unearthly¿? guys like cEvin Key, Richard D James , or coil would make really good use of these!🎹🎧💫😵👌👍
I still have a catalogue of MusicStore Köln from 1995,in which the VP-1 was listed for 56900 Deutsche Mark and i was dreaming and knowing never have my hands down on this machine. So i bought a AKAI Sampler CD "Yamaha VP-1" in 1996 and luckily i had some of the sounds of this unique synth. But the biggest surprise was Superbooth 2017 in Berlin. The VP-1 was in real at the Yamaha exhibition booth and i could finally play this instrument after a long time. :-)
People seems to not know that many of these VP-1 digital algorithms were implemented into slimmed down (but still complex) FDSP synthesis which was included only in EX-5(r) and EX-7 synthesizers. That "water" algorithm included in FDSP is my favourite.
ok first - thanks for this great opportunity to listen to the VP-1. maybe this is the very first time i hear it play, since i have searched for it on youtube etc but i do not remember to having found sound examples. i've always thought this must be a dream machine since it came out around 1994, with this new and fantastic physical modeling and a 16 voice polyphony etc ... i've read in some magazines that it could also reproduce amazing piano sounds. but, to be honest, the sound examples did not impress me too much, even considering the age of the instrument. maybe it is the wrong patches, maybe it is just me. but this sounded almost like a normal sample player of that age with some fancy modulation, blending, vector mixing etc going on....... but i also have to tell how blasted i was at the presentation of the VL-1 at the musikmesse (R.I.P. :( ... ) in frankfurt. especially the sax model was something never heard before, so variable and natural.
This had more going for it than the cheapo EX5 by the look and sounds of it. The EX5 is good as a "general purpose muck lab". But the VP-1 looks like a seriously dedicated instrument to explore well beyond the norms of synthesis. But I can understand price versus features at the time. One could buy a SY99 or Korg Triton et al at half the price, and have a full 16trk workstation studio. Whereas the VP-1 would need a decent studio to record in. And I'm sure would take many takes to get the sound and controls just right. Hefty price indeed!
given the recent resurgence of FM & S&S synthesis being released (Yamaha’s Mod6, Korgs wavestate, modwave, Opsix, Rolands boutique suite & the Zenology platform), I’m still in total bewilderment that Yamaha haven’t brought a refreshed virtual acoustic synthesis product to market, as while in 1995, the VL1 & CRAZY rare polyphonic VP1 were insanely expensive to produce (well ahead of they’re time), nowadays our phones have the equivalent computing power built into them, so the avenues to finally release VL synths to the market, with vastly expanded processing, greatly enhanced UI & even stuff like polyphonic aftertouch, must be ripe! I’ll take a VP16 with poly-aftertouch, touchscreen interface, loads of assignable controller knobs, 4-part multitimbral (with multiple insert FX per part) & 32 note polyphony please!
With today's hardware, you could make something like this for an affordable price. The only issue is getting it to sell. The same goes for additive. Kawai gave up after the K5000 series (came out a few years after the VP1) because it didn't sell well, but something like it could be made today, but on a much larger scale.
Hold my beer... Chick Corea used this model for the melody of "Arabian Nights" on his gorgeous "Ultimate Adventure" album. Go check it out and enjoy! I absolutely adore that tune, so I specifically asked Chick about it upstairs ("backstage") at DC's Blues Alley in 2014 after he gave a solo-piano performance. I couldn't remember the name of the tune so I actually had to sing a bit of it for him. What fun! He started to look slightly annoyed by my pitch- and rhythmic errors as my rendering descended into nonsense. Hey! It's a subtle tune. You try singing it accurately without careful study and practice!! Anyway, Chick recognized it and kindly told me that it wasn't "Egypt" like I said it might be. He said it was "Arabia"---so he wasn't so accurate himself... I told him that I stopped taking his titles seriously when I learned what "Ezinda" meant. I then started giving him my impression of the "Arabian Nights" track and he now looked disturbed by the possibility that I didn't recognize his solo playing. I told him that it sounded as if he had his flutist modulating the amplitude of that melody with a breath controller or an EWI or something. He was like: "No! That's not him! He doesn't play like that at all!" I laughed. I said "I KNOW!! I KNOW!!" To put him at ease, I made very clear that I fully recognized Chick's timing, articulation and note choices for that melody. It of course sounds like him, but I could also tell that a breath controller was somehow involved. I just didn't know him to be into using that kind of thing, so I was dying to find out what that beautiful instrument was and how the melody was recorded. (I loved how seriously Chick took my opinions!! He was a real fan of his fans and I genuinely enjoyed annoying him when I got a chance to.) This is when he told me about the VP-1. I had never heard of the instrument---only the VL-1. He told me that Yamaha had gifted him one of the prototypes and---with a touch of shame---he also told me that the sound he chose for "Arabian Nights" was just a preset. (Whatever the preset's name, it's basically a flugelhorn sound.) He told me it was him using the breath controller. Fun!! I imagine the rarity of the instrument is precisely why Touchstone didn't perform that tune live in Spain for their wonderful DVD. I think it's the only one they left out. The VP-1 was probably just too precious to be put at risk on the road, though that's only my guess. Maybe Chick was instead uncomfortable using a breath controller live on stage. I really don't know. Chick didn't tell me either way because I didn't think to ask about it. What an epic evening though!! I LOVE CHICK!! RIP DADDY!!!! What a genius he was!!!
They only recorded a FEW of the VP1 sounds, and only at one setup. Each voice can morph in a dozen different ways, you can hear the same voice twice and not know you're hearing the same one.
It probably was a VL, I remember you could define the material, like wood or plastic or brass or silver, endless opportunities and form, like a metal tube with certain lenght and bends, to make a trompet or sax, or flute and it modelled it up from, literally a lump of metal, up till a finished blowed instrument, and it was made with wood and weighted keys, but crazy expensive.
@@josephwright5921 I read somewhere that Vangelis had one, or at least used one on his album "Voices". Although the 'Elsewhere'-site only mentions the VL-1. elsew.com/data/synths.htm
SO does it use primarly karplus strong ( noise +tuned delay ) or also an exciter + modal filterbank , where bandpassfilters are used as partials etc..?
Based on designs licensed from Julius O Smith. He has extensive technical details online so you can figure out what is likely to be in this synth engine. My guess would be waveguide models mostly (extended Karplus Strong) maybe banded waveguides as well (Hybrid system that sits somewhere between karplus strong and modal filter bank).
I played the vl . It was very interesting. But I don’t think it like the d50 by Roland warranted the price at all. It came out when the synergy was a thing too! Peace Christo 👽🎶🐕🛸☮️
Something close to this is Alchemy now. Maybe better examples? The price isn't very very high... But I guess it's too hard to get so... it can be priced even more :)) Not my ball park of course (anyway). Yet.
No music has been written for this instrument as yet. Technologically its still in the future. Guess that's why none of the owners have ever published anything worth mention based on this instrument.
@@dragonflycrashed5511 The CD is actually more of experimental character and I bought it from Daniel last year. He encouraged me to buy the VL1 which I then did.
@@captainamerica6829 the CD by Forro is free improvisation on the different VP-1 patches. besides, michael boddicker used a VP-1 when he worked with michael jackson in LA. he actually got the prototype from yamaha after jackson had sent a request for new technology to yamaha. it`s the pre-serial production instrument without the dark blue ventilation openings on the upper back, which was later used by Scott Kinsey when he produced together with Joe Zawinul. boddicker also programmed some sound banks for yamaha on that instrument. That is the second VP1 in the US beside the one brought to Santa Barbara from Germany by Reinhold Heil
@@captainamerica6829 i forgot to mention, ryuichi sakamoto also mentions a "Yamaha VP-1 sound module" in his equipment list for his DandL tour in 1995. but that`s all i could find on that one......in 1995 it must have been some kind of prototype if you ask me.
Interesting. Makes me wonder if - where on the other hand the DX had some fantastic FM patches from the get go - if this has that killer set hidden in the engine somewhere...
@@trebleboost7 : I can assure you that the Yamaha VP-1/VL-1 aren't worthy of being compared to the Yamaha DX series..those two pieces were just PM (physical modeling) instruments; nothing more..loaded with raw wave forms and parameters primarily used for sound effects fillers in complex sequencing..no acoustic instrument voices nor FM voices..at that time Yamaha also released a VL rack module..
@paul vorderwinkler Most common/everyday musicians would prefer to use a synth that already possesses authentic instrument voices (with voice editing parameters), rather than spend hours meticulously programming/editing voices in an attempt to replicate basic instrument/acoustic voices like a studio tech guy normally has to do..and YES I have worked extensively with PM & FM synths since 1984..it's a tremendous relief when one is able to work with extremely user friendly instruments👍!..
That could be fixed if someone had taken the time to program in a more extensive set of patches. I think the real reason it didn't sell was the price; almost $30,000. There are over 64 vlsi processors inside, very costly items back in 1994.
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i hope to god yamaha brings us a reface of their physical modeling synths, these are too good to be left unplayed
Yamaha will never dust off the VL-1 and VP-1, it lost way too much money. I hope you like samples and FM and virtual analogs because Yamaha has been doing nothing but that for the last 25 years... and I bet they're going to do another 25 years of samples, FM and virtual analogs.
@Xrex O VL-1 as a VST plugin would make sense I guess. It's the right kind of crowd (professionals doing soundtrack who need a solo and good sounding legatos, vibratos, crescendos etc and are ready to use a breath controller) and you can have a GUI with a lot of pages to deal with the complexity.
VP-1 imho has massive over-design problems - it's true that you don't have the "4 DSPs" problem anymore, but it's kinda too complex to edit, the complexity of the control/modulation makes it difficult to package it as simply an alternative sound generator inside a rompler (unlike FM) and the sound might not be versatile enough to stand out as its own thing.
I remember listening to the first demos of these instruments and was blown away. The authenticity was mind blowing but even more mind blowing were the demos where you morphed from a truly authentic reed instrument to a string instrument and a drum like sound. THAT is something only a physical modelling synth could do. But boy ... the price tag. And normal mortals were not even allowed close to these instruments. By invitation only (at least in Germany)
Back then, the only way to realize the computational power for physical modelling was by means of dedicated signal processing chips. There was also an attempt at a dedicated PC card that had these chips - similar to a graphics card. And of course, because it was novelty and far away from what PCs were able to do, they asked the high prices. I think that why it failed.
But shortly after, the marked changed drastically due to the increased power of PCs and the birth of software synths. I think they suddenly got so busy just staying in business with hardware, that they abandoned these cool concepts and instead tried to run a safe ship.
Today, this can easily be achieved with any of the modern CPU's in real time. Or you borrow a bit graphics card power. So in my opinion, they should go ahead and re-release them as software synths. No need to pack it in yet another keyboard, since there are such good MIDI controllers, stage pianos etc that give you the touch and breath input.
Physical modeling was deeply developed for years by Yamaha and then nobody bought it because it sounded too different. Hopefully now at the end of analog fatigue, the market will be ready for Yamaha to dust off the old R&D.
I have an old VL 1 and an EX5. The EX5 has physical modeling too but it only touches the surface of the VL
Yeah the only digital synth hardware I own is a VL-70m, which I use all the time for its one of a kind sounds. I’d love to have a VL-1 but I’d love even more for Yamaha to make something with the powerful hardware we have now 20 years later.
@@scottcupp8129 Actually, it literally touches the surface, but it does have the depth of if you use a editor for pc for the VL engine of the EX5, that unlocks the hidden parameters of that synth ( VL wizard is one editor thats great)
I believe the price and the fact that only invited people were allowed to touch the VP-1 was the reason it never lifted of. I think it had the price of a luxury car and that is why they would not stand around. And unfortunately, those invited guests must not have been keen enough.
The rest of us probably was. The sound was mind blowing. A fluid transition from breathing sounds to percussive melodies and the fun instruments that emerged during that morph. Boy would I have loved to buy one - but student, not in the profession of making music. No way back then.
So I don't think the sound was an issue ...
@@AbWischBar The VL-70m was affordable. I have one. Still has a sound that physical modeling plugins don’t. It was marketed and designed for wind controller players though.
Glad you were able to get hands-on with it... thanks for joining us on a great trip!
It's time to bring back this tech before it disintegrates, since it's so rare. A lot of us would love new VP (and VL) hardware. Maybe someone's already requested it on your IdeaScale site.. I hope some interesting synth products are in the pipeline based on the suggestions there :)
Yeah time to wake up Yamaha add a VL and AN synthesis to the Montage
Guys please make a VL/VP reface.
I’d buy that.
WOW. Okay, that thing is gorgeous! Looks like it was made from the dashboard of a Mercedes.
Actually we've located 9 existing VP1's! And there may be a couple more out there in hiding, serial numbers indicate at least 12 were produced. And the VP1 has 32 vlsi DSP chips and 32 more vlsi processors, for a total of 64. The VL1 uses 4 of the DSP chips.
Yamaha should create a reface VP-1 and I'm pretty sure, it will be a super unique hardware synth and a big seller :)
Actually that would be really cool. While there were criticisms leveled at them at first the refaces have proven to be quite popular over time. Would be nice to see Yamaha bring out some more. With todays DSP I'm sure they could fit the VL-1 and VP-1 into a reface assuming the chips in the current ones are powerful enough.
would be an instabuy.
I swear that would be insane
This four time Reface client would certainly be interested in a VL and VP. And also in a Reface AN, 'cause why doesn't that one exist yet?
Better than toy-quality would be nice but that would offend the raging masses.
They really need to do something with this tech, soft synth or reface, I loved the sounds I heard.
I have a VL-1 in my setup and it still holds up sound wise to modern synths.
Love physical modeling synths.
Now this is something I'd like somebody to clone or re-issue! What makes this sound today with a keyboard?
I don't know if there is some physical modeling of mallets etc., but there is this: audiomodeling.com/solo-strings/swam-cello/
microfreak has a physical modeling engine
Current synths that do this kind of thing would be the Waldorf Quantum and of course Symbolic Sound’s Kyma. There are a few Eurorack modules too, and I think someone else also mentioned the microfreak
Kronos has STR-1, physical modeling of strings.
The Applied Acoustics Chromaphone VST plugin does very similar sounds to this. I love it.
My Korg Z1 (also physical modeling) likewise sounds unique. It's time for the synthesis concept to come back in a modern package.
I wish Yamaha would put the VL and VP engines into a Reface.
no problem - just need custom VLSIs and about 20 DSP chips
@@antigen4 Way less than that! My 23 year old PGL100-VL has only eight chips and we could do way better today.
This has so much potential to shape modern music (again)
At the time, the horsepower under the hood of this thing was unbelievable. I remember lots of articles about this synth. I didn't know it was so limited in production.
A real shame that more didn’t come from the VL/VP instruments but they were just not of their time - expensive out-there synthesisers at a time everyone wanted more-more-more voices of cheaper, ever more “realistic” samples. Ideal for a reissue !!
I'll never get why Yamaha and Korg didn't do more with their amazing physical modeling engines. I understand that the hardware implementation was expensive and unsatisfactory, but computer specs quickly improved and they had the algorithms.
One major factor must have been that the mid-late 90s was the dark era for anything but samplers, and then came the analog emulation wave with digital synthesis just being "out of style" for a decade. At least Korg finally brought polyphonic physical modeling to the masses with the Kronos, still waiting for Yamaha to bring back theirs.
It is a bit similar to FDSP technology which can be found on Yamaha EX7 / EX5. I love it:-)
It's always been a dream of mine to collect digital synthesizers from the 90's and late 80's. There's something about them that just sounded utterly unearthly¿? guys like cEvin Key, Richard D James , or coil would make really good use of these!🎹🎧💫😵👌👍
Great video Nick. Thanks for sharing this Unicorn of a synth.
I own the amazing EX5R. I believe one of its synthesis modes which is physical modelling was derived from this.
Yeah the 'Water' FDSP algorithm is definitely one of them, as you can hear in this vid.
I still have a catalogue of MusicStore Köln from 1995,in which the VP-1 was listed for 56900 Deutsche Mark and i was dreaming and knowing never have my hands down on this machine. So i bought a AKAI Sampler CD "Yamaha VP-1" in 1996 and luckily i had some of the sounds of this unique synth. But the biggest surprise was Superbooth 2017 in Berlin. The VP-1 was in real at the Yamaha exhibition booth and i could finally play this instrument after a long time. :-)
..and it wasn't that great.
People seems to not know that many of these VP-1 digital algorithms were implemented into slimmed down (but still complex) FDSP synthesis which was included only in EX-5(r) and EX-7 synthesizers.
That "water" algorithm included in FDSP is my favourite.
My GOD what an amazing synth. Modeling is so cool.
Holy crap! This is amazing!
ok first - thanks for this great opportunity to listen to the VP-1. maybe this is the very first time i hear it play, since i have searched for it on youtube etc but i do not remember to having found sound examples. i've always thought this must be a dream machine since it came out around 1994, with this new and fantastic physical modeling and a 16 voice polyphony etc ... i've read in some magazines that it could also reproduce amazing piano sounds.
but, to be honest, the sound examples did not impress me too much, even considering the age of the instrument. maybe it is the wrong patches, maybe it is just me. but this sounded almost like a normal sample player of that age with some fancy modulation, blending, vector mixing etc going on....... but i also have to tell how blasted i was at the presentation of the VL-1 at the musikmesse (R.I.P. :( ... ) in frankfurt. especially the sax model was something never heard before, so variable and natural.
If you want something similar pick up a Technics WSA1. The mod, x-y-z section is near identical.
Got a WSA1 mint, it sounds amazing and deep low end...
Crazy price, but the sounds are "up there", very few current synths that have the depth of this one !
This had more going for it than the cheapo EX5 by the look and sounds of it. The EX5 is good as a "general purpose muck lab". But the VP-1 looks like a seriously dedicated instrument to explore well beyond the norms of synthesis. But I can understand price versus features at the time. One could buy a SY99 or Korg Triton et al at half the price, and have a full 16trk workstation studio. Whereas the VP-1 would need a decent studio to record in. And I'm sure would take many takes to get the sound and controls just right. Hefty price indeed!
Just love Nick Batt. What a great guy. And the Yamaha guy seems so nice, too. Synth people are nice people.
I bought a Technics WSA1R - sure, not in the same league but still a fascinating and useful take on modelling while being realistically priced
beautiful sounds
Really awesome sounds.
So is there a plug in of this anywhere, if not that'd be something cool that a lot of people would want..
I'll settle for that old CS propping the vp up.
James. I was told you can take it for free if you can carry it out by yourself.
@@bertvdlast I had a cs 40 know what you mean
James. Poor guy.! Hope you didn’t have to use it for gigs!
@@bertvdlast no indoors only lol!I heard Vangelis had a CS70 fall from a crane off a stage so heavy .
James. He could afford it. How and why did you get rid of the CS40?
given the recent resurgence of FM & S&S synthesis being released (Yamaha’s Mod6, Korgs wavestate, modwave, Opsix, Rolands boutique suite & the Zenology platform), I’m still in total bewilderment that Yamaha haven’t brought a refreshed virtual acoustic synthesis product to market, as while in 1995, the VL1 & CRAZY rare polyphonic VP1 were insanely expensive to produce (well ahead of they’re time), nowadays our phones have the equivalent computing power built into them, so the avenues to finally release VL synths to the market, with vastly expanded processing, greatly enhanced UI & even stuff like polyphonic aftertouch, must be ripe!
I’ll take a VP16 with poly-aftertouch, touchscreen interface, loads of assignable controller knobs, 4-part multitimbral (with multiple insert FX per part) & 32 note polyphony please!
With today's hardware, you could make something like this for an affordable price. The only issue is getting it to sell. The same goes for additive. Kawai gave up after the K5000 series (came out a few years after the VP1) because it didn't sell well, but something like it could be made today, but on a much larger scale.
Imagine all the relaxing spa music that could have been produced with this synth :D
Expression!! Very nice and inspiring instrument.
I was just there and completely missed the VP-1.
Even rarer than the GS-1 - wow!
blue man group synth
Sounds incredible
Hold my beer... Chick Corea used this model for the melody of "Arabian Nights" on his gorgeous "Ultimate Adventure" album. Go check it out and enjoy! I absolutely adore that tune, so I specifically asked Chick about it upstairs ("backstage") at DC's Blues Alley in 2014 after he gave a solo-piano performance. I couldn't remember the name of the tune so I actually had to sing a bit of it for him. What fun! He started to look slightly annoyed by my pitch- and rhythmic errors as my rendering descended into nonsense. Hey! It's a subtle tune. You try singing it accurately without careful study and practice!! Anyway, Chick recognized it and kindly told me that it wasn't "Egypt" like I said it might be. He said it was "Arabia"---so he wasn't so accurate himself... I told him that I stopped taking his titles seriously when I learned what "Ezinda" meant. I then started giving him my impression of the "Arabian Nights" track and he now looked disturbed by the possibility that I didn't recognize his solo playing. I told him that it sounded as if he had his flutist modulating the amplitude of that melody with a breath controller or an EWI or something. He was like: "No! That's not him! He doesn't play like that at all!" I laughed. I said "I KNOW!! I KNOW!!" To put him at ease, I made very clear that I fully recognized Chick's timing, articulation and note choices for that melody. It of course sounds like him, but I could also tell that a breath controller was somehow involved. I just didn't know him to be into using that kind of thing, so I was dying to find out what that beautiful instrument was and how the melody was recorded. (I loved how seriously Chick took my opinions!! He was a real fan of his fans and I genuinely enjoyed annoying him when I got a chance to.) This is when he told me about the VP-1. I had never heard of the instrument---only the VL-1. He told me that Yamaha had gifted him one of the prototypes and---with a touch of shame---he also told me that the sound he chose for "Arabian Nights" was just a preset. (Whatever the preset's name, it's basically a flugelhorn sound.) He told me it was him using the breath controller. Fun!! I imagine the rarity of the instrument is precisely why Touchstone didn't perform that tune live in Spain for their wonderful DVD. I think it's the only one they left out. The VP-1 was probably just too precious to be put at risk on the road, though that's only my guess. Maybe Chick was instead uncomfortable using a breath controller live on stage. I really don't know. Chick didn't tell me either way because I didn't think to ask about it. What an epic evening though!! I LOVE CHICK!! RIP DADDY!!!! What a genius he was!!!
Amazingly brilliant machine
yamaha sampled all the sounds of the vp1and released them.as a sound pack for the motif...i have it on the motif xf.
They only recorded a FEW of the VP1 sounds, and only at one setup. Each voice can morph in a dozen different ways, you can hear the same voice twice and not know you're hearing the same one.
Modulation mayhem...great stuff! Thanks all
i wish Nick would have some alone time with the VP-1, instead of the Yamaha demonstrator guy taking the lead with all respect.
and Elektron are still selling the scene changes as modern technology lol
17,000 Euros is actually a bargain for one of these.
Imagine the unheard of sounds...I just know what incredible sounds are possible with the limited FDSP synthesis on my EX5....I wantzzz itzzzz
Why never released, would love this
There's a physical modelling card plg-150 vl
The VP-1 sounded metallic. Metallic-sounding synths tend to fail hard in the market (see: Ensoniq Fizmo, Kawai K5000, Hartmann Neuron).
Would be good if they could release a plugin version.
So,there is a VP1 on top of a CS-80 ? Holy smoke
I think i saw one in Copenhagen , in a Roland dealer Music instruments shop,-in the mid 90és ,-
must have been a VL-1
It probably was a VL, I remember you could define the material, like wood or plastic or brass or silver, endless opportunities and form, like a metal tube with certain lenght and bends, to make a trompet or sax, or flute and it modelled it up from, literally a lump of metal, up till a finished blowed instrument, and it was made with wood and weighted keys, but crazy expensive.
This video just makes me completely bemused as to the direction that Yamaha have chosen to take in their modern synths.
It is like the blackbird SR-71 of all synths
A cool instrument! I sell my VL1, because I don‘t need trumpets and flutes so much ✌️
I wonder if this model was made for Vangelis.
Lance Page The longer I listened to the demo, the more I thought he would have enjoyed it and made it sing.
@@josephwright5921 I read somewhere that Vangelis had one, or at least used one on his album "Voices". Although the 'Elsewhere'-site only mentions the VL-1.
elsew.com/data/synths.htm
@@pakey423 vangelis never played a VP-1, he had a VL-1 in his studio. the VP1 never made it to france nor to the UK.
I think i finally realize why it never made real production.. the soundspectrum seems to restricted.. its a niche thing...
It was basically a 64-core cpu/dsp-monster, that's why it didn't succeed. The cost was enormous.
Very interesting :)
SO does it use primarly karplus strong ( noise +tuned delay ) or also an exciter + modal filterbank , where bandpassfilters are used as partials etc..?
Based on designs licensed from Julius O Smith. He has extensive technical details online so you can figure out what is likely to be in this synth engine. My guess would be waveguide models mostly (extended Karplus Strong) maybe banded waveguides as well (Hybrid system that sits somewhere between karplus strong and modal filter bank).
It uses the Commuted Physical Model: a driver input sound wave, then two complex delay loops with lots of settings, then an Effects section.
vp1 1995 physical acoustic modeling sythesis
Did Nick vocalize a delay on his voice @ 1:49?
i guess the only way you could touch this now would be with a Kyma system
I'm pretty sure that Skinny Puppy and/or Legendary Pink Dots use it ?
I played the vl . It was very interesting. But I don’t think it like the d50 by Roland warranted the price at all. It came out when the synergy was a thing too! Peace Christo 👽🎶🐕🛸☮️
What kind of CPU works in this baby ..... Mips .... PPC.... 68xxx ? I think most power came from custom DSPs
Why don't they include the software for this in modern synths or VST?
they have a fully sampled vp1 for the motif available
vst version maybe?
Something close to this is Alchemy now. Maybe better examples?
The price isn't very very high... But I guess it's too hard to get so... it can be priced even more :)) Not my ball park of course (anyway). Yet.
Hi Uli. Paul here. Got a new clone idea for ya.
Paul Burkhart If Uli made it, it would only cost $800.00, would have an added arpeggiator and an analog filter.
🤣🤣🤣
all that talk but little demo!! nooooooooo (I think Nick felt the same)
To be fair it was a challenging setup. Nate couldn't really see the keyboard as it was so high, and we couldn't move it.
No music has been written for this instrument as yet. Technologically its still in the future. Guess that's why none of the owners have ever published anything worth mention based on this instrument.
wrong. there is a series of CDs by chech composer daniel forro played on the VP1
@@dragonflycrashed5511 The CD is actually more of experimental character and I bought it from Daniel last year. He encouraged me to buy the VL1 which I then did.
@@captainamerica6829 the CD by Forro is free improvisation on the different VP-1 patches. besides, michael boddicker used a VP-1 when he worked with michael jackson in LA. he actually got the prototype from yamaha after jackson had sent a request for new technology to yamaha. it`s the pre-serial production instrument without the dark blue ventilation openings on the upper back, which was later used by Scott Kinsey when he produced together with Joe Zawinul. boddicker also programmed some sound banks for yamaha on that instrument. That is the second VP1 in the US beside the one brought to Santa Barbara from Germany by Reinhold Heil
@@dragonflycrashed5511 Any material/productions you mentioned above available (Jackson/Zawinul)?
@@captainamerica6829 i forgot to mention, ryuichi sakamoto also mentions a "Yamaha VP-1 sound module" in his equipment list for his DandL tour in 1995. but that`s all i could find on that one......in 1995 it must have been some kind of prototype if you ask me.
Cool. Too bad there wasn't a VL1 to mess with.
There was, but this is way rarer
Deeply frustrating to finally see one of these and then get mostly talking and hardly any sounds/playing!
I remember they hype when the smaller one VL-1 came out, I guess physical modelling kind of died out?
Put lit on amd see whstdb öhsppebfed
Send the packagez
But the b1 inside
Ä
, hoppas pthrouwh it överens
Jusrcji take nopreationalp
One Man is asking 45 000 eur for this !!!
Wow. They are very rare though
@@sonicstate Very rare , cos , who will give huge money for this synth back 93 - 94 !? Not sure how big price was in that time at EU .
Wonderfully sculpted beard.
The display look broken, isn't it?
It's just got a protective plastic layer on it - probably to preserve it while on show
Actually the contrast on the screen is blown as well it is pretty old
@@sonicstate I think on my VL1 there's a parameter in the utility edit menu to adjust the screen resolution and viewing angle.
VST or reface new release please!
Nobody was waiting for this.
I had one. Now it’s dead 🥺😭😭😭😭
You still have it? What is problem? I may be able to help.
@@DrSynth I think he was joking, since he didn't respond.
WTF??? Ive never.... :O
Montagne super knob grand daddy
He didn't get the point of go through some sounds, he just picked one and played around with it and brought the video to a stop 😤
76 keys? Why? This is completely unnecessary for this synth. 49 keys would have been sufficient as with VL1.
The insides are just packed with hardware, the shell would have had to be 76 keys long just to house the circuit boards inside. So why not 76 keys?
Great stuff. Sounds like a toilet.
No hope in Behringer cloning something like this 😒
💯💯💥💥✌✌
It didn't sale during its time in the 90's because of the fact that it's core voice/patch set sucks👎!
Interesting. Makes me wonder if - where on the other hand the DX had some fantastic FM patches from the get go - if this has that killer set hidden in the engine somewhere...
@@trebleboost7 :
I can assure you that the Yamaha VP-1/VL-1 aren't worthy of being compared to the Yamaha DX series..those two pieces were just PM (physical modeling) instruments; nothing more..loaded with raw wave forms and parameters primarily used for sound effects fillers in complex sequencing..no acoustic instrument voices nor FM voices..at that time Yamaha also released a VL rack module..
@paul vorderwinkler
Most common/everyday musicians would prefer to use a synth that already possesses authentic instrument voices (with voice editing parameters), rather than spend hours meticulously programming/editing voices in an attempt to replicate basic instrument/acoustic voices like a studio tech guy normally has to do..and YES I have worked extensively with PM & FM synths since 1984..it's a tremendous relief when one is able to work with extremely user friendly instruments👍!..
That could be fixed if someone had taken the time to program in a more extensive set of patches. I think the real reason it didn't sell was the price; almost $30,000. There are over 64 vlsi processors inside, very costly items back in 1994.
@@thorz.2222
True👍
:O :O :O
Sure one of the ugliest synths i have ever seen but with a nice and unique sound.
I know what you mean, looks like a 90's executive car dashboard!
I love the 90s aesthetic for electronics!
sonicstate Absolutely
studioviper mehhh
Definitely: a 90’s Mercedes! And I believe that’s real wood as well.