Yamaha SY77

Released in 1989 the Yamaha SY77 introduced a new Yamaha synth engine combining their latest sample wave synthesis (AWM2) with their latest FM synthesis (AFM) combined with their newly developed digital filter.

Yamaha had actually developed a digital filter capable of reproducing the behavior of an analog one, a feature that made its long awaited debut in our SY77 digital synthesizer in 1989. The SY77 was equipped with both an AWM tone generator and an FM tone generator, both of which could be used together with the digital filter to sculpt sound for remarkable levels of expression. These two new approaches to tone generation were christened Advanced Wave Memory 2 (AWM2) synthesis and Advanced Frequency Modulation (AFM) synthesis, respectively. The SY77 made it possible to create exciting sounds using a hybrid-like combination of sampling and FM, and also featured many other groundbreaking functions—for example, the PCM waves of the AWM2 engine could even be used as operator waves in the AFM tone generator.

The SY77 & it's sister rackmount TG77 were both flagship units & the last ones capable of doing full on FM synthesis as first seen in the DX7 - This era from the very end of the 1980's until the mid 1990's is a brief story of Yamaha adopting PCM sample wave synthesis, initially accompanied by FM and then gradually phasing the FM out.

Yamaha added to the system range in 1990 with the more advanced SY55 - The SY55 represented a significant technological advancement, by making it possible to simultaneously use four components known as "elements," each of which produced sound using sampled waves. This approach allowed sounds to be sculpted in a highly artistic and inventive fashion—for example, one could create an original voice by combining just the attack portion of a piano with the sustained portion of a flute, or alternatively, assemble a horn-section sound from trumpet, trombone, alto sax, and tenor sax.

In 1991 Yamaha then released the higher-end SY99 which was just a bigger/better version of the SY/TG77 - Bigger keyboard, more memory, more effects, more waveforms etc - The SY99 also allowed the sampling of external sounds into Ram memory for use in its AWM2 tone generator.

The end of the SY series line came in 1992 when Yamaha released the SY85 & rackmount TG500 products - still using the latest iteration of Yamaha's sample based AWM2 synthesis engine but with any FM synthesis capability now finally removed.

All SY series products were phased out by around 1995 with the SY77 being dropped from Yamaha's catalog around 1992 - They were to be replaced by the GM compatible W7 & W5

Yamaha AWM tone-generator design was therefore perfected in the first half of the nineties through these SY-Series instruments, and Yamaha's AWM synthesis together with "Element" and other related synth engine designs became the basis of their following Motif series which covered the first decade of the new millenium.