Everything about Yamaha Gx1 totally explained
The
Yamaha GX-1, along with its predecessor, the
Electone GX-707, was an analog
polyphonic synthesizer developed by
Yamaha as a test bed for later consumer synths. The GX-1 had two full-sized velocity-sensitive
manuals (5-octave 61-note keyboards), a shorter but full-width
monophonic pressure-sensitive manual (3-octave 37-note keyboard), a 25-note
pedalboard, a "relative" ribbon controller (zero
modulation was wherever you placed your finger first. The modulation value rose and fell as you moved your finger left and right), two "swell" pedals and a springloaded knee controller. It had at least eight voices, plus one monophonic voice. Each poly voice had two
analog voltage-controlled
oscillators, a 2-pole low-pass filter, at least one (poly-mod) voltage-controlled low-frequency oscillator, and at least two envelope generators. The different keyboard's voices could be coupled together like an
organ (there are "stop" pistons between manuals), so that sounds could be layered. The monophonic voice could also be layered onto the polyphonic voices, as the top note. The synth was programmed via a bunch of miniature sets of controls hidden in drawers and panels on the instrument. There were also rows of Yamaha '
drawbar' sliders and some buttons above the middle manual.
The GX-1 console weighs 300 kg. The pedalboard and stand add 87 kg, and each of its tube-powered
speakers, four of which can be connected to the GX-1, weighs 141 kg (Which together, equals 528 kg, or 1,164 lb).
The GX-1 cost $60,000, and was premiered in the US in 1973 at the
NAMM convention. The exact production number is unknown, but supposed to be two-digit, and at least 13 GX-1s are known to exist outside Japan. Probably, the majority of GX-1s never left the country of their origin.
Some of the people to use it extensively were
Keith Emerson,
John Paul Jones of
Led Zeppelin (who later sold his to Keith Emerson as a spare instrument),
Stevie Wonder (who is said to have bought two, one of which is on display at
Madame Tussaud's in
Las Vegas),
Benny Andersson of
ABBA (This GX-1 is now located at Roth Händle studios in Stockholm),
Hans Zimmer (who bought Keith Emerson's old GX-1)
Rick van der Linden of
Ekseption, and
Richard D. James (Aphex Twin).
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