I had one of these and it sat on top of my CP30. I loved it, you get really big thick synth pads and leads and the organ was pretty good too. My next synth was a Jupiter 8! But I've always had a soft spot for that little SK20. ❤
Love a good old string synth. 5:13 is the kind of sound I always think of but you obviously took this to many other places. The bell-like stuff at about 6:02 was quite really cool. Great as ever.
Indeed! But the SK-20 is way more than a simple stringer. Much more flexible, good organ, and the polysynth uses a full set of the famous Yamaha iG chips (151-VCA, 156-VCF, 159-EG) (same as in the CS series) so it's a more powerful sound design tool vs usual stringers. I have an Elka Rhapsody, a Logan String Melody, and a Crumar Multiman-S (the one with the Moog filter for the Brass) and those have a more standard old-style stringer sound. The SK lets me explore more, in terms of timbres and voicings. I also have a Korg Lambda and I'd put the SK more into that family, that I'd call Stringer+. Finally, the SK's Ensemble is really lush. And it fits marvelously with that 12db filter.
Nice sounds, I got one of these a few months ago and it's blown me away...such a beautiful and flexible synth. Amazing sounding filter too, that Yamaha filter is something to behold. It sounds like a CS80 almost at times
My wife just gave me an SK20 for Christmas!! I've wanted a string synth for years and this machine doesn't disappoint....classic string sound perfect for 70's Italian horror films. What I wasn't expecting is how useful the organ and polysynth sections actually are. The only thing preventing the SK20 from being a perfect vintage synths is the absence of CV/Gate inputs, but that's definitely not a deal-breaker. Thanks for another excellent demo video. It helped us decide the SK20 and a couple other options.
Damn! You fully brought out the beauty of the SK20! I wanted one for many years, and now I’m the proud owner of one. She is literally one of the stars in my studio. No one can quite compare. Three years now . It’s one of my favorite synths. The limitation is the thing that brings out the beauty and creativity. I’ll never let her go. Cheers! P.S. I purchased her through an estate sale at a VERY fair price, and I’m the second owner. Nearly mint condition. It came with the original 1979 purchase receipt. How cool is that?! 😎
Covers a lot of the same ground as my SK-50d. I have to imagine it is some fraction of the same circuitry because it really sounds identical. I’d always imagined the sk-20 was more limited in range like a Crumar Performer, but you are really using the poly-synth layer in great ways!
SK30 snd 50d have doubled the generators for polysynth (you can detune them for fat sounds) and have more options for organ + of course solo section. But circuity itself is identical.
i love the classic "Analog Audio" experience... which is when the literal first 2 seconds of the video convinces me that I WILL BE buying the demo'd machine.
Saw one of these in the C room of Electric Lady and looked it up. Had never seen one before. WOW what an underrated (obscure?) keyboard! Incredible!!!!
Gorgeous. Thanks for doing another SK vid. Honestly, I anxiously wait for any new video from you. Still, you sure have a knack for showing off the beauty of the old string machines. Do you have any albums available?
I just fixed one of these up (rebuilt power supply, and fixed some broken connections). It feels to me that the organ is a lot quieter than the strings/poly-synth, so came here to check… seems that the organ is quieter on yours too - is that right?
Such a great demo, I've been wanting an old stringer for awhile and the Yamahas were never really on my radar, was looking at the Arps, Moogs, Crumar, etc. But after listening to this, and a couple other demos, I think this is the one. Pure sci-fi 70's.
I was wondering if you'd get round to doing the SK20. Greater than the sum of its parts, the trick is in layering them. I've loved string synths since the mid 70s and my SK20 in particular. They all sound different and not at all like the classic polys which followed. Nowadays I run the 'mix out' through a Waza DC-3 with the Dimension D setting always on. It alleviates the problem of not being able to run the Leslie emulator on the organ section and the ensemble on the strings/polysynth separately. It's not intrusive and gives a sound very near to the 'slow tremolo' organ setting and in stereo. It's a fantastic instrument which encourages you to just sit and play. I'd try and get hold of an SK50D if I could fit it in the house :)
The SK30 is ideal for being able to run the Leslie emulator on the organ and the ensemble on the strings and polysynth separately. I didn't know the SK20 couldn't do that.
@@RoomAtTheTopStudio If you try and run the inbuilt Leslie emulator on say organ on the lower part of the keyboard, and the ensemble on strings on the upper part, the entire instrument defaults to ensemble. You can have one half with Leslie or ensemble applied but the other half with no effect applied. The manual states that there is ensemble priority. An alternative partial solution is routing the separate organ output through an external Leslie emulator. This however doesn't disable the organ part being in the 'mix out' output and it will still be audible there. It's a bit of a shame really, which is why I always use the 'mix out'/DC-3 approach. I suspect it's because the Leslie and ensemble effects are derived from a single inbuilt analogue effects unit. Back in the day (I was there ☹️) this gear was expensive and they've had to compromise. It's also a pity because the Leslie emulator on the organ section, despite being in mono, sounds absolutely brilliant for its time. It could give some modern units a run for their money.
I get some serious problems when I se your videos :))) I feel I must buy al synths I listen on :) now I have over 40 old analog synths :))) and some early digital to :)))
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