Yamaha TX81Z

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TX81Z by Yamaha
Synthesis type:		Frequency modulation
Polyphony:		8
Oscillators:		4 operators per voice 8 waveforms
Multitimbral:		8
LFO:		2 in performance as well as dedicated vibrato(multitimbral) mode 1 in single voice mode assignable to pitch or amplitude
Velocity sensitive:		{{{velocity}}}
Aftertouch:		{{{aftertouch}}}
External control:		MIDI
Memory:		128 factory patches 32 user patches 24 user performances
Onboard effects:		Pseudo-reverb for each voice
Produced:		1986

The Yamaha TX81Z is a rack-mounted (keyboard-less) frequency modulation music synthesizer, which was released in 1986. Unlike previous FM synthesizers of the era, the TX81Z was one of the first to employ oscillator waveforms other than sine, in order to achieve its unique, grating timbre. Further adding to its grungy texture are 12 bit digital-to-analog converters and a somewhat low sampling rate that adds often prominent aliasing, especially to high pitched sounds.

The unit was multitimbral, and had 128 ROM slots, and 32 RAM slots, however, these were rarely utilized due to the quality of the original patches. Among the presets is the famous LatelyBass, one of the most popular presets in synthesizer history. Producer Babyface at one point had two units in his studio, both of which he kept set to the preset, one detuned from the other. This expanded version of the preset became a part of his signature sound.

TX 81Z examples (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- The many faces of the TX81Z
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Some say the prevalence of the presets was also because of the difficulty in creating new patches - its 11 button interface is used to navigate a 16 character, 2-line, backlit, LCD display. However, several editing applications, mostly programmed for the Atari ST, were developed shortly after its release.

The TX81Z was released as a low-cost FM machine and has always been relatively inexpensive compared to most other FM synthesizers. For this reason, it became popular with many producers on a tight budget, and was popular among house and acid house producers. Units are still fairly common and can often be found at pawn shops and secondhand music retailers.