took a while to figure everything out (I was a real synth dummy), the TG55

turned out to be a great learning tool. As of now I am yet to get a MIDI

controller that has real controllers (pitchbend, modwheel, aftertouch,

other doodads) so I don't know what I'm missing. I know i've made some cool

multi-timbral set-ups so that on one part of my keyboard, pressing a key

repeatedly will make a rythm "pattern", so that it is possible to play

a melody, bass line, and drums at the same time. That probably sounds

strange to some, but people who can't sequence will know what I mean. One

person wrote that it sucks that there is only 2 places to store a drum set,

but that's not really a big deal. I mean, you can't "make" drum sounds for

use in a drum set, only assign a whole bunch of preset waveforms to

different keys.

It is true that if you have a 4-element voice, you can only play 4

notes at a time, but it seems to me that most voices I have made use 2

elements. Believe it or not, I saw someone with 2 tg55's linked together

to double polyphony. They also had a fatar studio series keyboard, like

me. The effects are pretty good, and the great thing is that they are

programmable.

There is a way to make a far out huge techno bass drum sound, using

the pitch envelope, and a mega-resonated filter-sweep. The mega-resonated

fileter-sweep is so mondo, it doesn't matter what waveform you use; it

sounds the same. I love how the sound isn't that tinny (it's got a good,

all-round sound) but polyphony limits sequencing possibilities. The

module is actually a little large for this rack case I got it. It fits

in the rack, but sticks out the back. Forget about data and waveform cards

unless you are very serious. (32k card is still sold 100$, 64 is out-dated,

waveform card?) I think many people would pass on this module, saying that

any piece of junk you would buy today is better than that... but it has

a personality (once you get used to it)and a nice sound if you really

give it the effort.

in no time (16 available, but even the simplest-sounding timbre requires 2

of that, and complex timbres will use 4). Despite that, it has a good sound

for pads and synth stuff, the acoustic sounds are _fair_, and you can come

up with some Sounds From Hell with a little effort and a PC-based patch

programmer.

at the time was the original Emu Proteus, which by way of comparison cost a lot more and had great onboard samples, but was hardly

programmable at all. Compared to the M1 the TG55 had the same 16- voice Polyphony and 8 multitimbral parts. The four-oscillator

architecture can reduce the effective polyphony considerably, but produces complex sounds that are quite a bit more modern than the

M1. Filtering is also much more complex than the M1, and includes resonance, making the TG55 great for pads and analog sounds. As I

mentioned, a lot of the onboard samples aren't that great. I hate the electric pianos, organs and drums, but the brass and strings

are comparable to the M1. I love this synthesizer for bass, pads and leads, and the 'other worldly' sounds are the basis for a lot

of my best tunes. Yamaha sold a lot of these due to their low cost, they're in a lot of basement and back room midi studios. Not

exactly a 'cult' machine, but it definitely has a following and a character all its own.